if your overpowered and cant sheet in, move the back one an inch or 2 back, if it on the same size sail..

so.. it's blowing pretty hard, you're hooked in, but not yet in the straps? Sounds like a recipe for a catapult and some broken stuff - rounding up into the wind is probably a good thing!

Have a go at getting your front foot into it's strap before you hook in - the two (front footstrap/hooking in) are really interchangeable in sequence (personal preference). But, if you can get your front foot securely in it's strap first you'll seriously decrease your catapulting chances, will feel more in control, and will also gain a direct connection to the board which will help you steer.

You don't need to be hooked in to get in the straps, and not being hooked in to start with will help improve your sail power control skills.

Jem Hall talks about two phases to getting planing in his 'Beginner to Winner' DVD..

First he suggests that you imagine you are attempting to sit on a barstool beside your board, this puts your upper body and legs in the right general stance (if you have a barstool handy, you could try putting your board beside it to see what he means). Next, he talks about 'the accellerator' which means getting your front foot into the strap nice and securely, then pushing it forward (straightening your leg to drive the sail's pull though into the board), and pointing your toes just like you would if you wanted to accellerate hard in a car.

This has two immediate effects, the first is to apply pressure to the downwind rail which will turn the board off the wind a bit more and flatten it out if you've been a bit heavy on the upwind rail, and the second is that by pushing your foot/leg forward, you will unweight your back foot and commit yourself more to the boom. This will help you to get planing in a nice flat trim, and allows you to easily stick your back foot into it's strap all in one smooth movement.

Once that's all done, you can choose to hook in whenever you like.

Harness lines generally have one position for a given sail, and if the sail is rigged consistently, they shouldn't move. Try rigging your sail, and then measuring 1/3rd back from the front of the mast to the clew. Your front harness line should be about here, and the back one maybe a fist back from there. This is a generalised measurement, but should get you in the ballpark.

When planing and hooked in I aim to have the harness lines in a spot that allows me to take both hands off the boom briefly, with maybe just a touch more weight required on my front hand compared to the back hand (this just ensures that you're naturally sheeting in enough without having to think about it). Peter Hart says that you should be able to 'play the piano' on the boom, so there's really no pressure in your hands.

Another thing you can try is dynamic steering.. in light winds and when learning, most people steer by tipping the sail forward and backward. Dynamic steering is about getting physical with the whole rig. Get your legs and feet in on the action and really shove the board around rather than letting it turn in it's own time. This builds up your board control, and will help get the unintended rounding up sorted too.

Also consider your mast foot position - I've never sailed one of the newer longboards, so can't advise on where to put it, but having the mast foot too far forward could contribute to rounding up (the sail is more raked back when you step back on the board)

Hi All, being an old dog learning new tricks, what length should my harness straps be, is there a golden rule? cheers

Hi Daneli,

did you have the centreboard fully retracted?

if not that could be the problem.

555

Nice write up mate, I got a bit out of that.

Cheers GT

Windsurfing is all about balance.. in all three dimensions simultaneously!

Mastfoot pressure is one of the true keys to windsurfing. This is generated in a few ways, and is a dynamic sort of thing that can be a little tricky to get a handle on until you're doing it!

Basically, it can be thought of as any force pushing through the mastfoot into the board. In this particular case (getting planing, and into the straps) the required force is mainly downwards, and so will be pushing the board onto the water - 'downforce' if you like.

Two things will cause your board to turn into the wind, firstly, if the centre of effort in the sail is behind the centre of lateral resistance of the board, then you will experience a kind of weathervane effect. Secondly, and this is only really relevant if you're planing, if you have unbalanced weight on the windward rail (so that the board is tilted to windward) the board will carve into the wind.

Think of the centre of lateral resistance as a point on the board where if you were suddenly hit from the side (perhaps by a hairy chested, gold chain wearing chap on a jetski..) you would just be shunted sideways rather than being turned in either direction (ignoring for the moment the effect of the sail, and the distribution of mass on said shunting, and focusing on the hydrodynamic forces).

This point moves forward and back depending on how fast the water is flowing over your fin, whether you have the board flat or tilted, and the shape of the part of the board that is in the water at the time. As your speed increases to planing, this point moves back so that it is in the vicinity of the footstraps, and is mainly concentrated around the fin.

The centre of effort of the sail is close to being a fixed point on the sail these days with decent sails, and you move it - and alter the balance of things - by raking the sail forward and backward.

So, as you accelerate towards planing, you need to alter the rake of the sail to keep those two forces in balance.

