Whats the biggest sail you use? Do you find big sails tiring?

Windxtasy said...

The largest sail I have is an old 6.2 m 4 cammed sail.
I don't find the sail tiring to sail, except that it's the one I use in the lightest conditions and that sometimes includes marginal conditions. When the wind really drops it is hard to keep it out of the water while waiting for a gust of sufficient strength to get waterstarted. Ten minutes of treading water whilst holding up a big wet sail is really tiring.

I'm thinking of upgrading that sail (except it really is lovely to sail) and I think I'd be happy to use a 7.5.
Doubt I'd go larger than that.

I wouldnt want to use such a large sail on a sinker often..uphauling is tiring enough.I hate it when the mast sinks to the bottom and you have to get it & swim it up to the top again to waterstart.Have you tried a buoyancy vest.. ok uncool but I don't think I would have gone very well yesterday when I got into trouble without one..

My biggest sail is a 7.5, although last year I had an 8m and have used an 8.5m and 9.5m before.

The 7.5 seems to be getting heaps of use as wind has been average up here. I use it on a 105lt slalom board. It has 3 cams and a good wind range, with extra down haul I can hold it in up to about 15knots. I find it is ok when using it, it just feels heavy and big at the end of a session dragging it back up the beach it can feel cumbersome.

I feel I dont need to go any bigger than a 7.5m if I cant get going with this then usually no one else at the beach is planing and I rather go do something else

Mark _australia said...

sboard

I am not a chick but I met one once so that qualifies me to answer???

Most smaller wavesailor gals don't own anything bigger than 5 or 5.3 ish and on the good days they wonder where the hell to find something smaller than their 3.2. In my experience they plane on a sparrow's fart so their main problem is finding small enough boards and sails

Thus I wonder why you are asking? Are you finding bigger sails unmanageable to sail or to waterstart with? Are you going out in really marginal conditions a lot

Going out in marginal winds a lot + wearing myself out in said winds and then the stronger wind comes in and Im too tired to get the best out of the good conditions.. There arent any woman sailors where I sail so I only have the blokes to compare myself with and they are a lot stronger and generally weigh a lot more. I want a womans perspective.I find that I wear out quickly pulling against a big sail/waterstarting , uphauling & manhandling it in the gybes..+ I agree trying to carry the whole rig out at the end of the day is murder my arm muscles get strained..I might have to give in and carry each back separately. Unfortunately the big sail has been my most used sail.. It is a good sail.

Like KA72 said, if the wind is that light I don`t go out; try to talk hubby into fishing instead! unless it`s a club race weekend! Then I`ll use my 7.3 and 120lt board at least the big slug lets me drag the boom across to give my sail some bouancy, rest and recovery time, and helps let some water out of the rig!
One of the fitter racing ladies here in Brisi holds up an 8m. don`t know how I`d go as they have about 6-8 races and u have to drag the gear for ages in and out of the water across mudflats at low tide, that`s an energy drain; more than the actual races!

I think us ladies come into our own when the wind gets up and we can display our finness and style on a smaller rig and waveboard!

As u said in your profile Sboardcrazy I too am coming back after about a 10 year hiatus and would be the oldie amongst my sailing friends, and about to get the shock of my life! Trying to motivate myself to get fit for sailing in Maui everyday for 3 weeks in July!

NotWal said...

Mark _australia said...

sboard

I am not a chick but I met one once so that qualifies me to answer???

Most smaller wavesailor gals don't own anything bigger than 5 or 5.3 ish and on the good days they wonder where the hell to find something smaller than their 3.2. In my experience they plane on a sparrow's fart so their main problem is finding small enough boards and sails

Thus I wonder why you are asking? Are you finding bigger sails unmanageable to sail or to waterstart with? Are you going out in really marginal conditions a lot

shhhh! girl talk. They will forget we're listening if you shut up.

Girls talk freely, none of the boys will read this thread again

anthea said...

I've got a 7m Kult (KA Sails). It's such a light sail it doesn't feel very different to a 6m. I bought it to use on days when we get a light afternoon sea breeze, on a 103 litre board. I can uphaul it if I need to. The reality is that it seldom gets used because I can't be bothered going out when the wind is that light. I prefer to wait until the wind is stronger and use a smaller board and sail, but that does mean overall less sailing. And yes, I do the girly thing and carry my board and sail separately. I used to use a buoyancy vest and it did make water starting easier.

Problem is with a chronic neck /shoulder problem + age I need to get sailing as often as I can to be able to cope physically which means going out on light crappy days just to keep my body up to it..( not that it worked last sail..)Ive got a KA concept how different is that to the Kult?
In the old days I used to carry the whole lot on my head 1/2km up Nobby's beach.. I had 5 years off due to ill health . Once I restarted sailing I decided to carry the lot on my head to show off to a friend and I ended up in bed with a splitting headache for a day after because of my crappy neck..sigh .. no more showing off..

nat said...

Hi Sue

I think with each board there is a "sweet" combination e.g. by putting up a bigger sail you won't necessarily plane any earlier.

My biggest sail is a 4.7, I could use a bigger one but choose not to. I use this with a 63l board and can plane with about 18kn and slog with less. If I borrow some bigger gear when it is marginal I don't seem to plane any easier, as due to the size and weight I can't pump the sail and work the board onto the plane.

I guess what I am trying to say is that bigger isn't natually better.....

I weigh 55kg

Hope this helps

Nat

Wow! You are 8kgs less than me but you must get a lot more wind than we do..I'd say 90% of my sails are in less than 18kts..I dont think Id want to go a bigger sail..I used to have a 7.5 cambered back in the 80's but I had a bigger board and was a lot younger and fitter..Cripes 63ltre board..? I used to have an 86ltre board & got buggerall use from it and evryone else was planing around on there bigger ones...I'd say the 125 ltre board would have got 98% use this season..
Hope this helps

swoosh said...

