Desperate after weeks of windless weather I am looking for light wind performance board.
My plan is to use my ultralight 9.8 cam-less Gaastra or similar size.

What would be ultimate board that? :

- plane in slightest wind ( 8 knotts or less)
- still have reasonable performance
-doesn't cost the earth


I am considering ( in this order; I am 85 kg)

1.- Starboard Ultrasonic 146L, 95cm ( seems to be expensive new one and nothing on secondhand market)
a) JP Super Light wind ( 168L , 91 cm) ?

2.-Starboard Isonic 130L, 85 cm

3.-Fanatic Falcon ( ~ 135L)

4.-Formula board 167L/100cm ? ? ( good priced on secondhand market but difficult to master ? )

A formula board will not be hard for you with a 10m sail, I learned to use it when i was still very poor technically. I had lots of fun in around 13-15 knots with a 10m. Due to the big fin will be a bit harder on the legs. And once you are confident you can add an 11.0

The Superlight is good, I've been planing in 8 knots(?)

The lowest board speed I've have been planing in the foot straps and harness from memory is around 12-13knots

as a heavyweight i always say that planing in 8 knots is a dream
i also do not intend to use larger than 10.0 m2
i agree with elmo that 12 knots is a good cut-off point
am also enjoying my JP SLW92
windsurf buddy is enjoying his SB US - apparently faster

joewindsurfer.blogspot.com/2013/03/jp-slw-vs-sb-us.html

and report on my JP SLW

joewindsurfer.blogspot.ca/2014/09/jp-super-lightwind-slw.html

Just to clarify, 12-13 knots was board speed not wind speed, that was ~8knots

Macro I am a pretty keen formula sailor but not on the Gold Coast Broadwater. To any sandbars and not really enough room. The best light wind board on the Broadwater is a race board.

Could you use a smaller fin in a formula board, something around 50cms long?

ive got a 2010 tabou manta 85 x 233 about 135L if your intrested

Longboards are quick in light winds and get you back in when the wind drops out...you don't need to be planing to get your windsurfing fix

Or is there down the line wavesailing up that way? Had a cracking wavesail on my 105ltr waveboard and 5.2 on the weekend. Wind was 6-10 knots with head high waves.

Don't need big gear to have a lot of fun!

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TheSailingMoose said..
Longboards are quick in light winds and get you back in when the wind drops out...you don't need to be planing to get your windsurfing fix

That looks like a whole heap of fun. What sort of speeds are you going toward the end there?

elmo and others have been known to plane in 8 knots of wind
i have NOT
also have stayed on the longboard route - for really light winds

SB Phantom and other modern longboards are too $$$ 4 me

have a Mistral Equipe I LCS-XR which glides in super light winds - paid $200 CDN
and planes well
i like this video of james douglass in 7-15 knots on his Equipe
(i too stay in the 8.x sail range - no need for monster sails - but can be done too - for races)

I've got both longboard and Jo Slw (big one) with 9.5 sails

I'm only beginner/intermediate. I definitely need more than 8knt - not good pumping! To get enjoyable time on the Slw more 10+ 94kg

For the fickleness on SE qld winter winds I think longboard would be the choice. Nice phantom 377l on Seabreese at moment.

Cheers Jeff

Peter - Have a read from Cluffy as he has both Formula and JP SLW and gives good feedback on these. www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/New-South-Wales/A-magic-afternoon-on-the-big-gear/
From what I've seen the JP SLW is a bit more forgiving for back and forth blasting where Formula is more demanding and better up/down wind performance.
Cheers
Marty

Well, I own two boards advertised as light wind planing hulls - JP SLW 154(not made anymore) and SB US147 (2013). SLW starts planing noticeably earlier than US. I'd say 1-2mph advantage. SLW stays on the plane longer in the lulls. Tested them with the same sails and fins. US is a bit more comfortable in terms of getting into back foot strap. So far SLW gives me better top speed by GPS despite feeling slower. US is more picky in terms of a fin choice, because of a narrower tail it gets overfinned easily. I have not found an ideal mast foot position on US yet. Although US is advertised as race ready slalom board, I find it more similar to a large freeride like an RRD FireMove board (I own one). Again to the contrary of what you read on the forums and such, to me SLW feels more like a slalom board(I own one), than US. I really want US to work better in a wider wind range. Any advice in this regard would be appreciated.

Nigel, unfortunately i don't live in Bermuda. That guys just does some great windsurfing videos.
I have an old longboard, a Tiga something....i've had it up to ~24 knots and the bottom of it is really rounded with hardly any rails.

Watch those trees move - not.

There was a post recently saying two brothers sailing on Formula gear. One had a 9.5 no cam Ezzy sail I think and the other a 10m cammed sail. The 9.5m no cam being softer and lighter got the formula board onto the plane earlier, but was outpaced by the 10.0m once on the plane. Last season I tried my 52 cm JP fin in my formula board a few times trying to get the highest reaching speeds in flat water, but the board would spin out too easily. The 70cm tended to throw me when reaching (I know but had to find out for myself), but I think a 60cm fin could work well. Saves having to buy another board for light wind and on rare occasions I sometimes want to use a formula board for what it is actually meant for! I wouldn't mind a longboard, but it won't fit in the van.

longboards go on the van

This one with a bigger sail - 5.1m

Seems a good idea to have it for a holiday hire centre for something to do in light wind.

Foil seems to be a good catch.... Horue, mako, AHD, ....many of them on the market now.

How many of them are affordable ??
Still too $$$ for me to even look

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terminal said...
This one with a bigger sail - 5.1m

Seems a good idea to have it for a holiday hire centre for something to do in light wind.

The hole in the front of the board seems an odd design. You can see water flowing up over the board from it at low spend. I wonder what the reason for it is?

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TristanF said..

terminal said...
This one with a bigger sail - 5.1m

Seems a good idea to have it for a holiday hire centre for something to do in light wind.

The hole in the front of the board seems an odd design. You can see water flowing up over the board from it at low spend. I wonder what the reason for it is?

It may be that when balanced on the foil, the nose tends to try to blow upward at speed, and with such a long board, it has a lot of leverage.

The design is from 2010. The foil is big, so it does lift in light wind.

I don't think the foil windsurfers are fully developed yet and the AHDs are the only boards designed to be a foil board - the Sealion Wings is a more recent foil design. The AHDs have their own design of mounting box.

I wouldn't recommend foils just yet, but they are already capable of working well in light wind - if you are interested in sailing on a foil. I expect they will become a part of the light wind market over the next few years. Its more relevant if you have a choice of buying a foil for a medium sized board and sails or buy a bigger board, sail, mast, boom.