How to generate mastfoot pressure or 'downforce'? Sheeting in generates a bunch, commiting your weight to the boom generates the rest. Where on the board it acts is determined by your mast foot position.

You should aim to be carried as much as possible by the sail, and be quite light on your feet. When getting planing it is sometimes helpful to think of pushing the board forward and down using the boom.

Given sufficient 'downforce', and the right balance of those scientific sounding 'centres' it is possible to move back down the board as you accellerate. As you get your front foot into the strap, you can counter the potential for carving by using the 'accellerator' technique.

The fin will also counter the upwind carving by generating a rolling moment on the board which would effectively carve the board downwind if it wasn't balanced by you standing on the windward side. (Best demonstrated by using an oversized fin, a narrow board and a small sail in big wind!)

So, to sum up all of that ramble..
0) Make sure your gear is set up right - not enough downhaul will stuff you up no end!
1) Keep the board flat.
2) Rake the rig appropriately to balance the 'turning' effects of the change in speed
3) Sheet in, and commit your weight to the boom to generate downforce
4) Go for the front strap, and then use your foot to steer
5) Hang your weight on the boom, and your front foot while you quickly sneak into the back strap
6) Own it!

You can hook in anywhere along the way from 1-6, but my suggestion is that you do it after 4).

There are a number of good videos and DVDs out there that will help.. I've taken a bit from every one I've watched. A picture is worth a thousand words, and a video even more.

[edit] looks like I took too long to compose this, I've been beaten to it. Never mind I'll leave it here anyway.

Daneli, looks like you fooled everybody (except Gestalt) by not mentioning you have a centerboard.

Anyway the dynamics of going down wind are similar for long and short boards, but the effect of the rails are more pronounced on longer boards.
So what needs to happen when you go downwind, is for the center of lateral resistance (rails + centerboard + fin) to more or less match the position of the center of lateral effort (sail effort transmited via mastbase and your feet..
If the board wont go downwind, that means the center of lateral resistance is staying too far forward as you move back.
I'd try moving the mastbase all the way back in the track, that should mean you can move further back without raking the sail so far back, and more rail can come out of the water, moving the center of lateral resistance back. As you pick up speed, more and more rail will come out of the water, meaning you can move the sail back further, and commit more weight to the harness and go still faster.

If the harness lines are too far forward, you'll be pulling more with your back hand, this force is transmitted through your back leg, pushing the board upwind. Set your harness lines so you have = pressure on both hands.

hey Daneli,

i also wanted to add you are making excellent progress mate. to be able to sail that kona in 20-25 knots after only 2 months is fantastic.

i reckon it's time to learn the flare gybe. the rig skills you get from that will really help you sort out the board control.

i still steer my formula board with the rig by altering it's postion. once you get the knack of it you can twist forward and have the board bear way without even using foot pressure.

NotWal said...

Guy Cribb Makes a good argument for long lines.
www.guycribb.com/

As a rough guide they shouldn't be any shorter than 26" and could be as long as 30".
I'm 170 tall, have my booms centre about 120mm from the top of the cutout (just at chin height) and my lines are about 28" - seems right. Oh that's with a waist harness. If they are too long (say 30" for me) it becomes difficult to maintain mast foot pressure and the harness becomes uncomfortable.

cheers for the info, must make a couple of adjments and try again

Great tips, thanks 555 and all the rest, may help me remedy my forearm fatigue. Marking out mast foot positions on the board for different sails right now. Also positions on the boom. Been suggested I should also go underhand grip on port tack. Starboard tacks ok but when I become fatigued I go for overhand....don't figure.

Must have taken a while to compose, so, well done!!
Always appreciate advice from those who are willing to impart thier skills on those who desperately need it.

Still buzzing from Yesterday

Oh yeah, if you're reaching on a beam reach, you might need to bear off a bit to a broard reach to get your gear planing.

sometimes a few little pumps seem right and other times a big pump is the go but I can't figure why, I just know both work for me at different times...why?

damm I am hanging out for that result!! many thanks

Thanks for those tips. I got my Go 'going' on Friday night with the 6.4 and wind the high teens. Had a blast.
I only managed to get my front foot in the strap and its felt pretty good other than fighting a little to stay down. I did find keeping the board flat and being out of the strap till really going was the best way. I do tend to hook in as soon as possible when up and I found Jen Hall's harness line placement video on youtube very very useful.
I had a quick run on my wife's JP 110 Xcite ride after and goodness me that flies! A little hard for me to water start so i will stick with the 180 Go for a lot longer.