alan schmid wrote:
Hi Alan, I hope to try my hand this season at both SUP surfing (with a paddle) and windsup wave sailing (with a windsurf rig.) And it so happens that I'll be doing so out of Greenwood Beach, so I'm very glad to hear that you've had good success there!

As regards SUP wave sailing, I don't expect to do anything fancy any time soon: would just love to be able to go out in lightwind conditions to catch small waves and ride them in, whether in paddling or windsup mode. (I suspect, though, that I may end up enjoying the windsup mode more.) So just wondering: What size SUP are you using? Is it a windsup? If so, do you both paddle surf and wave sail on it? How much do you weigh?

As an intermediate sailor @ 175 lbs, I'm looking at windsups either in the 11'8" or 10' size. In doing some research, I've learned that while the 10' will turn better in small waves, the 11'8' would actually allow me to grab waves earlier both in paddle and wavesailing modes, making "catching" waves much easier. Hence, I'm leaning toward the 11'8". (Thanks to Ady for some good exchanges on this topic.)

So for folks who "SUP surf" and/or "windsup wave-sail" on Lake Michigan.... What size SUPs or windsups do you use, relative to your size? If using the board as a windsup, how much actual wavesailing (lightwind or otherwise) can one reasonably expect to do in any given week, month, or season on Lake Michigan? Any other advice?

Thanks in advance to all.

Chris- my sup is an exocet evo 10'9. It has a windsurf mastfoot insert, so I can attach my rig to it. I bought it originally to play in small waves with the rig , but I nowadays I pretty much exclusively just supsurf the board. I weigh 140lbs. I would suggest you get the bigger (11 footer) board- catching waves is much easier on bigger boards.

Bob bechstein also windsups greenwood on his 11'6 jp australia, and there are a couple of 11 footer naish nalus that go out of that beach too (most of these boards are windsurf capable). There is also a sailor (greg) who has as exocet windsup (with daggerboard) that sails out of greenwood.

Greenwood surf is best on nw days, but on nw wind days, there is no wind at the beach (offshore) so wavesailing doesn't work then, but surfing works really well.

PM me your phone and I'd be happy to talk more about this if you're interested

I have a Fanatic Fly 10'6" which works very well for me (155 lbs). It has a fair amount of rocker, but still paddles very nice on flatwater.

Windsurfing it on flatwater is ok, but on decent waves it really comes to life. Last summer I spent a few hours at St Joe, on the south side of the jetty in a dying northerly. No straps or harness, just my 5.5 having a blast. I don't go to the big lake without it anymore; with that board I'm un-skunkable

To me, the StarBoard SUP sails look terrible. Yes you want light and luffable, but those looks like bedsheets to me. I can highly recommend HSM Super Freaks, as my 5.5 is my favorite for the Fly. I am tempted by the new light-wind wavesail Hot has been working on:



Drew

Thanks, Alan. Just sent you a PM.

And thanks for chiming in, Andrew. I see that lightwind wavesailing opens up a whole new can of worms when it comes to gear (i.e. sails!)

Hey Chris, you can try the board finding tool on the Starboard website. It's quite accurate if you answering the questions honestly .
www.star-board-windsurfing.com
The gideline btw is as simple as that: long and narrow=glide and speed -good for flat water
short and wide=maneuverability and lift -good for waves. If you have same widths take the longer for mainly cruising and the shorter for mainly wave riding. How long do you think is the longest of the AHD Sealion Windsups /in the picture above/ ? 9' -that's it , same as my Converse.
www.ahd-boards.com/models/sealion-concept/
It may look short, but try to turn on a wave- I have to step back to weigh the tail to make it turn and then step forward again to accelerate and many times untill I do all of this the short lake wave has already desintegrated and if I'm lucky there is a new one popping up behind, if not -back to square one. If you just go straight to the shore on the other hand, then maneuverability is not that important I guess.
As for the sails-anything works, just keep it on the small side -you won't be racing after all.