Who's riding out at Pat Bay in Sidney? I'm wondering on wing size for the summer?

[smokedvw]

Hi,

I have seen a few people riding out there in the summer when the wind picks up and due to it being 10 minutes from me I would like to get a wing that would work well to ride there in the summer. I have not started winging yet but have been riding wake foiling for the past 3 years. I will be ridding an Axis 1050 HS + Axis 1150 PNG along with a 110L board (still figuring that out). I will have a 8 and 6m wing for riding at a lake where I plan to learn as well but figured pat bay might be more around a 5 or 4.5?

Thanks, can't wait to finally get into this!

[AJSpencer]

Hey Smoke,
Its a tough call for Pat Bay. A lot of the time when there’s a big 30+ Westerly in Vic/Sooke but its only forecasted as 10-15knots West at Pat Bay, the Westerly can come through anyways and get 25 knots or so in Pat Bay. So usually if Pat Bay is forecasted for any Westerly and its a good 20-25 knots forecasted in Vic, its a safe bet we can get 15 knots for the 6m. If forecast isn’t West for Pat Bay but its 20-25 in Vic, often Pat Bay can be dead calm.
I find the 6.5m and 4m is good most of the time but a 5m would be nice too, because sometimes it can be 15g25..
Occasionally in big SEs at the right angle, we can get gusty but totally flat conditions in Pat Bay which is nice for learning. No currents to worry about and less debris.

I’d like to try 8m at some point. A lot of the guys down in NZ use big wings like that for sub-10. Would be nice for those 10g12 days in Pat Bay which seem pretty common in the Summer.

Sidney is all over the place with lots of current, but NEs can be steady and SEs can be good, but don’t want to run out of wind out there or you’ll be pulled N or S in 3 knots current. So I usually only go there when IV is looking too rough for me.

[grantmac]

6m will be fine in the summer unless you are quite light.

If you start thinking about riding at IV in a SEer then sizes need to get much smaller.

[Bobson]

I agree with GMAC that the 6.0m being as big as you need to go, as once you're past the 6.0m size (for myself Windfoiling) and from what I've seen Wingfoiling if you go larger it's not getting you foiling in much less wind...maybe 1-2 knots...maybe?? I think it's more about pumping technique for the low end. I think that I can pump onto a foil in 10kts with my 6.0m sail and the 8.5m I used to have (before I sold it) I could pump up to foiling in maybe 8-9kts. So instead of paying for a bigger Wing, maybe practice your pumping technique. I need a 10kt puff to get up on the foil but then only need 6-8kts to keep foiling. In the last 4 months I've learned new 'tricks' for pumping so keep practicing 'The Pump' as I think it's one of the most important skills for foiling. Just my 2 cents worth, hope if helps.