Let's say you want to slog and ride in light winds, but you want to be able to make it easy (low skill level) especially if wind dies.
Is your weight plus 20lt wave boards too much for this?

In my case i am planning 68lt goya c4 and 82lt quattro cube, i am 63kg, i would like to go out with 82lt and 4.8 - 5.2 sails. Or should i just forget about 5.2 and use 75lt?

Weight plus 20 L is good for slog and ride. With that much extra volume you won't be able to turn the board if enough wind to plane out, but if most of the wind in your sail is apparent wind when riding, then the board should still be easy to turn. Concentrating on good technique in your bottom turn allows you to have enough speed for the top turn even in ridiculously light conditions.
I'm unfortunate enough to live in a low wind area so slog and ride is most of my sailing. At 86 kg I use a 116 L for drift and ride with a 6.7, a 105 L for slog and ride through to planing conditions with a 6.1 and a 5.5, and a 95 L as soon as there's enough wind to plane consistently with a 5.2.

20lt plus is fine. I've also a 5.2 for lighter winds in my quiver but I try to avoid using it. For me with 73kg I have found out that it brings no advantage to use a 5.2 when there is almost no wind or the wind is very light. Depending on the wave, I prefer to take the big board (93lt) and a 4.7 or in fast waves even the 4.4. This is more manageable, easier to pump and the 93 Quatro Cube I currently own turns excellent in this setup.

This is a weird one to answer with any certainty, because it depends where you sail.
Float and ride can for some people mean picking up a wave you cruise shorewards on, whereas true float and ride means DTL sailing at speed and with multiple turns on the wave face.

With cross off winds and choppy faced waves you might find +20litres over your body weight in kilos is the absolute maximum for float and ride conditions.
But for cross on, where the wind is marginal and there is a lot of white water - and maybe currents - then you might go even bigger.

With cross off conditions you simply need enough float to catch the wave, because you then get the extra apparent wind in your sail.

In cross on conditions you still have to pick up the wave, but then you get little extra sail drive from apparent wind if you want to go down the line. This apparent wind factor will also vary with the speed and slope of the wave on offer.

I'd also suggest the board rocker line and the board length and width have some say in what works best. High rocker helps you turn but can slow down the board's early planing. A flatter rocker probably works better for cross on.
The longer length board - rather than a stubby - probably works better for bigger waves and for use with sails over 5.3m.

If you wear a winter wetsuit then you also need more float than when wearing boardies.
Similarly, your rig weight makes a difference.

82 which board? Some boards are smaller than others. +15/20 should be fine for most applications.

Problem with upping volume is how bouncy and resistant to carve hard the board becomes.

Then you have wave type and sailor's style.

A bigger board can erase some mistakes in one way but also hinder carvability.

As you can see from my test page, I tried the same board but with different volumes, didn't really notice much difference using the same sail size.

82+4.7 can pull pretty strongly in 15-20kts for 63kg. You can also rig or use sails with punch.

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philn said..
With that much extra volume you won't be able to turn the board if enough wind to plane out, but if most of the wind in your sail is apparent wind when riding, then the board should still be easy to turn.

Sorry my mistake, maybe not slog and ride, actually i want to be planing most of the time, there are mostly kiters and wing foilers at the spot and i don't want to mess up the quee being out of plane on the way in when wind is light. And if wind dies floaty board would make things easier to go back to beach.

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Basher said..
This is a weird one to answer with any certainty, because it depends where you sail.

Planning to use these boards in Mauritius mostly, side - sideoff 1,5 - 4mt reef break, good amount of current, choppy.

Volume is important if you're big or use big sails. It becomes unnecessary if not distributed so as to plane early.

For the same sail, so long as it falls within a board's specs, the freewave board should always be faster than a wave board even a big one.

You can also play with fin size to extract the last little bit of grunt.

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Sea Lotus said..

Planning to use these boards in Mauritius mostly, side - sideoff 1,5 - 4mt reef break, good amount of current, choppy.

I think Basher gave the best answer. And now knowing that it's cross off reefbreak I think you'll be better off with the pyramid than the cube.

9'6" sup at around double my weight in volume.

The question I ask myself though, if the winds so light, why aren't I just surfing.. that's what I would normally do in under 12kts.
12kts and up (cross offshore wind) you can wavesail a board of similar volume as your weight.

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Basher said..
With cross off winds and choppy faced waves you might find +20litres over your body weight in kilos is the absolute maximum for float and ride conditions.

If its choppy, I doubt its float and ride - especially for cross off. Some Cross-off spots here looks like skate board park bowls up to about 16-17kn

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GeorgeyG said..


9'6" sup at around double my weight in volume.

The question I ask myself though, if the winds so light, why aren't I just surfing.. that's what I would normally do in under 12kts.
12kts and up (cross offshore wind) you can wavesail a board of similar volume as your weight.

That's a great picture. I presume that it is strapless. Can you get that beast planing ? or is the intention to bob around at the line up and catch a wave?

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GeorgeyG said..


9'6" sup at around double my weight in volume.

The question I ask myself though, if the winds so light, why aren't I just surfing.. that's what I would normally do in under 12kts.
12kts and up (cross offshore wind) you can wavesail a board of similar volume as your weight.

