The wind in Coffs harbour this month has been great - getting regular 20Knots plus days. I am getting planing easily now but I'm like an un-guided missile. On saturday I was planing straight from the shore start point using a 4.5mt sail!

I am using an Exocet RS6 which has really outboard footstraps and the problem I am having now is if I try to get into them before planing I upset the balance of the board and I tend to round up into the wind but once I start planing - especially in high wind I tend to shoot off down wind and survival takes precedent; I just hang on and try to stay on the board. When I am relatively balanced and I concentrate on getting feet on side of board my feet seem to be next to straps; but there is too much going on for me to adjust.

In the spot where I sail most, a planing run might be 20-30 seconds which makes it tough.

A couple of times when I have tried to adjust front foot I have catapulted :) Any tips on going from crazy out of control down wind to locked in and using footstraps would be very appreciated - it's a fun adrenalin rush but also scary :) .

Like beach and water starting were once such a mystery and now I've figured them out (mostly) this seems very difficult.

At your stage you need a board that has both inboard and outboard strap positions, and is a bit slower! The inboard positions are a lot easier to get into and affect board trim a lot less. Boards with only outboard straps are aimed at well advanced sailors who want to go fast.
If you have only outboard strap positions you will struggle and be scared a lot. You have to be quick. You need to hook in and get the front foot in the strap as soon as you start planing and before you pick up too much speed. The back foot being on the rail in front of the strap is OK. If you can wiggle that foot backwards so you can feel the strap next to your foot then you can move that foot into the strap without looking because you know where it is. You must be quick.
If you find getting the back foot into the strap too scary you can keep your back foot on the centre line in between the straps or even put it in the opposite strap (from the centreline) just to give yourself some stability and anchor yourself to the board.

John340 said..

I had a similar problem and asked the same question a couple of months ago. Click on the following short cut to read the helpful responses.

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/General/Getting-the-back-foot-in-the-foot-strap

Hey John thanks for that link.

The transition from starting -planing-footstraps - is tricky. My brain is usually like - "okay, we got this. Footstraps are no.1 goal this run. Okay, Get on board, whoa that wind is strong, get low...hook in.. holy shiiiiiittt........"

The next run, "okay we got this...." etc etc :)

The practice on shore first sounds like a good idea

gregob said..

Windxtasy said..

At your stage you need a board that has both inboard and outboard strap positions, and is a bit slower! The inboard positions are a lot easier to get into and affect board trim a lot less. Boards with only outboard straps are aimed at well advanced sailors who want to go fast.
If you have only outboard strap positions you will struggle and be scared a lot. You have to be quick. You need to hook in and get the front foot in the strap as soon as you start planing and before you pick up too much speed. The back foot being on the rail in front of the strap is OK. If you can wiggle that foot backwards so you can feel the strap next to your foot then you can move that foot into the strap without looking because you know where it is. You must be quick.
If you find getting the back foot into the strap too scary you can keep your back foot on the centre line in between the straps or even put it in the opposite strap (from the centreline) just to give yourself some stability and anchor yourself to the board.

Hey Wind - I have a Funster 145Lt - which does have more in board straps but this board is a pig to get planing - in fact I have never planed on it. That's why I got a faster board :)

The Excocet is 130lt and 83cm wide, very stable, but, you're right it could use some more inboard strap positions. Can you add strap positions to boards easily or does it require extensive surgery?

If you can't get that funster planing in 20+ knots there is something wrong!

Adding further footstrap positions does require major surgery. It can be done but it is involved.

Windxtasy said..

gregob said..

Windxtasy said..

At your stage you need a board that has both inboard and outboard strap positions, and is a bit slower! The inboard positions are a lot easier to get into and affect board trim a lot less. Boards with only outboard straps are aimed at well advanced sailors who want to go fast.
If you have only outboard strap positions you will struggle and be scared a lot. You have to be quick. You need to hook in and get the front foot in the strap as soon as you start planing and before you pick up too much speed. The back foot being on the rail in front of the strap is OK. If you can wiggle that foot backwards so you can feel the strap next to your foot then you can move that foot into the strap without looking because you know where it is. You must be quick.
If you find getting the back foot into the strap too scary you can keep your back foot on the centre line in between the straps or even put it in the opposite strap (from the centreline) just to give yourself some stability and anchor yourself to the board.

Hey Wind - I have a Funster 145Lt - which does have more in board straps but this board is a pig to get planing - in fact I have never planed on it. That's why I got a faster board :)

The Excocet is 130lt and 83cm wide, very stable, but, you're right it could use some more inboard strap positions. Can you add strap positions to boards easily or does it require extensive surgery?

If you can't get that funster planing in 20+ knots there is something wrong!

Adding further footstrap positions does require major surgery. It can be done but it is involved.

I haven't tried it in 20+ knots. About two months ago my brother and I went halves in a secondhand kit that included a 135 Litre Naish Grand Prix - After I got that planing in 15 knots where the funster wasn't I decided to get myself a lighter / faster board. I would have liked a Rocket as they seem to very popular and highly recommended but are rare 2nd hand in the litrage I was after and quite expensive brand new.

Plus Remi from The windsurfing Shed gave me a great deal on the Exocet :)

It sounds like a good plan would be to see if I can get the funster planing in higher winds and get into the more inboard footstraps on it - and then once proficient - try to imitate on the Exocet.

Windxtasy said..
... If you can wiggle that foot backwards so you can feel the strap next to your foot then you can move that foot into the strap without looking because you know where it is. You must be quick.
...

This is pretty much it.
Once you know exactly where the strap is by having the side of your foot touching it then it's just a very short fast movement of the back foot outwards, slightly back and then inwards again, without looking.
If you have to look then you are already half way to losing it.
You end up balancing on the front foot while stabbing away with the back foot and folding over the strap so it's impossible to get your foot in anyway, and at the same time, weaving this way and that as the balance point changes ,until it all finally falls in a heap with you and the board upside down in the water.
All good fun but not really the objective of the exercise.

Yeah the area around Coffs Harbour does not have any decent lakes or sheltered bays. Its pretty well rivers and open beaches with big dumping beach breaks when its windy. I grew up near there, in the Nambucca Valley and learned windsurfing there. Back then the river entrance was not silted up with a million tons of sand. So it was possible to get a decent run of a few hundred meters even at low tide. Today you'd be lucky to sail 50m at high tide before hitting a sand bar.

Hi Greg, you're welcome any time !!

Been a while since I haven't sailed with a fellow seabreezer

The exocet being full slalom, it will take a little practice to easily find the back strap, I always bear downwind while doing so, helps a little;