I'm just after peoples experiences and preferences when it comes to full on high wind sinker boards . ( Not light wind )
After speaking with a couple of Pro riders opinions differ as to how low to go in Ltrs compared to body weight .
one guy is on a board with half his Ltr compared to body weight and says that he feels it's easier to control under his feet in deep water and another is only 20ltr under . Both also commented on board shape as being an important factor when going low .

what are your real world experiences please !

I find it easier to stink bug start the smaller boards. As long as the wind is consistent, my 40 ltr board (half body weight) is not much harder then my 85ltr board.

I had a few tentative goes starting on my 40ltr 155cm/5' kite foil board with my 76kg and 66 years. It was easy enough to get into position using the stinkbug method but I never really had enough wind or commitment to get going.

My last two sessions were in 25-35 knot winds and after a couple of abortive attempts, during a bit of a lull, I nailed it and had excellent sessions of 90 minutes each. Once up and foiling everything is easy.

The first session was with a 5m wing, 1495cm foil and 17.5" tail. The second with 4m wing, 1150cm foil and 14.5" tail.

I think the 5' length and the stinkbug method is the key. It's pretty easy to get to my knees and get the nose up a bit to get moving. Using my elbows to stabilise the front of the board and the wing as a float to keep the nose up but not roll off the back. After that it's just having enough power to stand and get up on the foil.

The difference is the dept required to foil. 50% vs the 65% your body weight, requires a significantly deeper and more wind to get going, in some spot it's a major issue, in some not.

The secret to riding a sinker (half your body weight) is the wing pump. You need to pump efficiently on you knees and not miss a pump as you stand up. This will allow you size your wing
without being overpowered all the time.

I'm 70kg and had the Cabrinha 36L 4'6 Autopilot, was fun but hard work getting going and nearly impossible to land jumps so sold it. Just got the 44L 4'5 Cabrinha Link and it's chalk and cheese. Dunno if it's the shape or extra 8L volume but gets going so much easier and pops back up on foil nicely after a jump in good wind. Super stiff and so good on a wave, definitely keeping this one.

hoovering between 98 and 94 kg 188cm tall.a 4.9x22.5x 60l was impossible to start for me while my KT5.4x22x56l is almost my go to board when 5.5 is okay powered down to 40knots+ with a 3m as long as it is relative consistent.The extra length helps with balance and the gliding phase soo much more as the shorter boards that I,m jhappy to carry that half a foot extra length.

Cheers guys

For water depth, I started practising with a 70cm mast and my favourite beach has a sandy bottom. Doing the sink start worked surprisingly well if the board sank so deep that the foil was sitting on the bottom.

For my first successful stinkbug start I was at a a different beach that had lots of rocks, but I knew exactly where the rocks were. I walked out to chest deep and standing on the reef, then paddled a few strokes further out. The stinkbug only sinks the board a small amount.

Once I had the start method wired I switched to my normal 95cm mast and smaller foil. Again I walked out to chest deep, lay on the board and paddled a few strokes into deeper water.

Touching the bottom wasn't an issue but there was a fair bit of thought about how it was all going to play out in terms of starting and coming back in and escape routes and all the rest. It's the middle of winter here so I was wearing a 6mm wetsuit and booties as well.

Board length decisions should also consider rider height? I imagine that taller riders (me) will tend to exert more pivoting force to toe or tail of the board as they have more leverage, thus making correct board trim for takeoff more sensitive to achieve.

At 72 kg a 32 L board is easy for me to get going when it's windy. But as we don't have consistent strong wind conditions too often this board has remained to be a luxury item that I even rarely bring along with me. As a freeride board it's wonderful to have a thin and responsive board under your feet, adds quite a bit of magic to the ride. I don't have the pressure or the need to get going super instantly if there happens to be a lull in the wind. Anybody more anxious would likely be better off with a bigger size unless it's properly windy.

Our onshore wave spot has big enough waves that do block the wind (that is quite fluky close to the shore to begin with) near the water level, and there the low volume really starts to be a problem. With a board that's 10 litres less than body weight it's easy to stand up and raise the wing where there is more chance for the wind to come through, the same is not happening with a 32 L. With this one it takes more time to wait for a pause between the sets, hoping the wind comes through eventually. Quite a bit less of a problem when the wind is side shore.

For me the added benefit of the sinker is the weight and the maniability , it's probably cool to make big jump and ride nice wave other than that i dont get the utility , ive only had a few ride on my 48 liters (prone foil board) for 85kg on flat water only.
I think you can get the same benefit on special board ,like the kt ginxu with the reduced thickness on the foil box to get back some maniability , same goes for thin width , soon there will be probably hybrid board that offer most of the what the sinker low volume had to offer for 1 or 2 kg more. Shape are getting better every 6 month , the trend of dw take some of the sinker , bulbeous nose on the sinker probably help a lot therefore sinker are getting more user friendly and so on.

Volume that extracts the least effort for pleasure,
Nice size front foil to suit your welght/ conditions.
Smallest wing ding possible.
That's my ratio for lumps ,bumps and swell.
Not interested in sinking at all... (Can't see the benefits) Or twirls.

Select to expand quote

Dick Dastard said..
The secret to riding a sinker (half your body weight) is the wing pump. You need to pump efficiently on you knees and not miss a pump as you stand up. This will allow you size your wing
without being overpowered all the time.

that's interesting and i think you are right. explain in a tad more detail the "how" from your perspective.

My learnings were do not go too short in board length and know the stinkbug start ..... 110kg 6'3"
1. 40L 4'6" ...... not a chance, Could not balance forward or backward
2. 48L 4'9" ...... hard work but do able (but I need a solid 15+ knots)
3. 51L 5'10" ...... super easy to plane because of the length
4. 75L 5'2" ...... super easy to plane because of the volume

Thanks for all Of the replies