Hi all,
I have just clocked over 1 year since starting windsurfing and very much a work in progress.
Wonder if the experienced old salts and pros wouldn't mind checking out the video below to see what I am doing wrong. Would appreciate any feedback.
Things don't feel quite "natural" in my position and the balance of the rig.
Here's the vid:
I agree with Jem Hall.
Firstly get those harness lines positioned correctly.
If in doubt stand the sail up on the beach. If the lines are balanced correctly you should be able to hold the sail stable by holding the harness line only.
Longer lines and straighter arms/legs will help you push more weight into the harness and you will get more control and be able to move your arms closer together. Try moving them in one handwidth for a start. (This is one I am working on atm)
Your harness lines might be OK. If they were in the wrong place you'd know straight away. Well I know straight away! You should be able to sail for a few seconds hands free if your harness lines are positioned correctly. If they are too far back you'll feel the front of the boon pulling away from you and vice-versa for the back - which could explain why you're not sheeting in enough? But it feels pretty odd when harness lines are out, so I thought it would be obvious? Short lines are just a preference & I use the smallest ones you can buy - I guess it depends on how long your arms are. It does look as though you are bending your knees too much, boom height too low? Tinker around with a few things & see what makes a difference. It's probably a combination of a number of things.
Got any photos of you sailing taken from the shore.That would show your stance and allow the 'experts ' to give advice easier..
I am starting to think its got to be the harness lines position on the boom.
I have the boom right up around my shoulders in light wind and just around my under arms in every other case - I think that works okay for now.
Sorry Sboardcrazy - no other pics.
Zed - how do you ride with shorter lines without getting all bent up?
Will be trying the balance test next time I am out - get those lines perfectly positioned to get the sail winded-up and stable, and a handwidth apart.
Ok, harness lines are a good distance apart but this makes trim more sensitive, which is good when every things right, but not when not. When you do sheet in the lines are pulling back at an angle, at a guess I'd move lines back along boom, sheeting in should be easy. Also I see harness line loose, not enough or no weight in them most of the time, might have to raise boom or just lean back. Is mast base center of track, good place to start, then juggle boom height and line position to suit. I like long harness lines, I'm 6'1" and use 28s thinking of 30s, short lines rooted my elbow.
Get advice at your local, let one of the experienced guys to take it for a spin and adjust it, then change it yourself to suit, we're all different.
Hope some of that made sense, in a hurry to shoot off.
Here the one tips that improved my comfort level. in relation to harness line position
Guy Cribbs method.
Place your back harness line 1/3 back along the boom(yes get out the tape measure) and the front one bout a hand to a hand and half width in front.
it works a treat
www.guycribb.com/userfiles/documents/The%20Truth%20About%20Harness%20Lines.pdf
Simple trick for setting harness lines from the MP clinic.
Pick the rig up by the boom in the centre of your lines and see if it balances.
If not, find that point of balance, and then space your lines a hand-span or so on either side.
When sailing, you should be able to sail for a few secs hands free, as noted above, or otherwise "play the piano", meaning you only need finger-tip pressure to control the rig.
1" less outhaul
0.75" more downhaul
Harness lines back 2"
Mastfoot forward 1"
Boom up 1.5"
Your lines are a fine length and your stance is appropriate for how your gear is tuned. I suspect your stance will sort itself out when you make the above changes.
Explanation:
Your sail is too flat at the boom and not twisting enough at the head. Hence you aren't able to sheet right in and the top of the rig is pushing you around.
You don't have enough back foot pressure. Raising your boom and shifting your mast foot forward, combined with moving your harness lines back and the previous rig changes will put more load on your back leg and create more fore-aft stability as you can swing more weight forward through the mast foot.
hi kdog this might help
sail=5.7 firefly
98l freestyle
im 6'2 have boom at sholder height and 32' lines
i think your lines are way to far forward
sail seems its allways sheeted out
to much outhall
Hi K dog,
Im no pro.... went to fiji and did some sailing with Warren over there, he gave me very simple tips that made a massive difference to my sailing..
