Select to expand quoteJohn340 said..
Morgan,
Its all about the relationship of the centre of effort in the sail and the centre of resistance of the board.
When Simon and Cam are planningonly the back third of their boards is in the water. Hence the centre of resitance is in the back third of the board.Hence they can rake their sail back so the centre of effort of the sail is in line with the centre of resistance of the board
If you are not travelling as fast then more of the lengthof the board is in the water so the centre of resistance of the board moves forward. Hence if you rake your sail back then the centre of effort of the sail moves behind the centre of resistance of the board and pushes you tail away from the wind, hence you turn up into the wind
Great explanation..logical really..Thanks.
Thanks heaps for your input
OOPs I should re state the size of the Rio Long Tail 259L sorry.
sboardcrazy
I have read a bit on sailing terms reach/work/downwind correct me if I'm wrong. Reach - 90 degrees to the wind (sounds the same on both ears from behind). Work - haven't come across that one but, you need to work the kit to get going maybe. Downwind - travelling in the same direction as the wind.
I am really liking the speed thing so am working on getting a bit faster - now I am staying on more (some wind would help lol)
MarkSSC
Yeah I was hoping for some wind and to catch up with you - there was only a puff one day for about an hour lucky for me I was only across the road. That was the day I managed to get into both straps, planning and hooked in for the first time (I liked it 
)
Will see you up there again soon
http://www.star-board-windsurfing.com/2015/products/boards/rio-longtail
John340
That makes a lot of sense - so that would mean for me to go faster, the sail and I need to move back on the board. The sail and fin size plays a part here too.... yeah?
Not sure what happened that I felt like I was not getting the pace I should have - it felt like it wanted to go but I just couldn't get it. Perhaps I was on the wrong line/reach in relation to the wind - there was plenty of pressure in the sail, board flat on the water I had all my weight committed and was just plodding along.
Looks like some wind today and still on hols for the week woo hoo, I will have a crack at this today at Wello. We will head down after lunch
Thanks for the info I really appreciate it. The penny has to drop one of these days
See you out there
Morgan
Select to expand quoteJohn340 said..
Morgan,
Its all about the relationship of the centre of effort in the sail and the centre of resistance of the board.
When Simon and Cam are planningonly the back third of their boards is in the water. Hence the centre of resitance is in the back third of the board.Hence they can rake their sail back so the centre of effort of the sail is in line with the centre of resistance of the board
If you are not travelling as fast then more of the lengthof the board is in the water so the centre of resistance of the board moves forward. Hence if you rake your sail back then the centre of effort of the sail moves behind the centre of resistance of the board and pushes you tail away from the wind, hence you turn up into the wind
Excellent explanation John.
I remember doing an RSX Nationals at Hawks Nest a few years ago and the wind had come up to about 18 knots and everyone was going to windward off the fin, ie centreboards were retracted. I was sailing a bit gumbyish and couldn't get the sail raked back. Brendan Todd drove up beside me in the coach boat and yelled out I needed more downhaul. I gave it a bit more down haul and suddenly everything became a lot easier and faster.
We we got back to the shore after the race he explained to me the relationship between centre of effort and centre of resistance. By giving the sail more downhaul it allowed the leach to twist off more and flattened the draft, this effectively moved the centre of effort of the sail down closer to the boom and further towards the front which made it easier for me to control the sail and it naturally raked the sail back so the foot was on the deck and in balance with the centre of resistance. This made me sail higher to windward and faster and the real benefit is it took much less effort.
It was a real light bulb moment for me.
Whenever I feel like I am sailing a bit gumbyish now it always because something isn't tuned quite right, when everything is in balance and working together windsurfing is just awesome, when things are out of balance it just feels like a constant fight.
Hi Cameron
Funny you should mention down haul - on Sunday when I watched you guys (we had packed up) - I had made a conscience decision to not down haul so much in the 7.5m as the wind was fairly light and I think I may have had boom a touch low (if that makes much difference on low wind days) - the harness was a bit easy to get to.
Tuning is a key to this all to work in sync isn't it
Cheers
Nice day out yesterday - we went to Wello but everyone was out the south side - not for us yet
Went to RQ Beach and had a blast
Jaye - clocked 22.03 2 sec peak, distance 20.81 Km (Ka72 speed reader)
Rigged the Avanti 6.6m on his F2 Sunset
Me - on canmore software max speed 18.29nm, distance 15.16 km - I had to reset mine to 1 sec increments as it didn't read correctly on Ka72
Rio longtail with Neil Pryde 7.5m sail
Both straps locked in and flying I did feel the need to pull the sail back and the board still tracked straight WOW - I am nearly a windsurfer. GPS and everything must admit it felt way faster than that but that is a matter of getting used to I guess - perception is not always reality lol.
