Imax1 said..
Velcro

Although my feet aren't hairy enough

PhilUK said..

Basher said..
You shouldn't need to adjust your footstraps from session to session - unless maybe you wear boots, but then don't wear them.

The usual key to footstrap comfort is to make them narrow but high - so they grip the sides of your feet when you want more push, but when you want to get weight over the board you can put the windward foot further in, while knowing it won't get jammed.

I've tightened the straps on flat water to get my feet more outboard, then loosened then for B&J. You're telling people what they should do based on your own limited experience of type of sailing, as usual.

I'm sure you're right.
As a windsurfer, avoiding flat water and fickle UK wind places like Weymouth has probably been my downfall.
As an Olympic dinghy sailor I won a regatta there, and maybe that was enough.
With dinghy kit, we tuned and adjusted everything.
For windsurfing, I must have got lazy, because I only adjust the downhaul, tweak the harness line position, and I sometimes shift the mast foot a centimetre - but that's it. I know all my preferred settings, and never use a tape measure.

Today, I was on a new board - or new to me - with someone else's foot strap settings, so I may adjust those for width and height. However, once set to my Hobbit foot size, I'll leave them in a fixed setting, and I think it's consistency that's key for me. It's the same argument as why having a sliding hook on a harness is a bad idea. As the driver, I like to concentrate on the driving.

I agree
all the Mandurah and Lilacs sailors need to install a set of slightly inboard strap inserts

decrepit said..
I'll throw in a different scenario here, just to confuse things even more.
Our fastest water is often shallow and weedy, in light winds you need a wide board and big sail. Wide boards and big sails need big fins.
Normally this would be a big pointer, that induces a large rotational force on the board, so feet need to be outboard to stop the windward rail lifting too much.
However a highly raked, very low aspect ratio, shallow weedy, doesn't have as much leverage over the boards attitude. So all your weight on the inside rail, will tend to sink the windward rail. Not desirable if you want speed.
So straps further inboard could make easier sailing, and/or more speed.

I dont use weed fins, but can identify with that scenario. I use a 46cm fin in my largest board, with a 57.3cm OFO. I tried a 41cm when using a smaller 7.5m sail and had to be really light on the back foot.