I notice on many Robby videos that he often sail unhooked,I do this almost always when wind is strong because I am scared of crash,but why one of best windsurfer ever also do this,is his age reason for this?

I really feel more in control when unhook and for me it is almost impossible to crash when you sail unhooked,but I am beginner

Does PWA sailors do this during race?

In planing, but not fully powered mode, and also stuck in bad air, fully planing, racers often sail unhooked while pumping and adjusting sail angle to "find" the wind. A photo might show unhooked sailing, but he is moving the sail around.

choco said..
Better off in the harness, you can control the sail when overpowered without crashing just takes practise.

What mean "better off in the harness" hooked or unhooked?

choco said..

Nubie said..

choco said..
Better off in the harness, you can control the sail when overpowered without crashing just takes practise.

What mean "better off in the harness" hooked or unhooked?

hooked

But why then he sail unhooked in tricky condition,Robby is not beginner?

He was also unhooking to jump.

If you unhook and you aren't expecting it (chop or swell knocks you), you can lose control if you're not good at adding mast base pressure by sinking your weight into the sail without the harness. If you've got it weighted up, it keeps the nose down. But, I mostly saw him hooked in.

duzzi said..

Nubie said..

choco said..

Nubie said..

choco said..
Better off in the harness, you can control the sail when overpowered without crashing just takes practise.

What mean "better off in the harness" hooked or unhooked?

hooked

But why then he sail unhooked in tricky condition,Robby is not beginner?

He says (around 5'30") that he feels more in control when unhooked and going "that fast". I am not so sure if it is such a good advise, nobody would really last long sailing unhooked. And it is hard to tell "how fast" he is going. The video is clearly massaged, with a skipping video and a lot of noise to give the impression of speed, but he basically freeriding with a small sail ... he can unhook with a 5.4, but it is not really an optimal asset for speed ...

Few times I stuck with 8.5 at35knots of wind (85kg)I allways unhook in these conditon to save myself from catapult.
Do you do the same?

Nubie said..

duzzi said..

Nubie said..

choco said..

Nubie said..

choco said..
Better off in the harness, you can control the sail when overpowered without crashing just takes practise.

What mean "better off in the harness" hooked or unhooked?

hooked

But why then he sail unhooked in tricky condition,Robby is not beginner?

He says (around 5'30") that he feels more in control when unhooked and going "that fast". I am not so sure if it is such a good advise, nobody would really last long sailing unhooked. And it is hard to tell "how fast" he is going. The video is clearly massaged, with a skipping video and a lot of noise to give the impression of speed, but he basically freeriding with a small sail ... he can unhook with a 5.4, but it is not really an optimal asset for speed ...

Few times I stuck with 8.5 at35knots of wind (85kg)I allways unhook in these conditon to save myself from catapult.
Do you do the same?

I do not sail in 35 knots with a 8.5 sail. I actually stay home in 35 Knots! (that is, moderately high (18-25 ft) waves of greater length, edges of crests begin to break into spindrift, foam blown in streaks)

Of course everybody does unhook (PWA or not) before a jibe, returning to the beach, pumping the sail, and a bunch of other situations. But in a straight line it means that either you are just having fun and are not really that powered up (the conditions of Naish's video, he is obviously in easy control in very tame conditions, despite how the video makes it look like), or you are very much completely maxed out and out of control (8.5 in 35) and then speed is really not a concern!

So: to the original question. No, sailing unhooked serves very little purpose other than tire you out!

If any of you ever tried a slalom race, you would know sailors 2 thru 8 are sailing in dirty air and water, and are constantly pumping and changing board direction and sail angles.

Nubie said..
Few times I stuck with 8.5 at35knots of wind (85kg)I allways unhook in these conditon to save myself from catapult.
Do you do the same?

No way are you sailing an 8.5m sail in 35Knots of wind unless you are King Kong's big brother! Maybe you meant 35KPH?

What world cup slalom racers do is 90% irrelevant to the average recreational windsurfer, and 100% irrelevant to a "Nubie".

Nubie said..

sailquik said..

Nubie said..
Few times I stuck with 8.5 at35knots of wind (85kg)I allways unhook in these conditon to save myself from catapult.
Do you do the same?

No way are you sailing an 8.5m sail in 35Knots of wind unless you are King Kong's big brother! Maybe you meant 35KPH?

What world cup slalom racers do is 90% irrelevant to the average recreational windsurfer, and 100% irrelevant to a "Nubie".

For sure I dont sail in these condition,I survive...This happend only twice when wind pick up
Even with 5.5 I unhook when big gusts come,because I am scared of catapult.
So I wonder why best windusrfer ever do this...

Very few people can windsurf comfortably in real 35 knots of wind. I would need a 3.0 to try. But going back to your question, I would completely disregard what Naish says in the video. First, he is Naish, and second it is the worst advise to give to a beginner. You just pin pointed the problem: you are scared of a catapult. It is a sort of vicious circle, you get scared, maybe open the sail, upset your asset, as a result you bring your weight forward, get more scared because you start to feel a serious pull forward, and finally unhook to try to bring things sort of in control.