Might have another go today although a bit sore.
Great to see you clive aka evilC and Jane a new windsurfer to the area was a great afternoon.
Woo Hoo
See you out there
Cheers
Morgan
Select to expand quoteDwbh said..
Nice day out yesterday - we went to Wello but everyone was out the south side - not for us yet
Went to RQ Beach and had a blast
Jaye - clocked 22.03 2 sec peak, distance 20.81 Km (Ka72 speed reader)
Rigged the Avanti 6.6m on his F2 Sunset
Me - on canmore software max speed 18.29nm, distance 15.16 km - I had to reset mine to 1 sec increments as it didn't read correctly on Ka72
Rio longtail with Neil Pryde 7.5m sail
Both straps locked in and flying I did feel the need to pull the sail back and the board still tracked straight WOW - I am nearly a windsurfer. GPS and everything must admit it felt way faster than that but that is a matter of getting used to I guess - perception is not always reality lol.
Might have another go today although a bit sore.
Great to see you clive aka evilC and Jane a new windsurfer to the area was a great afternoon.
Woo Hoo
See you out there
Cheers
Morgan
Stop rubbing it in. Some of us have to work!!
)
He is a couple of photos from a windsurfing holiday and a great week at Golden Beach last week. Golden Beach is a great place to enjoy windsurfing paddle boarding and just generally having a laze around in the water. Just have to be a bit careful of the tidal flow – it can get a little strong…
Here is a little slide show of our windsurfing hols at Golden Beach.
Was a great week end.
Had decided to attend the course racing event at RQ but looks like that is not an option now so will still head down to RQ beach in the afternoon for some fun.
See you out there
Cheers
Morgan
Select to expand quoteDwbh said..
He is a couple of photos from a windsurfing holiday and a great week at Golden Beach last week. Golden Beach is a great place to enjoy windsurfing paddle boarding and just generally having a laze around in the water. Just have to be a bit careful of the tidal flow – it can get a little strong…
Here is a little slide show of our windsurfing hols at Golden Beach.
Was a great week end.
Had decided to attend the course racing event at RQ but looks like that is not an option now so will still head down to RQ beach in the afternoon for some fun.
See you out there
Cheers
Morgan
Hey Morgan, I am inspired by your commitment to the cause!
I'll see you at RQ tomorrow afternoon. You'll have to show me your new board! #windsurfingenvy
That's Great AntC will see you this afternoon
Oops here is a little slide show of our Golden Beach windsurfing holiday
Good slideshow Morgan. Back to work next week
Liked the sound track.
See you this afternoon.
Your lucky the whole family enjoys it or rather your son as I'm guessing he doesn't have his license yet. I remember before I got mine nagging dad to take me to the coast if it had the remote chance of blowing, of course most of the time our set of priorities were vastly different.
alec95 - I am really lucky we are all learning - Jaye is progressing much faster than I for sure - license thing happens next year
Sell it all day nearly. Not such a good session with my windsurfing yesterday – not sure what went wrong but just couldn’t seem to make it happen any longer then a minute or two. I was on and off the plane all day.
Anita - stole borrowed Jaye’s new 4.7m simmer on the Naish 180 Kailua and had a go – did ok but not totally happy with the day – must have been ok as she is feeling sore today.
Jaye - with big brother Ben working
Me – Rio Longtail 259L with Neil Pryde 7.5m sail, wind was about 10kts ish – Maybe I should have rigged the 9.5m Neil Pryde sail but didn’t have it with me. I must have been doing something wrong like the other day felt like it wanted to go faster but just couldn’t get there. GPS clocked 10.67kts and 5.06 avg hour smashed my 1.45kts avg .5 hour – Ka72.com speed reader for manly.. Others were doing considerably more than that 
, something I need to figure out – still feel I could have done considerably better. Man, all the kites were passing me 
might try a bigger fin on the board next time maybe…. Something to work on technique of how to get the most out of what wind is available.
Upwind was no problem only put the centre board down briefly twice. Beach starts 75%, Water starts 0 (not enough wind/technique to lift me), up hauling 100% in deep water, hooked into harness 80%, Foot straps 45%, Tacks 75%, Gybes only 4 and missed one (low speed), Downwind was fine but found I out ran the breeze so had to turn up wind for a little to grab the wind again, then point back downwind. That was interesting – might be getting a bit of an understanding about the wind a bit now
Haven’t sold my gear – still with it I think I have come far enough to be able to get the best out the wind. The 7.5m would have been planning on a 259 liter board yesterday if one of you experienced guys were sailing it.
