and while we're on the topic of spin/sliding out - does anyone have this problem when landing a jump,

just after landing my fin just doesnt stick (I guess since the water goes turbulent around the fin)

is this common to all jumpers regardless of fin, or can you avoid this turbulence with a different fin choice?

cheers,
Timbo

burlinson

quote:

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Do I need a bigger fin,move
the mast forward or put more weight on the back foot?

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don't put more weight on the back foot!!!! less will be better!!!
you could try a bigger fin ( particularly with a 6.2m2)...
and also maybe try to sail more upright:
ie not too crunched down, or fully sheet in with lots of pressure on the fin. (this is ok for slalom/race with big fin and big sail but not really with wave gear)

Timbo, pretty much the same idea; try to land with a bit more weight on your front foot and less on the back one, but more important land a bit more going down wind. (open the sail a bit just before the landing and relaaaaaaaax...)

hope this help !!

Usually you aim to have even pressure applied to the board by each leg when you are sailing at 90 degrees to the wind. You do not force yourself to do this, it should be a natural stance once the gear is setup right.

Heading down wind - will naturally cause you to apply more pressure to the front leg, the leg will be staighter, and you will bend the back leg.

Pointing up wind - is the oposite.

Providing the fin is in good condition, adequate size, and seated correctly in the board, the following will generally increase the chance of spinout.

1. the higher the boom - the more effort will be applied to the back leg, which in turn will cause spinout when the pressure becomes too great. Try lowering the boom to even out the pressure distributed to the board by the front and back legs. A high boom can work well for higher volume-modern boards and modern sails on flat water, and can actually increase speed, but on a wave board it is generally considered better to keep the boom at nipple height. Riding on the back leg will reduce early planing.

2. a mast track that is too far back - will cause you to ride on the back leg. However, again on floaty freeride boards this can improve speed but generally only in the right conditions. Try moving it forward until you feel even pressure between the front and back leg being applied to the board.

3. incorrect foot strap positions.

- A wide stance - on some boards will cause more pressure to be applied to the back leg. Closing the gap a little will generally even out the pressure by the legs.

- Staggering the straps (front straps set to outside edge of board, back strap set to the centre of board) - is a common mistake made by many new sailors. Many do it in an attempt to reduce the amount of water hitting their legs, or because they are finding it hard to get the back foot into the strap. This is really making the situation worse bacause it is twisting the body and adding to the back leg pressure. As a rule, if you're gonna sail with the straps on the inside of the board, do it to all the straps, not just the back one/s. If you put a strap to the outside, put them all to the outer edge.
There is a certain amount of adaptation a sailor can make to the board to suit the sailor, but there is a certain amount of adaptation a sailor has to make to himself to suit the board, and usually it is just a case of practice. (mainly refering to the staggered footstrap scenario)

4. excessively long harness lines - will often cause the sailor to unconciously apply extra pressure to the back leg due to the sailor hanging out too far. Long harness lines also tend to lead to "mobile toilet" stance, where you have your bum sticking out while rifing the aqua-dunny. Try shorter harness lines which keep you more upright and in a straighter stance.

5. harness lines too far forward along the boom - will cause the sailor to pull harder on the back hand and in turn will cause more pressure to be applied to the back leg. Try moving the harness lines further to the back of the boom.

6. older sails which do not twist off at the top - often have a smaller wind range, and will not deliver forward pull when overpowered. Instead, when overpowered, the sail will pull you across the board, not forward. The only semi-cure to this issue with old sails is to move the mastfoot further forward, and/or lower the boom, and/or move the foot straps closer together. However, this will only work to a point. As the wind increases, the sail will eventually become inefficient and unusable.

Sails that twist off at the top will generally still deliver forward pull even as the wind increases. As long as you have forward pull, you can usually keep the mastfoot further back, and possibly keep the boom higher up.

In general:

- heavier sailors riding lower volume boards will need to take note of the above, and experiment until they find a sweet spot. Light sailors on the same equipment and in the same wind will usually get away with "their own rules" of rig setup and will apear to sail well regardless of configuration.

- Low volume boards including modern and older shaped boards can tend to respond differently to floatier modern boards when it comes to mast-track and boom-height settings, and each board is a little different to the next.

I have no doubt that someone out there will have some technique that contradicts what I have just written. Most of the time the above info applies.

cheers

Rick

Hmm good answer Rick, I just want to add that some fins have poor foil shapes or fins may have small chips or cracks in them which means the water doesn't hold as well to the fin I have found that lightly sanding a fin with 320 grade wet and dry sandpaper reduces spinout on poor quality fins.
This guys on to it too http://www.finco.com.au/tech_articles.htm#spinout

a.k.a. KA202

Did you know one of the funnest things I've done at Safety bay is gybe then slide my board the whole way back across the bay?

No kidding, both directions.....giggled my way to spin out heaven

"It's only early...."