I think as a lighter sailor you should definitely be able to get away with smaller rigs.

For example I'm another 10kg heavier (about 73ish kg) then you again (not a girl) and my light wind setup that gets me going from roughly 13kts, is a lightweight 5.7m wavesail and a 100L board. At your weight I'd imagine this setup would get you going maybe another 2kts earlier. The main advantage thou, is that the rig is so light, that I can uphaul easily with one hand and very little effort.

Not sure exactly what kind of gear you are using at the moment?

I think there must be something wrong with me..I doubt I'd be able to uphaul my 95ltre board in choppy conditions..I have a 125ltre Tabou Rocket + 6.6m cammed sail that I use from 5 - 18kts ( 20's a bit much ) & 95ltre Tabou Rocket that I use in consistent 15kts +although I havent had it that long and the wind hasn't been kind enough to really suss out it's limits.. I'll have to practise uphauling the 95 with a 5.7m close to shore.( I used the 6.6m the first time..) One of the reasons I wear out so quickly is falling in & restarting all the time..I never used to fall in so I could keep my energy for the fun stuff..[}:)]

Mobydisc said...

Basically there has been very little wind in NSW since Christmas. A few days here and there have been windy, ie more than 15 knots. The GPS Challenge site tells the story, many sessions have been with formula boards and sails, ie 1m wide boards with 11m sails and 70cm fins.

Almost every sailing session I had this year was with either a 7.4m freeride sail or a 7.8m cambered race sail and on a 140L board. Half the time I was underpowered and rarely overpowered. If I had a bigger sail I would have been using it except on a few occasions.

So if you want to get out in lighter winds and be well powered up, unless you have excellent technique and are light on your feet, a bigger sail will help.

A 5.8m sail would not have cut it unless you were prepared to go sailing on only around 20 days this year and you were not working, no matter how light you were.

Here here..[}:)]Lets move to WA...no too far from the snow..

i don't agree with the go big in light winds theory either.

i used to, but after watching the local freestyle sailors it became obvious you don't need to go big to get going.

it depends what you want to do i guess.

if you hunger to be powered up then big will do it. but if you want to cruise you don't need big. one of the things that lets the cam sails down is weight. a soft sail size for size will always plane earlier than a cam sail from my experience. less weight, eaiser to pump.....but it will also fall off the plane earlier in the lulls as it has no cams to hold the shape.

i don't have any issues planing on my 6.4 in 12-13 knots on my freestyle board and i weigh over 100kg..... at 18 knots i'm on a 5.8m

so my biggest sail is a 6.4, the 8.5m has been sitting in the shed for 2 years now. if you are sailing a big board you can easily get away with a smaller sail.

sboardcrazy said...
[brIve got a KA concept how different is that to the Kult?
B)]

hi sbc,
i've compared both the sails back to back on slalom boards.

both sails feel very light and balanced when sailing. the koncept always surprises me just how light it feels for a cambered sail. it is a very solid and comfortable sail that's for sure.

the differences are definitely noticeable though as both sails were designed for different outcomes. one speed/slalom/blasting and the other bump and jump/freewave

to me the Koncept feels more stable than the kult in a straight line and powers through lulls much better. the koncept also feels like it wants to keep accelerating in a straight line.

off the wind is where the biggest difference can be felt. the kult (not having a deep cambered draft) hits a point where it just isn't meant to go any deeper and you can feel the drive switch off. the koncept on the other hand keeps pulling you deep and accelerating with lots of drive.

off the mark i think they are fairly even. the koncept however will keep accelerating beyond the kult but the kult really has bucket loads of grunt off the line.

i think the kult might respond to pumping a little better.

across the wind the kult has lots of speed.

to me one of the kults rarely mentioned attributes is it goes upwind very very well. to me it shows attributes of a course race sail upwind in that it is very slippery to windward.

i find the kult is more forgiving to gybe and has a lighter rotation and a better depower. being a soft sail and having the depower means you can also throw it around comfortably and it responds to changes of direction and slashy turns more comfortably.

the koncept on the other hand has a lot more power through the gybe. partly because you are entering with more speed and partly as the deeper draft lets you keep the pedal down as you bear away.

the kult also doesn't feel as locked in as the koncept.

the kult is built with xply so it is tough and the 6.4 will fit a smaller mast.

not having cambers allows the kult to be easier to rig and the narrow luff sleeve makes it quicker to water start.

Sboardcrazy, I`m probably going to buy a 95-100 ltr freestyle and a 5.5 -6.0 m soft wavy sail I think that combo is the go for us oldies with neck and back issues; gets u on the water having fun plain and playing early forgiving and lightweight. Gesti, Swoosh, Haircut have me convinced they look like they having lots of fun without the neck cracking cambered sails.

^ it would maybe pay dividends if you could find someone locally that can pass on tips etc. boom height, rigging etc.

one of the strong points of the koncept other than it's speed is that it is very easy to control and very light in the hands, something that makes it somewhat unique. windsurf uk mag did a review of the Koncept and couldn't fault it.

they rated it as a very light controlable sail with great bottom end and a very smooth power feed. then summed it up by saying it is a very maneuverable and easy to use sail. i posted the review here a while back.

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=64613

you can get camless freeride sails also. most of the manufacturers have them. they sit between the cam sails and the crossover/wave sails (no cam). i myself use the crossover sail (kult) as i occasionaly hit the surf, like the xply and like to try tricks etc but still the a bit of back and forth sailing.