Springtime is officially here which means the unbeatable sport of windsurfing is back for Europeans and North Americans alike, time to hang up your snow suits, unleash your wetsuits and kick-start your summer!
(This story originally appeared in the April 2012 issue of Windsurf Magazine. Print and digital subscriptions for readers worldwide are available HERE.)
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(This article originally appeared in the July 2012 issue of Windsurf Magazine. For the latest features, print and digital subscriptions for readers worldwide are available HERE.)
Using the harness correctly allows you to windsurf for much longer in far more control with zero power going through your arms, using your body weight rather than your strength. This Handbrake feature is especially for newcomers to learn how to use the harness, or for aspiring windsurfing instructors to teach their friends this summer.
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How big? It’s the hardest decision the buying windsurfer has to make. There’s no easy answer but Peter Hart helps you unravel the volume conundrum.
(This story originally appeared in the March 2012 issue of Windsurf Magazine. Print and digital subscriptions for readers worldwide are available HERE.)
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WordsGUY CRIBB PhotosGuy Cribb INtuition guests including opening shot by Levi Tatham
(This Technique feature originally appeared in the October 2012 issue of Windsurf Magazine. Print and digital subscriptions for readers worldwide are available HERE.)
Have you ever been on the water and found the wind picked up too much, or the water became too rough to stay in control? If so, this is another INtuition feature for you. On my courses when guests encounter these conditions, I’ve been known to set up a ‘barricade’ on the beach preventing them from changing down a sail or board size until they have
re-tuned their gear and tried again, developing their technique, tactics and tweaking in a real situation, rather than just reading about it in the magazine…
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Previously we looked at some key points to improve your gybing in choppy water, this month here’s some INtuition Technique, Tactics and Tuning tips to improve your general blasting in chop, whether you want to sail aggressively or defensively.
(This Technique feature originally appeared in the Nov/Dec 2011 issue of Windsurf Magazine. Print and digital subscriptions for readers worldwide are available HERE.)
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(This Technique feature originally appeared in the June 2012 issue of Windsurf Magazine. Print and digital subscriptions for readers worldwide are available HERE.)
SIZE – so VERY important. Have you got the right amount of the right kind? Peter Hart examines the element that has the most immediate influence on your performance.
“What you got up mate?” Like the doggys’ mutual bottom-sniffing ritual, it’s the call that bonds windsurfers across the world. Geoffrey Average from Luton can stroll onto Ho’okipa Beach and deliver the question to Jason, Robby or Kauli and expect a perfectly civil answer and a strong handshake.
It’s a question that bridges class, age and competence, breaks ice and says, without fear of a slap in the face, “it’s OK, I’m one of you.” If only there was such a failsafe expression around when we were spotty adolescents trying to make contact with the opposite sex.
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(This Technique feature originally appeared in the Jan Feb 2013 issue of Windsurf Magazine. Print and digital subscriptions for readers worldwide are available HERE.)
They can change, corrupt and improve your style, increase speed, enhance manoeuvres and render others impossible. Their design confounds the brightest theoreticians, but Harty reckons you under-estimate the role of the fin at your peril.
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(This Technique feature originally appeared in the May 2013 issue of Windsurf Magazine. Print and digital subscriptions for readers worldwide are available HERE.)
We’re not quite sure who invented the windsurfing footstrap, certainly Jurgen Honschied fixed carpet to his board to stop himself from slipping about on the deck.
But now the footstrap is taken for granted and, in the same way that you don’t see sprinters racing in flip-flops, or footballers scoring goals in cowboy boots, this footwear derivative, for that is what it really is, is essential to intermediate and beyond windsurfing.
This INtuition Tuning feature leads on from last months feature, In & Out (about inboard vs. outboard footstraps) to help you decide and tune your straps to the correct width, size and spread, allowing you to jump better, open doors to forward looping and freestyle, radically improve wave riding and gain more control and speed if you’re just blasting.
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(This Technique feature originally appeared in the April 2013 issue of Windsurf Magazine. Print and digital subscriptions for readers worldwide are available HERE.)
In Part 1 it was the tactics. Now he’s got you in position, Harty highlights technique points, which have made the biggest difference to the average man’s joy in the wave-riding department.
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In the grand scheme of things, the importance of batten tension is not comparable with correct downhaul or harness line tuning, but is, perhaps for this very reason, the most overlooked tuning aspect I’ve seen.
(This Technique feature originally appeared in the March 2013 issue of Windsurf Magazine. Print and digital subscriptions for readers worldwide are available HERE.)