The trick is to commit. Keep your weight back, do not put too much pressure on the fin, do not open the sail, crouch down by bending your knees (no seven position if very overpowered), and things will stay in control. And keep those harness lines loaded: they are your friend!

Nubie said..

duzzi said..

Nubie said..

sailquik said..

Nubie said..
Few times I stuck with 8.5 at35knots of wind (85kg)I allways unhook in these conditon to save myself from catapult.
Do you do the same?

No way are you sailing an 8.5m sail in 35Knots of wind unless you are King Kong's big brother! Maybe you meant 35KPH?

What world cup slalom racers do is 90% irrelevant to the average recreational windsurfer, and 100% irrelevant to a "Nubie".

For sure I dont sail in these condition,I survive...This happend only twice when wind pick up
Even with 5.5 I unhook when big gusts come,because I am scared of catapult.
So I wonder why best windusrfer ever do this...

Very few people can windsurf comfortably in real 35 knots of wind. I would need a 3.0 to try. But going back to your question, I would completely disregard what Naish says in the video. First, he is Naish, and second it is the worst advise to give to a beginner. You just pin pointed the problem: you are scared of a catapult. It is a sort of vicious circle, you get scared, maybe open the sail, upset your asset, as a result you bring your weight forward, get more scared because you start to feel a serious pull forward, and finally unhook to try to bring things sort of in control.

The trick is to commit. Keep your weight back, do not put too much pressure on the fin, do not open the sail, crouch down by bending your knees (no seven position if very overpowered), and things will stay in control. And keep those harness lines loaded: they are your friend!

Robby do this all the time,but I still dont understand why pro wsurfer(best ever) do this..
I never seen that pro wsurfer sail unhooked

Anybody can sail unhooked, in a straight line it is just not efficient, and nobody can sail unhooked for long. Do you want to follow something that Naish says in a video because what he says is gospel? Help yourself. We are all telling you that that suggestion is not such a great idea.

Nubie said..

No I just want to say when overpowerd I fell more in control/safer unhooked but for sure you cant sail long like that..
I never say that is good just wonder why Robby do what beginners usualy do...

Just keep practicing and keep pushing yourself to learn in suitable conditions. Stop overthinking it.

WillyWind said..

Nubie said..

duzzi said..

Nubie said..

sailquik said..

Nubie said..
Few times I stuck with 8.5 at35knots of wind (85kg)I allways unhook in these conditon to save myself from catapult.
Do you do the same?

No way are you sailing an 8.5m sail in 35Knots of wind unless you are King Kong's big brother! Maybe you meant 35KPH?

What world cup slalom racers do is 90% irrelevant to the average recreational windsurfer, and 100% irrelevant to a "Nubie".

For sure I dont sail in these condition,I survive...This happend only twice when wind pick up
Even with 5.5 I unhook when big gusts come,because I am scared of catapult.
So I wonder why best windusrfer ever do this...

Very few people can windsurf comfortably in real 35 knots of wind. I would need a 3.0 to try. But going back to your question, I would completely disregard what Naish says in the video. First, he is Naish, and second it is the worst advise to give to a beginner. You just pin pointed the problem: you are scared of a catapult. It is a sort of vicious circle, you get scared, maybe open the sail, upset your asset, as a result you bring your weight forward, get more scared because you start to feel a serious pull forward, and finally unhook to try to bring things sort of in control.

The trick is to commit. Keep your weight back, do not put too much pressure on the fin, do not open the sail, crouch down by bending your knees (no seven position if very overpowered), and things will stay in control. And keep those harness lines loaded: they are your friend!

Robby do this all the time,but I still dont understand why pro wsurfer(best ever) do this..
I never seen that pro wsurfer sail unhooked

don't forget that that Robby's video is a "promotional" video. Don't get me wrong, I won't get to his level in a million of years but still, no harness means less mast base pressure and that makes the nose of the board to raise and you start having control problems. Unless I am insanely overpowered, I would not unhook because the whole thing gets unstable. Now, regarding that video, maybe he was too overpowered, or too choppy, or it looked good for the video.

For same body posture,righting moment and mfp are the same in both case(hooked or unhooked)

Nubie said..

WillyWind said..

Nubie said..

duzzi said..

Nubie said

For same body posture,righting moment and mfp are the same in both case(hooked unhooked.)

No MFP will not be same hooked n unhooked.
Hooked in,body weight is transferred thru harness lines to boom to mast to mastfoot to board. =MFP
Unhooked, body weight is on the board with very little MFP.
The nose of board will lift. To lessen this effect hang off boom n pull down as you unhook.
Try to overcome your fear. Rather than unhook as a gust approaches, bend at the knees n prepare for the gust n accelerate away. Yeeeww!

I had a chat to robby , he was just clowning around and unhooked ready for a jump to show off.
Ofcourse you stay hooked in racing in slalom . those **** foilers and formulas are abit different in light winds, STAY HOOKED iN you pussies.

olskool said..
Try to overcome your fear. Rather than unhook as a gust approaches, bend at the knees n prepare for the gust n accelerate away. Yeeeww!

Better still, rotate your upper body so you face forward, sit in your harness, straighten your front leg and bend your back leg, that way you translate the gust through your harness, body and front leg into forward acceleration. This also protects you against catapulting