Im 95 kgs and get out fine in 8-12 knots, but you'd have to be thinking racing kit. Formula ish board, race foil and 9.0/10.0 foil racing sail or maybe 8.5 freeride foiling sail.

And loads of practice & pumping.

Kitefoiling will easily get you out in 8 knots by the way, and it wouldnt even be hard work to get going.

Yes definitely,

I'm 97ish kg at the mo and comfortably flying in 10knts on a 7.7 V8 twin cam with a JP Hydro 135 and AFS wind 95 & 1080 front wing. Once there's a solid 12-14knts 5.8 is no problem.

Was sailing with some guys, lighter than me, a few weeks back who were on older Formula boards and 9+m and was regularly flying when they weren't planing

Define 8-12 knots.

- Is that measured on shore with a handheld meter, or a reading from a iWindsurf meter or other weather station that's high in the air? The difference is usually 2 knots or more.

- Is that the wind range (lulls 8 knots, gusts 12 knots), or are those average readings?

The details matter. I usually can have a great foiling session with a 6.5 and a Slingshot 84 in 9-10 knot averages, measured on shore. But then, the local iWindsurf meter (which reads pretty typical for iWindsurf meters, not very high or low as some others) shows gusts of 12 knots at the same time, which I need, since my pumping is just mediocre, and I'm lazy.

I weigh around 195 pounds (88 kg). If you're actually 100 kg (220 lb), you'll need 10% more foil, more wind, a larger foil, and/or better pumping.

Compared to the local kiters, I can usually foil on a 7.0 when similar weight kiters can kite on 12-13 m kites. The guy who can go in the lightest wind is a kite foiler, who can foil with a 7.0 meter kite in about 2 knots less wind. He's probably around 80 kg. The next one to have fun is a 70 kg winger with a 5.4 m wing, as long and there aren't too many weeds. If it's very weedy and very light, she often has a harder time to get going, because she'll collect weeds before she gets a gust, and has not yet figured out to sail backwards with the wing.

At my heaviest (around 210 lbs) I could pump the foil in 10-12mph and glide through less than 6-8mph and that was on a freshwater lake and it does make a huge difference because I now foil in super salty ocean and brackish water.

This is an old video and weighed in around 205lbs then (currently at 198)

In a legit 12 you'll fly for sure. I'm 215 and not an expert and can pump up a 7.0 in 12 - two or three pumps - and sometimes an 8.6 in 10. I can't get up in 8 unless I get a gust or a big wake.

My experience is that its all kit specific.

At 250lb (116kg) on a SS Levitator 150, SS i99 foil and 7.1 freestyle sail i fly as soon as I can see a white cap or two. I would call that 10knots (5m/s) of wind. At 12knots of wind I don't have to pump, just need to sheet in hard and shove the board forward.

With my old 2006 Starboard F-Type 138 freeride board with a SB 800 front wing setup and a 9.0 sail 12knots of wind was the minimum, it really took an effort too.

The old board has too little volume, too narrow at the back foot and too has too much rocker which combined with the SB 800 front wings need for speed to give lift off is just bad.

My SS kit starts foiling before the board is planing. The down side is that it's slow and has limited wind range.

Fat people can foil too.

boardsurfr said..
Define 8-12 knots.

- Is that measured on shore with a handheld meter, or a reading from a iWindsurf meter or other weather station that's high in the air? The difference is usually 2 knots or more.

- Is that the wind range (lulls 8 knots, gusts 12 knots), or are those average readings?

The details matter. I usually can have a great foiling session with a 6.5 and a Slingshot 84 in 9-10 knot averages, measured on shore. But then, the local iWindsurf meter (which reads pretty typical for iWindsurf meters, not very high or low as some others) shows gusts of 12 knots at the same time, which I need, since my pumping is just mediocre, and I'm lazy.

I weigh around 195 pounds (88 kg). If you're actually 100 kg (220 lb), you'll need 10% more foil, more wind, a larger foil, and/or better pumping.

Compared to the local kiters, I can usually foil on a 7.0 when similar weight kiters can kite on 12-13 m kites. The guy who can go in the lightest wind is a kite foiler, who can foil with a 7.0 meter kite in about 2 knots less wind. He's probably around 80 kg. The next one to have fun is a 70 kg winger with a 5.4 m wing, as long and there aren't too many weeds. If it's very weedy and very light, she often has a harder time to get going, because she'll collect weeds before she gets a gust, and has not yet figured out to sail backwards with the wing.

Thanks for your input! Since I'm on the edge of what seems possible perhaps I also need to factor in air temp/density at 20 C and brackish water. And beginner wind foil technique. Doesn't seem to go in my favor... (RE wind I read the strength from looking at the color and shape of the surface, combined with long experience on my spots. But the numbers are not handheld surface measures, they are probably at 10m/30ft.)

