How big are people going for light wind foiling?

Where I live, we are plagued with light winds in the summer. I already have a big wing. Currently, biggest sail I foil on is 7.5. I have a couple of 9.5s from when the Formula board was the summer sauce but haven't gotten those wet in a couple of years. Is 9.5 too big?

Edit: this is for plumbing the depths of low wind riding. It may not be a big deal in some places to gain another kt on the bottom end but it is in my neighborhood. Kts are few and far between in the warm months.

I have found sail size goes up exponentially to win another knot at the low end. I currently use a powerful 8.6 (turboGT) in 6kts with the formula and 1200 Lok? wing. In 7kts I can use either the 8.6 with a 1000 race wing, or my 7.0 with the 1200, but on the JP135. The 7.0 / formula combo flies a little later. In my experience, a bigger sail than 8.6 doesn't get me flying earlier, but does help to keep flying in the lulls.

From about 10kts I can fly with 4.8/JP135 or 92L/Lok?1200.

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WhiteofHeart said..
I have found sail size goes up exponentially to win another knot at the low end. I currently use a powerful 8.6 (turboGT) in 6kts with the formula and 1200 Lok? wing. In 7kts I can use either the 8.6 with a 1000 race wing, or my 7.0 with the 1200, but on the JP135. The 7.0 / formula combo flies a little later. In my experience, a bigger sail than 8.6 doesn't get me flying earlier, but does help to keep flying in the lulls.

From about 10kts I can fly with 4.8/JP135 or 92L/Lok?1200.

Thanks for the reply. Since the 9.5s are sails I already own, should I try them or try to find an affordable 8.4-6 to use? I realize that the differences are minimal but it gets desperate here in the summer.

Since 9.2 is the biggest for foil racing, why not use your 9.5?
If you can handle it for Formula, it'll work fine for foil.

I agree, just try the 9.5!

I had a Severne 9.5 I tried to foil with. The issues I found was the size of the sail also increased the weight. Regardless, I found that the gusty winds also made it a little rough to handle once I was in the air. I found a better balance with an Ezzy Cheetah 8.0. The lighter rig made it almost as effective with the Severne 9.5. Not quite as powerful, but once I figured out my pumping technique, the 8.0 did well once I got onto a foil.

curiosity - with an 8.0 or 9.5, what are your wind minimums ??
based on rider weight I am sure ...

With 7.5-7.7 something just below whitecaps. Guessing around 7-9 kts. Helps to have a puff to get going but once up whitecaps not required. I've had days where there was hardly a whitecap. My big wing is around 1000cm2 and low drag.

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joe windsurf said..
curiosity - with an 8.0 or 9.5, what are your wind minimums ??
based on rider weight I am sure ...

The 8.0 I was in 7-11 knot winds at lower air density (I'm at altitude). The 9.5 I was trying in 4-8 knot winds. I'm 85kg

With 8.6 I need a 6kt 'gust' to get going, but can keep flying for a while beneath that, when I'm really up to speed this 'while' becomes seemingly endless. With 7.0 I need 7kts. (Woops I believe I said already) Found out today I can do 3.6/92L/Loke1200 comfortably in 12kts (the 7.8's and 8.6's were leaving because they stood still, only some 9.2's were planing). 3.6 is my smallest sail, so everything between that also works somewhere in between haha. 86kgs and 192cm.

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IndecentExposur said..

joe windsurf said..
curiosity - with an 8.0 or 9.5, what are your wind minimums ??
based on rider weight I am sure ...

The 8.0 I was in 7-11 knot winds at lower air density (I'm at altitude). The 9.5 I was trying in 4-8 knot winds. I'm 85kg

Oops, should have mentioned that while I'm not at IndecentExposur's altitude, still a fair amount (325m) above sea level and it gets hot and humid in the summer so the air is pretty thin. IndecentExposur is way up there. Flying in 7-11 is commendable.

I have to say, I'm at a few meters below sealevel and always fairly cold, so that might change things a little ;). It is also always fairly gusty when it reaches a certain point (normal planing winds), so the 12 kts with 3.6 could also be 7-14, but I don't need the heftiest gusts to get up. In those conditions I really make it a sport to stay in the gust. (so jibe before the gust is over and then jibe in the other end of the gust, and hover/pump from gust to gust sometimes when the gust is over)

i find it really hard to make these kind of "windstrength" assesments when sailing alone, and always measure my early planing by comparing to others or looking at the environment, with 8.6 I can fly even before the leaves start rustling, with 7.0 I need the leaves rustling a little. With 3.6 I'm flying similarly early to someone planing with a 9.x, with 4.8 just before that. Other foilers mostly use 7.0 or 7.8 when I'm on 4.8. I'm reasonably convinced you don't need big sails to fly "early", as the higher the winds, the bigger the difference between what I would rig in normal windsurfing compared to foiling would be. However, in the bare minimum ofcourse a big sail is needed, but the differences become minimal between fairly big steps.

I like to manly use my 7.5. I've use my 9.9 but find it heavy (swing weight sucks) and have only used it once or twice when it was light and flunky <6knots. Did get the skatey feeling of the board lifting up a few inches in a gust but I'm not sure there would have been really any difference with the 7.5 in those condition. I will ad my 9.9 is a 2002 north match race and has seen many hours...so very old compaired to race sails these days. My 7.5 is a 06 and has only been used for one season. It seems to have a lot more pull when pumming and just feels way more crisp and the sail pressure doesn't move around as much. I sail at 253m above sea level and have pritty gusty winds.

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WhiteofHeart said..
I have to say, I'm at a few meters below sealevel ...

Did you close your vent screw?

(Yes, I'm aware of where you live. That strange place when you climb a hill, you find the ocean at the top. One of my favorite places in the world. )

Your post is encouraging me to find how small of a sail I can go in normal conditions. I do go -2m vs regular boards often and sometimes even more. Was out the other day on 5.4 with a friends on 8.5/9.0. I like pulling a 370 out of the car when they are pulling out 490s.

So please tell me what 5.4 fits on a 370 mast?

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mcross19 said..
So please tell me what 5.4 fits on a 370 mast?

Naish Chopper XL (variously listed as 5.3/5.4)