and if i think about it when i do it i will probably fall off i dont like this topic now

CJW said...

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.

Well, you might be more stable on the board but it won't do your sailing any good. You'll load up the tail before the board is generating enough uplift to support you. The huge majority of sailors go front foot first. All the sailors where I sail (really rough water) go front foot first whether its 15 or 30 knots.

Get your front foot in first, read the wind, and you won't catapult.

I hear you.

Personally I think I learnt more in the first hour of skiing uninstructed (having read up) that in the 1 hour lesson i later took.
on my own i practiced what I'd already mentally rehearsed from what I'd read, in the lesson the instructor just tried to overload us and gave no chance to gain your own muscle memory, etc.

On the straps issue: I vary on conditions.

You've got 3 points of contact on the board (2 feet + mastfoot)

you can distribute your weight over these are desired, so the board need not "know" whether your in the front strap and lightly in the harness, or in the back foot and heavily into the harness (leaning weight forward).
In fact in your worried about sinking the tail too early you can lean right forward and actively lift up on the back strap, which its possible to do up to the point of oversinking the nose

WINDY MILLER said...

err bit of a weird one.

alternates for each tack because left foot always goes in first...

so used to it now that it doesn't make a difference to performance.

Errr, yes that is.
Please go and stand in the corner.

the back strap is my friend, planing or not planing, don't care much for the front one unless im on a wave. .

I almost always go back strap first.

But i'm not heavy footed so I don't sink the tail like everyone on here is saying.

I put my back foot in but don't put any weight on it. I just put my toes in and keep my heel up in the air. All my weight is supported by my front leg and the mast.

I find this allows me to pump the sail a lot better and pull up with my back foot to get on the plane earlier.

Also front hand is always an underhand grip.

OK here's my 2 cents worth.

Sailing in pretty messy open ocean and fairly powered up on my outward (starboard) run to inward (port) gybes I will go back foot first probably 80% of the time as this gives me the ability to lock the sail back in without being knocked (forward) off balance by the chop / waves. If conditions are more marginal I'll always go front first as loading up the fin too early usually stalls that momentum you have coming out of the gybe.

I like to get in the front strap first but I find it difficult to find the back strap readily on port tack, no problem on starboard tack.

Any ideas?

Front foot first! Yes you may catapult when learning, but that will teach you how not to catapult front foot first.

Windxtasy said...


I like to get in the front strap first but I find it difficult to find the back strap readily on port tack, no problem on starboard tack.

Any ideas?

My guess would be that everybody has a better side, but you are perhaps getting a bit desperate on your bad side and rushing to get into the rear strap. Maybe if you take the time to get the board planing faster it will become easier. Also if you take more time, you can slide your foot back to feel where the strap is, if that helps.
When you get used to it on both sides, you have the foot near the front strap and just know how far away the rear strap is. You just need to repeat it enough and it will become natural.

Both work. both have their uses. I go into the front or back footstrap first about equally.

Surely everyone has at some point experienced a moment when they had to pull out the front foot for a second, then put it back in without having removed the back foot? Are you gonna pull out both feet and start all over again every time the board starts coming off the plane slightly due to a tiny lull or a wave hit or somethiing?

If you find back foot first sinks the tail or otherwise spoils the trim, you're not doing it right. Why not learn, and then you'll have an extra trick up your sleeve?

Bondalucci said...

you can then use the back foot to push directly against the fin to generate lift and release the board on to the tail to initiate planing and reduce the wetted surface.

Barn needs to remember -never close your mind.
.....when Columbus set off, the world was flat!

Columbus was an idiot. And if you open your mind too much your brain drops out..

If you can push against the fin at low speeds than you are using an oversized fin.. I run a 14cm fin that generates not much lift and will stall instantly if I put a foot wrong.. I can plane in 15 knots, while most people couldn't even sail on a fin that size.

While getting on the plane you need to keep the nose low, same goes for falling off the plane... To keep the nose low you have to keep your weight forwards..

If your weight is forwards, it's distributed between both the harness lines (mast base pressure), and on your front foot (which is driving the board forward).. All weight is off your back foot..

At no point do you want your back foot at the very back of the board while there is no front foot grounded to push the board forward..

This is why your back foot needs to stay forward.. While the front foot moves to the straps, the back foot takes some extra weight, if this foot is at the back, you will stall any sensible sized fin..


Anybody can get on the plane with a big fin, it's cheating, just like putting up a bigger sail.. With enough power you will plane no matter how bad your technique..

*Edit, the Earth was not flat before Columbus set off anyway, Aristotle had it already sorted a couple of years earlier.. Some people just don't listen..

Wet Willy said...

I agree with Bondy.

IMHO, the basic flaw in Barn etc's argument is the assumption that we would be putting weight on the back foot. Not so! When I leap onto a plane and finally put the second, (i.e. front) foot in, the weight is on the mastfoot. The back foot is weightless - it might even be lifting the board up or pushing it forward.

i don't care how many people think there's only one correct way. If the good lord had intended for us to always put the front foot in first, he would've given us two front feet!

Often we do sail with two front feet... Thats what happens when you are just on the plane, but not powered up enough that you can get in the straps...

If the wind picks up, and you get a little bit more power it means you can move a little bit further back.. So, for more control the front foot can go in the strap, but not the back one..

Finally when you have enough speed the fin can generate enough lift that the back foot can enter the strap and start to push against the fin lift...

Does everyone agree that there is a point where you can plane, but are not powered up enough to get in the straps??? What conclusion can you draw from this?

barn said...
Does everyone agree that there is a point where you can plane, but are not powered up enough to get in the straps??? What conclusion can you draw from this?

Yes, happened to me just last Sunday. Wind dropped after rigging, sail too small, enough wind to plane but not to get in the straps.