CoreAS said..
At my heaviest (around 210 lbs) I could pump the foil in 10-12mph and glide through less than 6-8mph and that was on a freshwater lake and it does make a huge difference because I now foil in super salty ocean and brackish water.

This is an old video and weighed in around 205lbs then (currently at 198)

Thanks! Hey, i think i already saw that clip on YT some time ago. That is very low wind indeed, not a single white cap in sight and a rather small board for 205 lbs. And a regular sail too.

Floaty board, biggesh sail, pumping skill and willingness, and 1100 HA or 2100 Surf foil.

Big surfy foils with small sails work pretty well in steady lighter breeze.
HA foils with bigger/more stable sails work far better in you have inconsistent wind. They might not get going any sooner but they will stay flying through lulls and gybes far better while also remaining manageable in higher wind.

I only grab my surfy foil when it's windy enough for swell. In flat water I'd rather be on the more efficient HA setup even at half the size.

Delta99 said..
(RE wind I read the strength from looking at the color and shape of the surface, combined with long experience on my spots. But the numbers are not handheld surface measures, they are probably at 10m/30ft.)

I envy people who can do that. I have been sailing 50-100 sessions per year at my home spot for the past decade, always looking at the iWindsurf meter readings right at the spot, and often also checking with a hand-held meter, but my estimates are often wrong by several knots. That's in onshore winds - when it's offshore, it typically looks like 5 knots when we have 15, with handheld readings on the beach closer to the 5 knots. It's always a pleasant surprise when we trust the iWindsurf meter and find that it's easily foilable once we get a hundred meters away from shore.

For me and my wife, foiling has definitely lowered our wind limits. But that's relative to windsurfing on a typical shortboard. You're coming from kiting, which you have to factor in. I know many former windsurfers who went to kiting primarily to get more days on the water. From what I see on our beach, kiters are definitely having fun earlier than windsurfers, and windfoiling or wingfoiling is just roughly comparable to kiting, with respect to the lower wind limit. Race foils with 9 m sails and lots of pumping could get going earlier than the kites, but that's not what you're looking at. Kite foils get going a couple of knots earlier than anything else, as long as you don't mind swimming in if the wind drops. Just don't make the mistake one of our local kiters made. He's an expert kiter, so he got expert kite foiling gear, and spend many days trying to go without any success. Both board and kite looked way to small to learn. It was both comical and painful to watch him try.

Delta99 said..
I too was a windsurfer. Sitting on the beach in just a tiny bit too light wind, watching the kiters on the plane. So I made the move to kite to get more days. And I really love kiteing too. One would think that a kite foil would be my natural solution to going in even lower wind and getting more days. However, besides having weak and gusty winds the direction is also inconsisten. We launch between trees and rocks. And that is on a good day. On the 99 other days we can't launch at all. And we sit on shore watching the windsurfers on the plane. Ironic. So I'm back on the windsurfer but with a foil, so I can schlogg out 200m to catch the wind.

Yes, there are some days where the kiters can't go out because the wind is too variable or the wrong direction, with big wind shadows. That's when I love my big foil board that makes schlogging easy. I find that the extra length of the Stingray 140, which is a couple of feet longer than some more "modern" foil boards, is a huge advantage. A have another foil board with similar volume that's 20 cm shorter, but find schlogging much more tedious on it. Since many of our foil sessions include longer periods of schlogging, either because the wind drops or because we have to get back to shore when the wind line is further out, the 228 cm "longboard" will remain my go-to board for light wind.

Hi guys

I'm 240 lbs and when is suuuper light, I use my neilpryde glide L (1600 cm2), old formula board and a 10 m severne overdrive

For me that's a super easy setup, my RACE foil works to on that wind, but if you are learning go for low stall speed, will increase your learning rate exponentially

JBO83 said..
I'm 240 lbs and when is suuuper light, I use my neilpryde glide L (1600 cm2), old formula board and a 10 m severne overdrive

+1 for the formula board.

A 220 lb friend picked up windfoiling very quickly on his with his formula board and an i84, with stable flights after just very few sessions. With a 7.2 m sail and limited pumping, 12 knot averages on the iWindsurf meter seems to be just the edge of when he start flying (usually needs a bigger gust to get going). To consistently fly at 12 knots, he'd need the i99 or better/more pumping.

The 1500 cm2 low aspect ratio foil is fine, but I recommend you look at more width and volume in the board. Volume 130-140 liter, and width of about 85 cm is ideal. Just my two cents.