Well it was time on the water which I always say is good for your mind, body and soul.
See you out there - maybe not today by the looks of the forcasts
Cheers Morgan
New Racks for the windsurfing gear
Man, it has been a struggle – where to put everything – this windsurfing gig is very soo material intensive especially if there are four of you doing it.I started windsurfing just over a year ago and thought it would only be myself much to my surprise I am lucky enough that my 15yo son, 29 y0 son is getting into it, my wife is making great progress and myself. WOW that means sooooooooo much gear. The Delica is full, the trailer is full and stuff all over the shed and back bbq area. Not allowed to put gear inside the house. I thought I was on a winner with the boss progressing well but this sh@#$t has to be tidied up!!!! I guess that is what happens when the bug hasn’t bitten to its full extent. No wind this week and still on holidays sorted!!!!! Brownie points or WHAT!! another smiley face for sure for that 
Check the second photo even earned a beer – Lucky me, boss likes a beer too – we worked really well together to complete this task
Jaye and Ben just dropped by and said check out Morgs windsurfing shop lol – sorry only RSX for sale (that may only be for a limited time) – there is a shelf for it
Anyway enjoyed working with my beautiful wife to create an awesome storage facility for all our gear……
see you out there
Cheers
Morgan
Looks like heading to Wello maybe on Saturday afternoon for a walk to the water - tides coming in so not such a long walk back in That is of coarse if it is open again - I heard it has been closed off to swimmers etc because of stingers. Otherwise it will be RQ Beach..
Yesterday the bunting was down and people were swimming again at Wello. The council guy was still there passing out stinger fact sheets
Still looks like Wello this afternoon in the NE after lunch some time around 2pm all going well
Should see you there Morgan. Off visiting parents this morning. Should be back early PM ready to pack gear.
Like the shed. Wont want to move house for while!!!
Heading to Rose bay Manly this morning early for a session with Simon - maybe wello this afternoon if we see some wind
Yesterday was a nice light wind session - peaceful and relaxing and needed after a hectic week at work 
Jaye and I went Windsurfing at RQ beach on Sunday – the wind had come up and looked promising. Went to Wellington Point to try and get some flat water but nothing seemed to be happening there. MalJ sent a text that said the wind was pretty good at RQ beach so we high tailed it over and it was pretty good.
Jaye rigged the avanti 6.6m and his F2 Sunset. He had some troubles turning around tacking and gybing but managed to clocked 17.8 kts not bad considering the wind and the rough conditions.
Me – set up the Neil Pryde 7.5m sail on the Rio Long tail 259L, 3.3m long and only managed to achieve 13.4Kts – I guess that is probably technique or maybe I should suck it up and set the 9.5m neil pryde sail and get going. One thing I discovered yesterday the board only planed when I put the centre board down.
Does that mean I should be looking at a larger fin?
Man there were some jelly fish out there yesterday managed to only fall in a couple of times and that was away from the concentrated swarms of jellies.
There some other guys out there blasting away
Cheers
Morgan
If you can plane with centre board down you should be able to plane normally with it up as well. Try bearing away more and out of the harness start a bit of a pump going and at the same time push your windward foot forward straighting out your leg and basically pushing the board forward. As you push the sail away from you the leg becomes bent again. As speed starts to build up work your way back down the board, hook in and start to work upwind again or whatever direction you wish. This works for me on a Formula board anyway. With the formula boards you get used to changing the angle a lot as you use the gusts to get big upwind angles and need to bear away a lot to dump power as well. If you get the chance to watch a Formula race in light winds if would help to see some good planning techniques in practice. I have definitely learnt a lot sailing these boards and still have heaps to learn myself. The never ending curve!!!
We are heading to Cootharaba for the week end see what happens with the wind up there - have to try my brand new 2nd hand sail a loft switch blade 8.5m.
Might have a go at the track around the LCSC for long boards on Sunday
Dean 424 - Thanks for the information I will give that a go and have a look for formula stuff on youtube. The never ending curve - I like that keeps the challenge alive.
Cheers
Morgan
Are you going to Burrum Morgan? Love these sort of events for learning. Got so much out of Green Island last year.
We discussed it but decided that we will wait and go next year - maybe not quite up to standard yet.
Keen to get up there with everyone and the holiday thing at work
Aiming at RQ beach this afternoon - looks like a bit a wind might come through today.