Most windsurfers unroll their sail and rig up, assuming the manufacturer has correctly pre-set the batten tension. This is not the case. More experienced windsurfers will apply tension to smooth out the wrinkles, experts will fine tune them and World Cup racers will spend ages tweaking their battens with obsessive disorder. Whoever you are, if your sail had a smoother shape, with skin tight carbon batten tension, you’d be windsurfing slightly better.
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(This Technique feature originally appeared in the June 2013 issue of Windsurf Magazine. Print and digital subscriptions for readers worldwide are available HERE.)
You could study hydrodynamics and airfoils online or at school, or you can absorb Cribby’s quasi science in his latest tuning feature on fins.
Most boards are supplied with fins and the majority of these are perfect for 80% of riders and conditions for that board, but when is it time to change?
What do different fins actually do differently? Is spinout ever the fin’s fault?
These questions and lots more answered and myths busted from our technique guru Cribby.
(This Technique feature originally appeared in the July 2013 issue of Windsurf Magazine. Print and digital subscriptions for readers worldwide are available HERE.)
One of the fascinating aspects of windsurfing, like all sailing sports, is how much difference tuning makes. In my days as a professional racer and tester we advanced these skills through trial and error and time on the water, honing our development process to the most scientific approach we could find, a challenge considering we were dealing with so many uncertainties like gusts and chop.
To be able to share these subtleties with my guests is an absolute pleasure and YES it does make a big difference to tweak your gear, even though there are so many fundamental technique skills to acquire, tuning is a vital and even enjoyable skill that gives you a great base to progress your technique from.
This month we’re looking at THE most important tuning tip – positioning your harness lines. When they are in the right place it’s easier to hook in, you can sail using minimal energy, plane earlier, reach higher speeds in control and handle a much wider wind range for your sail. You can even enter manoeuvres more smoothly, like gybing, due to the significantly improved control in approach. If your harness lines are in the wrong place all sorts of carnage ensues – spin-out, fatigue, catapults, all of which can be attributed to poor harness line position, so this feature is vital reading…
REVELATION
Recently, while rescuing one of my guests that had a snapped downhaul line and thus total loss of downhaul tension something dawned on me. The sail was atrocious and sent me time travelling back two or more decades to the pre-downhaul Jurassic era – where it was almost impossible to windsurf. What saved me was that the harness lines were in the right place, so despite it feeling like a wrestling match with a gorilla, I was able to feel like I was in a front row seat, rather than actually in the ring with the beast.
If my lines had been in the wrong place, I would’ve been torn to pieces! Until that day I had held correct downhaul tension on par with correct harness line position as the two most important tuning features, by far, but that experience changed it – correct harness line position is THE most important tuning feature to give you ultimate control, since I have had far worse experiences trying to sail rigs with correct downhaul, but incorrect harness line position.
SWEET SPOT Many years ago I concluded there must be a sweet spot to position the harness lines due to the fact that I could jump onto any other professional’s windsurfing gear and their lines would be in exactly the right place for me/exactly the same place as mine, so I set about trying to establish where that position was.
Also, when jumping onto amateur’s, gear I would immediately feel the drawbacks of their poorly positioned lines. But how could I replicate the sweet spot the pros always found and share that information with others accurately, when there are so many different booms lengths and sail designs with a more forward or backhand feel?
I knew there must be a scientific method, so I used the old adage – create a result and then find the theory! The result, which I published in windsurfing’s scientific journal ‘Windsurf Magazine’, nearly ten years ago, has been well documented and caused some debate, but most importantly has enthused and developed thousands of windsurfers to progress by eliminating the uncertainty of the most fundamental tuning tip of all.
VOYAGE OF DISCOVERY
Aim Knowing there was a sweet spot was the difficult thing. This came from a few decades of professional windsurfing (i.e., beach-bumming around the world, having fun at competitions and being paid to test windsurfing gear.)
Method Establishing the position was surprisingly easy. I analysed a gazillion photos of professional windsurfers in action, measuring their boom length and their harness line positions in search of a commonality – basic data processing that in this experiment yielded a remarkably quick conclusion. After only studying a handful of the photos it became immediately apparent there was a constant, and not just any old constant, this one was really simple.
CONCLUSION All the top professional windsurfers back harness line position was one third of the way down their boom, give or take a few millimetres! So simple!
