Freddo said...
Have been doin the hard slog for the last year and have managed to go from total kook trying to just uphaul on my giant prehistoric cheap arse "beginner gear, to getting into the straps and planing harnessed up and pulling of some carve jibes 60% of the time.
You are taking the right steps, take it from a dinosaur if you are getting "60%" of your carve jibes in your first year you're progressing well, took me longer than that! Like others mentioned get your waterstarts sorted, it's the quickest way to get back on the board and it might just save you from a predicament. Make it a priority!
So now I find I am getting a little frustrated that I would like to be pushing myself a little harder and start getting some aerial stuff happening, like chop hops or eventually some sort of big aerials and loops.
Chop hops are fun, we all did them to start our aerial repertoire of which mine was very limited.
Use a chop at first then you can eventually lead to not even needing one to get some small air even in dead flat water.
I mainly sail at lucky bay and have seen how easy the kiters can get loads of air and am am starting to get a little worried that their aerial antics are looking a little bit tempting and maybe t/bagging might be worth a try.
If beginner kiters can be lifted and slammed into immoveable sea furniture in their first hour of having a go I don't think it can be that hard to get air. Now lets see a sailboarding beginner in their first hour try to do the same thing. Not likely. Getting any kind of air on any kind of windsurfer and the sailor has reached a level of technical competence they should be proud of. Personally a windsurfer in flight is a much more beautiful and exciting sight than a kiter in the air....dangling and wiggling to make it look more interesting. Just my observation.
The board doesn't know how old or cheap it is, if it's got footstraps it can jump under control. Get on the plane, find a bit of chop, hit it, pull down on the boom at the same time push down on your board and spring up, pull up with your feet in the straps forward foot first and hold that possie for a sec. Show the wind some of the boards underside (reason for lifting the front foot first) and it will assist you getting some height...you're now airborne. The next challenge is to maintain the same speed before you launched when you hit the water again and remain upright and planing...that looks super kewl. The more speed you have the easier it gets. The larger the chop the higher you will go.
We were bored one day and I remember a few of us jumped a dredging pipe half submerged (about 2' above the water?) in near perfectly flat water in a lake with just enough wind to get on a plane on semi-sinker short boards. Fins easily clearing the pipe. Height was no big deal but illustrates that you can jump without the need for a chop as a ramp. Your challenge has been set Grasshopper. Have fun!
Sheesh, I told you it's all still in my head...now all I've got to do is follow my own advice. How much does a TC weigh and where are those straps?
I have just been back into windsurfing for 2 years now. when I got back into it all I could do was, beach start, uphaul and ride in the foot straps on a plane, and do a few jumps. I could hardly water start and could not jibe and tack. 
and it all takes time my friend.
Which might explain why some people take a long time to learn new stuff.
