I am a windsurfing enthusiast, weighing 100kg, and I have been into it for about a year and a half. My first board was the Starboard Phantom Free 207. In the first year, I reached a top speed of 38 kilometers per hour, usually around 25-28 kilometers per hour, as the wind is not strong enough, usually around 13-14 knots. Only in particularly strong winds can I wear both front and back foot straps, which is not easy. This year, I bought a second-hand Fanatic Falcon 159L, and I can only wear the front foot strap. When the wind is strong enough, I can run at a speed of about 38-40 kilometers per hour. Most of my friends think I am too aggressive and suggest that I should buy a Gecko 156 to continue practicing. I am now debating whether to buy a 156 liter or a 148 liter board?

Get in that back strap! It's what keeps you on the board.

Get in that back strap! It's what keeps you on the board.

I was 95kg and had a falcon 159. The straps are very outboard so you need to be powered up to get in them. I found it a surprisingly easy board to sail. Trick is to get in the rear strap before you going to quick, I normally get going, front foot in, hook in, then bear up slightly so I can put more weight in the harness then put rear in. Oh and bigger fin makes it easier to, I run a 50cm most of the time with a 9.4overdrive, perfect easy blasting in 11 to 15knot

I use a Falcon 159L and currently have two fins, one is 46cm and the other is 60cm. However, the wind here is often not very strong, so it's difficult to get into the back foot strap. I'm considering buying a 10 square meter sail.

100 kg is not too heavy. I'm 115 and have no problems. Loosen your straps and place them forward and inwards as much as possible. Then move them outwards slowly when getting more confident. Unfortunately the Falcon has its straps closer to the edge compared to the Gecko. Us bigger guys don't need to hang off the side of the board. The board should be flat when comfortably planing , not carving on its edge. That just sinks the board and makes it feel smaller. Big fin and get used to pushing against it with the board flat. The sensation is great and you go faster . Im different to most ,by putting my back foot in the strap first. Just point downwind a bit for a second to do this. I easily slog with my front foot at the mast base and pulling down on the boom. It's not that uncomfortable. Having your back foot in the strap allows you to control the back of the board and you pull up with the back foot , stopping the tail from sinking. Then your ready for action instantly as soon a gust comes. No chance of catapuuulting and trying to find straps when taking off. It's easy to then put your front foot in. It works for heavy me , could be worth a try.

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Imax1 said..
100 kg is not too heavy. I'm 115 and have no problems. Loosen your straps and place them forward and inwards as much as possible. Then move them outwards slowly when getting more confident. Unfortunately the Falcon has its straps closer to the edge compared to the Gecko. Us bigger guys don't need to hang off the side of the board. The board should be flat when comfortably planing , not carving on its edge. That just sinks the board and makes it feel smaller. Big fin and get used to pushing against it with the board flat. The sensation is great and you go faster . Im different to most ,by putting my back foot in the strap first. Just point downwind a bit for a second to do this. I easily slog with my front foot at the mast base and pulling down on the boom. It's not that uncomfortable. Having your back foot in the strap allows you to control the back of the board and you pull up with the back foot , stopping the tail from sinking. Then you're ready for action instantly as soon a gust comes. No chance of catapuuulting and trying to find straps when taking off. It's easy to then put your front foot in. It works for heavy me , could be worth a try.

I'm about the same weight so thanks for the tip! I have a techno 185d and a super ride 146l. My biggest sail is 7.5 so maybe I need to go a bit bigger there. When I used to sail in the late 90's, sail sizes were so much smaller.