RESULT Like most good ideas it all seems so simple now, but to come up with a device that measures your harness line position accurately every time, no matter how long your boom is or where the pull comes from in your sail, that doesn’t require a degree in maths, has astounded many a windsurfer – including plenty of world champions who’ve been bemused at its accuracy!
THE CRIBB SHEET The Cribb Sheet is a tuning guide covering all aspects of rigging and tuning, that is made of plastic to handle the trauma of being treated roughly on the beach and sea. The Cribb Sheet has a piece of elastic that no matter how long it stretches, a marker remains exactly on one third/ 33% to measure your back harness line position accurately.
You could make your own harness line positioning system of course using this method, or buy a Cribb Sheet with all the other tuning tips printed on it too, at guycribb.com/shop (yes due to the fact this is a product that involves printing, assembly, manufacturing, postage etc, sorry but there is a charge!) Worldwide shipping included. A mega plug I know but the thing works so is worth publishing! To get important messages across in coaching I find it is better to eliminate the variables and ‘what ifs’ by really breaking things down to establish the Core Skills – the absolute truths. Believing in these truths gives a solid foundation to build your skills on.
In windsurfing having a fixed position for the harness lines achieves two things:
1. Your lines are in the correct place so your windsurfing improves.
2. By fixing this constant it is easy to experiment confidentially with other skills,
knowing that if things are going wrong, it must be down to your technique or
tactics, not your tuning.
FRONT HARNESS LINE POSITION
Your front harness line position varies mostly depending on how much power you have in your sail. Generally racers have the widest spread and freestylers the narrowest spread. The narrower the spread the more feedback/information you get from your sail because it’s more sensitive. The wider the spread the more stable the rig is, giving you improved control. Average spreads:
Freestyle sailors generally use small sails with little power and big, early planing boards. Their lines are very close together (approx. zero to 3 cm spread) to make the sail extra sensitive and give the rider the feedback they need about how much or little power there is.
Wave sailors have their lines at about a fist apart 9-12 cm spread to combine a bit of control with lots of information.
Freeriders should have their lines about 10-14 cm apart to combine good control with a little information.
Racers use such big engines (sails) they need little information about how much power there is – they just know there’s loads of raw power all the time – so they have a wide spread as they’re purely looking for control.
Measure the harness line positions for yourself and find the commonality between these different professional disciplines of our sport. All windsurfers should follow this guideline too, whether total beginner, freerider or aspiring professional
FACT OR FICTION? On average for every square metre of sail size you go up or down expect to move your lines by about 5 to 7 cm back or forth. Bigger sails = longer boom = lines move back. Race sails generally have the longest boom lengths relative to sail size and freestyle sails the shortest (at least for the last decade).
In ancient times people believed in all sorts of fairy tales, like the world was made in seven days, the Earth was flat, harness lines could be positioned by counting your hands down the boom etc – so a 4m sail was four hands back, a 5m sail five hands back, a 6m was 6 hands back etc. What kind of quackery was that all about?
Fortunately in the modern world you can position your lines correctly, leave the horoscopes to the kite surfers and apply science to your sport!
Degree of change between boom heights. If you’ve been following this series you’ll have learned in the ‘Double Shot’ feature (available for download from guycribb.com) that the boom length changes depending how high your boom is in the cut out. The disparity between the top and bottom of the cut-out is 4cm in boom length.
In terms of using your Cribb Sheet, if your boom is in the bottom half of the cut out, your lines should be up to 14mm further forwards than the Cribb Sheet position. In short, if you’re short, position them fractionally further forwards.
Degrees of change between outhaul adjustments. Since we only adjust our outhaul by max of 30mm from one extreme to the other your back harness line should only adjust by around 10mm/1cm – which is not worth fussing over.
Does the Cribb Sheet work on all sails? The Cribb Sheet is positioning your back harness line one third of the way back down the boom. This is largely because this is the best way to keep your boom in line with the board/ sheeted in/full revs/sail closed (whatever you want to call it that ensures the sail is parallel to the centre line of the board for maximum efficiency.)
So regardless of how the sail pulls (more from the front or more from the back) and even partially regardless of whether the sail has a boom ‘cut-out’ (shorter boom / longer main batten (see ‘Race’ image) the Cribb Sheet is primarily ensuring the boom is in line with the board.
Shorter booms/ boom cut-outs (see ‘Race’ image) Many modern sails have a much shorter boom length than the ‘chord’ (width) of the sail. Use your Cribb Sheet in the normal way to establish your harness line position as this is mostly due to boom length not sail chord. Then position the back harness line about 2cm further back to compensate for the disparity of sail chord (not the most scientific approach this time because when a sail extends beyond the boom it performs in a different way – that I don’t have room to explain here!)
