Windsurfing 1.01-Boards #5

Windsurf Boards The Width Factor:
As if choosing a board wasn’t hard enough, now you have to consider the width of the board. If you have been doing any reading of past windsurfing oriented magazines, you may have noticed a trend in board widths. They are getting wider.

Why are they wider, you ask? Good question!

The difficulty in determining what width is best for an individual comes in due to the fact that when individuals are learning to plane, by definition, they spend an enormous amount of time NOT planing.

These individuals come to terms with all of the other factors involved in planing; such as learning to be gentle with your footwork and not stomping all over the board like an elephant, using the harness and getting into the foot straps. In other words, until you understand the finesse involved in planning, the extra width on the board is a definite bonus. There is also the factor that not all sailors will be in a constant state of progression.

Many people don’t get the chance to hit the water every given breezy day and can’t pick and choose the conditions. For such people the wider boards may well be the better bet because their progression may be a little slower than the individual who lives for the next windy day.

Then you have the individuals of slightly above-average weight who sail in gusty conditions. These individuals definitely benefit from the added width. In this section we hope to give you an idea of how to choose a board that works best for your goal rather than the actual process of learning.

So we’re giving you some pros and cons to help you decide what board width is best suited for your goals. For arguments sake, we are using an individual of average weight (70-83kg.) a board width of 75cm and a board volume of +/- 145 liters. Lightweight and heavyweight sailors have their own set of special needs (we covered the importance of bodyweight in a previous section).

Pros:Stability: Width does make a huge difference in stability. A 100cm wide board will obviously be more stable than a 65cm board for any beginner depending on that beginner’s weight. For intermediate sailors, the fact that a board is wider makes planning in light-winds easier.

Early Planing: Width gets you planning earlier and allows you to use bigger sail sizes. In other words, extra width would allow a sailor to carry a 10.5m sail instead of an 8.5m sail. While this factor is of dubious relevance to most ambitious beginners or intermediate sailors, a little extra width gives the beginner a bit more help to get planning particularly in gusty winds.

Increased Sailing Angles: Extra width also allows the sailor to point slightly further up-wind or down wind. However, this point is only relevant from the intermediate and up, or if you want to race upwind or cover long distances cruising. If you want to maintain your position and get around locally, this point is moot.

Cons:Board width isn’t simply a case of wider = easier = better: Depending on your weight, Very Wide (90cm +)and Wide Boards (75cm +) are considerably less maneuverable, therefore control and general fun decrease as the winds pick up and the water gets bumpier (the chop increases in height and consistency).

Yes, a 77cm wide board is easier to stay on while you get yourself together, but as soon as a planning state is reached, the action of piloting the board becomes a little more difficult. Boards below 70cm tend to track better through the water at planning speeds, offering a feeling of increased security and foot steering.

As if things weren’t already complicated enough, lets throw another factor into your decision making. The question of board width is only part of the width equation.

A board that is 65cm wide may have a TAIL WIDTH (measured at 30cm from the tail) which can range from anything between 39 and 46cm. You also have NOSE WIDTH (measured at 30cm from the nose) which can range from anything between 34 and 41cm. Variations in these measurements can also make considerable differences in the way a board performs.

Just to give you an idea, here are some rules of thumb when it comes to the width game:

EXTRA TAIL WIDTH:

Pros: Gives a board better sail carrying ability and early planning.
Cons: Stiffens the ride a bit, and is bouncier in stronger winds and choppy conditions.

EXTRA NOSE WIDTH:

Pros: Makes a board more maneuverable and stable, particularly in non or semi-planing conditions.

Cons: Tends to reduce comfort and tight maneuvering at high speeds.

A Visual Guide to What it all Means:
It is all very nice to be talking about things, but if you can’t visualize them you’re no further ahead. So here is a visual representation of where the measurements are located on a board. We are using a Freeride 160 litre 78cm wide board here as the example.