The feeling of windsurfing is awesome, and I don't mean that lightly. You're also learning that other parts of the sport are awesome too. Good times are to be had on shore too!!!

That's really good progress Gos!

Getting the harness unhooked quickly thing isn't really the usual progress. The usual progress is to avoid getting pulled off balance. Its easier to avoid the catapult in the first place than to escape from it.

You are nearly into the really good stuff now. Water starting and using the harness and straps is where it's at.

Gos

Terminal's comment re avoiding the catapult rather than escaping from it is spot on. Its almost impossible to unhook if you think you are going to catapult. You just don't have enough time. The trick to avoiding the catapult in the first place is to sit in your harness and put your feet in the footstraps, so the sail has to lift your body weight and rotate the board to catapult you. If you are standing upright and not using the footstraps then the sail only has to rotate you forward around the mast base.

Keep on pushing the envelope. The rewards are fantastic.

John340 said..

Gos

Terminal's comment re avoiding the catapult rather than escaping from it is spot on. Its almost impossible to unhook if you think you are going to catapult. You just don't have enough time. The trick to avoiding the catapult in the first place is to sit in your harness and put your feet in the footstraps, so the sail has to lift your body weight and rotate the board to catapult you. If you are standing upright and not using the footstraps then the sail only has to rotate you forward around the mast base.

Keep on pushing the envelope. The rewards are fantastic.

aha... (re straps) that makes a lot of sense actually. My Tyronsea board doesn't have any straps so the catapulting is likely going to keep happening. I definitely need to progress and start spending more time on the Mistral 161 freeride board (and in its straps) instead of staying in my comfort zone on the Tyronsea.

thanks everyone for the tips! I'll give the straps, waterstart technique, etc all another crack this afternoon.

terminal said..

As I said before, having about 70% of the pull of the sail on your front hand is the best advice I can give you for learning to beach start or waterstart.

Once you have learned how to do it well, you will then use about 60% on the front hand to waterstart.

when you wrote this a month ago... i didn't really get it and couldn't understand how anything other than 50:50 effort would get me standing up from a waterstart. Now I get it... I think during my first few waterstarts I remembered something about this and realised that i was pulling on the back hand too much which meant the force on the sail wasn't quite right to bring me up - i'd just fall back in the water having only got half way up. When i pulled with the front hand, and used my hamstring to push on the back foot the sail seemed to pull me up much easier.

I guess that the front hand is closer to the mast, so when pulling on it to bring the body upright your weight and force is directed down the mast which is attached to the board, which floats and provides resistance whilst the sail brings you up... whereas too much weight/force on the back hand (away from the mast) drags the whole rig away towards the back of the board instead of up?

Excellent write up of your experiences Gos, well done for sticking at it. you are now experiencing the really exciting bits of windsurfing. For hundreds of us the feelings of elation you get when waterstarting, hooking in, accelerating, planing and more have never gone away. Keep at it. Our sport is one that keeps on giving!
There is a beginner where I sail, I hope he (Shane ) reads your posts as they will help him.

Hey everybody has been a while since my last login to the seabreeze.

I have been struggling with the size if my sail, I have a 6.5m I guess it's ok for 12-18 knots or something like that. But whole winter has been around the 25 knots. Being that my only sail sometimes I didn't care and I took it out and try to learn something on shore just to learn more how to handle it, jump into a beach start or just to feel the overpower whatever.

So my question is can anyone suggest me a size for a new sail? Don't know if I should put attention on the size of my board or just stick with the idea of that I am a beginner and just get a small sail. A Freeride or freewave what is easier to handle? I am 70 kg and have a 155lt Freeride board. 4.9? 5.5? Or even smaller???

Hey eternalnoob thanks for the reply I will keep with the English if I don't make my self clear just try to explain my self hahahaha , how long have you been windsurfing and where do you live now?

Cheers everyone

^ ^ 70kg in 25 knots you will feel far, far, faaaar more comfortable on aboard around 85 litres with a 5.0.
Even a 4.7 sail if it's a "solid" 25 knots.

155 litres in 25 knots is going to be a real handful for anyone. It's just way too big a board.

Lucky for you 85 litres and 5.0/4.7 is a really sweet size combination. Perhaps even the best in windsurfing. It's just a real sweet spot.

I'd recommend a FreeStyleWave board and a wave sail if you are in open water like a bay or ocean. They're just made for choppy conditions like this.