If you are using a sail outside of the 4 to 8m range then the Cribb Sheet is no longer accurate – in this case use the lines slightly further forwards than the recommend position.
DIE HARDS …
Old habits die hard. Some of my guests who’ve been windsurfing for years with the lines too far forwards find it a bit of a challenge to break their old habit. Some find the correct harness line position is a bit further back than they’re used to. Newcomers to INtuition only ever learn the right way so rapidly progress through the sport with no bad habits!
If you notice a large pull on your front arm with the lines further back, the chances are its only when you’re underpowered – which I think is fine – because it’s better to have a bit too much pull when you’re underpowered, rather than too much pull in your back hand when you’re overpowered (which is the alternative.)
Adjusting your stance to suit the harness line position, rather than adjusting your lines to suit your stance position is the best solution to ensure your fastest progression.
ONE-HANDED A good test to get used to the lines in the right place is to let go with your back hand – you should be able to sail for ages like this, taking all the rigs power through your harness. If you can easily let go with your front hand, this is a sure sign your lines are too far forwards.
On occasion you’ll see pro’s letting go with their front hand for example to celebrate a victory waving to the camera, but in these situations normally their back hand will have moved well forwards, often in front of the harness lines to enable them to let go with their front hand – as this kind of behaviour is not natural.
If you are really comfortable letting go with your front hand, it is a sign that you are only well tuned for sailing slowly, and probably have issues with spin out when its windy or choppy. (See last months ‘Fins’ article for more info on spin-out)
Where to get a Cribb Sheet? Please purchase a Cribb Sheet from guycribb.com/shop. Will I be able to retire from sales of the Cribb Sheet? NO! But I will be happy knowing the product is an enormous help to the windsurfing public and you’ll be happy that the most upsetting of all tuning issues is easily resolvable.
SUMMARY
The correct harness line position:
= Sail trimmed in line with the board = good downforce onto the mast foot/mastfoot pressure – keeping the board going straight and controlled.
= Mast further forwards, increasing mast foot pressure, control, early planing etc.
= Less or zero pressure on back hand, meaning the rig has constant power rather than surges of power on and off the mastfoot that are the cause of spin-out and often catapults.
If your lines are too far forwards fundamental disasters occur:
= Depowering/’sheeting out’/opening the sail/losing revs – which cause a lack of board control and directional stability – often resulting in catapults or spin out.
= Leaning the mast back/raking the mast back/causing a loss of mastfoot pressure and making gybing much harder.
= Slower board speeds.
= Fatigue.
Please check out guycribb.com for lots of downloadable technique and especially focus on the Stance features to help you develop the skills required to get comfortable with the new harness line positions. With many thanks for reading, Louis Restaurant, Kattavia, Prasonisi, Greece- INtuition Freeride course, June 2013…
Guy Cribb INtuition Britain’s Professional Windsurfing Coach
Guy runs windsurfing coaching courses all over the world in Hawaii, Australia, Brazil, the Red Sea, Texas, Greece, Ireland and Morocco guaranteeing his guests have the most wind and the best time on and off the water and ensuring their fastest progression. Nothing is left to chance because at INtuition, hope is not a strategy
INtuition. Riding the world by storm. Copyright Guy Cribb 2013 www.guycribb.com Like Guy Cribb Windsurfing INtuition on Facebook?
FIT TO DROP – FIT FOR WHAT? – MASTERCLASS TECHNIQUE
Élite windsurfers are supremely fit. Lesser performers often aren’t. But, at recreational level, is fitness so very important in a sport, which is fundamentally about technique? If it is, what aspects of it are relevant and achievable to the common man or woman?
Peter Hart still has no need for a mobility scooter despite 35 years of windsurfing, so he must be doing something right.
PROPER FIT? Windsurfers have an interesting, cyclical relationship with fitness. As they start out they are acutely aware of the physical challenge, especially as they move into the pre harness, semi-planing stage.
“You need the arms of Thor and the palms of a coal miner for this lark”, “I have aches in places I didn’t know I had places” they cry.
Then, as they discover the harness and hook into a fresh breeze for the first time … bliss!
The transformation couldn’t be more stark if they walked from a torture chamber into a Turkish boudoir lined with shapely masseuses holding pots of strawberry yoghurt and wearing nothing but a suggestive grin.
