Any advice on the size board you can go down to if you wing somewhere (inland) where the wind has a tendency to drop to 5/6 knots, so that it isn't possible to foil back and you are reliant on the volume of the board to get back.

Volume (litres) >= weight (kg) + 10 works for me. When the wind drops to five knots I drop to my knees and sail back by pumping the wing. The foil adds buoyancy plus the wing can by used as a pontoon if there is no wind at all.

Thanks, and what about if you wanted to not have to drop to your knees? Would +20L be enough?

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r0d said..
Thanks, and what about if you wanted to not have to drop to your knees? Would +20L be enough?

Yes I reckon. I am on +15 and can bob around standing up, when the wind dies.

Best to go a little too big than going a little too small.

Whats the advantage of having something you can stand on when the wind dies? Cant you just paddle the board to the shore with the wing dragging behind you?

At 105kg dry, I run a Naish 6'6" 140L for the occasional gust days, cause typically you are standing around with a BIG wing.
I can sail it or foil it quite confortably (no knees required).

The only time I am glad I am on a 6 6 125l board is when I foil past the guys on tiny boards swimming due to lulls In the gusts they are ripping.

If you are going offshore to DW and the wind drops or the wing bladder explodes , nice to be able to stand up paddle back in ( if you have your paddle strapped to the wing )

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Cygnify said..
Whats the advantage of having something you can stand on when the wind dies? Cant you just paddle the board to the shore with the wing dragging behind you?

Good point. Most folks can prone paddle a board 1/2 their weight. Of course you wouldn't want something that small unless you have expert skills, as getting up and going would be a pain. For stand up paddling, my limited experience is +25-30 . I think when going below, the SUP experience isn't as fun.

I guess the point of my question is that it isn't so much fun to prone or knee paddle back in <10 degrees temp. Much more comfortable and confidence building to *know* you can wobble back standing, particularly in the middle of winter (UK).

Hence the question.

I'm still really interested in people's experience and how many litres (+/- body weight) you think you need.

For lite wind condition winging, I chose a specific 120 L SUP 6'0". I weigh 90 kgs, and wanted a board with the least weight as possible. A clerk at the local windsurf shop recommended the F-one rocket SUP. It has much less weight than my previous board (Naish 120 L) and gets on foil much easier. I don't have much trouble to stand up paddle it . The board definitely helped in progressing at wind challenged locations. I didn't knee start initially, just would get up from a prone position. Started doing this more recently as want to drop 15 liters and go to 5'6". Typically your weight +30 is doable to learn.

Well then it's more about what you can comfortably paddle back in on standing up and for me at 85 kg 6ft 1 and 62 years old a 125 litre board is good but a 110 is not. So I need plus over 30. Plus of course you need to discount the weight of the board so my 110 litre board is only really about 15 to 17 kg of reserve buoyancy once you account for a big wetsuit. Ok in calm water but not easy for me in chop. Board shape and width is important as well of course. My 125 is the door shaped 31 wide Naish hover and probably the most stable shape around.

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tomooh said..paddle back in on standing up

You take a paddle?? I just lie down and paddle, better into the wind than standing.

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hilly said..

tomooh said..paddle back in on standing up

You take a paddle?? I just lie down and paddle, better into the wind than standing.

Well I probably would try to take a paddle if I ever plan to go on a longer sail, so far I have Only been a few hundred meters from the beach, when I need to paddle a distance I tend to sit on my board and use both ends of the paddle, kayak style, by burying the handle end deeper it works pretty well.

The Nash kites have Velcro on the boom specially for strapping a paddle. I never tried using them. I'm sure you could rig up any kite if needed.