What sort of wind speed would work for a ~100 kg guy on a 4m wing? I have a 6m wing and I am wondering if I would ever need to get another smaller wing. The ease of handling and weight would be major bonuses, but if I cannot use it outside of a cyclone, then it seems pointless.

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theSeb said..
What sort of wind speed would work for a ~100 kg guy on a 4m wing? I have a 6m wing and I am wondering if I would ever need to get another smaller wing. The ease of handling and weight would be major bonuses, but if I cannot use it outside of a cyclone, then it seems pointless.

105kg and for me a 5m is the sweet spot. But I live in WA which is relatively windy, depends on your local conditions. I have a 2.8, 3.8, 5 and 6 quiver.

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hilly said..

theSeb said..
What sort of wind speed would work for a ~100 kg guy on a 4m wing? I have a 6m wing and I am wondering if I would ever need to get another smaller wing. The ease of handling and weight would be major bonuses, but if I cannot use it outside of a cyclone, then it seems pointless.

105kg and for me a 5m is the sweet spot. But I live in WA which is relatively windy, depends on your local conditions. I have a 2.8, 3.8, 5 and 6 quiver.

What wind speeds / conditions urge you to take out the 3.8?

Similar weight and my go to is the 3.8m. Use it in 17 knots plus.

Only have two wings and that covers all my bases. Anything extra is just a luxury item.

Depends a bit on board and foil of course, but for me at a bit over 100kg with wetsuit and using Takoon v2 hand wings:
4m - 20 knots is comfy to get going, 17kt is more work than I want to put in. Gusts to 30kt comfy, sustained 30kt starts to be a bit much, time for 3m.
3m - only used once, when I quickly found myself overpowered on the 4m. 30kt sustained, gusting 40kt. Can't wait for some fall storms to go ripping with this wing again.

6m is my main daily driver, works nice up to about 20kt. Wind is not stable in my area so find the 2m gap to the 4m too much. Started with 7m and 5m v1 Takoons, also found the 2m gap there ok a bit marginal because the 7m has very limited high end compared to 6m v2.

If I could do it over from scratch, my quiver would 6m, 4.5m, 3.5m. As is probably just gonna get a 5m v2 to fill the gap.

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theSeb said..

hilly said..

theSeb said..
What sort of wind speed would work for a ~100 kg guy on a 4m wing? I have a 6m wing and I am wondering if I would ever need to get another smaller wing. The ease of handling and weight would be major bonuses, but if I cannot use it outside of a cyclone, then it seems pointless.

105kg and for me a 5m is the sweet spot. But I live in WA which is relatively windy, depends on your local conditions. I have a 2.8, 3.8, 5 and 6 quiver.

What wind speeds / conditions urge you to take out the 3.8?

18 to 22 knots. Solid wind. It is a very good wing. PPC.

Let's agree to disagree shi thead. This whole sport is a luxury!
I have a 2.8 3.8 and 4.8 and use them all often. Only 95kegs though.
4.8 gets a lot of use at tail of the sea breeze season. I've been out on 2.8 a fair bit this winter. 3.8 my favourite hillys is always out when there is the slightest breeze so I reckon his wings all get a fair bit of use.

Thanks everyone. The wind will be 17-27 knots tomorrow, according to Windy. This is not unusual, except this summer which has been exceptionally windless.... probably because I bought a foil board.

So, it looks like the man maths is solid here and a 4m wing would be a good idea.

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TimLang said..
Let's agree to disagree shi thead. This whole sport is a luxury!
I have a 2.8 3.8 and 4.8 and use them all often. Only 95kegs though.
4.8 gets a lot of use at tail of the sea breeze season. I've been out on 2.8 a fair bit this winter. 3.8 my favourite hillys is always out when there is the slightest breeze so I reckon his wings all get a fair bit of use.

Fair call TimmyLittleWang, we all come into the sport from different perspectives. Having been a windsurfer many years ago I always hated having too much gear and wasting time trying to work out which sized sail, board , fin.to use. Nowadays if I can get away with as little gear as possible it makes it all the better for me. Hence the "luxury" perspective is all about keeping it as minimalist as possible.

At 95kg (probably 100 with wetsuit etc.) i started with a 6m, then got a 5m 2 months later, then got a 4m about 9 months in.
6m is for 10kn+ with some stronger gusts to get on foil
5m is for 15-25 -> it's what i use most often for my local conditions
4m -> 20 to approx. 30kn... i got this when i realized i couldnt have as much fun on the 5m as i wanted too

When its over 30kn (e.g. bottom wind is 30 and it's gusting over 40) i dont have the skill level or the willingness to go into potential dangerous conditions. I tried a few times and the 4m was overpowered in the gusts, board flipping over with near wing tears, potential foil impacts, etc.

I think you'll build a quiver naturally as you progress in the sport. 6m was great to start with - i needed to be overpowered trying to get on foil. Once i got better, the 5m was what i needed for 'typical' wind conditions in my area. Then the 4m was to expand my fun riding conditions. I probably use the 5m 55% of the time, the 6m 30%, and the 4m 15%.

It might be possible to use a 2 wing quiver with the new wings (e.g. 6m and 4m OR Glide Aluula) but that's an expensive investment when you're learning and not good enough to use that level of gear.

I'm ~95kg but always in a wetsuit so probably 100kg.

BRM 4m starts around 16-18kts and can go to 30kts but I prefer the 3m above 25kts.
These are low end biased wings with good top end but not built to go fast.