Suddenly windsurfing isn’t such a brutal physical challenge. “Perhaps I can do this and drive a desk for a living after all?” they muse.
“I’m not saying some free-riders are lazy – but some free-riders ARE lazy.”
Modern, well set-up kit allows you to sail fastwithout too much effort. I don’t mean to be rude.
Of course it does take a degree of strength andcommitment but it’s a passive, anaerobic effort, sitting, resisting and generally not moving too much.
The way to move off the blasting/free-riding plateau, you assume, is to engross yourself in the minutiae of technique. With better technique you can upgrade to more specialized equipment that allows you to work on slicker moves in more challenging conditions.
With better kit and more technical tools in the box, your confidence rises and suddenly you’re the real deal. If only … Progress, in my experience, is directly proportional to physical fitness for the job.
Without it, you’re struggling on so many levels. It influences every aspect of your performance from decision making, to your state of mind, to your ability to actually function.
In truth most, throughout their journey, register the need for fitness and regret their lack of it. But they still underestimate its importance.
Equipment. The windsurfer, who is, or thinks he or she is, unfit, selects equipment on which to survive rather than excel. If they doubt they have the endurance to keep on waterstarting, they opt for the barge ‘just in case.’
Those high on fat tend to rig too big because they need the extra power and volume to waterstart and get planing. Those short on muscle tend to rig too small for fear they won’t be able to hang on. A lack of fitness forces you onto unsuitable equipment.
Technique.A lack of conditioning corrupts technique. If you don’t have the strength to hold your body weight on your arms, you’ll stumble into tacks and gybes the moment you hook out – and so initiate them off balance with arms bent.
The fitter sailor will hook out and take a moment to balance and let the board settle. Unfit wave-sailors ride waves hooked in. That’s not the way to rip.
To get planing the flabby sailor will resort to the more idle technique of sitting in the harness and hoofing against an over-sized fin, rather than pumping.
Windsurfers who are unfit/stiff/tired tend to work within a very narrow cage of movement over the board because they don’t have the strength or confidence to hold themselves in dynamic positions.
And how many falls do you see where people get trapped in the harness from staying hooked in for too long as they run into a lull?
Skill. It’s that ability to move and balance instinctively and efficiently. Yes it’s partly genetic – some do it innately better than others, but fitness has a large influence. When you’re fit you have better proprioception.
Your muscles contract faster. You balance better. The most effective way to balance is by flexing the feet, ankles and knees. But the legs contain the largest muscles in the body and so use the most energy.
When you tire, you stop flexing them and balance instead by pecking at the waist and dropping the shoulders, which is the quickest way to lose orientation.
And at the higher levels, it’s when you stop flexing the knees and ankles that you lose control of the edge in carved turns.
Your mind. The suspicion that you might not be fit enough for the job destroys you mentally. If you’re tired, your vision closes in and you just react to what’s in front of you.
If you’re fit, you tend to relax, lift your head, anticipate, make plans and take in the bigger picture.
The unfit person confronting tough conditions for the first time only has survival on their mind, whilst the fit person enjoys the challenge because they know they have the strength and endurance to cope with a crisis.
The tactics Your level of fitness determines your tactics on the water. Free-riders who sail 4 miles before gybing usually do so because falling and restarting big kit saps all their energy.
De-tuned wave sailors, if they make it out through the break, keep going for a mile because they need to hook in and take a breather.
Hence their wave count is low and their whole performance lacks intensity. The fear of a rinsing and an exhausting swim forewarns them from spending too much time in the crazy zone.
So to improve at windsurfing it absolutely helps to get fitter. But how?
At the end of the very first advanced ‘funboard’ instructor’s course in 1984, I asked the candidates to fill out course feedback forms as per RYA protocol.
The comments were reasonably favourable apart from a collective rant about the pre-breakfast 5km run. “I started the day knackered.
By day three my hamstrings were so tight I couldn’t waterstart.” Wrote a youthful Simon Bassett. “I took up windsurfing because I hate running. What was the point?”
In retrospect, it wasn’t well conceived. The run was too strenuous and too early before the sailing session to be a useful warm up.
And as a general attempt to make everyone fitter for windsurfing, it was a very blunt instrument. For those who didn’t run as a way to keep fit, it was way too brutal.
For those who did (and there were a couple) it barely changed their heart rate.
In my defence the general aim of the run was to serve as a wake-up call to basic instructors who spent a large portion of their working day sitting in a boat wrapped in a duffle coat, with a cup o’ tea and loud hailer bellowing at beginners to keep their bums in.