Been down this road too. Never could and still can't surf; mostly due to worn-out body syndrome (WOBS) but in reality just really suck at taking off. If it's light I prefer to paddle as getting around the break is a hell of a lot easier than with a sail, then add getting ya act together after taking a hit and surf-SUP makes a lot more sense to me.

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Henners said..

GeorgeyG said..


9'6" sup at around double my weight in volume.

The question I ask myself though, if the winds so light, why aren't I just surfing.. that's what I would normally do in under 12kts.
12kts and up (cross offshore wind) you can wavesail a board of similar volume as your weight.

That's a great picture. I presume that it is strapless. Can you get that beast planing ? or is the intention to bob around at the line up and catch a wave?

Yeah it has no straps and doesn't really plane even when it's windy.
FYI I fell off shortly after this photo was taken! haha

I'm 110kg and have a custom 125x65 that I use for float and ride and planing conditions. Skill level medium.

I did a bunch of test a few yrs ago on purely "schlog and surf", in side-off..around logo.(not the same in less ideal condition..like side-on)75kg. Rented back to back same day. 75 to 105L board and for my 75kg..I was best on a 90L board.Wind was 12kts probably...so needed to uphaul. Rented 4.7-5.0, then 5.2 and 5.7. My best sail was the 4.7 fallowed by the 5m. Bigger than that was making board and sail less manageable.

The other setup I like a lot is a SUP(Sealion 8'3) and a 4.7...that is super fun also!!

I'm around 63-65kg and I would just like to add that modern multifin boards are changing things. With traditional (single fin) boards it used to be hard for me to keep the rail down properly (front side) with anything above about 80 liters. My preferred board was instead a 62 liter EVO that I would use even up to a 5.3 sail, rather than having to use a larger board in lighter winds.

With a quad or tri-fin set-up the front fins will really help to keep the rail in the water and my largest board is now a 90 liter Cortex. This planes much earlier (than the 62 liter board) and it also keeps the speed much better in the turns. I have not had any issues with getting it to turn once I changed the front fins to a little more toe-in (K4 fins). In twin mode I have had problems with instability in more draw-out lines, but that goes away when I use front fins. So Tri-fin settup with lots of toe-in is now my preferred lightwind set-up. It is very nice for 4.7-5.3 sails (can use larger sails but there is no real gain) and for higher winds I go to a 77-liter starboard quad (still a floater for me) and can use that all the way to fully powered 3.7 weather.

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SurferKris said..
I'm around 63-65kg and I would just like to add that modern multifin boards are changing things. With traditional (single fin) boards it used to be hard for me to keep the rail down properly (front side) with anything above about 80 liters. My preferred board was instead a 62 liter EVO that I would use even up to a 5.3 sail, rather than having to use a larger board in lighter winds.

With a quad or tri-fin set-up the front fins will really help to keep the rail in the water and my largest board is now a 90 liter Cortex. This planes much earlier (than the 62 liter board) and it also keeps the speed much better in the turns. I have not had any issues with getting it to turn once I changed the front fins to a little more toe-in (K4 fins). In twin mode I have had problems with instability in more draw-out lines, but that goes away when I use front fins. So Tri-fin settup with lots of toe-in is now my preferred lightwind set-up. It is very nice for 4.7-5.3 sails (can use larger sails but there is no real gain) and for higher winds I go to a 77-liter starboard quad (still a floater for me) and can use that all the way to fully powered 3.7 weather.

Hi. Following last post, I want to insist in that new big boards turn as never before. I can turn tight my ultrakode 105 very easily. I live in a very light wind place with very few windsurfers and too many surfers, so unfortunately I'm all the time thinking how to get more days on the water. Sup surfing for me is good below 10 knots. Above that I take the sail for float&ride or windfoiling.

Regarding float&ride, I weight 69 kg, and I can uphaul on a 90 l board, but I prefer a 105 wave board or SUP board than a 90 l when I get into the water alone in winter for float & ride in 11-12 knots. I can uphaul easier and come back without any problem. For wavesailing, although the pros can do everything with a sup board, the surfing is much much better with a wave board of the same volume.

Another advantage of a 105 l wave board for me is getting planning earlier without increasing sail size. I hate sails above 5,3 m2 and with a big wave board you can get some more knots with an small sail.

Obviously, the 105 l wave board is not a polyvalent one for me, it's only if you can have an additional second hand board for these specific conditions. If we have these good turning big boards now, why don't make our sport a little bit more confortable?

105L 70kg



Now the conditions were nice but a bit soft. In more hollow conditions I would be intimidated to throw my board at the lip.

Amazing how much I can work the wave though, I haven't had this many turns since forever! Maybe 4-5 at the most.

Had an experience yesterday, really good sideshore with just a little bit of onshore wind, perfect for getting out and coming back. All the usual suspects were on 6.2-6.8, I was powered on 6.6, everyone was around 115L. Waves were mostly small but there were a few 4-6 footers that I dropped in on.

Saw a sail that I thought was one of the guys I knew wayyyy upwind. Don't know if he launched there or what. Anyway, during a lull I was waiting for a little gust and this guy went blasting by me full tilt on an inflatable starboard windsup. I didn't get a chance to talk to him but it looked like he was a little bit bigger rigged but having a great time.

When we were back at shore de-rigging, everyone was talking about that guy. Seemed like he was having a lot of fun too.

"Too big"?
When it's clumsy to drop in and you can't turn it.
Add in the factor of wave steepness, speed, size, and how quickly it breaks.