I'm using a Bic Tahe Techno 185 board. I normally have my Ezzy sails - Elite and Zeta. Recently I decided to try my Sailworks Flyer 7.0 with a Ezzy Hookipa 430 90% mast.
When I tried to rig the sail at the beach I didn't see anything on the label suggesting mast extension length so I decided to just take a guess starting at 12. The luff was badly puckered so I started going up until I reached about 28. I'm using a waist harness. I found that the boom height seemed higher than I'm used to. The luff still seemed slightly loose but not too bad.
This sail has 2 cams which compared to my Ezzy sails I've used had a deeper draft. It seemed to have a lot of power for light wind day, 10 mph or so. I found the cams needed coaxing during tacks or gybes. With light winds it was a non-planing day but I just wanted to get more TOW even if the weather isn't cooperating.
When I got home I found a rigging video by Bruce where he says use a 40 cm mast extension. I was shocked and I'm wondering if I go with that mast extension length, hanging onto my boom is going to be like reaching high riding a Harley Davidson chopper - arms over my head. Due to a motor vehicle accident, I have a spinal injury that causes pain if I reach high.
BTW: 68 yo, 197 kg, height 5'10", old and decrepit and not a very good windsurfer but I'm trying to get more TOW and focus on improving my gybes. 4 sessions on the water last week.
I'm thinking maybe I could try to increase the mast extension to 30 cm on my next session. Any thoughts on the correct mast extension height? I ended up using my waist harness really high because there's no way I could have hooked in with my seat harness. I'd rather be using a seat harness though. What problems could a "too short" mast extension cause? I think at 30 the luff will be tight but my boom will be about as low as it can go.
Do you have the 2018 Flyer or a later version? The 2018 has 4 battens but 2019 and later have 5. The correct mast extension length on the 2018 is 31cm but on later editions the aspect ratio is higher so the luff is longer and you'll want 41cm on a 430 mast.
I'm assuming you're actually 97kg not 197kg - if so we're built similarly. I'm also 68, 102kg and 5'11". For me, and most heavyweights, the 7.0 Flyers actually work better on 460 masts which are stiffer. If you happen to have a 460 Ezzy you could use the 460 top and 430 base which would be ideal in terms of stiffness and bend - Sailworks and Ezzy are both Constant-Curve but Sailworks tend to like a slightly stiff-tip mast within the CC range. A good guide when rigging is to get the looseness at the top of the leech to just past the half-cog. That gets the sail flatter and while you may lose half a knot at the low end you'll gain three or four at the top end and pointing.
As far as not having enough extension length, the cams won't rotate well (which is what you experienced) and the leech won't twist off properly so you'll be overpowered as soon as you're powered at all. That'll be fine for pooching around in 10kt but very twitchy with poor pointing ability as soon as the wind is any stronger than that. The Flyer from 2019 and later is actually a very nice free ride sail on a fin if you set it up pretty far back in the mast track. At our weight on a Techno I'd be very happy on a foil from 11-16kt and on a fin wouldn't really be overpowered until it was over 20kt.
Yes, hahaha, 97 kg. I bought it from Sailworks maybe 4 years ago (2020), not sure. I just checked and it indeed has 5 battens. I also checked and found I had not installed any of the shims (2, 4 or 6 mm).
When rigged with 30 cm mast extension, and with the boom as low as it can go, I believe the boom was close to shoulder or chin height. Using the 430 mast, how high is your boom? Do you set it as low as possible or if not, how much higher?
Although I'm not looking forward to reaching higher (due to neck/shoulder injury) maybe I need to trying going to 41 cm or at least something very close to that. After my last session I backed out the allen screw adjusters a bit on the 2 cams to ease the rotations. Maybe if I go with the taller mast extension I'll need to bring them back in a bit. I'll also give a try with the Ezzy 460 upper section which I assume would use a much shorter mast extension.
Do I understand you put a foil on a techno? I have a Slingshot Levitator 160 that I tried foiling on a few years ago. I could not get up on foil except for maybe 10 to 15 seconds followed by erratic yawing right, left, right, left then crash. Later I took a private foiling lesson for 2 1/2 hours, (very far from home) which I found disappointing. My instructor would windsurf near me give me just a brief suggestions and then go off 100 yards away practicing helicopters, etc. 25 minutes later he'd swing by with just a few more comments. I never got up on foil even briefly. I had done much better on my own without an instructor. That's when I set my Slingshot aside and said maybe I'm not ready for foiling.
I wonder if using the same big foil (I think they called it the 99?) on the Techno would be easier than the slingshot Levitator?
On Seabreeze I keep reading posts from lots of guys my age and above claiming foiling is far less taxing on the body which has given me renewed interest - hence I'm dabbling with my Flyer but for now on a fin board.
The longer extension setting should not change the boom height much at all, since you add more downhaul tension. The amount of free line at the bottom should remain the same (~ 2-3 cm or less). You only move the boom up to the extend that the luff sleeve below the boom is wrinkled with the incorrect lower extension setting.
As for foiling, most newbies need about 10 sessions before they start getting decent control over the foil. Some need many more. This assumes enough wind in each session - you'll need a lot more wind (and/or sail) than experienced foilers. Often, the progress in one session is quite noticeable, but sometimes, it's more like one step forward, two steps back.
Boardsurfr has it right (no surprise there) about boom height - it'll stay about the same.
Your Techno will work fine for foiling, up to a point, especially with a massive wing like the i99. A few things will make it easier to get the thing flying:
Set the Fuse up in "C" position.
Set the boom higher than you think is necessary. I run my boom at nose height or lower for fins but up at eyebrow height for foil except when I'm overpowered.
Set the sail's mastfoot all the way back.
Harness lines as long as they'll go - 36" isn't too long
Remove the back footstraps
If your techno has the forward inboard front strap inserts start with those. You can go back and out later.
These things all tend to make the thing foil up earlier so be ready to apply mastfoot pressure and front foot pressure to keep the nose from rising too early. You'll want to be able to slide around on a fast plane, barely above the water, before you start asking the board to really lift out. If you don't apply mastfoot pressure, that big wing will lift the board before you're going fast enough to stay lifted, and you'll pop up and then slam down, which sucks. Sheeting in is your friend. When you sheet out you lose mastfoot pressure.
The Levitator will be more maneuverable and controllable in the air, but the Techno will actually foil up pretty early because the longer waterline gives you a higher hull speed, so you can be half foiling/half planing til you get used to the whole deal. Don't believe all this BS about foiling in 10mph on a 4.7. Yes, maybe, once you're skilled, but at the beginning, especially for a heavyweight, power is your friend.
Once you're "taxiing" - on an easy plane with the board kind of skimming along but not lifting, a little stomp with your back foot will ask it to lift out. Control height with your hip position - forward for lower, backward for higher. It is indeed much, much easier on the aging body than finning, once you get used to the scariness.
Adjustable harness lines can help with the boom height and light wind. Getting the boom a usable height would be better but you can lengthen the lines. This makes it easier to hook in and out when your plodding around or the wind is gusty.
Thanks for the suggestions. I think I'll be tinkering around a bit more to try different stuff/settings and see
how I can dial things in. I'd love to get foiling though!
