Softer centreboards

Thanks David. My old Miles is up with the new Winders in the light stuff and I am often in my Osprey when its windy. But its useful to hear that I am not alone in finding the " old" cumulus a bit of a challenge when irs bliowing hard

And whilst several of the advice " superstars" are looking.

in strong winds doex a mast swap to a softer optiion ( from old style cumulus) , 82 kg)help or does board up and cunningham on get close to doing the same

sorry for going a little off topic Spod

A while back I got Milanes to make a flexy tip board to counter a very solid 3dl rig. It seemed to work but was hellish expensive compared to a Standard Winder. A mate had an experimental Winder board with less laminate … he didn’t stick with it. I concluded the standard Winder board works fine and offers a good return on investment. I weigh 83kg.

Thanks for the comments, really useful and a reminded to myself to play more. I get the importance of raising the board but I was curious about anyone who had tried softer boards and how it had affected them.

Hi Spod, Further to Ian's points, thanks as always, Ian. I've cycled my way from 85kg down to 80kg over the last few years. To account for this, I have changed my sail from the yellow HD Maxx to a slightly flatter design, HD mk2 (or whatever we're calling it??) and that has kept me pretty much in the same area of the fleet, even when the breeze is up, still on a D+ mast. Others have tried softer boards (DEM I believe make/made 3 options, possibly?) but I think just raising the board as you get overpowered is a better option as you are in control of matters. As you'd expect, light folk raise their board earlier than heavy folk, but if you study some of the pictures of the front of the fleet racers, you'll likely notice that they are all very comfortable sailing upwind with their boards raised. For me, I never put my board fully down. Only to the point where the trailing edge it perpendicular with the hull (approx 3/4 down) and then I continue to raise it as the breeze goes up, even to the point where, in big waves, I'll actually lower it slightly at the windward mark to retain some grip in the water if planing quickly. Half board upwind in 18 knots plus is absolutely fine, just make sure you keep the boat flat. Anytime you feel weight on the rudder, it's usually time to raise the board. Hope that helps. Guy - El Prez

Trying different masts is possible with existing options available off the shelf and a used market if it doesnt work.

Doesnt trying varying how much the board is pulled up give simiilar results as a custom made softer option?

If you have the diy skills to make your own boards- iplease ignore the above!😉