Hi All , I've finally got round to buying some lighter wind kit. A 7m cheetah and 107 isonic (2014 the blue one).
Years ago I had a 112 firemove and it never really excited me so I sold it and just had fsw kit from 5.2 down.
I was really looking for a free race board but the isonic came up well priced and local.
67kgs and looking to use this set up in the lightest possible breeze so water should be pretty flat.
Hopefully the non cammed sail will be ok and the board will not be too technical to sail as I've read mixed reviews ! I will be needing a fin and was thinking around 35cm max?
Also any other tips or techniques required for sailing this type of board will be much appreciated. thanks

I have the same board. You will notice that the footstraps are a bit more outboard then you're used to. You will therefore naturally run your boom 1 to 2 inches higher than usual to get the right balance. Once you get it dialed and on the fin they fly really well.

I would recommend a full-cambered race sail or possibly a free-race sail with three cambers and a wide luff pocket, like e.g. the Severne overdrives. A 35cm will be a too small fin for the width of the board, I'm guessing 36cm will be about minimum and you could probably use up to about 40cm for better lightwind properties. It is the width of the board (tail) that dictates the range of useful fin sizes. Lightweight sailors (I'm about 65kg) will need larger fins, in my experience, compared to heavy-weights as we tend to use the board in lower winds and you have to be able to rail the board and to fly it off the fin properly. Mast-foot all the way at back also helps us lightweight to get the nose flying, and then you can use a more practical boom height. The boom can be higher than you think on land, as these board are wide and have outboard straps, this brings you away from the rig and will be fine once fully planning in the straps. An adjustable outhaul is also a must for light-wind sailing, I certainly couldn't do with out one.

Thanks for the reply's and tips, I will have to stick with the free ride sail for this season or at least until I've had a good feel for the board and then I'll either get a cammed sail or change the board to a more free race / user friendly board.Would a adjustable outhaul be worth putting on my cheetah?
I was always under the impression of a lighter rider using smaller fins but makes sense what your saying about going in lighter winds and needing a little more fin.

I am an 50 years average freerider, 70kg max. For light wind closed water i move happily from a 2cam free race simmer 2xc to a 7'5 cheetah. You can rig cheetah for light wind efficiency, for sure less initial power than cambered sail but way more than others no cam i used. Because i am able to pump the cheetah, not the 2xs, i find i am better in light and with max rig, easier in mid wind.
For light wind i always like bigger fin than others around.

HI Surfing UK ,The 7.0 cheetah is a fantastic light wind sail, and I use mine a lot when the ocean is rougher ,the cam sails will for sure be faster ,but the cheetah is almost as fast ,but top speed is sacrificed ,getting use to a new board ,some tuning will be required .
I have a friend with your board ,he uses a 37 .my 67 wide Isonic I use a 38-41 ,
here s a vid of me in 14-17 knots on my slalom 114 RRD with the 7.0 cheetah ,then I tried the 7'8 then later in the vid on 7.0 cheetah on the 105 rocket ,followed by a 6,0 Lion ,because it was a little choppy I felt more comfortable on the 7,0 cheetah vs the 7'8 ,N P.
My friend was on the 7,8 moto ,on a 98 tribal ,I stayed with the 7,0 and 114 ,evenly matched on speed ,followed by Paul on a 5'5 at little lagoon ,I was on a 92 Patrik and 6,0 Lion ,I filmed him on my iPhone ,we had a great week ,trying all types of combos as his gear was very new .my RRD is 2012 model still a great holiday board .

Rule of thumb: the maximum fin size is tail width plus 2-3 cm.
Tail width is measured OFO (one-foot-off, 30 cm from the tail).

Upper wind range is then 0 or +1 cm.
Obviously this depends on the fin profile (thickness; drives up lift) and width (surface; drives up lift).

www.windsurfing44.com/matos/Starboard/2014/Starboard_2014_iSonic_en.pdf

Tail width is 47.9. Starboard recommend fin size of 36-44 for sails 6.2 - 8.6m2. I would suggest those sizes are for slalom sails and sailed powered up at top speed. For someone doing more of a freeride/freerace blast with a no cam I think top speed isnt going to be as high, so a slightly larger fin than those used for slalom would be ok. So for 7m maybe a 37cm. But as fins vary so much in stiffness, profile, area, rake, thickness, its going to be hit an miss just to pick 1 off a website.
Do you know anyone who you can borrow a fin off to narrow it down a bit?

As for an adjustable outhaul on Ezzy Cheetah, I've never found the need. The dont need a lot of downhaul to set them but need more outhaul than most. I dont think they have enough skin tension on the luff panel to support a bagged out sail by letting much off the outhaul. I've always set my Lions/Cheetahs/Tiger on max downhaul on the gauge and max outhaul -1cm for light winds, and max outhaul when maxed out.

Perfect thanks for the link and specs.
What's the difference between the Tuttle and deep Tuttle as I notice I need a deep Tuttle.
I'll see if I can find a used 37cm/ 38cm and just take a bit of a gamble to start with as no one I know has slalom kit.

Perfect thanks for the link and specs.
What's the difference between the Tuttle and deep Tuttle as I notice I need a deep Tuttle.
I'll see if I can find a used 37cm/ 38cm and just take a bit of a gamble to start with as no one I know has slalom kit.

