how much does height and weight affect sail and board size?

[mrspace]

Do i need a calculation to determine what kinda board or sail size i should get?

anyway, most of my info i know about windsurfing has been gotten from this forum. thanks guys !

am 160, 50kg. yeah small size.  just wondering since i weigh a little less, does that mean a smaller sail would be sufficiant and i should not go for an overkill?

[Denis Wee]

Mrspace,
By the fact that you are asking this question, I presume you have not been windsurfing for very long.  Here are some of my views for what they are worth.

I would suggest you do not get a sail that is too small.  You want something that will allow you, under local conditions (5 to 10 knots of wind) to pull the sail over your head so you can hang from it in the way that the experienced windsurfers do.  For a start, you will not need to use a harness.  Use you arm power.  Yes, it's tiring, but in windsurfing you need to build up arm strength.  If you are intending to sail a longboard (which I recommend all beginners and intermediate sailors should do), you will not need a large sail.  Something between 6.5 and 7.5 sqm would be suitable between now and the onset of the NE Monsoon in Dec or Jan.  A longboard has the centreboard to provide lateral resistance so you can get better board speed and pressure on the sail without the need for very much wind.  Under the same wind conditions, you will need a larger sail to get the same effect if you try to use it on a large slalom board or a formula board.

You want to be able to master this as quickly as possible so you can start using a harness and use your weight to hold the sail down.  When you have reached the stage where you can be comfortable doing this then you may find yourself planing when the wind is strong enough.  The next stage then is to get onto a shortboard and have a lot of fun.  If your sail is too small, you will not be able to do this and your learning curve will be a lot longer.  The problem with taking too long to learn is that your patience may run out and you will lose interest in the sport.

[mrspace]

thanks Denis for taking the time to enlighten me, indeed ive only been sailing for about 2 months? weekly going and weekly falling when the wind gets too strong and my sail becomes a parachoot! im not sure if hard sails will make any differences in me staying up during big winds. Thanks for letting me know that getting a small sail has its disadvantages too. Didnt thought of the learning curve and hanging over part. heh pardon me for being such a beginner.

yeah you gus just make thigns look so easy and relax, im gonna perservere till i can plane like you guys over the water so fast.. till now, its the learning part. haha..

do you need to take an advance or level 2 course to learn hardsail water start harness etc? or can things be learnt on experiance?

[Denis Wee]

do you need to take an advance or level 2 course to learn hardsail water start harness etc? or can things be learnt on experiance?

My advice:

1 - Watch what others do.

2 - Ask them how it is done.

3 - Put it all into practice.

[mrspace]

have never used a hardsail before, should a beginner be on one? are there disadvantages like using a board without a dagger for beg?

Thanks once again !

[Denis Wee]

have never used a hardsail before, should a beginner be on one?

Yes, definitely, if you can get one, because they are a lot more stable.  But, avoid the cambered ones.

are there disadvantages like using a board without a dagger for beg?

A dagger/centre board is to stop the board from going sideways.  The fin on a shortboard does the same thing, but only when the board is going fast enough.  Beginners don't go fast enough so the fin does not work!

There is a discussion on this in the thread <shortboard or longboard for beginners?>.  If you haven't read it yet, you should.

[Chubby]

Have to agree with dennis on this. Most beginners think they should jump straight to shortboard, because we make it look so easy.
But remember most of us went through e same process but e difference is that we did use longboards or roundhulls b4 we jumped
to shortboards.
Get your strength n techniques right b4 going to shortboard. If you insist on going shortboard, get something big(higher volume) n switch to smaller board when u get more proficient. Stay close to shore when learning just like you do with club-boards

[mrspace]

no intention to get a short board, was thinking of gettin my own sail to fit the club prodigies, are the mast foot universals or it goes by sails? hmmn. would be troublesome aint it to have to change mastfoots.

of coz looking at 2nd hands for a start. no intention to go shortboard yet till i master the basics right, wierd to have a cool looking board that i cant surf on ! haha