After seeing Cluffy skidding along in light winds on his JPSWL, I got to thinking (yep, bad idea...
) that would an oldish formula board give simular light wind fun / performance?
I weight only 75 kgs and can plan in pretty light winds (say 13-14 knots) on my 75 cm wide slalom board and with 6.6 cammed sail, so could I simply put the 6.6 on a wide formula board and plan in even less wind- say 10-12 knots? Or do the formula boards not sail well with smallish sails? ATM, the 6.6 is the biggest I have.
I'm basically thinking of maximising light wind fun, and would prefer not to deal with too big a sail. I'd be brave and try a 7.2 maybe. Big sails scare me...lol
Cheers for any info
Formula Board and a 8.5+ sail at your weight will get you flying in 8knots of wind.
8.5m sails seems large if you usually use a 6.5m, but remember is is super light wind and once you are used to it, it is actually difficult to go back to sailing under powered.
Just remember to make sure your sail is tuned correctly as this is often the difference between a ton of fun and wasting your time.
since you donut have the bigger sail nor board ...
perhaps you can get the bigger sail first
i weigh a lot more - 100 kilos
i put a 10-oh on an 80 cm wide board and this was okay, butt i wanted more
tried it on a longboard and it was better - wanted more
now have an older 94 cm wide BIC Techno Formula with 10-oh
planes early, butt is not too fast - feel like i still want more
early planing + speed = formula or SB US it seems ....
I sailed my formula with a 6.3 its a bit ridiculous. I was trying to keep up with someone who was learning to sail.
You can get into the straps but it does not feel at all right. Kind of like what I imagine its like if you put a lawn mower engine into your car.
Put a 8.5 on your 75cm slalom board is what I would do. If you get a formula board either get a 8.5M to use on both or just get a suitable formula setup.
A 6.6 on a 75 slalom is at the bottom of the range for that kind of board (I use my 6.3 on it too and its great fun) But your not getting the best out of it on that size sail. I tried a 9 on mine for a while which was fine, but 8.5 was a better fit.
My understanding of formula boards and even my own JP SLW is they are designed for bigger sails and smallers sails don't really feel comfortable. My own experience with an 8.2 sailworks NX on my JP was a bit of pain down the back leg from an uncomfortable stance. This was my fault really for running harness lines that were to short and my boom height to low. My JP feels perfect with a 9.6 on it and an 8.5 would be great as well once it was set up correctly.
There are 4 of these stratocruiser style boards on the market I know of, actually 5, I think bic makes one as well? anyway for a guy of 75kg's with an 8.5 you will have a blast on one of these things. I won't lie to you, for an old fart like me the 9.6 severne 5 cam wall of grunt can be hard yakka at times but it is definately worth it and it is getting easier as I get used to it. Brett morris is dead right about tuning your sail correctly, with bigger sails especially it makes all the difference.
Chatting to some of the formula guys from marmong they reccomended one of the older starboard formula boards. The guys assured me they are easy to sail and still go well, and can be picked up quite cheap. I think however that a 6.6 on a formula is going to feel like trying to stand up paddle an oyster barge.
An old starboard formula and a second hand 8.5 will give you the board for fart planing and a sail that can swap over to your 75 wide when the wind comes in a few knots.
My15yo (<60kg) son bought formula sb 161 and a 10mtr code red recently while at the down under pro. He first sailed the formula with his 7.8 techno rig. He has been using the code red now and reckons that it is easier to hang onto that than the 7.8 in a bit of wind on the formula. My guess is the bigger sails just work better on formulas and a smaller sail may not be easier..
Excellent info guys, thanks heaps. It sounds like- if I go the formula rout- the older models are more forgiving and a bit more like Cluffy's JP. And a bigger sail is definitly on the cards. I do tend to sail underpowered more than over powered, largely due to inexperience, but a big sail, from what I can gather, can actully be easier to handle as the conditions you rig it up for are genereally lighter. Plenty of food for thought there.
Thanks again.
The key for these big sails is to use an "Easy Uphaul". We have one guy who is over 70 (very fit nonetheless!) and can still uphaul his 12m race sail with one of these.
www.easyuphaul.com/
You can buy them in shops, or a lot of people make their own.
Modern sails around 8.5m are really light in the hands once on the plane and in the harness. The shorter boom lengths (cut out clews etc) have helped with this.
cheers
james
Uphauling a big formula sail is not really a problem, buy or make a easy uphaul. Being short and wide they are very stable and you can scissor the board into position with your feet easily. Also big cammed sails are easy to hang onto with one hand when you want a rest, they dont flap about even in strong wind so you can just stand on the board, leave the sail sheeted out and balance quite easily to catch your breath. Using my son as the example again he says its easier to uphaul the bigger sail on the formula then it is on his techno due to the above.
From my experience a formula is probably the easiest board to tack, I find it easier to gybe than a smaller board or a long race board even with a big sail. What I love most about them is you can sail anywhere you want and you can use them in a huge wind range.
Phil, I'm not sure if a no cam is the way to go for your big sail. Even a 2 cam free race is going to give you more light air grunt than a no cam I think. The conventional sized luff pocket sails are not to bad compared to say, my severne, which holds about 5 gigalitres of water lol.
Not sure about the formula side of things but I am 90kgs and have HEAPS of fun on the JPSLW with my 7.5 Ezzy Freedride3 (no cams). As others have said I wouldn't use a smaller sail than that on it but I also wouldn't go much bigger. I use it in very gust 10-20 knot winds on a freshwater lake and it is good, trips to the coast where the wind is steady and the water salty and the board and sail combo are perfect.