Happy Australia day everyone and may the wind be forever in your favour
See you out there
Enjoy your sail Morgan, hopefully the wind gods may pay us a visit this arvo.......
Select to expand quoteA week end windsurfing at Cootharaba – a bit frustrating for me and one year for Jaye, one year since he had his first real go at windsurfing. Man he has come along soo well.
What a great place to windsurf – even if you come off in the middle you can still stand. The Lake at its widest point I believe is 8 kms across good size area. Only really light wind Saturday but went out and had a go anyway – was fun enough.
Anita set up the Naish 180 Kailua with her gun 4.5 sail – really doing well these days – its time to start her with the harness to rest her arms to give more time on the water.
Jaye took his 104 F2 Sunset out for a spin he set up the 7.5m Neil Pryde sail and did ok but the wind was a bit light – so he grabbed the Pacifico for some funMe I set up the Rio Long Tail with our new Loft switch blade 8.5m sail only spent a couple of hours on the water there were a couple puffs of wind here and there.
Sunday was the day for a bit of wind Jaye got up and rock and rolling me well not so good
Anita – set out for an hour with her gun sail on the Naish again and smashed it – had to come in because her hands were sore.
Jaye – set out on the Pacifico as the wind was light and had some fun – the wind came up and he grabbed the F2 104 and went for a blast for a good few hours and managed to clock 20.29kts on one of his runs woo hoo nice one big fella – not bad in 12 months
Me – I set out on the longtail and seemed like I was dragging a bag of sand and couldn’t get it going (it has to be technique) was a bit naughty and came in and grabbed the Pacifico to go a faster but still only managed 11.59???? Normally I am only 4kts behind Jaye not 9. Hang on….. I have to do something about this quick smart and in a hurry :-). I was going to try another fin on the long tail but didn’t have any that fitted. Only a deep tuttle from RSX which stuck out a bit and didn’t fit snug in the hole so decided not to – will buy one this week.
Warning a bit of a rant……I know it is technique – same old problem – I just don’t seem to be able to get to the back of the board without turning upwind. Peter De Laet gave some good advice once I get my front foot in the strap sit the other beside it not at the rear of the board. That seemed a bit better but as soon as I raked the sail back a bit up wind I went and there seemed plenty of pressure in the sail to rake it back – I did it at Manly the other week – both feet in the straps, hooked in, sail raked back and planning achieved 18kts on the gps – liked it and want to do it again – do have a witness (evilC) was there, in fact need to go faster now. I have a bigger sail 8.5m Loft switch blade and a great board the Rio Long Tail – so lets go………
Spoke to Simon yesterday and maybe just not enough wind for me. Anyway will figure it out on the week end – if there is any wind.
Cheers Morgan
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Hi Morgan great write up. I enjoy your sharing.
Alert ,,, beginner giving advice/sharing experience
I'm 92kg+ my most used sail over the summer was a 9.5ezzy lion - similar wind conditions to the weekend.
Looking at wind reports for the Australia day weekend I suspect the problem was not enough horsepower
We're you feeling overpowered on the 8.5?
Raking the sail back - early days with this but I find that it's not such a conscious thing but more as a response to board trim to stay on course when planing and accelerating. Guy cribb PDFs discuss keeping modern sails more upright and not focussing on 'closing the gap'.
I'm really supporting your previous experience of in straps harness and balanced and powered planing - comes from having speed and power - sounds like power was lacking on the weekend.
If I watch lighter sailers on smaller kit it is easy to loose faith in my ability to get going..
Last week I was out in verygentle winds on the Big Fat Fellows board (nick named Kim in honour of it's big rrse). I was having some nice runs with the 9.5 on the plane about 50% should have taken the long board.
Not enough wind to water start - up haul only
I was sharing the water with an experienced windsurfer - probably 70kg with a 6.5 on a small carve planing as much as me in the light winds. It was a joy to see his aggressive/purposefull bearoff and pump as a gust came through - no substitute for lightweight , technique and experience :-)
Happy to keep working on the technique and experience.
Fins??? Starting to wonder about this myself after the Go155 transformed/reformed itself with a fin transplant and the Go151 being almost uncontrollable tail walking with a 7m sail and the standard 50cm fin as I would bear off deeply to get planing - plus the board standing up out of the water -like a cobra striking - in the high winds at RQ that humbling day last year. So yes lots to learn about fins ;-)
Hey how about Anita- getting ready for the harness :-)
Just starting on the partners in windsurfing journey myself- Jane has had some initial success and wants more :-)
Cheers Jeff
