I will put my vote in for jp slw and severne reflex 9.7 . I got these second hand, nearly new and love the combination . Reflex 9.7 rigs on 490 with a special carbon 40cm extension . Dont know what lower limit is for me at 105kg, probbly red to yellow arrow days about 10kts . Substantially better than rrd firewing 7.8 on a mistral 137, on that i grovel vs planning flat out on the slw and 9.7 . If wind drops to virtually nothing the slw has enough volume to float and glide for me where as the 137 sinks low and sort of pushes a lot of water going like a snail. At 85kg you might find a 135 to 140 litre board might glide ok for you. Similarly an 8.5 might be enough. I think 9cm width per kg of sailer, 1m2 per 10kg of sailer for sail and 1.6 litres per kg of sailer seem like magic numbrrs, eg pertermac at 70kg describes similar feelings to me at 100kg with these ratios. i have never tried a formula board or foils on a sailboard or a kite board or foil, but all those make a lot of sense for light wind. I think cammed sails are the go for light wind. Just dont drop them in the water!

Just remember the day I had a revelation. I was sailing in the lagoon at Anini beach here on Kauai, kept slogging around and doing the walk of shame with my 2002 SB Free formula 198L and 8M ultra light Superfreak. I was using a short fin because the reef is so shallow, there is the lagoon chest deep then a keyhole maybe 10M across you need to fit thru to sail another 50M then gybe. I kept getting pushed downwind and having to gybe before the keyhole. I was about to give up when I decided to bag out the sail and rig a giant fin. Suddenly I was planing and hitting the keyhole every leg and having a great time. The giant fin made all the difference to get me on a plane and sail where I wanted, in the deeper water.

Thank you all for the discussion and advice. I finally settled on:

- Fanatic Falcon Lightwind. Was $400 cheaper than the JP pro SLW, but the falcon is 200 grams more. I'll have to drink less before sailing.

- NP 2017 V8 9.4. I know, this makes no sense: saving a few bucks on the board and putting sone of it right into the sail. But to my defense, I got a very good deal on it too! There are things the reason can't control: I really-really wanted to own a NeilPryde sail one day, and now that's about to happen. This sail is just sexy! Couldn't resist. It also does what the Lion3 does but at a cost $150 higher and weights 1.2kg heavier than the HSM Speedfreak. I know, it goes against all logic... can't help it.

i got the board, but not the sail yet! Wind has been blowing 25-30 knots recently so the 100L Starship was the weapon of choice. I'm just waiting for those 11-13 knots days now, ha!
cheers.

Piv said..
That should do the trick. Massive cutouts. Fin is 50cm compared to jp slw 56cm. Give us a full report once it hits the water. The fanatic boards I have seen are rocket ships. You are going to live it.

I will come back here to share first impression as soon as I have a chance to try it. Stay tune!

thanks beagle buddy
in case others have not seen this one yet ...
.

Waiting4wind said..
Now that you have tthe big gear you'll probably get 20+ knots for the next 6 months.

i may buy some big gear just to promote some wind for my regular gear.

Didnt work for me. Thats what i was hoping too but slw ended up being my go to board for more days than not. Lots more good time on water.the best thing is you can go seriously fast on glassy water in places that get choppy when the wind picks up.

hey FrenchToast
we do need a report back - how it all worked out- or not ..

Waiting4wind said..
Now that you have tthe big gear you'll probably get 20+ knots for the next 6 months.

i may buy some big gear just to promote some wind for my regular gear.

Very true!
At least I got to use my new 100L Starship more often than expected. Ha!

Hi all. No report yet on the Falcon. I busted my MCL on my left knee (over-rotation) sailing in 25-28 knots on my 100 liter board a few weeks ago. I'm no longer 20 and recovery is long... I was told to stay away from sailing for a minimum of 6 weeks. At least I didn't got that injury while mowing the lawn. Ha!
I will report back on the Falcon as soon as I'm back on the water.
in the meantime, here's my amateur vid the day I busted my knee...

joe windsurf said..
thanks beagle buddy
in case others have not seen this one yet ...
.

Is there an updated table as over the yrs the designs have changed some what

I was at Melville on Wednesday and Rowan L rigged up his 110 Patrik hollow board with his 7.8m Reflex just before it got dark. The wind dropped from 15 to around 10 knots not long after he went out,and he was still planing nearly all the time!

I could not get going at all on my 116 Manta and 7m.

At around three quarters of a kg lighter compared to a standard carbon board it makes a significant difference to planing threshold.

They are seemingly made especially light in the mid to front section which makes them sit consistently high when on the plane. I found this to be the case on the times I've used the 110.

At 6K each I will just have to go without!

Reckon the 130 or 140 litre Hollow Patrik with a 8.5 Overdrive could be insane in 8-12 knots.

Petermac33 and Sailquik, found your comments in this topic really interesting since I'm a lightweight at 75kgs and looking to plane earlier. Interested in your opinions on a 2 cam Freeride sail vs 4 cam race sail, say around 7.8, what planes sooner on a formula board? I assume 4 cam sails have extra weight and I understand 4 cam has added tolerance if the wind picks up.

Look at the Wind Tech 72

I sail in Sheboygan, Wisconsin. 1h north of Milwaukee; 2:30h north of Chicago. You might be right regarding how little wind there was. Maybe 9-10 knots? I cannot imagine getting this kit on a plane in less than that. I had similar session 2 days ago and it took me at least 8-10 pump to get the board up and going. Once it is on a plane tho, the kit is going through lulls fantastically well. I really tok the wind to die down for the board to come off.

More impressions:
About a week ago, I went out in 13-14 knots it seemed. The V8 was set to release plenty at the top with medium+ outhaul. Even overpowered in gusts, the sail was balanced; it was tiring but manageable. The board was flying over the chop and swell. I think the Falcon can easily be rigged with a 8 or 8.5 in stronger wind and still provide a controlled ride. The boom length being this short, I even managed to waterstart after a failed jibe (the luff sleeve wasn't yet full of water though). I used a 57cm slalom fin (stock is 50cm). Doesn't seem to make a difference upwind and I haven't had enough TOW to see if it provides more early planing lift compared to the 50cm. I managed to spin out a couple of time upwind with the 57cm though. Maybe putting too much foot pressure... don't know. Fully powered, the Falcon Lightwind is fast but doesn't seem to be as fast as my 124L AtomIQ. I need a gps tracker to verify. Regardless, I've been on the water planing with a smile in conditions I wouldn't have bothered heading out to the beach. The kit is doing exactly what I was hopping for. The 9.4 V8 is delivering substantially more power than my 8.5 Lion3 obviously.

Next winter, I have to try foiling on rental gear and if conclusive, I might put a foil on the falcon for new lightwind experiments! If anyone has done this on a JP, Fanatic or RRD lightwind, let me know how it went.

WTF - change your country using a VPN like HOLA or SurfEasy, etc - that just sux