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Just purchased a f2 lightning coarse racing board,only used it once,marginal planing on a reach for the most and fully powered into the rear most straps once "O WHAT A FEELING"
After some tips on mast base positioning and foot staps used in other points of sailing,(and centre board use as well)
Light winds non planing
Upwind mast track fully forward,use front railing straps to roll the board onto the leeward rail. Centreboard fully down
Reaching and downwind mast track fully forward (to keep the board flat and prevent digging in the tail which will slow you down) centreboard fully up.
High winds planing
Upwind mast track fully forward, as much centreboard as possible without flipping board. use front railing strap to roll board onto leeward rail and keep you on the board, sail raked back. An awesome feeling powering to windward on a raceboard.
Reaching and downwind, no centreboard and mast track back. If you want to go dead down wind in higher winds you could keep it forward but if planing your probably better going on a deep broad reach and keeping it planing you will achieve better vmg and it will be easier and more fun. use the planing straps.
Anyone have different tips or more tips I would appreciate hearing them as well
You can do centre board turns on those things. A kind of flare gybe (non planing).
With the centre board down put your weight back sink the tail. The nose comes up. Weight the near side rear so that the part of the centre board that is in the water is twisted away from you. In that position it will steer you down wind and through quite a tight turn. You have to juggle the sail to keep power in it the whole way and exit clew first. Then flip it.
Thanks Cam,will give those tips a try. Got my second sail on it today, sailing on a reach fairly well powered on a 7.4 Loft o2 freeride with no or very little centreboard.
Its the first time i've used the loft and was wishing at times i could have extended the harness lines (26"fixed).The first sail was with a Gaastra 7.5 gtx and felt the same re harness line length.
My question is would that be the case sailing this type of board compared to my starboard carve 121 that the different stance and sailing style would be better with longer harness lines?
I've also read that sails with a tighter leach work best on this style of board. Experimenting will answer some of the question but i'll put it out there for some feedback, how will the two sails mentioned respond to less down haul to tighten up the leach a bit ?
edit; thanks Dave, hardly a gybe master on the carve but will give it a try.
I was using my RSX sail on my Mistral Equipe until it finally died and it worked really well. In light winds used very little downhaul to make the draft deep and used the outhaul to tighten the leach. The rsx has an adjustable downhaul and outhaul and I would recommend getting these setups.
Been using my 9.6 reflex 3 recently and it is less than ideal for light winds. On recommended settings in 10 -12 knots its hopeless, no power, cant hang off the rig and rail the board and ended up getting flogged by all the kids on technos. Last time I used it with 4cm less downhaul and it gave it a lot more draft and a tighter leech and got heaps better performance from the board but still less than ideal. I have a 9.5 Severne Raceboard sail on order and I believe it will be perfect over a huge wind range.
So if you can get a raceboard sail (9.5) and definatley get an adjustable downhaul (easy to make yourself) and adjustable outhaul so you an tune sails to suit conditions and points of sail. The way the sail is rigged makes a huge difference.
Final recommendations are join a sailing club and go racing even if its just against the dinghies. Racing adds a new dimension to your sailing you go out in all conditions get heaps more TOW and your sailing skills and fitness improve rapidly.
Maybe try sone sandpaper?
I'd start with an 80 grit and work up, by the time you get to 250 grit that coarse board will be nice and smooth.
Adjustable downhaul
Tie onto mast with a cow hitcha bove or below boom your choice
Down haul goes through mast extension first then up to sail pulleys etc and cleats off as normal.
Minimal downhaul applied
Extra downhaul applied
Hope that helps
Yeah these ones are ronstan but they dont have a number stamped on them. Harken make them as well, most chandlery's should have them in stock. You need to get the ones with the v cleat.
Great board, I would love to have a go one one of these.
To add to what Camm has already said,
To learn how to sail it, concentrate on getting good upwind. You have to learn the technique of 'railing up'. Put the mast as far as you can forward and rake the sail as far back as you can with the centreboard totally down. Put the back foot in the most forward strap and the other somewhere on the rail a bit further forward. It is a great feeling when you get it. I reckon you should listen for the sound of the board in the water. When you get it right it should go from sounding slushy to a (ski) sliding sound. IMHO it is one of the best feelings in windsurfing.
The straps look like they are in the right positions too. I have used just a normal slalom sail and it is fine to learn the above. A proper race sail will point higher though.
The Pulley blocks that work best and what all of the RSX Sailors use are the harken fiddle blocks they are not cheap but they are the best and allow you to down haul your sails on the fly with no effort at all, go harken everything and it will be 1000 times better but twice as much
