Hi,

what you guys think about using a Starboard Kode Freewave 86l from 2017 with an Overdrive R5 5.1qm ?
I mean its a FreeWave board, but one that can go fast.
Last time I sailed this board with a 4.7qm Blade and reached 29kn

I wonder if I can go faster when I would use the Overdrive instead of the Blade. what do you think ? many times I hear that Cam sails make only sense from 7.0qm and bigger.
But why mostly every Cam sail is also sold in 5.1 sizes ? can't believe it's just to have the same rigging also for smaller sails...

the issue could be the fin, as this board has a US-Box, no race fins are available (for a good reason) but the Select Shock Bump+Jump, should be a fast one. I would use the 25cm size. Starboard sells the bigger Boards, also with 30cm fins, but I'm not sure if this will hold when you reach more then 30kn.

And to mention, with 70kg, I'm a light sailor.

the wind you are supposed to use that 5.1 in will be wayyyy higher than the 4.7
If that is your intention, then yes.

IMHO

The race sail is going to be very mast specific and will probably be optimised for Severne's 7 100% carbon SDM mast. Using a different mast will turn it into a slug. Secondly, certain small wave / free style boards will only work with wave sails. The centre of effort is in the wrong spot on the sail and it's power will be too dampened, and this will turn the sail/board into a slug (I learnt this the hard way with a freeride sail). Unless you can verify the combo works before you hand over your $$$$$, I would stick with like for like.

Small, modern cambered sails are far better for strong wind speed sailing than any no cam sail, especially a wave sail!

They are far more stable, controllable and efficient when fully powered.

I understand the Overdrive will work well on the correct length RDM mast.

Would it would work on a Kode? Probably. I have seen others using similar sails on the 86 and larger Kode's at Sandy Point on the speed strip and they seemed to work well. The trick will be finding a fin that can complement the board and sail and will not snap at the base or break the US box.

Look for a nice strong carbon or G10 fin around the 25/27cm. They are around.

For a 70Kg sailor (very close to me) the 5.1m will work well on a speed course from 27-30 knots windspeed and up.

But unless you have reasonably flattish water, pretty strong wind and can run at 120+ degrees off the wind, there may not be much gain.

If you try it, let us know how you go.

hm,

I thought about using that sail for speed sailing, in wind starting from 18kn (same wind I would start using the 4.7 Blade) and on places with just flat water and no waves, but usually chop.
They reason why I think this might by the faster sail is, that wave sails are sensitive, and the race sails are very stable.
So instead of on and off, I can accelerate through the full gust.

didn't thought about the pressure points yet.

yes for fin i want to use the : Select Shock Bump + Jump in 25cm.
should be one that should fit to the board and can go fast.

but as I don't have ideal speed conditions, maybe I should only invest in the fin, and use the Blade's again maybe with some tuning (less downhaul, higher boom, longer harness lines, outside footstraps)

As an alternative to getting the Overdrive, maybe think about getting just a more slalom orientated fin (28cm-ish). This would give you an instant speed increase and not cost a lot either. You should gain a few knots easily.

Although not ideal, the 4.7m Blade should still be good for mid 30's on the right day with the right fin.

Bet when you start getting mid 30's, you'll end up getting a full on small slalom board/sail, going fast is dangerously addictive:)

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mark62 said..
As an alternative to getting the Overdrive, maybe think about getting just a more slalom orientated fin (28cm-ish). This would give you an instant speed increase and not cost a lot either. You should gain a few knots easily.

Although not ideal, the 4.7m Blade should still be good for mid 30's on the right day with the right fin.

Bet when you start getting mid 30's, you'll end up getting a full on small slalom board/sail, going fast is dangerously addictive:)

I've been told by multiple people that FSWs don't work with upright slalom fins - they need raked shapes.

In 18-20 knots you would need around a 6m Overdrive, and a 27-30cm fin.

A 30-35 degree raked slalom/freeride type fin will work fine.

Cammed sails and slalom style fins work really well on FSW boards with my best speeds in the bay on that setup. JP FSW 101, Loft Switchblade and Vector EX. The ride experience is very similar to a slalom board IMHO. I am guessing not all FSW would be the same for example my FSW 101 has pretty much zero tail rocker.

Select to expand quote

Haggar said..
Cammed sails and slalom style fins work really well on FSW boards with my best speeds in the bay on that setup. JP FSW 101, Loft Switchblade and Vector EX. The ride experience is very similar to a slalom board IMHO. I am guessing not all FSW would be the same for example my FSW 101 has pretty much zero tail rocker.

Interesting... I was going by this http://www.fanatic.com/forum/read.php?1,24070,24078

(3rd last)

and what I heard from others as well. Personally I found bigger FSWs are definitely more "freeridey". And FSWs from different brands may have very different rockers obviously.

I did 34.63 knt on a 110L FSW with a 5.5m HSM Gps and a 27cm prepreg weedfin in 25-30knts
gpsteamchallenge.com.au/sailor_session/show?date=2015-12-24&team=105
The Kode will be fine with the overdrive just make sure you sail it in really powered up conditions
*Note - The board i was riding was configured with outboard freeriding foot strap positions not the inboard wave riding position

hi,

after long time thinking and searching, I come to the following conclusion.

I did not find any us box fin for speed surfing in weed conditions.
I tried some runs still with the Blades on that board, and realized that the weed fin I have is a bad one as I reached the same speed on that day with a Thruster setup. (was 28kn, in 17kn to 19kn wind) and big chop.

the place where I can speed surf is full of weed, so fast weed fin is a must.
I was lucky to test a 86l iSonic und could buy it for little money as its an 2008 model.
I also found two older Overdrives: 5.6 and 6.2 which should work pretty well with this board. (wind for the 5.1 is maybe to much for me right now)
Also for this board it's easy to get the fast weed fins :)

so I will keep using my Kode for Bump and Jump plus waves, and maybe one day, when there is strong wind (for the 5.6) I will give it a try just to know how it work (or doesn't) and the others day I will use the iSonic to get speed :) reached already the 30kn on the first try with the 7.0, so 35 is next goal :)

I think because the fin issue, this combo should be way better, also I don't need to switch the footstraps permanently when switching between speed and bump and jump.

thanks for your tips, It helped me a lot :)

Hi, having used the OD's sails in the past from the 4's to 6's they are super stable and they just work straight out of the bag with some fine tuning. I have used all my sails on RDM mast from the Gorilla's to the 90% carbon and they did work well. 7.8 to 5.1 in sizes. I also used to rig them with a 2cm extra on the extension but left about a 10mm ( finger space) gap from pully to block. 7.0 was my favorite size and used it in gust up to 30knots and did go down in size when needed. I'm believe that as long as your comfortable on your equipment anything will work for speed sailing or any sailing in that matter.
Hope this helps.

A few years ago I had a Kode 86, and would sail it with 5.0 and 5.8 Koncepts. It worked really well. I wanted a board that would perform like a high wind bump'n'jump board, without the discomfort of a small slalom board in choppy conditions. The softer rails and nose lift worked well, but the double back straps meant I could still get my heel out on the rail to drive the fin. I can't remember the fin(s) I used, but all in all it worked well...