i'd say front for the majority..it helps point the board downwind or beam reach depending on wind and chop..with the back foot in first it's a bit difficult to get on a planing stance as it sinks the board's tail unless you're fast and if not you get pulled over when a gust hits and don't you feel it a bit slow transitioning back to position after a gybe?

Front: easier in lighter winds

well ive got a bad habit . every time i try front first i stack. I find the front leg is locked & driving the board & when i try to do the front first i start to burry the rail & then i start to go up wind but if i get the back in i can transfer my weight to the back & foot steer while i get the front in & believe me i keep tryin .so back first for me.

FRONT.

Back first and you'll sink the tail / fall off the plane.

Depends entirely on the conditions, if you are underpowered/it's lighter, front foot first is the most efficient way. If it's wild and windy the last thing i'm doing is putting my front foot in first, that's a recipe for rapid nose reduction surgery.

actiomax said...

I find the front leg is locked & driving the board & when i try to do the front first i start to bury the rail & then i start to go up wind.

the work to change your habit will be tough, but ultimately make you a better windsurfer. you know what you're doing wrong, so you're already half way to fixing it. i weaned myself off of grabbing the mast on gybes last year and it improved my exits immeasurably.

so it seems taking your front foot off the board destroys your trim - digging in the rail suggests that maybe you're weighting it up too heavily when you place it back on the board. working on commitment to the harness (possibly higher boom), bearing away more beforehand, or placing your front foot straps inboard are things to consider as possible remedies.

you've probably seen it before, but if not there's pro footstrap tips to be found at the shrine of cribb->

www.guycribb.com/windsurfing_technique_holiday_DVD_0076v01.htm

Its always more efficient to go front foot first, but if you are good at hanging your weight on the boom and keeping your weight off the back foot, you can get fairly close with back foot first.

After you put the front foot in, dont rush to get the back one in if its really marginal. Wait until you are planing hard enough and you can use the pull in the sail to unweight your back foot to put it in the strap.

If you get the front foot in and are overpowered, you can sheet in too much and kill the power a bit in a way that makes it easier to put your rear foot into the strap.

Anything in between, you just hesitate until the first moment you can get the rear foot in. You do have to have the sail driving forward with nearly all your weight on the front foot. It feels like you might catapult, but if you concentrate on keeping it planing hard, you wont, because there wont be any slowing of the board.

what if your not planning. light wind & your pumping the sail to get onto a wave. i put my back foot in and feet wide apart. in then when the force of the wave hits its only a quick front foot in strap and im off.. . im only new and no doubt have terrible technique .. can a wave sailor comment on this self taught method? .. if i go front first ill ether sink or get catapulted..

always front foot first for me. Especially in light conditions you can slide that foot in while pumping and give yourself some extra drive to get up on the plane.
all sorts of dramas can come about from back foot first.

also agree that water starting with both feet in is good in super windy conditions.

sboardcrazy said...

barn said...

If it's windy enough that you can waterstart in the straps straight onto the plane, then it's no criminal offense. But anything less than that its serious misconduct. Don't do it.

It's almost as criminal as beach starting, or waterstarting with your front foot.. Even worse is people waterstarting with both feet. Thats deplorable.

I agree re being in both straps as you come up.Much safer.

Yeah thats a bit confusing!.. There are two scenarios depending on the wind strength, technique can go out the window when it's nuking, hence back foot first to prevent catapults, and waterstarting in the straps is fine when there is power.

But either of those methods in marginal or moderate conditions is just bad technique.

As has been said, front foot 1st for planing helps keep the board pointing off downwind and prevents putting too much weight over the tail.

Beach starting with the front foot is nuts. Back foot goes on the tail of the board, controlling the tail, then pull the tail in and under your bodyweight, using the buoyancy of the board to help support your weight. Then as soon as your weight is over the centerline, you bring your front foot off the sand and plant it in the centre of the board, where all the volume is.

If I gave a beach start scenario to Richard Feynman, he would be able to rationalise that the back foot is better for beach starting by observing the simple moments and rotational axis.

Anyone should be able to do a beach start with just their back leg, sailing off with their front foot dragging in the water. Front foot is redundant.


Waterstarting with both feet is also nuts, you will drift off down wind like a coconut, loosing relative wind. The correct technique is to use the front leg as a pivot point. The front leg stays in the water, attracting sharks and preventing coconut drift. And just like the beach start, the back foot controls the tail, and rig controls the nose. Front foot stays in the water till your bodyweight is over the centerline, once up, the back foot can be brought out of the water.

This is how you waterstart a 70L board in 10 knots. It's flawless technique, and anybody that can do a waterstart like this has skills and style to burn.

If you have both feet on the board, as soon as the wind lifts your bum outta the water, the only thing left in the water is the fin, instantly everything will drift off downwind and you'll loose power from the sail, and fall back in.

If anybody goes on a windsurfing holliday, go stand down wind of a German rental centre and watch the two foot waterstart downwind drift.

barn said...
Waterstarting with both feet is also nuts, you will drift off down wind like a coconut, loosing relative wind

thank so much,
That cocout that me until today- sometimes not knowing why !!
Sometimes being a bit lazy instead of pop on the board as usual I put to both feets and been waiting for wind to lift me up , sometimes it took ages indeed

so good to discuss such small details , but that whats make you better

everything you said about drifting away I could confirm retrospectively looking. Pity I din't found it myself. I mean I do start now as you said I didn't know why

barn said...


It's almost as criminal as beach starting, or waterstarting with your front foot.. Even worse is people waterstarting with both feet. Thats deplorable.

I agree though I see Josh Angulo waterstarts with both(2:07)

Macroscien said...

Do you need always to wait to start planing to get into front strap?
That possibly what cause my bad back foot habit that is put foot without planing, because in very rough conditions once on the plane quite difficult to take any foot ,
so my sequence was - water start- back foot in- move balance forward and full speed ahead

Yes, you need to be planing or sure you are about to plane before going for the straps. Go front foot first. I really don't think there are any conditions in which going for the back strap first is recommended.

Your sequence should be: water start -> hook in -> get up to speed -> front strap -> back strap -> feel the stoke.

Watch other sailors do it.

Mark _australia said...

^^^ Spot on, IKW

I dunno about this assertion by a few ppl above that if you go front foot first when it is windy that you risk a catapault.

It's not an assertion it's pure physics. By going front foot first you narrow your stance and create a pivot point (your front foot) should you be caught off balance buy a gust, wave, whatever. If your rear foot is in the strap there is no pivot point and you have a wide stance, you can not argue against this being a far superior position of stability.

Now maybe for most people in a lake in 15kts this is not the most efficient way to get a board onto the plane, but it's the most stable and when the conditions are wild i've got no shame in embracing it...in fact I do it if it's 15kts too, it's just how I roll Case in point if you know what you're doing and appreciate the forces at work, whether your front foot is in the straps first or not will have no bearing on how early you can get going.

And for the record, the whole idea of going for the front foot first is promote forward drive and mast foot pressure not 'make your feet light', you can not put your front foot in the strap and un-weight it if you want to plane, the laws of physics dictate it impossible. However if you realise the forces at work you'll realise your foot does not have to be in that strap to create a similar outcome

good topic this