Women favorite windsurfing rig?

[U2U2U2]

[bigred100]

Can't directly answer your question, I'm not as small as your wife (140 lbs) and have decent upper body strength for a chick. However, I'm really interested in the answer, especially since I end up giving lessons to smaller women and don't always know how to help them get comfortable in heavier winds.

Personally, I figure a lot of the 'strength' in windsurfing has to do more with leverage, tapping into your legs and core, than with your arms/upper body. When I get worn out sailing I usually figure it's a factor of lack-of-skill (not enough weight in the harness), sailing way overpowered in gusty conditions, or falling a lot and having to waterstart repeatedly. With students, I assume a lot of fatigue is from uphauling. What's the deal for your wife? What does she need the lighter kit for, if she's primarily waterstarting already? Which part of sailing gives her the most trouble where rig-weight is concerned? Thanks for your answers.

Of the sails I've tried (not enough), I always like Ezzy's and think of them as "softer" than average, which for me means they tend to accelerate more smoothly instead of being immediately "on" in a gust. This tends to make waterstarting easier as well. I do sail in a gusty lake, and I would guess all the adjustments we do for gusts and lulls might also tax the upper-body.

Ps. I second the thoughts below. Of the guys I sail with, I always know who likes to sail 0.5 m bigger or 0.5 m smaller than me in given conditions and rig accordingly. Most of this difference I attribute to weight (there are small guys too!) but some is just preference.

Pps. Your wife is lucky! I need to find a man who'll comb all over the web to find the perfect 4.7-5.0 sail with all the for trimmings me. That rocks : )

[PeconicPuffin]

On the RDM question, my wife (110 lbs) never sails what I'd call fully powered...she's looking to plane in moderate conditions and is happy to be in the footstraps. She isn't trying to go faster than anyone or hold down an overpowered rig, so for her "sail performance" is about lightness and easyness to jibe.

She loves the RDM masts...first time she used one she said "get more of these". She liked handling it in tacking and waterstarts and whenever she needs to grab it. That it isn't as floaty hasn't been an issue (her clew sinking has been, though...she's going to try a "waterstarter" next Spring.)

[vtm81]

BigRed100,

My wife is still not efficient with her waterstart skills. This means she can spend 10 mn trying waterstart.
When she can no longer waterstart, she climbs on the board and uphaul.

That's when she is complaining about the rig being too heavy and also on her way back to the beach, she is so exhausted that she finds the rig heavy.

Maybe I am misleading everybody (including myself) on the rig requirements. Maybe she just needs more time in the water to practice her waterstart? I don't know.

[swchandler]

Although I might be offering a view here that seems anti-windsurfing, it's only an opinion based on my observations.

If a person is failing to waterstart successfully most of the time, they're doomed sooner or later to quit the sport. The need for uphauling, especially in planing conditions, signals a core problem. The effort to uphaul kind of spoils everything, and it increases the difficulty level that will ultimately become too much work to have fun.

When waterstarting is a problem, effective training needs to be employed. Really though, if the root practical skills don't exist, you will sooner or later have an ex-windsurfer.

[isobars]

[vtm81]

Isobars,

She is an intermediate so I have been told that small rig/big board is a better combo at that level.
She does not lift weigh but do lap swim.

Swchandler,
Sometimes she has a good day = easy time waterstarting, then she comes back with a big grin.
Other times, she can get discouraged....but she has not quit yet so shhhhh..=)

[boardsurfr]

My wife loves the two North sails she has, a 6.2 Natural and a 5.0 Ice. She has no problems holding the 6.2 in 30 mph gusts, or planing on the 5.0 in 20 mph. She does have a lot of upper body strength for a woman, but does not need it for these sails (she never has blisters or sore arms, even after long sessions).
One thing that's great about the North sails are the visual guides for trimming and harness line positions. Makes rigging a lot easier for someone with little practice.

Regarding the waterstart: I have seen this being a confidence issue. Guys usually claim they can do a waterstart after doing the first one; I've seen several women, my wife included, do many waterstarts and still say "I can't do a waterstart". What solved the problem for my wife was one day of ABK camp where her group practiced waterstarts for several hours. She learned the few things she had trouble with, and now finds waterstarts easy; she usually jumps into the water instead of uphauling if the wind is strong enough. If you can't find an ABK camp that she can attend, see if you can find other good instruction for her (not by you).

As for the mast, I prefer RDM because it's so much easier to hold in tacks etc. A thing to consider here is her hand size - her hands are probably quite a bit smaller then yours. RDM masts can be a lot easier to hold with smaller hands than SDM masts. Very important if your wife uphauls or tacks a lot (unless she tacks boom-to-boom). For a little extra flotation, we always use foam boom bras, even if the boom can't hit the board.

[keycocker]

When someone comes in my store with a problem like waterstarts or too heavy a rig and wants to know the best sail to buy to help with the problem, I always say "lessons or a video"