hang on to your uphaul :-)

Depress the windward rail
look upwind toward where you want to go
keep your back leg straight and drive off the fin (if planing)
have the weight in your harness pressing through the hip opposite your back leg (keep your body weight forward)
bend the front leg and roll the foot toward the small toe (weight forward)
back hand up against the back harness line
front hand way forward

In lighter wind change direction to upwind very gently

Lean forward and try to sail off the luff of the sail keeping it as upright as possible giving maximum lift.
I used to race the vivace in the early 90's the 280 model and we did upwind course racing on it with a 38cm fin. 6.5 and 7.8 favored sails. They were a great all round board in the day.
Still if wanting to go upwind need to remember need power to burn, if under done it's not going to happen.
Keep at it and you will get results.

muz720 said..

Still if wanting to go upwind need to remember need power to burn, if under done it's not going to happen.

Yep, power and speed will help the fin generate lift. Try and feel the load on the fin and keep it constant and smooth to avoid spin out. A quality fin makes a difference, it'll give enough lift upwind whilst being controllable off the wind.

Sail trim is tough to get, oversheet and you may feel like the rig is falling backwards and losing power. Undersheet and you won't have the power you need. I find I use the front arm a lot to trim rather than the back arm. Harness should do the sheeting and use the front arm to trim and keep the rig upright.

Thanks for all the replies, i'll try to remember this next time i go out.
And Yuppy, i've been trying to do this for a while, harder than i expected, one day soon i will!