Hi, I'm trying to find out if a 80+ L board makes any sense for the lakes -especially the Big one. My questions are:
1. Do you own one this small or do you know somebody who has one?
2. What's the smallest board that you use in Lake Michigan and how often on average during the season?
3.What's your smallest sail size?
4.What's your weight?
Thanks

I'm 195lbs, and the smallest board I use is my 85 Quatro. Anything 5.0 or under and I'm on this board. No idea on how many times I ride it per season, but I easily ride my 110 quad a lot more given our winds here. If I had to have a single board for Lake Michigan, I'd have a 95 liter. As for sails, my smallest is a 3.5, but the 4.5 gets the most use in the spring and fall of all my sails.

I weigh 138#, and have 2 boards (88liter and 111 liter). I sail the bigger board more often, but really like to sail the smaller board sail (using 4.7-5.5 sail)when the wind is over 20kn. Andrew (waveseeker here on the board) has a pretty good sailing log showing his days on his gear, including sail size used)-that should help you decide (it may be posted somewhere already in the forum). I think I maybe got about 15 days last year on the smaller board? Mostly Lake michigan sailing btw.

My Lake Michigan board list is:
1) *board evo 92 for most days (5.3 ~ 6.3 sails)
2) an (old but sweet) 82 liter F2 wave board for when it blows (sails 5.3 and down)
3) Fanatic Fly 10'6" SUP board (with a 5.5) for when the wind backs off, WAY fun in waves
This gives me something to ride no matter what the conditions, which is important for a 2 hour drive
I'm 155 lbs.
Drew

Andrew Scheidler wrote:
Haha, I keep an EVO 92 around as well. Love that board in mushy lake onshore crud.

I'm 160 lbs and have a 3 board quiver ( 94 L RRD FSW, 78 L JP FSW, 68 L Exocet Universal wave). Sails run 6.0 down through 3.7. The 94 L is my least favorite of the three. At my weight, it doesn't turn or jump as well as the other two boards. Still, about 1/2 my sessions are on the 94. The other half are split evenly between the 78 and 68. I try to get off the 94 as soon as possible. If it's well-powered, I'll sail the 6.0 on the 78, but it's happier with a 5.4 or 4.8. I've found the 68 to be much more versatile than I was originally expecting. It handles a 5.4 if the power is consistent, but it absolutely excels with a 4.8, 4.2 or 3.7. Unless it's marginal, the smaller boards are so much better at turning/carving on waves/gybing that I reach for them first almost every time. I'll switch up to a bigger board only if I'm having trouble staying upwind. If you are on the lighter side, I think a sub-80 L board is more like a necessity than an option. (But keep in mind both of my smaller boards have relatively flat rockers through the tail, so they are relatively easy to get going.) The Exocet, is hands-down the funnest board I've ever ridden.

Great Info! Thanks to all of you guys I've got more then what I was hoping for! 19 sessions on 5.4 and smaller for 2014 is a good enough reason IMO for a 80 something board ownership. I'll bite the bullet cautiously at first -I'll go for a fast, easy planing shape like the Kode 86 preferably used and will see how it will go from there

I predict andrew will be back to a 2 board quiver by EOY. I knew that couldn't last........

Hi Andrew,

While I know it's an Illinois forum, I'm actually from "up north" in Wisconsin. (Hey, there are no more windsurfer left in Milwaukee, so I need to hang out with you guys!) I sail out of Racine, Sheboygan, and up in Door County. I also sail Winnebago on West winds, which is a surprisingly fun lake that develops solid swell. There are still a handful of truly excellent sailors from the Madison area, but I'm definitely looking for more people to ride with.

There's no doubt that volume helps when it's light, variable, or on-shore. However, for those days when the wind is more solid and conditions are bigger, nothing flatters your riding like a smaller board. They are less bouncy, offer better control when overpowered, turn infinitely better, and are an absolute joy to jump. What's not to like?

There's something almost romantic about the idea of a 1-board quiver, but I honestly suspect you'd have a much better time on the really windy days on something smaller than a 105. For me, 100+ liter boards start getting pretty bouncy around 5.5 or 5.0 conditions. For anything windier, I'm having more fun, and riding much more aggressively on something smaller. The biggest advantage to me is how smaller boards turn. I feel like I can turn any radius I want, whenever I want, on any wave I want, whereas on bigger boards I feel much more limited. (I've never spent much time on big boards with lots of rocker, so I might feel differently after a great day on a big wave board) You owe it to yourself to pick up a used sub-85 liter board and give it a shot. I think you'll be glad you did.

Just my two cents...

Jacob, you're a windsurfer you're family. We've got chicks and dudes from all kinds of states. We need all the stoke we can get! And you're just the guy to help me fill-in the missing launches around the Milwaukee area on the Launches Page.(for another topic) You're not alone, I hear you, the windsurf community hears you, and pretty soon Lake Michigan will be hearing from all of us!

My 82 liter F2 wave... hard to believe it's over 15 years old!



With a 5.5 at South Haven

Drew

Thanks for the warm welcome--I'm stoked to get out and ride with you guys!

Reid, let me know what info you need regarding the launches; I'm more than happy to try to fill in some gaps.