Its just the depth of the head of the fin to spread the load from the fin. Larger fins will have a deep tuttle box. Your board will take either.
I've always felt that up to 40cm a standard tuttle is fin, larger than that deep tuttle. But power box fins have just 1 size and go a lot larger so maybe not so important.
For a standard tuttle fin in a deep tuttle box you just need longer bolts.
I think most 37/38cm fins will be standard tuttle box, which is good as in the future you may want to put that fin in a smaller board which could have a standard tuttle box.

Can you recommend a good fin I can get in the uk as I might have to buy new if I can't find one.Also I'm assuming that free race boards will be Tuttle box , just in case it doesn't work out with the slalom board I'll get a free race and keep the fin.

I can get a new Select S1 Pro Carbon in 37cm , it's described as an all round slalom / free race fin.

I've not use the Select S1 Pro but have used its predecessor the S1 Elite. That was quite upright and I found it made the board rock from side to side slightly at speed. I think the S1 Pro was a similar design to that but with more carbon in it.
The S-Max is their latest freerace fin, taking over from the S1 Pro. Thats why Boardsports have nearly sold out of the old stock.
I've got a S-Max 37cm and quite like it, but its not as good as the way more expensive F-Hot fin I've used, but better than the Select S1 and Drake fins I've used (those didnt contain much carbon, as I wore that away revealing glass at the tip). For an extra 25 quid I'd recommend the S-Max out of the 2.

I'd ignore the 'performance profile' on these descriptions, they seem a bit random.

24-7boardsports.com/select-s1-pro-carbon/

24-7boardsports.com/select-s-max-windsurfing-fin/

You will want to have few fins for different conditions and for finding a suitable combo with your sails. Since you are going with non-cambered sails, then a free-race fins will do just fine. From Select you have eg. the Edge G10, with a better pricing compared to the full-on carbon fins.

I hadn't thought about a g10 fin , the seller said I would get more out of the board with a carbon fin but he didn't know I was just using a non-cam sail.

The plan is to just have one sail with the board and try to cover 13-17knts , I'm pretty light so can usually get going on my fsw and 5.2 from 15knts.
I've got so much kit and hopefully this will replace light wind flat water winging !

Nothing wrong with G10 fins ,

Nothing wrong with G10 fins, but a decent carbon will feel more alive and I can push my F-Hot harder going upwind before it gives up. I use Ezzy Lion sails, not full on slalom.
I've got the Select Edge SurferKris mentioned, in 29cm for Exocet 94l Cross & Cheetah 6m. It was before they had G10 and carbon versions in the range. I guess its mostly glass with 25% carbon. In 29cm size its fine, I'd buy another in that size. They do seem quite slippery through the water unlike some freeride fins, probably because they have a narrower chord.
If you have paid not much money for a 2014 board you could easily spend more money than that on a top of the range carbon fin. A ?110 G10 fin makes sense, or a secondhand one more so. I've seen decent carbon fins in 44cm+ sizes going relatively cheap, as people have switched to foiling in light winds, but they still use 36cm fins and hang on to them.

Many solid points and advice above. I kept my "slalom" quiver very simple - just 1 sail and 1 board and 2 fins. Slightly wider board than yours (116 L, 71 cm wide, tail 49.5 cm), and slightly heavier than you (72 kg). No cams 6.6 m2 free-race sail.

A good 38 cm Z-fins for almost all conditions, especially for lighter days. Arguably that fin was a little too big for the sail, but on a gusty lake it helped a lot on most days.



And a G10 32 cm fin for windier days. A bit too bumpy sea for such a big board. Everybody who was faster was using smaller slalom boards and bigger sails.

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Tardy said..
HI Surfing UK ,The 7.0 cheetah is a fantastic light wind sail, and I use mine a lot when the ocean is rougher ,the cam sails will for sure be faster ,but the cheetah is almost as fast ,but top speed is sacrificed ,getting use to a new board ,some tuning will be required .
I have a friend with your board ,he uses a 37 .my 67 wide Isonic I use a 38-41 ,
here s a vid of me in 14-17 knots on my slalom 114 RRD with the 7.0 cheetah ,then I tried the 7'8 then later in the vid on 7.0 cheetah on the 105 rocket ,followed by a 6,0 Lion ,because it was a little choppy I felt more comfortable on the 7,0 cheetah vs the 7'8 ,N P.
My friend was on the 7,8 moto ,on a 98 tribal ,I stayed with the 7,0 and 114 ,evenly matched on speed ,followed by Paul on a 5'5 at little lagoon ,I was on a 92 Patrik and 6,0 Lion ,I filmed him on my iPhone ,we had a great week ,trying all types of combos as his gear was very new .my RRD is 2012 model still a great holiday board .

This is good to hear, glad my cheetah will work. Your conditions look perfect for slalom sailing !

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Taavi said..
Many solid points and advice above. I kept my "slalom" quiver very simple - just 1 sail and 1 board and 2 fins. Slightly wider board than yours (116 L, 71 cm wide, tail 49.5 cm), and slightly heavier than you (72 kg). No cams 6.6 m2 free-race sail.

A good 38 cm Z-fins for almost all conditions, especially for lighter days. Arguably that fin was a little too big for the sail, but on a gusty lake it helped a lot on most days.

And a G10 32 cm fin for windier days. A bit too bumpy sea for such a big board. Everybody who was faster was using smaller slalom boards and bigger sails.

Thats the set up I'm going for 1 board , 1 sail and will get a couple of fins. Nice clips , where is that ?