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Bio - Eric L. Mihelbergel is an intermediate/advanced windsurfer, kiteboarder, and foiler living in the Great Lakes Region of New York State who enjoys sharing about windsports and fitness.
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WNY Wave Gear: The Whole Package
By Eric Mihelbergel (Written March 2019)
(Wavesailing)
Recently, I released four separate articles detailing fins, boards, masts, and sails. These are the links:
Spin-Out: Your Fin or Your Sail?
Windsurfing Board Shapes
The Importance of Your MAST
Know Your Sail
Now, let's put the whole package together to produce a total wave kit that will give us the results we want most for wave riding in Western New York.
Spin-Out: Your Fin or Your Sail?
Windsurfing Board Shapes
The Importance of Your MAST
Know Your Sail
Now, let's put the whole package together to produce a total wave kit that will give us the results we want most for wave riding in Western New York.
Let's start by considering the type of wave conditions we get in WNY. It's not Maui. We have two lakes here. Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. When the winds are over 22mph for an extended period of time we start to get waves. I'm not talking about swell. I'm talking about breaking waves. Swell is a lot of fun, but it's not wave riding. There is no lip. Generally, the bigger the wind the bigger our waves. Like many of you, I ride mostly eastern Lake Erie and western/central Lake Ontario. The predominant wind directions on Lake Erie range from SW to N to NE, while on Lake Ontario it ranges from W to N to E. That means the wind is generally onshore or side-onshore. Wave faces do not stand tall very long, so you must find your wave, make your turn and hit the lip pretty damn quick. To do so you need the right kit...board, mast, sail and fin set.
Given the onshore nature of conditions there are three very important main aspects we must consider here in WNY. Power retention in the sail, planing ability and drive in the board, and maneuverability of the whole thing. Since the waves are small and mushy with little power, and since the wind direction results in lack of wind in your sail when making proper turns on the wave, we need a sail that retains as much power as possible. For the same reason we need a board that is early to plane and maintains glide once on plane. We also need a board that drives upwind well as we lose a lot of ground riding frontside. This almost sounds like we need a freeride kit, right? Power, planing, glide, and upwind drive? But the objective is that we want to ride waves, so a freeride kit is NOT going to work because we also need extreme maneuverability to cut back and hit the lip. Fortunately, we live in 2019 where we have access to gear that gives us the best of both worlds.
Starting with the board: Most manufacturers now offer a compact wave board or compact freewave board. These boards are short, with the stance moved all the way to the rear. They are designed with more parallel rails and a tail that is wide with sharp edges. The wide tail and parallel rails give the board glide, early planing, and upwind drive, while the rearward stance, short length, and sharp edges of the tail make the board very maneuverable. As with all gear, we will sacrifice something to get these performance benefits. That something is grip. Due to the wide tail with sharp edges this type of board will sacrifice grip on big steep drops at high levels of speed and acceleration. But, we don't get those kind of big steep drops in WNY, so it is a very acceptable sacrifice. Refer here for more info on boards Windsurfing Board Shapes
I ride the Fanatic Freewave Stubby. It is slightly longer than the radical wave Stubby which allows it to glide a little better. The bottom has constant vee which handles chop great. Double concave helps with planing. And it turns amazing!
I ride the Fanatic Freewave Stubby. It is slightly longer than the radical wave Stubby which allows it to glide a little better. The bottom has constant vee which handles chop great. Double concave helps with planing. And it turns amazing!
Moving on to the sail: We need a true wave sail that maintains power. This type of wave sail will have five battens or four battens to provide consistent power, and little excess luff curve to reduce the amount of depower. To compensate for shape lost from reduced excess luff curve this type of sail will use panel/seam shaping to create a foil shape. This will allow the battens to remain non-rotated through cutbacks so that the sail maintains its shape and power is sustained throughout our top and bottom turns. Refer here for more info on sails Know Your Sail
For me the Ezzy Zeta is the perfect sail for WNY wave riding. The 5 battens offer great power and stability. The sail has less excess luff curve than other brands and more panel/seam shaping. This prevents the sail from depowering through turns on the wave in our onshore conditions. My two largest sails, 5.7m and 5.3m, are Ezzy Elite sails. They have 4 battens instead of 5, but still maintain excellent power. I chose them for my largest sails because they are a little lighter and more maneuverable which helps in the larger sizes.
For me the Ezzy Zeta is the perfect sail for WNY wave riding. The 5 battens offer great power and stability. The sail has less excess luff curve than other brands and more panel/seam shaping. This prevents the sail from depowering through turns on the wave in our onshore conditions. My two largest sails, 5.7m and 5.3m, are Ezzy Elite sails. They have 4 battens instead of 5, but still maintain excellent power. I chose them for my largest sails because they are a little lighter and more maneuverable which helps in the larger sizes.
Mast: We simply need the correct mast as recommended by the sail manufacturer so that we have the proper stiffness and bend curve in order for our sail to perform the way it was designed. Without the correct mast our sail will not do what it is supposed to do. Contact the manufacturer to learn the correct mast specs for your power wave sail. Refer here for more info on masts The Importance of Your MAST
The Ezzy Hookipa mast is what I use on all my sails. This mast has a bend curve with a slightly flexible top that suits Ezzy sails perfectly.
The Ezzy Hookipa mast is what I use on all my sails. This mast has a bend curve with a slightly flexible top that suits Ezzy sails perfectly.
Fin Setup: A single fin or quad setup will work, but a thruster setup is ideal for wave conditions in WNY. A single fin will give us excellent drive and power but will sacrifice some maneuverability. A quad setup will give us great maneuverability, but will produce more drag and slow us down. A thruster set gives the benefits of both. Twin fins would also be a good option, providing both drive and maneuverability. Refer here for more info on fins Spin-Out: Your Fin or Your Sail?
The stock MFC thruster fin set that comes with the Fanatic Freewave Stubby works perfectly with that board. You can substitute a slightly smaller or slightly larger center fin for extreme cases, but I use the stock fins for 99% of my riding.
The stock MFC thruster fin set that comes with the Fanatic Freewave Stubby works perfectly with that board. You can substitute a slightly smaller or slightly larger center fin for extreme cases, but I use the stock fins for 99% of my riding.
Total Kit:
Here is the total kit that I prefer for wave conditions in WNY.
Board: Fanatic Freewave STB, size 85 and 105
Sail: Ezzy Zeta/Tiger/Elite, size 2.9, 3.3, 3.7, 4.2, 4.7, 5.3, 5.7
Mast: Ezzy Hookipa, sizes to match sail manufacturers recommendation
Fins: MFC Thruster Set, size 18cm/12cm for 85 liter board, size 20cm/12cm for 105 liter board