Here in Thailand, loads of great foil conditions - but 4m tidal range so often find myself choosing the fin again, the thrill never dies
Have JP SLW 165 + Fanatic Falcon 2022 LW 159, love them both
JP has a freeride pedigree so more passive to build speed and find the straps, Falcon has slalom pedigree so need technique to get into straps earlier then drive board onto the plane, JP will allow smaller sails and floats through lulls better, Falcon prefers more power and offers more of that edgy slalom buzz but not too hard to sail (tho I was on isonics for ages, so decent technique)
(Interesting that big Falcon discontinued, now they do a more freeride version instead)
Both 165 &159 are about 90 wide, and wide tailed, so more demanding in rough water
Hence just bought Starboard Carve 159 - 82 wide, pulled in tail - somehow feels like a 139 on the water!!
SUPERB board, highly recommended to progress on, but a keep forever board, not a "beginner barge" at all
You can cruise along or accelerate, smoother in chop than the 90+ wide boards, eats the lulls, and plenty quick if you push - stock fin is ok, but a slalom fin brings it to life
I'm 63 and 95kg, usually windsurfing alone here further out to sea, away from kiters & wingers, and dodging coconuts, crab pots etc etc - so I want control, play, touring, and enough speed but without risking catastrophic crashes
All 3 boards do the job beautifully, in slightly different ways
Gotta love windsurfing

I had an old carve 121 that was very easy to get in the straps and a good gyber as well

With the description of conditions you sail in provided, inclined to say go for the bigger board. But it also sounds like you're at the stage of figuring out technique. You might find that's the majority of what you actually need, time on water.

All the boards you've mentioned are actually around the same size, But as boardsurfer said, the straps are more outboard on the falcon than they will be on the gecko, which will make it harder to get confident with hooking the back strap. I know you're already able to hook the back strap, but it sounds like you might be at the stage where hooking it isn't automatic, I remember spending half of my runs thinking about trying for the back foot strap, perish the thought of actually trying, and when you finally do, all the weight shifting around with your back foot trying to find it, quite often you end up coming off the plane. Add to that the light winds, really not a good time.


if you are able to plane around with the front foot in the strap, then having the back foot in the strap is only going to have you going better. It's a matter of working on technique for getting it in and having it become second nature. The gecko will certainly be easier to learn that on. You could also learn it with the falcon but it'll take more time and perseverance. A bigger sail always helps with staying on the plane, what size are you using now?

I Wish i could say i ride small boards ,but my most used board at 100 kgs is my Patrik 140 Frace and a 8,6 metre sail
but my 9,5 Ezzy Lion has been wet a few times ,its a big sail ,and certainly has a huge amount of grunt ,and is a great sail in 11-13 knots
Good thing about the 9,5 is ezzy has made it to rig on the 490, i use this for my 8,5 ,so not other masts required ,
a 46 -47 carbon fin improves your lift

I am light, low level and windsurf often in lac light changing wind. I make me longer boards (last one is 270cm) with flat scoop, i easily find straps. Every time i use mate short boards i struggle with straps.
I try one time starboard phantom free, i find it easy to use. May be you should stay with your phantom free but with a more powerful rig so you plane and put on straps quicker.

Your board size is OK.
Your board isn't.

Replace it with a Freeride board of a similar size. 150 to 165 will suit.
Then move the straps inboard.
Slalom boards straps are unfriendly.
I am your weight and sail for some years and still don't care for Slalom boards.
I found Patrik 155 fride to be particularly friendly for my size (6.5 - 102kg).
Liked Fanatic Shark 165 a lot. JP freerides are nice too. Didn't like RRDs.

I'm only 70kg and ride mostly JP SLW 165 in flatwater light wind spot. Going smaller doesn't always make for bigger fun, definitely not at my location.
Lots of great tips given here.
I'm about 4 years in and still struggle sometimes getting the back foot in, on smaller or bigger boards.
As mentioned above, 'time on water' will help.

Surprised that it's the 62kg windsurfer having to say it - for big guys, inboard straps aren't that inboard. Outboard straps are even more difficult because of your larger foot size. My 43 size boots don't have my heels hanging down in the water when I'm in outboard straps.

fwiw, the last time I tried the back foot in first (exiting a planing jibe), I got violently chucked over the handlebars as there wasn't much to counter the pull of the sail. I've not done that again in the past eight years and, while I've catapulted foiling, etc, that particular episode has never repeated even when sailing in some pretty powered up conditions.

