Unifier lightweight foot straps

I've taken 6kg of excess weight from my board last season

Hi Rob

Thanks for the review on the straps.

We all spend a long time in the foot straps, - so yes they are important.

This is just my personal experience / view and I don't mean 'to shoot down' your findings :)

It is all about comfort.. -
The straps your feet are most comfortable in, is the winner. Wave / freeride / racing etc.
The straps that you can easily adjust (on the water) is great.
The straps that don't 'grip too much', so you can't get out of them when you need to, is quite a bonus.
The straps that last a long time, is also great,,

I noticed you said you sanded the edges on your lightweight straps, as they where sticking to much (good idea), as you want to could get your feet out easy. I have used light weight straps before ( or at least 1-2 days, before I changed them over), and as you pointed out the 'gripped' too much and made jibing hard

The weight: I fully understand the comparison on the weight of the straps. But,,
Did the saved weight make you go faster? or quicker jibing / earlier planing, even in marginal conditions?
If you didn't use your boots, - would that not save you about 400g as well? :) (as how I see it, is that the weight placement is exactly in the same place / spot as the straps?)

Anyway just my 2 cents, I use the same 'heavy' straps on all my boards (race, freeride, wave, foil board) and love them for the comfort and simple use.
Most likely they are close to the wight of you previous ones. I use the Simmer Style ones , but many other brands have the same type.


Happy sailing :)

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/General/Righto-Im-sick-of-it?page=1

The unifiber are very similar to the ones that came with the isonics. How many isonic riders kept the original straps?

Hi Rob

Wow, wow wow hehe, this thread just got a lot more entertaining :).

Unlike you, I do respect you 100% on all the windsurfing related talk and your personal findings. + the added 'bonus' of your non related windsurfing stuff is just funny, (so make sure to make it keep coming ) :)

Your 100% right on some of your findings, (read on) ,

1) Yes I do sell foot straps here in my shop and 'was hoping to increase my sales with my advertising'. With the margin of around $5 each strap I sell, then this could be quite something,, :).
Like I mentioned those Simmer straps is very similar (if not the same) from other brands (Severns, Dakine, Flying Object and lots more). The picture (just like yours), was just to show the style I was talking about. Simple and functional and well padded.

By the way, then Unifibre is on my supplier list here as well. So if anybody want those straps, then by all means I can get them :)

2) I don't really know better than you or anybody else. But just shared my personal insight on the topic. It's not a lecture to do it one or the other way. Everybody is different. But I do hope all my experience through the years would 'carry some weight' (even if not, then no problem).

I guess what challenged me was your finding on the 'performance boost', by the lighter straps and that you could confirm the improvement on your planing + acceleration out of your gybe. I would have thought if there is just a small truth in this (lets say a 1% gain or even less) , then majority of all PWA sailors, national sailors (incl myself) would get those straps.

Look what I try to highlight is that still the comfort of the straps is the no 1. If your straps is the most comfortable you can find, - then great!. Actually with your boots on, and with your modifications then your ones might be making a bit of sense. if they make you 'believe' you accelerate faster, then even better (no joke),,

3) I think all sailors would agree that the lighter board means earlier planing. I fully agree. On the bigger race board, this defiantly have some great benefit for the performance.
But what also help on the early planing for the bigger and lighter race boards is that they are normally also stiffer. So the stiffness also helps to make it more responsive and accelerate. The lighter weight also makes the board 'float' out of the water (this is very minor though). You could also add a bit of 'less swing weight as well) All some small ++. The 1 kg lighter board is actually most likely something you can feel, on the acceleration.
So I do hear you and see where you are coming from,, (400g saving on the board with the light straps, sounds big)
If you had 2 boards and said one board here is 400g lighter, (the total board weight with no straps / fin), then it make a lot more sense.

But I think you have this mixed up with the light weight straps. Lets have a think about it. I'm not saying I'm right , but just putting it out there.
The placement of the weight: When you start to accelerate, you will then move your feets back towards the strap position / or into the straps.
Now you could argue that the weight of your body is exactly in the same position onto the board where your foot straps is placed (one side).
If you would be telling me that if your body weight was 400g lighter, then you would accelerate much better (something that you could actually measure), then I might be laughing,, - So yes, think about where the weight is placed,,

Oh yah I forgot the 2 straps on the other side of the board, so yes you might carry 200g extra there,,

Gybing and acceleration improvement is majority on the sailors skills . I would dare to say 99%. The weight saving on a bigger light wind board (1kg) might just give you a tiny advantage on top level where everybody is quite even. But remember it is also the stiffness and total weight placement on the board.

Look there is a lot of factors, but I can ensure you that is is not on the lighter foot straps, where you will gain a performance boost. (mentally maybe yes).

Don't get to hung up on the grams savings and 'overthink it' , that all I'm saying.

It was a great write up Rob. If i was chasing lightweight footstraps i'd give the unifibers a go for sure.

I must say though, if you want to loose 400grams on those lightwind days, visit the lavatory before heading out. Same result.

Hi All,
just back from the first Irish event of 2019, sadly not ranked as the call was made last night that wind forecast was too light, but fun racing would take place. Delighted to say I won thanks to my super lightweight footstraps, no other variable counted, sail size, board size , fin size , tuning all of the above or hours on the water practising in all conditions, more tuning , more practise , yet more tuning and practise. None of that mattered it was all down to the straps.
I've taken the time to read all your lovely comments ,finding it all very amusing. loving that healthy discussion is alive and well. Clearly I've rubbed a few people up the wrong way by dissing Sail repair guy for plugging his gear on this forum, I was deliberately going over the top for a reaction. I do agree with just about everything he said ,and to clear up any confusion the only advantage with a lighter board , straps and fin is when getting planning once up and running the weight saved is only a benefit when carrying back to the rigging area. I cant even fault the guy for getting a bit of free advertising via this forum, I'd do the same if I was trying to sell windsurf gear. A penny saved is a penny earned and all that crap.
Regarding this type of footstrap, if the weight saved was the only advantage I wouldn't bother with then . tonyk who earlier in this friendly discussion confirmed that they are durable is nice to know. I sailed with them once before customising them and didn't like them at all. All of the issues listed by everyone were very apparent on that first use. However, trimming , sanding and shaping the inside of the straps has for me ,addressed these problems. The nature of their design allows for this, as I suspect the designers allowed for. After all we all have different shaped and size of feet.
Traditional straps Like the Simmer Style (brand plug intended) also need a bit of adjustment to get right when new. It is a big advantage that these adjustments can be carried out at the beach. However as they bed in and lose some of their rigidity they will need tightened and become prone to squashing down if accidently stepped on , or am I the only windsurfer this has ever happened to. I like most people prefer softer traditional straps and thought I'd give the unifiber's a go, I will be getting another set for my mid slalom board but wont bother in any other boards. The main advantage as far as I can see with the lightweight straps is holding their shape if stepped on.
I hope this clears up any doubts regarding my findings. I'm delighted to learn that our WA cousins are a lot more sensitive than we winey poms give you credit for.
Thanks for all your comments, great laugh, and if I get round to visiting WA I'll be sure to look sail repair guy up, even if the end result is a smack in the mouth.
cheers all Rob