WA
372 posts
You can get by with one board and one sail, but its a compromise. Not just for wind strength, but also for type of sailing. It depends on what variation you have to or want to handle. For example, in wa in summer, if you sail the same place, you can pretty easily sail most days with the one set of gear. Years ago i used to ocean sail 3 to four times a week at the same place with only one set of gear , the standard wa 8ft6 board and a 5.5 sail. Everyone had that setup in the mid to late 1980s. Now i river sail and could get away with one set of gear, except that i cant choose when i want to sail, so to maximise my time on water i have more gear. I have four boards and four sails but in all of last summer only used 2 sail sizes and could have got by with just one of the boards. I could sail most days on the river with just two boards and two sails and two fins, two masts and one boom. For me at 105kg light winds to solid sea breeze is severne reflex 9.7 and jp super light wind which is 92cm wide and 158l. For solid seabreeze to really strong wind it is rrd 111 firestorm which is 68cm wide and a rrd firewing 7.8, a 3 cam sail. There is good overlap between this gear. If i had to choose only one board and rig, it would be mistral 137 slalom which is 82cm wide and a 7.8 fully cammed sail. This combo has similar top end, but not as much light wind range as the two board combo. At 80kg you would need smaller gear. There are a few tricks to extend wind range. First is more down haul. But also if over powered, rather than just reaching, you can sail overpowered more by heading upwind and then bearing right off. Thats partly how the formula guys hang onto a 12m sail in strong winds, no way they can reach, too much sail, too much fin, too much board. So really you could think about minimising with just one board, kind of piggy in the middle, only a slight compromise to time on water, or get two boards and really extend the wind range. Probably one light wind flat water setup and a strong wind rough water setup might suit you, ie the biggest cam sail and biggest slalom type board you can fit, and a smaller fsw board and a no cam or one cam free ride or wave sail would give you a great range for both wind and water conditions.
1972 posts
Irig at Ho'okipa!?!
I supposed that was going to happen some day, but would it happen more than once? Doubtful.
I wonder if there is a vid of that, with sound, so you can hear the comments and laughter from the beach. That is definitely not what it was designed for.
