Windsurfing 1.01-Boards #4

Boards, Volume vs. Width:

You may have done a little of you own research in this fabulous sport of ours and discovered that nowadays both BOARD WIDTH and BOARD VOLUME are coming up time and time again when referring to how a board performs. Yes, it is confusing! However, to simplify things a bit, nowadays the far more important factor of the two is BOARD WIDTH.

Unfortunately width is also the factor which is less easily grasped as an indicator of size particularly if the variation is small (does a 62cm wide board perform differently than a 65cm board?)

See what we mean?

Fortunately, many manufacturers have a fairly set standard volume to width ratio for a particular size of board (i.e. 145 liters / 75 cm) making things somewhat easier to understand. However, some manufacturers still use different ratios; some offer thin boards with less volume while others go in the completely opposite direction.

In cases such as this, the width should be taken into account before the volume. Certainly, we agree that it is important to have enough volume under your feet in order to float your body-weight, but it is mainly width that determines ease, stability and sail-carrying ability.
As for

sail-carrying ability, take a look at this rough guide to the maximum sail size that a board of a certain width can carry comfortably. For arguments sake, we are using an individual of average weight (160-180lbs). You may be able to squeeze out an extra 0.5m of sail if you are lighter than average.

Board Width vs. Sail Size
62 cm = 7.0 m

65 cm = 8.0 m

69 cm = 9.0 m

75 cm+ = 10.5 m