Hi,
Looking for some feedback.
I have a Kona One Design Longboard/Raceboard.
Looking for a good light wind sail solution.
I currently run a 7.5m Ezzy Zephyr with adjustable downhaul and outhaul as my general conditions sail.
I run my biggest sail, a Simmer 2XC as my lighter wind sail. (Which is being replaced with a BIC OD 8.5 next week).
The difference in performance of these two sails in light conditions is only maybe 1 knot earlier planing with the 8.5.
But it has more drive off the plane and for lighter wind than the 7.5. Not by a huge margin though, but enough to make it worth having the 2 sails.
It seems from looking at sail range charts that there is a bigger difference between sail size increments at the strong wind end of the scale, than at the light wind end.
Anyhow I am looking at a 10m KA Formula sail as a light wind sail. My goal is to be able to plane a lot earlier than with the 8.5.
If it could get me planing at 7-8 Knots would be great, and decent sub planing right down to 5 knots.
Is this realistic or am I dreaming?
Am I going to notice much difference between an 8.5 and the 10m?
I am an Intermediate sailor weighing in at 82KG.

Cheers,
Ken.

From my experience formula sails are not great when used on a longboard.You would be better with something that has a tighter leach for the light winds, eg Severne Raceboard 9.5.Forumla sails have a lot more battens,

PS is right. The Bic OD sail may be better than a FW sail in light winds.

lightwind is different for many people and locations
when we speak of 15/16 knots MANY combinations plane well
at 12 knots we are already starting to get specialized - Formula, longboards/raceboards, wide big freeride/raceboards
and these all plane fairly decently in those winds
where it gets interesting is 10 knots and down ...
on one outing in Montreal, Sailboarder was out on his Kona One with a 9.5 sail and I was on my Fanatic Ultra CAT with an 8.5
at 10 knots and under, the old longboard glided better and seemed faster
when the wind picked up a bit the K1 seemed a little faster - but insignificantly and we wondered if that was due to the bigger sail
in even more wind - surely the K1 would have taken off
all this to say that all pieces of equipment make a difference in the light stuff
in terms of the sail ...
i have used a MauiSails TR-4 10 m? sail on some of my longboards
i do NOT like it if the wind is too light - makes it awkward working with such a heavy sail
if i had a 9.5 racesail like the Severne or even a 2/3 batten freerace, that would be my goto sail
as i have several 8.x sails - that is what i am currently using on my longboards - this goes well in wide range of conditions
i start in about 10 knots and go as high as about 18 with a longboard and 8.x sail
will change out at 15/16 to another combo depending on the day ...
i tried to write about this on my blog and hope it helps ....
joewindsurfer.blogspot.com/2014/10/light-wind-section.html
good winds !!
may you always have 12+ knots and not need to worry about more equipment

Lost my desire to ride my Kona in light winds once I had a go on an old raceboard. 95kg weight 8.5 sail

Ended up with a raceboard to explore those light wind lake conditions. The lighter sailers are faster on wally one designs in similar conditions than me out with a 9.5 raceboard sail.

If your looking to fill the lightwind gap that the Kona looses out on maybe better spent looking for an old raceboard, wally or go SUPping?

The delema is then what to take out in marginal conditions?? Well now Kona gets left behind because I pack raceboard and a shortboard for when wind gets up

Friends experience with formula sails suggest they are not longboard light wind sails

Cheers Jeff

Thanks Guys, Appreciate all your feedback.

Kona is not known for early planing, 7-8 knots? You are dreaming, 5 knots? better be using an old battenless sail.

I have an old Tiga Race that I'm using to get my sea legs back before I go play on the formula I have.
Ive been using Sailworks retros, 6.5 and 7.5
I would guess that at 10 knots wind, using the 7.5, I can just get the board to plane with a few pumps to around 11 to 15 kmh ( on the Garmin Quatrix) it's probably not fully planning, but the wake is clean off the narrow tail, it's not digging in. With a 9.5 retro I'm sure it will go!

The sails seem to accelerate pretty easily & aren't too heavy, & very easy to rig.
next season I'll buy the next size mast & get the bigger sails 8.5 & 9.5.
What I like is how easy those sails are when the wind comes up. A big range. The board starts to get squirrely on the tail at 30kmh in a 20knot breeze and two feet of Sorrento Port Phillip bay chop, but the sail is so easy to hang onto. At 55yo I need all the help I can get as I'm hanging on for survival at that speed rather than sailing.

Select to expand quote

blazing928 said..
I have an old Tiga Race that I'm using to get my sea legs back before I go play on the formula I have.
Ive been using Sailworks retros, 6.5 and 7.5
I would guess that at 10 knots wind, using the 7.5, I can just get the board to plane with a few pumps to around 11 to 15 kmh ( on the Garmin Quatrix) it's probably not fully planning, but the wake is clean off the narrow tail, it's not digging in. With a 9.5 retro I'm sure it will go!

The sails seem to accelerate pretty easily & aren't too heavy, & very easy to rig.
next season I'll buy the next size mast & get the bigger sails 8.5 & 9.5.
What I like is how easy those sails are when the wind comes up. A big range. The board starts to get squirrely on the tail at 30kmh in a 20knot breeze and two feet of Sorrento Port Phillip bay chop, but the sail is so easy to hang onto. At 55yo I need all the help I can get as I'm hanging on for survival at that speed rather than sailing.

Nice looking Tiga Race man!!!
Looks immaculate, got any other pics of it?
Not seen one before.

And Yeah the SW Retro's do look good.

Cheers,
Ken.

Hey kenny have you thought of the 9.5 ezzy cheetah .?
i recently brought a 8.5 cheetah ..great balance and can be bellied out .
nicely built and fairly light ..stoked with mine .great speed .

Hi Ken
looks a whole lot better in the photo.....
I have redone the bottom with new glass to fix the dings, then 2 coats of Permanent Painted Coatings 2 pack whitecoat.
This is a urethane paint that goes super tough, yet flexible. I then sanded it back to flat, but will eventually polish it one day.

I also had to fix a soft top around the mast, which the black anti slip covers! Slowly replacing the aged foot straps, but I struggle to get in them as they just don't suit me. Im still learning to sail the board.

From my research I get the feeling they are high wind boards, and it doesn't really glide too well in light winds, the tail sinks down quite easily if you don't get far enough forward. Best speed has been 34kmh in about 20knots with the 6.5 retro. I sail out of Sorrento, so it always pretty lumpy when the wind blows. At that speed it can get a bit squirrelly at the tail as you surf over the chop; still working out how to control that. At 55 I'm a bit weak, but strength & skills are improving....