1) try and straighten that front leg, seams difficult to do but once you got it it feels great
2) bring hands closer together on boom for more power
3) keep front arm straight and locked for more power and control. Sailing with under grip (palm up) with front arm will help to assist this
hope this helps
Agree with the harness lines being further back, which will then help you adjust your stance to:
1. Get your legs straighter and your backside out over the water
2. Point your back toes to keep the board flat.
K Dog if you have only been sailing for 1 year your doing fine, one thing i did notice is your harness lines are crooked
A bit hard to tell but I would set up the Kult with a little less outhaul and a lttle more downhaul. Have the sail fuller down low and more twisted in the head. This will allow you to lock your stance a bit more as the rig won't pull you around as much.
"7" is out, toilet seat is in.
Hey K Dog.
Do you have the same problem with smaller sails?
I find that when I use a bigger sail which is towards the top of the recommended sail size for the board, I also find it hard to get comfortable. It just doesn't balance out right no matter what I do. It's sailable but not comfortable.
If I drop the sail size down to between 5 and 6 metres, which is well inside the recommended sail size, it all trims up nicely.
I experienced great reduction in number of spinouts (practically 0 - just started using a small fin) when moving my harnes lines back.
Thanks all for your responses. I am going to move those lines further down and do the balance test this Saturday (hopefully ready for the Elwood race). Try less outhaul and put a bit more downhaul on (downhaul is currently to fact. spec).
My lines are pretty cr@p - adjustable ones that are all bent and cr@p.... but have some new ones in the post....
I was using 24" lines and they felt way to small.... now looking around 30" on my cr@ppy adjustable ones, but the new ones on the way adjust easier and should allow me to experiment more with tuning and getting it right.
Will also move the boom a bit higher up and try and work on the front leg being straighter.
I think I do need a smaller fin, get spin outs all the time, especially when I am putting max weight out - but could be down to harness lines location as well possibly.
My smaller 6.2m NP Crossover does feel more comfortable than the KA Kruzer - however the KA (Courtesy of RPS) being all new and shinny and powerful rates as my fave
I do feel my backhand is doing a lot of the work sheeting in, actually all of it, so closer hand distance should help this along.
Thanks again all.
Kurt
PS - Stakaflaka - cool vid!
Last year I purchased the Cribb Sheet with the piece of elastic with the little black dot. I placed the harness lines where the black dot advised. I found I could not get comfortable with the lines in this position.
All the pressure was on my front arm and if I let go with the front hand the sail would fall to leewards. So I moved the lines a fair bit forward and it was better. Even so my back hand was infront of my back harness line.
Any ideas as a friend has said I have my lines too far forward? Last sail I had I moved the boom up a fair way so its about nose high. That felt good but I also moved the mast base back too.
I think my lines are about 71 cms.
G'day K Dog
You are right with armpit to shoulder height for booms.
Work on balancing your harnesses lines first before tackling other problems.
Balancing Harness lines, Hope this helps
In either beach or water start position, hold your sail as though you are sheeted in, & position your hands so that there is equal pull on each arm.
Take note of your hand positions.
Move your harness lines to the mid point of your hand positions.
Go for a blast and fine tune the harness line positions (usually 1-2cm).
Pull on back hand / spin outs = move harness line back
Pull on front hand = move harness line forward.
PS Adjust your harness lines before every session.
PSS On your video take note of your hand positions vs your harness line positions.
PSSS Hopefully your local spot isn't sheltered at the shore, as it is easier to balance your harness lines on the beach, then in the water.
Squish
See my post above re getting the lines in a position where the rig is nicely balanced. If it's good enough for Matt Pritchard............
I've tried the 1/3 rule too, and it was a foul position, way too far back.
I balance my lines so I can sail hands-free, or with "piano player" pressure.
Yeah, that's the idea.
Once rigged, picking the boom up with finger-tips to check the balance.
Matt related that a student had suggested it to him and that he found it a good technique.
It's best done in no wind, which can be the tricky bit.