Impressive. Like he said in the vid. He was scared to try his sinker. I’m still in that zone. I have a 45L and a 40L just begging for a turn. Water is warming up, so it’s time soon.


He was using quite a large foil however.

I don't see a lot of sense on going on a sinker with such a big foil.... Which is the purpose? First I want to be on a small foil to be able to turn....

Retina said..
Sinker + Parawing, hard work for average riders?

Recently changed to a 14lts under my body weight for all conditions. The secret sauce is length, I often see people struggling with the nose sinking when trying to get up, extra length stops this and makes getting going simple. Some will say ‘swing weight’, but really, we are riding swell not doing wild cut backs so some extra inches isn’t an issue.
The big manufacturers haven’t worked it out yet, still too much volume in anything longer than 6ft but I’m guessing that will come next season.
6’5x19x68lts Sunova Pilot Mid

A "sinker" doesn't really mean anything, it does not tell the full picture.
Using -10/20/30/40 L as a metric is also meaningless.
-10 L for a 70 kg rider (77% of BW) is not the same as -10 L for a 100 kg rider (89% of BW)

I'm 78 kg and I usually wing either a
- 4'2 x 18 - 25 L (32% of my BW)
or
4'5 x 19 - 30 L (38% of my BW)
I fully sink nose and tail of both of these and I ride the same size wing as others who are on "semi-sinkers" or floaters as long as it's 15 knts and up. (my biggest wing is a 4.8m)

A 55L (70% of my BW) is also a sinker for me.
Yet it's 2x the % of BW of the 25L

My go to PW board is a 5'4 x 19- 60 L
I'm sinking the entire board except for the far end of the nose.
Is that a sinker?

I've also used my 5'0 x 18 x 44 L to PW
I fully sink the nose of that board
It does require for me to go up one size of PW to be able to get up which results in being lit once on foil.
Both my 44L and my 30L are full sinkers, but getting up on a PW with the 30L will probably require to size up 2 sizes of PW.

In all those examples, I'm using the same foils - my mini swell front wing is a 830, and bigger swell front wing is a 530 or 680.
I don't use "bigger" foils because I'm riding a smaller board, I size according to swell size.

So take everything with a pinch of salt when it comes to "sinkers" as the descriptive term doesn't tell the full picture.

Venomguy said..
Anything below your body weight is a Sinker.

I'm 78 kg, so 77 L is a sinker for me then? 😉

K.I.S.S. method for weight/board volume
>+20= full floater
+1-+19= semi floater
Kg= L is neutral
-1 to -19 semi sinker
<-20= full sinker

Tangur said..

ilboarder12 said..
K.I.S.S. method for weight/board volume
>+20= full floater
+1-+19= semi floater
Kg= L is neutral
-1 to -19 semi sinker
<-20= full sinker

The argument I am trying to make here seems to be completely missed.

-20 L for a 50 kg rider is not the same as -20 L for a 110 kg rider.
The board volume under and above the waterline won't be the same in those 2 scenarios.
Absolute values are meaningless.
While % of BW is a much more meaningful and comparable metric from rider to rider.

Exactly. Anytime someone talks about their experience with a specific literage and they also list their weight in kilograms, I quickly divide the liters by their weight to get the ratio And then multiply that by my weight in kilograms to get the equivalent board size for me to have the same or similar experience.


This is why people should start Listing the liters difference and also the percentage of their body mass so others can quickly make a comparison to their own weight.

Microsurfer said..

Tangur said..

ilboarder12 said..
K.I.S.S. method for weight/board volume
>+20= full floater
+1-+19= semi floater
Kg= L is neutral
-1 to -19 semi sinker
+20= full floater
+1-+19= semi floater
Kg= L is neutral
-1 to -19 semi sinker
<-20= full sinker

The argument I am trying to make here seems to be completely missed.

-20 L for a 50 kg rider is not the same as -20 L for a 110 kg rider.
The board volume under and above the waterline won't be the same in those 2 scenarios.
Absolute values are meaningless.
While % of BW is a much more meaningful and comparable metric from rider to rider.

What do you gain by having such a small board? Are you doing tricks- spinning the board in mid air or jumping loops etc?

I'll give you the benefit of doubt and assume that you're not trolling.

I'll also answer your question by asking you why don't you still use your beginner board?
Why did you downsize?
Why aren't we all riding 150L boards with a 2000 cm low-mid aspect foil? 🧐

hilly said..

Microsurfer said..

Tangur said..

ilboarder12 said..
K.I.S.S. method for weight/board volume
>+20= full floater
+1-+19= semi floater
Kg= L is neutral
-1 to -19 semi sinker
<-20= full sinker

The argument I am trying to make here seems to be completely missed.

-20 L for a 50 kg rider is not the same as -20 L for a 110 kg rider.
The board volume under and above the waterline won't be the same in those 2 scenarios.
Absolute values are meaningless.
While % of BW is a much more meaningful and comparable metric from rider to rider.

What do you gain by having such a small board? Are you doing tricks- spinning the board in mid air or jumping loops etc?

I agree as I tow foil with a 28l board at 94kg and do not suddenly turn into Kai Lenny. Do the same turns on my parawing board or sup foil drive when I did that. Watch guys turn long DW boards and you realise it is more ability than tiny boards.

Why buy a 28L board to tow and not tow on your parawing board or your sup foil board? 🤔😉

I guess when i am riding bumps the swing weight of a 6' board seems to match the sharpness of the turns you might hope to do riding downwind. A down wind board definitely felt limiting but a mid feels just right to me. I can go to a 4kg board if i need to but at 6' i don't feel the board is stopping me ripping tighter turns in the bumps, more likely the foil.

If I was parawinging in proper waves then i would say that the direction changes you might hope for require something as close as you can get to a prone board. In really soft rolly waves like they get at kaa in maui for example then I feel a mid would be a nice match.

I weigh 83kg and ride a 68L board to parawing.

The reason why is the bumps i ride are usually not big or powerful. So I want a really efficient and reactive board for pumping.

I have a 6'8" x 19 x 92L board, i rarely use it because it is way harder to pump.