hey steffan
so are you hooked in when you forward loop or are you still in harness
unhooking sounds more logical
and when do you start to open your eyes
do you do them now with your eyes open
i hope you can show me this summer

I'm starting to panick already.
I like the idea of the eyes closed bit.
I will inform you guys of how I went!!!
Hopefully tomorrow morning looks windy enough.
All good stuff, thanks.

Gary, try the beach technique first. It doesn't damage you or the equipment. It's a good starting point.

You really don't need to close your eyes, you don't have to be going fast, you don't have to jump high. Just get the feel for it at a comfortable speed and height etc. You begin to gain confidence fairly quickly after you try some, regardless of whether your feet stay in the straps or not. The scariest part of the whole thing is a side on catapult which is a result of pointing too far into the wind when attempting them. If you jump off baby chop while heading a little down wind, I can virtually guarantee you wont slap side on.

Most important - don't let go of the boom no matter how bad your attempt is. (slow or fast, low or high) Practicing step 1 and 2 will get you used to hanging on right through.

H

which hand is holding onto the boom in a one handed forward

That's the way you start!

If the boom got ripped out of your hand, it sounds like you jumped too far into the wind and you got yanked around too quick. Don't try them in too much wind, just enough to stand upright on the board prior to jumping.

I've been learning them with a 5.5 sail on a fairly heavy 87 litre waveboard that's 258 long, and the board weighs about 8kg wet. On Saturday I tried them with a really light 4.4 old styled race sail, and a 6kg 250 long wave board. They felt so much easier and I found I could do them pointing further up wind when jumping. I'm frightened to go back to the bigger stuff again coz I find the landings are a bit more rugged. They seem to be less impacting on smaller gear. Certainly gives you more confidence. I also bought a padded wakeboarding vest which helps alot with the back slaps. One of these might be worth investing in?!

Cheers

H