mikesids said..
It is a good point, esp in lighter winds. If you are in 15kts of wind , and riding deep downwind at around 15kts of board speed then the apparent wind that the wing "sees" is effectively 0 kts and so the trailing edge of the wing drops. In anything over about 18-20kts breeze the wing will see an apparent wind of more than zero kts ( as boardspeed is generally around this or less when riding swell unless conditions are big) so the trailing edge stays up. My solution to this issue in lighter winds is to either ride shallower angles DW or to hold the first strut handle ( instead of the LE flagging handle) and brace the leading edge against my forearm - essentially levers the trailing edge up.

I've found that as the apparent wind is dropping towards zero it's worth holding the wing as close to the water surface as possible. This has two effects. First there's less wind speed near the surface so you can then quickly switch the apparent wind from trailing to head on. Secondly the strut will probably touch the surface at a low angle and the wing will rotate so that it's dragging out behind you.

With enough speed on the wave you can turn towards the wing so that it's temporarily upwind of you. It will keep dragging or flying behind you as long as you keep up your speed.

Holding the front handle high as the apparent wind speed drops on a wave is the worst thing to do. It's tempting to keep the wing out of the water but if you get any apparent head wind the wing acts like a massive brake. Chances are that the end of the strut will hit the water and dig in.

Jeroensurf said..

mindhoc said..

Jeroensurf said..
If you riding faster then the wind, keep the wing (flagged) behind your back. I started doing that only a few months ago and for my riding it was a gamechanger.
Especially in lighter winds this seems easier as in stronger wind (because it is easier to go faster then the windsspeed)

Oh good point , I will try that out , that might fix all problems ??

ALL problems is quite a bit , but in riding it makes a huge difference. Especially with wings with a bit floppy trailing edge that are easier to catch when you keep them in front of you, are way easier to hndle when you can keep them behind you using the apparent wind.
That is why I think a stiffer surf/leadingedge handle is the way to go, because it also gives you a lot more control when positioning the wing around you and with grbbing over from 1 hand to the other.

Grabbing the first handle on the strut like Mikesids does works as well and if that your style of riding: get the new NP fly nd forget the rest. That handles are for now the best in the business.

Yeah I'll definitely give it a go, I think I have had the wing behind me and being puzzled about not crashing because of it. I think it might work nicely , I guess the wing hand switch will just happen behind the back while riding and turning down the swell

simonp65 said..

I've found that as the apparent wind is dropping towards zero it's worth holding the wing as close to the water surface as possible. This has two effects. First there's less wind speed near the surface so you can then quickly switch the apparent wind from trailing to head on. Secondly the strut will probably touch the surface at a low angle and the wing will rotate so that it's dragging out behind you.

With enough speed on the wave you can turn towards the wing so that it's temporarily upwind of you. It will keep dragging or flying behind you as long as you keep up your speed.

Holding the front handle high as the apparent wind speed drops on a wave is the worst thing to do. It's tempting to keep the wing out of the water but if you get any apparent head wind the wing acts like a massive brake. Chances are that the end of the strut will hit the water and dig in.

This is how I do it. It's far better for riding than holding the wing high.

Also, if you do slow down the end of the central strut touches the water, and even though the wind is behind you, it pushes the wing down and keeps it there if you get to a flatter section on the wave. The behind-the-back gybe also helps coming off the wave when it's flagging behind you.

This is difficult in high-wind situations with small waves as the wave may not be fast enough to get the apparent wind to reverse and it also isn't blocking the wind.