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liuwenlong said..
I'm considering buying a 10 square meter sail.

There's some great tips in here already and probably the best one is more time on the water (mainly means more days, not necessarily longer). I'd like to add that whatever you decide to do, don't go with a massive sail like that unless you've tried all other options first. It's not necessary faster as it's so heavy and you'll get more efficient while you learn so just stay on your current sail for now until you've sorted the board and back strap.

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ptsf1111 said..

liuwenlong said..
I'm considering buying a 10 square meter sail.

There's some great tips in here already and probably the best one is more time on the water (mainly means more days, not necessarily longer). I'd like to add that whatever you decide to do, don't go with a massive sail like that unless you've tried all other options first. It's not necessary faster as it's so heavy and you'll get more efficient while you learn so just stay on your current sail for now until you've sorted the board and back strap.

I agree about the big sail. Unless on a long board or a formula board, 10m is too big. It pushes down too hard and is less efficient. Even for heavy me, my 8.7 planes just as early as my 9.4. Same brand and type of sail. The 9.4 will move the board slightly faster when non planing. But that's no fun unless on a long board. I've tried the super big sails, and they just don't work on normal boards. 8.5 ish would be as big as id go.

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Imax1 said..

ptsf1111 said..

liuwenlong said..
I'm considering buying a 10 square meter sail.

There's some great tips in here already and probably the best one is more time on the water (mainly means more days, not necessarily longer). I'd like to add that whatever you decide to do, don't go with a massive sail like that unless you've tried all other options first. It's not necessary faster as it's so heavy and you'll get more efficient while you learn so just stay on your current sail for now until you've sorted the board and back strap.

I agree about the big sail. Unless on a long board or a formula board, 10m is too big. It pushes down too hard and is less efficient. Even for heavy me, my 8.7 planes just as early as my 9.4. Same brand and type of sail. The 9.4 will move the board slightly faster when non planing. But that's no fun unless on a long board. I've tried the super big sails, and they just don't work on normal boards. 8.5 ish would be as big as id go.

Agree with the not too big a sail sentiment 8.6 is as big as i'd go too. But if you're using say a 6.5m, going for something bigger will help when you're trying to keep on planing. Anything much bigger than that can sometimes be counter productive, much harder to get going

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Imax1 said..

ptsf1111 said..

liuwenlong said..
I'm considering buying a 10 square meter sail.

There's some great tips in here already and probably the best one is more time on the water (mainly means more days, not necessarily longer). I'd like to add that whatever you decide to do, don't go with a massive sail like that unless you've tried all other options first. It's not necessary faster as it's so heavy and you'll get more efficient while you learn so just stay on your current sail for now until you've sorted the board and back strap.

I agree about the big sail. Unless on a long board or a formula board, 10m is too big. It pushes down too hard and is less efficient. Even for heavy me, my 8.7 planes just as early as my 9.4. Same brand and type of sail. The 9.4 will move the board slightly faster when non planing. But that's no fun unless on a long board. I've tried the super big sails, and they just don't work on normal boards. 8.5 ish would be as big as id go.

Answer of what kit for light wind average level windsurfer is in Imax1 post. You need an enough big sail, but to be able to use it at your technical level you need an enough "easy" big board. From what i learn not a short ultrawide but a longer with enough wide, so board will carry easily sail and rider, glide to plane gradually by itself let you put on footstraps.
Liuwenlong i think you should keep your phantom free, that is a bit long and wide, and try bigger sail, look at 2 cams power freeride sail, they are still light and easy to use but with power to go planning passively. At 70kg my sail for 10 to 15 knots is a 7'8 simmer 2xc on an custom hybrid board (180l). At 100kg I bet you need more than 8'5. May be you can find rsx rig 9'5 for cheap to try.