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Eugenius 2.0 said..
A very important factor for taking off in very light winds is the condition of the water surface. There's a big difference between a flat water surface and a rough one.
On the island, we have several stations a few hundred meters from each spot, where, in addition to cameras to monitor the sea's condition, they also measure wind parameters: direction, average speed, maximum and minimum gusts, and history with graphs from the last two hours. These are fantastic tools for understanding the performance of the equipment in each water and wind condition.
To give you an example, we have a more sheltered spot where the water is fairly flat, and another open to the sea, where choppy seas and waves are generated with the slightest breeze. With exactly the same equipment, in the first spot, the takeoff is always very easy and in the second spot, it is always much more difficult, requiring more technique, physical effort and more wind to do the same.
It seems to me that your PTM926 is similar to my Balz Pro 969. Using the same board and the same sail, I need a minimum of 3 knots more wind to take off in the choppy spot than in the flat water spot.
With the 1250 wing I can take off with about 4 knots less than with the Balz Pro 969. Keep in mind that the technique of taking off in light wind is a coordinated combination of pumping the sail and the foil appropriately.
The 1250 is a wing that was initially designed to do dock start pump foiling, so the most important thing for taking off in light wind is to pump the foil efficiently to generate lift (and this wing has a lot of it)
Exactly flat water allows a quicker take off than bump and jump conditions, with 1 correction that a well timed wave or swell can help to get on foil while this would not be possible otherwise. But I'm fairly sure this small advantage doesn't outweigh the disadvantage.
I would mind going slower and I understand I will need to pump with the feet.
Before when I was using the Infinity I also liked the Infinity 99 cm in position C for little wind and/or the wind dropped (even with a bigger sail).
One thing I noticed and said many times to other foilers that didn't understand me :
On salt sea water I had big benefit from the Infinity 99 cm because of the pumping movement.
Of fresh inland water I have no benefit from the Infinity 99 cm compared to the Infinity 76 cm. I assume the extra drag equals the extra lift.
To me this seems logical because of the higher density of salt water.
Always been amazed I'm the only one to notice this. Someone else too ?
The Sabfoil 1100 or 1250 had good specifications but perhaps for avoiding problems with the M8 / M6 screws I looked for an alternative within the Phantasm range.
Anyone good or bad experiences with such big wide foils 1100 or 1250 on a Phantasm fuselage.
I was thinking about :
- E1090
- G1007
Maybe there are others too.