Hi,
I am a 38 year old living in south east Asia. Since living here I tried to pick up windsurfing again. I windsurfed over 20 years ago, was never that good (little bit planing and harnas, but struggling to get in the footstraps), but always enjoyed it :). I am 79kg.
Wind here is light. Once a week or every two weeks 9 maybe 10knots with 12/13 knots gusts
And maybe 1 or 2 times a month slightly stronger. Sea tends to be quite flat outside of the monsoon.
I have here 5 boards available to me. Most I think from the period around 2007,but I am not sure.
The boards are:
-Starboard GO 170l 256x90 with 56cm fin
-Starboard Carve 133l 252x72 with shorter fin
-Starboard Carve 111l with shorter fin
-F2 Thommen Race Course race Xlarge 172l 280x72cm
-F2 large SX 120l 235x75
And sails remaining that are in decent shape (also from around 2007 I think)
- Gaastra Matrix 7.5
- NP V8 8.0
- NP V8 9.0 (if a small repair works out)
Which board and sail combi would be best for early planing and for my skills?
Any benefit from buying a new (larger) sail? Any suggestions?
Or would it be more useful to focus on a newer board first?
Thanks for any advice and suggestions!
^^^ not that... really 6m in 10kn ?
We know that there are two requirements for early planing, a) big sails and b) wide boards -> that is why formula sailing use wide boards and the sail sizes are so big. Oddly enough, a conversation about planing would usually involve body weight, but that is less important when the question is "how light a breeze can I go" [ which is basically what you are asking ] ?
Also worth mentioning, while newer gear is (generally) better, nothing beats sq'm / width. The major difference between old vs new, is things like "more stable", "wider wind range", etc.
Of that kit, I would choose:
- the 170 + 9m should get you going in about 9 kn [ you could also try the 133 if/when your skills increase ]
- the the 120 + 8m should be a bit nicer once the wind gets to 11kn
In both cases, a bigger fin is better because it helps offset the sail size, say around 40-50cm. One little recommendation... if the wind increases a little, rather than "change down" the gear size, you can try a smaller fin of say 5-10cm smaller (ie: 35-40) as that will help with board control.
