Hi guys as I said in few posts ago I am a newbie of this amazing sport.
Last week-end I finally learned (there were 15 nice knots cross-shore) how to change direction and how to sail upwind. I learned, it doesn't mean I mastered ...
Right now I am using a NeilPryde 4.7 Experience (for beginners) with a StarBoard 200Lt. Usually as I start after a couple of minutes I remove the middle fin as I don't like the way it keeps the board too firm ...
Now, I was wondering with my wife (she has my same level) if this week-end (15 to 20 knots) we may start to put at the first position the footstraps and start to learn how to sail with them on the board.
Is it to early? My friends told me I should wait but I know that in order to learn a sport you should push a little bit forward everytime in order to advance on your level.
Thoughts??

Wait with the foot straps until you have your fist experience planning.

Once you get used to the feeling of the board getting onto the plane and skipping across the water, then try for the first position foot straps.

The getting into the foot straps will only benefit you if you are planning. If not concentrate on your gybes and tacks.

K Dog said...

jermaldan said...

Wait ....until you have your fist experience .....

Have you had one Jez? Lol

Oh boy... here come the kiters.....

If you wanted to try something then perhaps work on the feel of hooking in and out of the Harness.

For starters this will take some load of your arms. But focus just as much on Unhooking as Hooking in.

If you get catapulted while hooked in. hang onto the boom if you can't get unhooked.

Maybe wear a helmet.

but work the lighter winds.

Learn to water start as soon as possible :)

Best way to do it is just practice over and over while lying in about 2 feet of water. Start of doing beach start then lay your self flatter in the waterand practice getting up without puching off the bottom.
Makes it easy to get the sail in the air and doest tire you out as much as in deeper water.
just be thankful you wont look as lame as a kiter learning to water start (ie being body dragged thru the water)

Harness sooner, or your arms will just die.
You can't really learn to carve gybe without planing, and you cannot realistically plane without a harness.
I still have not learnt to tack a short-board.
Once you are in the harness, the straps are not far behind might look at a difference.

raffaeu said...

So I was trying to figure our the best order of the learning process and I think this is the right one, please give me feedbacks:
1) Up on the board
2) tackle and jibe
3) beach start
4) harness
5) water start
6) plan
7) footstraps
...
Is it correct? Looking at From Beginner to Winner he introduces the harness right away but it talk about the footstrap only in the middle of the video, after the harness.

Thanks guys, interesting point of view.
I am 65Kg and here the wind is usually between 10-20 depending on the day. I can easily sail around 10-12 but as soon as it goes over 15 I can sail only upwind, as soon as I try the downwind the power of the sail is too strong for me ... probably I need also to develop the famous "windsurfer muscle" ...
I wish to have a smaller board for christmas ... what do you suggest? I would like to get a rig (board and sail) that I can keep for a while without the need of changing everything after 1 year. There are both wavy and flat spots here.

LOL can you imagine that ... the guys which sells the stuff here told me that I should get at most a 160 ... probably he is just trying to get a business on me ... [}:)]
Anyway, yeah that's true but we are planning to relocate in the next years as my work permit will expire at the end of 2012 and we saw that in the south of Spain (Cadiz) the wind is always around 20 knots.
We would like to relocate also to Australia as my job (Software developer) allows me to travel easily but we are not sure how is the lifestyle there (cost of living, jobs availability and ... wind)
Thanks again for the useful tips, appreciated!


PS: I am married but here it's just a windy place, no chicks and no tricks ... if you get what I mean ...

Get used to the harness and hooking in/out before attempting footstraps.
Use of the harness will offer relief for your arms so you can get more time on the water and more practice.

Using the harness will make the board plane more readily and then you can get into the footstraps. If you try footstraps when you are not planing you will actually make the tail sink a little (maybe not on such a big board) and slow the board down.

Master beach starting as soon as possible because it is much less tiring than up hauling, and much cooler! When you have mastered beach starting do it in progressively deeper water and before you know it you are waterstarting!

