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It's the one that leads to an over the handle bars experience, why? What makes this happen even to experienced sailors and how can we see the signs before we have an expensive ejection on the water.
My observations.
Usually when over powered.
Things getting out of control. Speed and/or wind.
Heading down wind deep down wind.
Windward rail catches.
Sometimes a slow ejection when beach starting.
Gurus explain away.
It mostly happens to me going downwind, with spin out first, board's going sideways into the chop. Older boards with harder more edgy rails suffered more than modern softer rails with more tuck. I think having the mast foot as close as possible to the water, also helps. Probably that's the main reason for concave decks.
It happened to Fangy yesterday on an old board without spinout, but 'ken said the spot where he crashed was very bad confused chop coming from different directions. It would have been good to have video footage of what happened.
As with Decrep happened predominantly after losing the fin.
My old Windtech with square rails with no radius front to back taught me as soon as you feel the fin let go to dig the heels in as quick as you can to lift the leeward rail (hopefully).
If memory serves me well, (and sometimes it does), Yoyo fixed his old board by adding foam to the center of the rails to increase tuck. A nicer fix than grinding the hard edge off.
Yep, spin out usually does it. Yesterday, I started to spin out on the end of a 39kt peak run and catching a rail in the chop was my immediate fear. Luckily I had time to react, but I was going very deep and I figured if I tried to pull it in I would likely catch a rail first. So all I could do was drop the anchor, my bum, to bring things to an elegant (not) halt.
Up at Cervantes earlier in the year there was a lot of crazy chop that was difficult to see and you could still bite it without needing to spin out first. I saw quite a few people go down hard. Happened to me too, I didn't even see the lip that bit me. I don't know how you avoid that. Skill I guess 
, and younger eyes! 
Dave, on the speed run I also reckon it more often happens not when overpowered, but when you lose power when going for it, leading to too much back foot pressure, then spin out, then kaboom!
, and younger eyes!
Maybe im just a dud.
My other favourite pastime up there is watching the nose of my board dive into the back of a crystal clear wave at 25 +knts.
, and younger eyes!
Yep going over the handle bars happen when your pushing hard. The more your on the raggedy edge of control you get used to the feeling of being semi out of control. This is when you go faster.
I've had some good stacks this one big of left me pretty broken for a while
The GPS reads 61knts. It recorded my max speed as I went over the handle bars on a big big off at the bottom of hardies run at the end of a smoking nm attempt. My point is the more you push it in extreme conditions you get more comfortable. If you tense up and are tentative that's when its goes tits up
Bender made a 3x Elmo sized dent in the water, huge whippin.
Then sailed back, admittedly a touch slower than on the way down.
So to get back to Dave's question; what is the technique required? Should have I got out the harness and dropped my weight lower and sheeted out perhaps with arse in the water as per Stretchy? Or do the same but over sheet instead? Or something else altogether different?
No time Ross, before you know it, it's happened.
But yes, if you have a big spinout going sideways into chop, and you do have enough time, unhook put the board on the windward rail edge, bum in water. Not all that dignified, but you'll come to a reasonably controlled stop.
But if you were upright sheeting out, the windward rail could well have been down. I think that could trip the board up if you hit a nasty chop at a strange angle. What should you have done??????? I'm not sure, unhooking seems like a good idea.
The reality most of the time is ..
Things happen so quick you only have time to say "O..."
then when you've resurfaced or come to a halt and go looking for your gear you can finish what you were going to say was..
"Oh sh1t, this could hurt"
100% Agreed Elmo. It was all over before I had realised it had begun, but I am hoping I might see the signs of impending disaster a bit sooner next time.
Yeah agree, I was lucky on Saturday, it was a slow spin and I had time to react. I had a nasty off in the SE corner of Fangy's in summer, I was down before I knew what hit me. Hit my forearm hard on my boom, I thought I might have broken it at first.
Hey guys, just dropping in here. Im not understanding.. How do you catch a Windward rail during spinout?? Everytime i spinout its my leeward rail thatd want to catch n lead to catapult. Leeward being the side my toes are pointing to when in straps. Sometimes i can pull it back under me n recover. Othertimes im still sideways for a few hundred metres. But never had windward rail catch.
How does spin out occur when you are heading deep off the wind? Side ways pressure on the fin would be a lot less that reaching or going up wind.
What are some points to get a good safe controlled bear away for max speed?
Mast foot position?
boom height?
sail trim? Do you sheet out progressively as you go deeper or keep it on the deck gap closed?
is sailing "off the fin" or "making the board fly off the fin" the fastes was? Mast back & boom high does this but you lower the boom for control and risk catching a rail.
Too many questions
(your stack)
