Finally got around to assembling some clips from spring/summer last year on the free formula.

Great video. Love clear water. Can't believe you went over the reef with a formula fin. What size fin where you running in the vid?

Thanks Dean!

The fin is a 63cm one, kinda just aim for the gaps and hope not to get trapped! I've clipped with a 50cm fin and at very low tides best go around! My brother found out the hard way 6 years ago and ripped a 54cm fin out the box and 7 miles away from home!

Lucky guy! Nice play ground.

It looks like you have plenty of competition. I would be interested to hear how a free formula board compares with an A Class, AC45 and a foiling moth for speed and height.

I have lined up against a moth on my forumla gear and am alot faster but about 10 degrees lower. Similar VMG.

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Sunnyboy said..
Lucky guy! Nice play ground.

It looks like you have plenty of competition. I would be interested to hear how a free formula board compares with an A Class, AC45 and a foiling moth for speed and height.

I have lined up against a moth on my forumla gear and am alot faster but about 10 degrees lower. Similar VMG.

I have to admit as much as we don't really get awesome wave conditions, or at least very rarely for slalom sailing we have it really good!

So I've not tried sailing with the AC45's and to be honest would be difficult. They just go so deep off the wind and close up with crazy speed there is no chance. Apparently the guys on Oracle said to a mate that only a foiling kiter can match windward / leeward with them and I'd believe it!

With the A class cat I could smoke him off the wind and for sure on the reaches, upwind I got smoked on the day, but was struggling being overpowered on the 10m and not sure the free formula is a match, maybe if it was lighter?

With the moths they have about a 7-10 degree angle up and 10 - 15 downwind on me with similar speed. On a reach in light wind can be close, match or slightly faster, pretty sure in medium would be faster. It is hard to know as with all these sailing guys doing beam reaches is not in their agenda which is frustrating if you want to Gopro them!

My mates in the moths say beam reaching is hard work when any sort of breeze forms, so whenever I make ground on them they bugger up or downwind where I can't match their angle!

The free formula probably isn't anywhere near a formula for angles and speed. I find upwind I need to take the rear foot out of the strap being too inboard and put it on the rail. All the moth footage I am just about planning, sometimes the rear foot right next to the front just to keep it going.

It would be awesome to be out on a slalom board in 20+ knots to join them, but they don't purposely sail in that amount of wind! But the BAR AC team is going to sail out of our club this winter in their Phantom foiling cats and moths perhaps so might be a chance to meet them and join them on the water.... maybe get a ride on a foiling cat!

This was the other vid from the summer on the longboard.

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Sunnyboy said..

I have lined up against a moth on my forumla gear and am alot faster but about 10 degrees lower. Similar VMG.

With your formula kit you wouldn't beat them around a course would you? I have only briefly tried formula kit and it's just way too beasty for me! I think the future for light wind racing has to be foiling, if it could work with 8m race sails would be a game changer. I sketched some ideas, just figuring how to put in practice!

On a windward leeward course a moth would win due to better VMG.

If it makes you feel any better, I have been attempting to sail formula windsurfers for four years and only recently feel that I am starting to tame the beast.

The correct sail / mast combination, the perfect amount of downhaul and the best fin money could buy, makes a massive difference.

But once it all comes together, it is awesome.

On a windward leeward course a moth would win due to better VMG.

If it makes you feel any better, I have been attempting to sail formula windsurfers for four years and only recently feel that I am starting to tame the beast.

The correct sail / mast combination, the perfect amount of downhaul and the best fin money could buy, makes a massive difference.

But once it all comes together, it is awesome.

I was thinking why is sailing so much about upwind/downwind VMG? Windsurf racing often is about downwind or figure 8 slalom.

Formula just seems like a process in brute strength for sure, hope it changes at some point with foiling!

@scottydog ...

freeformula vs SB 377 - which gets used more and which is the preference ??

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joe windsurf said..
@scottydog ...

freeformula vs SB 377 - which gets used more and which is the preference ??

So for 2015 the SB377 got used more, partly cause it was new and fun but also because I needed to practice longboard stuff. 2016 will be interesting as I'm not planning any racing, but I suspect the SB377 will win again as it's more fun to sail.

The freeformula for me is a necessary evil, in 12 - 15 knots it's fun for distance sailing but with the huge 10m hard work. The only caveat is I have used it a few times with my 8.4 in stronger winds and it was a hoot! So it's likely I'll use it a whole lot more as a result. If I get an Isonic 107 then be a nice mesh with the FF and the IS 80 IS 90.

But yeah the Phantom is my preferred ride, but ff gets picked if I want to sail with moths etc.

Nice videos, thanks. Good to see fun light-wind sailing

@scottydog

wish more people , especially heavyweights like myself, set up their quivers in the same manner as you and i
(for those living in lighter wind conditions)

1) longboard - like your Phantom or my Mistral Equipe - with mid size sail or bigger
2) large freeride with big sail - like our FreeFormulas - mine is a JP SLW92 - with large sail 10+
3) smaller speedier freerides/freerace/slalom - like our SB iSonics 107/117L

as another windsurfer said to me - anything else is just gravy ...
(have a smaller board and some smaller sails to practice)

goes from little wind to over 20 knots with LOTSA fun ...

Hey Joe

up to them really, big gear is pricey (if new).

I certainly think many of the local guys at our spot would have a good time on at least on sails up to 9m. I also kiteboard so sometimes get split trying to decide. Last weekend kited the Saturday and windsurfed the Sunday. I got a great shot jumping behind a windsurfer, bit like drone footage!

Had a great weekend last week, hoping for the same this weekend!

Put together a short vid of myself out with a newcomer to our island, think she was pretty stoked by the number of turtles we passed!

Did the Bart's Bash on Sunday, was a great turnout and good fun! Was great to see how much quicker the moths and kites would be on the up and downwind course, almost half my time on the Phantom 377.

I was thinking to use the slalom kit, but the sheltered course layout with many islands and almost exactly up and downwind wind angle put me off doing so. They staggered the start with the keel boats, we got lighter wind for the first part so I imagine the windsurfers times would have shaved 5 mins off what we got if it was as it was a bit later.

Windsurfing is the king of all wind powered machines! Love how we can just zoom by and pass so many people.

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Magic Ride said..
Windsurfing is the king of all wind powered machines! Love how we can just zoom by and pass so many people.

Almost king or former king!

The moths and kitefoilers left us for dust right from the start! Perhaps if the wind was a different angle we might have had the chance to keep sort of in touch.

The issue is slalom windsurfing has a relatively narrow range so if windy and on the right gear should be able to compete or even be quicker on reaching type courses, but the minute there are significant lulls, tight up or broad downwind legs it all gets tricky!

Been off the water with an annoying rotator cuff injury, however got a new GoPro so was keen to test out. Also put together a vid with the big foiling AC45 cat's!