It's a bit irritating for me as a big bloke to have to justify rigging bigger to all the peewee's and squirts that are the majority of the people who windsurf at my locations. Does anyone here have the same peeve? Somehow they feel you are attacking their manhood by rigging bigger. Often the truth of the matter would be that I'm stronger than these guys, but often it's just the fact that I carry more balast. Maybe I'm rigging too big at times, but often I wouldn't go down in size to what they are sailing. I may rig a sail that has less power, but in a similar size. Do you guys find that bragging rights often seem to hinge on sail size? It certainly isn't very intelligent. A guy yesterday told me that I'll be sailing faster on a smaller sail, going down from a 6.5 to a 5.0. Am I wrong in thinking that he's crazy.

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Originally posted by decrepit

my advice is to ignore them

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You said it

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Originally posted by nebbian

quote:

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Originally posted by decrepit

my advice is to ignore them

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You said it

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Sorry must be half asleep tonight.

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Originally posted by nebbian

quote:

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Originally posted by decrepit

my advice is to ignore them

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You said it

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But I like the voices.

They keep going.......

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Originally posted by Juice

Take some antacid before they give you your anti psychotics it will help stop it getting absorbed.
Ask that they give you tablets instead of liquid medication then you can store them in your mouth and spit them out later.

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Drop the tablet in the styrofoam cup of water they give you, drink the water, and throw the cup away. Surface tension sticks the tablet to the bottom of the cup so you don't have to bow to the wishes of the dictatorship.

Don't ask me how I know this.

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Originally posted by decrepit

Well I'm a lightweight, but I see your problem, my advice is to ignore them, you have to rig to how the sail feels for you, nobody else can feel that!
Depending on how overpowered you are, it's unlikely you'd go faster on a smaller sail. But I guess it's possible if you've got it downhauled inside out, and the top of the sail is just going along for the ride. But if you have to bag the smaller sail out to get enough power that's just creating more drag.

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Thanks for the good post. The actuality was that he was sailing faster than I, using the smaller sail. However, I had a board that was new to me, a different dynamic than I'm used to, and I was not getting in the straps with it for most of the session. He seemed to take some kind of perverse satisfaction in blowing by me, too. He was so practiced with his board, he was in the straps seconds after his water-starts, blasting and jumping too close to me IMHO. I probably did give the sail too much downhaul. Nevertheless, erring on the side of caution doesn't make me feel bad. I had plenty of speed for the situation. The board remains faster than I thought it would be. It just doesn't seem smart to go out and try and break speed records on unfamiliar equipment.

Oooohhhh I don't feel well

Yesterday's overdose on Fruit Tingles has left me with a hangover Hangover

don't worry mate, big blokes get their revenge once it is over 20 knots. Being a big bloke myself, I get a sick sort of pleasure out of watch a fly weight get belted when the wind kicks in and I can stay out and not have to change down.

As for speed and sail size, there is a point where a larger sail has more drag and will not be a fast as a smaller sail. Finian Mainard got the speed record on a 5m in +45 knots of wind. His opinion in a recent interview was that he will need +50knots of wind to break 50 knots. He is not a small boy either topping the scales at +110 kg.

Hey,

As long as you can get well powered up with your sail and you feel in control most of your extra speed will probably come from board trim and working on your stance. I've seen the light weights fly ... I've seen the heavy weights fly ... the ones that fly tend to have the better stance and board trim.

Cheers,

Toz.