Greeny,

maintaining mastfoot pressure through the board is critical, it will be the main difference from surfing, maintaining the mastfoot pressure will mean that the sail is in the right position. Positioning your sail to maximise the power that is available is important so that will depend on the direction of the wind.

When I was first learning I was told to pretend the bottom turn was a gybe, that you cut back from when hitting the top of the wave.

Feet positioning and weight and pressure distribution are also critical but using that gybe technique, will get your feet right. I'm sure others will have other ideas, but those things worked for me and I'm no natural. Obviously when you get competent you fine-tune everything, you sound like your lacking confidence which is normal when your learning. The usual fee will do

Hardie (Board Butcher and Reef Magnet)

Bend your knees, I fall off most of the time, but the times i get it right i bend my knees, and sorta sheet in and pull on the boom... But i could be doing it wrong

Haydz

thats probably the hardest thing for me to do and i guess i forget i think coming from surfing which is very style conscious doing the poo man is not a good look i know thats one thing i got to work on next time im gonna say it over and over and over again out loud while dropping down the wave so i know i have no excuse and yes hardie (i dont know how you know) i do lack confidence im such a kook and there are so many good windsurfers out there i just want it all in one day crawl first huh
justin... when i do go for the bottom turn the reason why i am crashing alot i find is that the inside rail gets buried and the fin jumps out... i am 63kg and ride a carbon sandwhich 75L the board width is 52cm so maybe im giving it too much inside rail bogging it too much i have boom around chin high... so once i come out of the bottom turn should i clue out

so i need to benz zee neez, lower center of gravity, maintain mast foot pressure over center of the board, clue out.... then lay back and thrash that wave to bits

thanks hardie justin and filth ill give that a go this week
more tips from others would be kindly accepted

GONE WITH THE WIND

for down the line although i'm not real good yet, but am starting to carry some power through my bottom turns. as that is what i have been concentrating on. i found hand position was important.

if you look at the pros they have there front hand right next to the harness line and move the back hand down the boom for the bottom turn and then move it up to the harness line for the cut back.

so here is what i have worked out so far. on your bottom turn. bend your knees and lean your weight forward so you put pressure on your front foot, do the bottom turn pro hands thing and lean your sail forward to the nose of the board ( the hand positions seem to stop your sail form tapping the water) and then just try really hard not to **** up and fall off. oh and then do your cut back and try to snap off the lip and get some air.. heh..

well that's what i got some far, hope it helps

I LIKE WATER

hey justin i just went out to check the fin position on my board and the leading edge is about the middle of back footstrap
im not sure what fin size is hardman gave it to me he might be able to tell... (its the local spirit white fin off the scalpel)
i find this fin good as it keeps me upwind easily
as to board volume its a 1997 and weights 7.2kg a heavy board plus rig and my biggest sail is a 5m but the recommended is a 5.4m
anyway i can get planning easily around 18knots... 15knots is too light... believe it or not it is a sinker... last saturday i had my 5m and in the lulls i was in ankle deep of water
so i was hoping to get a 74 evo for wave riding ability in a can i wanted to be out in 15/16knots and also 20/25knots with the one board if posible the E70 may take 5.8m

i too have noticed the pro hand thingy curac

i had a good think about your post bluejuice... thinking back yes i do stomp on the tail to slow things down abit most often the speed worries me a bit and i like do do things slower... i find that while im riding the swell in i do slow down instead of charging at full speed... would full speed be better
yes the learning curve is so much fun and im enjoying it
what does a well foiled fin mean look like
i sail at mettams bluejuice


GONE WITH THE WIND

i used to have the exact same problem when i started. i changed from a really stiff big crap fin to a 21cm Drake fin off an evo74 which has heaps more flex and i found a huge improvement.
quite often i think fins are overlooked. try and borrow a really flexible fin off a mate and see it it makes a difference. personally i rate the new JP rad wave fins, quite flexy and fast. the drakes on the evo are slower and will plane earlier though.
If ur fin is good and doesnt spinout on the waveface it allows u to fully commit yourself to the rail and carve some sweet bottom turns.
As evryone else has also mentioned bend the knees and hang down on the boom a bit to increase mastfoot pressure. think of the mastfoot as a third leg that helps u get more of the rail up towards the nose of the board working for u in the turn.
Also what type of board r u riding???(just out of curiosity)

www.outdoorshots.com.au/view_sessionshot.php?eid=43&pg=6&sid=04p1313110
www.outdoorshots.com.au/view_sessionshot.php?eid=45&pg=1&sid=04p2043521
www.outdoorshots.com.au/view_sessionshot.php?eid=101&pg=17&sid=04pc182323

hey greenie,
sorry to hear about your injury mate.
did you do the damage to yourself last thursday at the river when you took that great big stack getting some air??
get well soon
dave

yes that was it dave
i did go out at mettams on sat and i felt ok no dramas but went out on tuesday and hit a brickwall

GONE WITH THE WIND