Gestalt said...

stumbled upon this on the PWA site.

http://www.pwaworldtour.com/index.php?id=35&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=777&cHash=5ded199de6

Tom Hartmann (Naish / Naish)

At 100 kg and Tom Hartmann is the complete opposite to Kai Lenny in terms of gear requirements.

Big Tom, a freestyle and wave specialist, uses the powerful Amps in the larger sizes, and the Force, power wave sail, in the smaller sizes. Being tall and heavy, Tom uses up to 10 cm extra on the downhaul settings for his rigs so he can have the boom higher than most cutouts allow. Although he's large and powerful, Tom likes to be on the smallest sail possible at any time on the water.

One of his top tips for heavier sailors is to always use the largest boom on the shortest possible setting to maximise the strength and prevent the common problem that heavier sailors have of regularly bending and breaking booms. He sets his Boom at shoulder height, and has custom-made super long harness lines of 36-38 inches!

Tom's general rules on sail tuning on his sails of choice are to always keep the same downhaul setting, and to tune the sails through their range using outhaul, although always using the smallest sail possible on the most powerful setting, especially as he likes the power forward in his sails in the waves, and does not use the Boxer and its unique forward power.

Where some sizes overlap on the length of mast they can use, like a 5.0 for example, he'll always take the stiffest option i.e. use 430 instead of a 400

Board-wise Tome uses the larger sizes of the Naish range, and for freestyle mainly uses the 116 litre Playmate, with sails as small as a 5.0 In higher winds he'll use the 99 Playmate, but if its really choppy, he'll use the 99 even in lighter winds.

With massive feet Tom uses his footstraps quite tight and the track ? of the way forward in its box. He uses 23 cm Freestyle fins and up to 22cm for waves, which would even handle his biggest sail a 7.0 Amp

You'll be fine Justin "fat" is actually lighter than muscle

last 12 months i've been focusing on using the smallest gear possible. after spending years focusing on sailing fully powered on big kit it's meant some rethinking.

i can definately say the small gear will still work!

with the right setup and technique it is very possible. i used to run 1m bigger sail than everyone else but now usually run about the same size.

boards, the usual joe runs a board 20-30 litres more than their weight. for heavywieghts tha means 130 litre boards.

after 12 months of trial and error i have come to the outcomes in the article and it works. wish i had of seen the article sooner.

these days with 24cm fins and 5.8m sails i'm planing in 18 knots.

get a fin with lots of lift and a power wave sail, boom high, lines long and it's a joy.

i do like it when it's pumping sbc.

30-40 knots is when i really feel lit up and have maximum fun. even then though a board with a very pinny tail isn't my preference. last extreme winds i sailed in was 40-45 knots on a 70lt pin tail wave board and 4.7m sail.

looking at boards on the market in heavier winds, like 30 knots, the boards us heavy weights would use typically don't have enough V. a heavy person would be on an 85-90lt board. most boards in that volume are used in moderate winds for lighter sailors and have average V. by the time a heavyweight gets on a board of that size the sea state is getting very bumpy so some extra v is nice.

horses for courses i guess. seems most gear is primarily designed for 80-85kg people.

Thank God I am not alone!!!
At 6'4'' and a petite 118kg (carrying about 5kg in fat) have always had trouble with my setup.
Fully agree with the boom principle and am loving the chinook alloy with the super long extension arms that remain tucked in for additional stiffness through the back end but this still doesn't alleviate problems in the front end. But for all accounts the chinook is fairing the best of all the booms i have owned & broken.
Boom height settings are always a worry especially with fixed masthead sails. Always carfully check that the boom remains clamped within the range indicated on the mast as this is where the reinforcement should lie. In some cases probably sailing with boom too low, but sailing is far better than swimming. (think i am upto about 6 broken masts in the last 10 years)
Last season kitted out with sailworks retro's and revolutions with adjustable heads so can now rig sail lower on mast and keep the reinforcement within the cutout which has allowed me to sail with boom set at shoulder height.
Was never too keen about adjustable heads due to the problems of loss of downhaul tension during sailing but the sailworks masthead adjuster strap is made of this super soft webbing that locks in nice and tight and to date hasn't lost tension during a session.
As Gestalt remarks, always use the smallest gear possible.
Happily cruise on 107lt freestyle board (27cm fin) with 6.5m from 18knots to 30knots. Mast base at back end of track in lighter winds and as far forward in the track above 25knots.
Generally at 25knots will drop down to 89lt Kombat (23cm fin) with 5.8 revolution and above 33knots will drop down to 5.2 aerotec (bombproof). When I get overpowered with that it is time to go home and tie the dog down.
Masts are always a size up from the recommended for sail ie. 460 used when 430 is recommended.
For the lighter days (13-22knots), have a sonic 110 (40cm fin) which I use with a 7.5m or 8.5m if the breeze has holes in it. In winds below that it is the trusty Formula board and 9.7m and if it is too light grab the dog and head out on the Starboard Start with a banged up 6m wave sail (many claw punctures) and go for an island cruise and practice rigflips. Dog loves this board as she can get a good grip on the foam deck.
Well thats my big fella setup. Interested to know how other guys with similar size issues are setting up.
PS. I met Robbie Naish in Hawaii in 95' and have always maintained that my height is the reason proventing me landing the forward loop.