85 litres is too small even for your weight. Possibly in 6 months time though once you can water start this will be suitable. Make sure that whatever you chose is one of the new style wide boards, and reasonably short. 255cm long or less and around 70 - 80 wide, you will need the stability. JP Funride would be a good choice if you have access to one.

In beginner to winner Jem Hall goes through some instructions on harness lines adjustment and length etc.... Worth following these for the time being as once you get more confident you will be able to identify your set up better for yourself Its a personal preference thing.

It also depends on the style of riding you are doing. There are a lot of guys that keep their boom neck high and have long lines these guys are usually speedsters. Others have mid chest and shorter lines for freestyle and wave.

The lower setup is usually easier for beginners (at least thats what I have found). It also helps you with your waterstarts if the clew can rest on the tail of your board keeping it out of the water. You may need to adjust you mast foot to achieve this too.

Depending on how tall you are you may want 24' or even 26' lines to start. Harness needs to be comfortable. Try heaps on before you buy one, and make sure you are comforatble in it. Most people go for the waist harness - it looks cooler and easier to hook in and out. I personally fin it rides up and crushes my ribs, so I have a combi that has crotch straps to stop it riding up. Its harder to learn with a full seat harness, and it looks like a grandpa nappy, but apparently they are heaps comfortable for long distance cruising etc.... (I am going to get slated for that nappy comment)

raffaeu said...

Great so I think the first Mission Impossible is to get rid of the huge board.

The huge board is great for the very beginner stages but will make it harder to get planing and will be harder to control in strong wind. When you downsize really depends on how fast you are progressing! Learn to tack and gybe and sail upwind confidently on the big one before changing down.

Unfortunately this is a Kiters' island and the only second hand board I have found is a 85Lt BIC for 200 USD which sounds like a good deal for me but too small for a newbie ... At least I would get practice over a 130 or something like that.

Definitely too small for a newbie. I am around your size and sail an 85L board most of the time. You need to be good at waterstarting in all conditions (and preferably gybing or you do a LOT of waterstarting) to sail a board of that size. Something around 130L would be good for you.

Do you have any suggestion for a good newbie harness with the lines for the boom?

The general impression I get is that unless you have a slim waist and wide shoulders the waist harnnesses ride up and are uncomfortable (crush your ribs). They do look cooler than a seat harness (which looks as flattering as a nappy), but a seat harness is so comfortable you will forget you are wearing it. The advantage of a waist harness is that the hook is higher and it is easier to hook in and out. A waist harness is better for surf conditions.

Harness line length depends on your height (arm length), boom height, harness hook height and whether you are sailing on flat or choppy water. You will need to choose your harness first. Waist harnesses need shorter lines than seat harnesses.
As you are still learning you will not have worked out which boom height suits you best (and this changes once you get planing), plus when you are learning to use a harness you want to start with the lines long to make it easier to hook in and out. I would suggest a set of adjustable harness lines so you can experiment. Neil Pryde adjustables are good. They come in two size ranges.

Ok guys, I usually buy online (no adv here) and I saw that the reseller has these lines, I will have look while I will wait to be in Seattle to try out the harness.

K Dog said...

jermaldan said...

I would agree with everything that Windxtasy said apart from the adjustable harness lines. I had a pair and they are useless.

Agree - couldn't stand my last ones..... fixed all the way!

If you know what length you need...

Windxtasy said...

K Dog said...

jermaldan said...

I would agree with everything that Windxtasy said apart from the adjustable harness lines. I had a pair and they are useless.

Agree - couldn't stand my last ones..... fixed all the way!

If you know what length you need...

True - when beginning windsurfing learning about the gear can be pretty confusing - it is a real science... so many different factors, your own height,weight, boom height... mast positioning...

On my small knowledge I believe that until I get confident with the harness I should be able to learn how to set up the Boom height and the Harness lines distance so I should probably get an adjustable 26/32 harness line.
I saw that dakine makes a lot of nice harness lines adjustable also while you are sailing.
Have you try them out?

Its good to learn how to dance in and out of footstraps on that setup id use a 4.7 in 30-40 knot winds as a storm sail you will get there!
And a big welcome to our sport!!!!