Starboard Kode or JP FreestyleWave or Fanatic FreeWave (what I got) or etc.

Don't let the "intermediate skill level" tag of these board put you off. They're easier to ride in 25 knots than anything else. And I still reckon the easiest boards to gybe.

Hi.

I am replying to this post because I ride a larger board, 146l. I use a 5.7 and 6.7 freeride sail depending on wind. Until I graduate to a smaller rig (waiting for a good bargain on a JP Allride) I try to make do when the wind begins to climb. To 'tame the beast' it is a good idea to look at your fin size as a lot of lift is developed by the larger fins which come standard on boards like mine. The large fin causes the board to dance across the waves rather recklessly. I went from a 48cm down to a 38cm and it made a lot of difference when planing. Another tip I learnt was to rig the mast forward of centre, about 3cm, as this brings the nose down a bit when in high powered situations. The sail can also be flattened out by using more outhaul. Playing around with the rig like this can sweeten the ride in mor moderate conditions. Smaller boards are the go though.

Thank you cammd and markssc I think that I should buy first a smaller sail too. The 6.5 it's overpowered in my opinion over th 20s. So what would be a nice size to get a 4.7, a 5 or 5.5? Thinking also that in the future I might get a smaller board than the 155 that I have.

I think that we are talking of my main sail for something from 22knts to 28's (this was the range almost all the time that I wet to the beach this winter), than maybe something in between my 6.5 and this new sail; for 15-22. But I really have no clue of sizes and ranges of sails. Maybe 1 sail covers from the 20 to the 30???

Thanks guys

The Force is a power sail and the Session is more of a on/off handling sail. Naish had stiff top masts/sails from 2009 to 2011 and they are now more the stiff top side of constant curve range. Sails work a lot better on a mast with the same curve characteristics as the mast the sail was designed for.

From 6.5 to 4.7 is too big a gap. There is more light wind than strong wind and you are coming into the summer now - which tends to bring lighter winds, so I think a sail of about 5.3 or 5.4 that is designed to go on a 430 mast would be about right.

What mast do you have?

NetoMx said..

I have a 460 naish Freeride 30 SDM.

You are right that summer is coming and there will be lighter winds. I just feel that I need something smaller than my 6.5. So I can learn mush easier. I guess that I should stay with the same brand be cause the similarity on the feeling that they might have in between their sails. (I'm just guessing)

So whatever makes my learning process is what I am looking for

I think from 2009 on the Naish sails intended for masts of 430 or less were designed for RDM masts, but I can't be certain about that. A 460 is going to be very stiff for a small sail and being an SDM, you may need to go to 2008 or older with Naish sails to get the big enough luff. You are also going to have to get a sail with what is called a vario top, which means there is a long strap at the top of the sail to allow you to fit a mast designed for a 400m or 430 mast onto a 460 mast.

I don't think you can get a small sail that is going to work well with that mast because the mast is so stiff, so I guess you just have to go for the best compromise. I don't think there is any point spending a lot of money on a sail, so buying an old used wave sail of the type that can be set quite flat on that mast would be what I would do if I had to get a small sail for that mast. The Session for example is a flatter sail than the Force, which is designed to be more powerful. The Naish sail I had before the Force was called the Nalu, and a used 5.25m version of that would be one of the better options - if you could get one.

Main thing is don't spend much money on whatever sail you get.

Tnx again ill see what i can get but definitely need something smaller

NetoMx said..

Hey iceman thanks for your reply. I feel that way that I am planning to keep trying until I get it. I have been working with my waterstart but it's little difficult with the 6.5 Being my first sail. I think I got it but still need a lot of effort. And haven't plan yet.

And yes I definitely need the smaller size. What do you recommend me 5.5, 5.3 or 4.7
For 25 knots.

At your weight with that board, the 4.7 would be the right size at a genuine 25 knots.

There is a calculator for this sort of thing here...
www.poolewindsurfing.co.uk/windsurfing-boards-windsurfing-sails-size/

If you are using that 460 mast, then you need a sail with a vario top strap that is long enough to reach to the top of that mast. A sub 5m sail is not going to sit right or feel right on that mast, which is why I suggested that you buy a cheap old sail with a vario top that will sit fairly flat on that mast. There is no point in buying an expensive modern sail to use on that mast.