64 posts
All that is written here is very familiar and IMO indeed part of the windfoil learning curve.
I ride a Balz 899 1300 cm surface wing all the time and should go to the 799 sooner.
At 85kgs and sailing on choppy flat water(only just venturing into waves and that is indeed a game changer, porpoising all over again) is that for me a large stable wing like the 899 actually helps in 20+ knots if you go really down in sail size. Above 20 knots I would be on 3.7 or 3.5. Like that the speed remains the same as with a 4.7 sail at 16 knots but the gusts become easy to handle.
I sail wave sails all the way but keep them tight leeched with minimal downhaul. 4 battens. In the small sizes I find a softer 3 batten sail to be pure bliss and much easier to handle the gusts than a stiffer more direct sail. I would try smaller sails before reducing the front wing in size.
For me positive shims helpedto keep the pitch more stable in the beginning but you tend to foil out more abruptly and add drag. I have no more shims now and the setup is noticeable faster and less prone to foiling out, but my skill and comfort zone (important) did expand over time.
grtz