Windsurfing, and coaching, at the more advanced levels is physically very demanding. It’s a daily triathlon of sailing, swimming and sprinting around the beach.
Get fit or go home … but not necessarily by pounding the streets of Cowes. Training, the volume, intensity and type, has to be relevant to the individual and what they want to achieve.
PERSONAL FITNESS JOURNEYS The fitness world is a commercial jungle. Exercise gurus with a magic product may claim to be able to give you perfect abs in 6 weeks (and produce a study and a ‘Doctorate of Ab-ology’ to back it up). But they can’t.
For a start that study didn’t include you did it? And what sort of fitness are they selling? Pert glutes and plump pecs may be desirable, but will they help you plane earlier?
So perhaps the best starting point is to consult expert windsurfers? They might not have the right letters after their name to be able to offer the definitive windsurfing work out, which doesn’t exist anyway, but they will have anecdotal experience of what has worked for them.
“ What the true experts seem to agree on more recently is that the body is a far more complex instrument that many give credit for and that we all respond to exercise in very different ways. The trick is that, without ignoring every scientific principle, listen to your body and discover what really works for you”
I was sat last week at a conference with a handful of icons of the sport past and present, including Ross Williams, Nik Baker and Dave White, who have reached various pinnacles with very different body types and attitudes to training.
The following may seem as logical as getting Hitler to deliver a sermon on racial harmony, but I’m going to give the first word on fitness and training to speed phenomenon Dave White.
Whitey, for those who haven’t had the pleasure, has the dancing feet of Nureyev, but the physique of Mr. Blobby. That’s unfair.
He just has a classic endomorph body – solid, heavy boned, strong but prone to putting on kg. easily (and then reluctant to get rid of them). He’s waged a long and bitter war with his weight, which currently he seems to be winning.
Having indulged in a myriad of diets, from Atkins to protein shakes – and exercise regimes – he has this to say about conditioning.
“The answer I’m expected to give is ‘get fitter, lose weight and your windsurfing will improve.’ It’s very good advice. But imagine standing outside a divorce court and saying to every bloke who came out: ‘you should have treated your wife better.’
That’s good advice too (although a bit late). But the answer they’re likely to give is: “If I was enjoying my marriage I might have.”
There lays my problem – no not my marriage – I didn’t enjoy the training I was doing and so I didn’t carry on.
Right now I’m on the fitness path, not from outside pressure, but as the result of some great sailing on the right size and style of equipment that fills my every waking moment with thoughts of windsurfing.
No, that’s not sort of subconscious RRD advertising, I’m just suggesting you ask yourselves, do you have the right gear to make the most of where you live?”
If someone puts you on a diet of llama’s intestine and boiled swede, however much weight you may lose initially (probably through retching), you are very unlikely to make such a regime part of your life because you’ll dread meal times and will surely revert and regrow.
It’s the same with exercise. In some perverse way you have to look forward to it.
The Laidback Waterman Back at the conference and I’m about to have a chat with Ross Williams when Amy Carter (coach and herself a Crossfit fanatic) enquires incredulously “you’re going to talk to Ross about physical training…?” inferring, I guess, that he doesn’t do much.
I have a lot of time for Ross. If the PWA still offered an overall crown he’d be favourite. He rips in the waves but is perhaps best known as a slalom and Formula racer.
Have you ever hung on to dedicated slalom kit in race conditions? You should try it once. The forces going through every cell of the body are brutal.
Ross is built – but he doesn’t look like a gym monkey. If the symptoms of someone on steroids are short-tempered, aggressive, border-line psychotic with veins bulging from parchment skin, well Ross is definitely clean.
Smiley and laidback to the point of collapse, his approach to the fitness question is that of a waterman.
“Whenever I get the chance, I surf – and I will do it because I enjoy it and from a fitness point of view it’s harder than windsurfing!
But for me I relate my performance entirely to the time I spend windsurfing. It’s all about muscle memory and developing the right muscles.
Yes I know not everyone can get out there when the wind blows so from personal experience I would say: don’t be totally unfit – any activity is better than none.
Don’t do just one thing – vary the exercise to keep your drive. And don’t forget to stretch – strength is one thing but you have to be able to move.”
“Whenever I feel like exercising I lie down until the feeling passes.”Anon
Lessons from the Hart From the age of 10 to 16 ½ I trained seriously as a gymnast. Lucky for me my coach, Bert Dooley, was something of a visionary.
Bert believed that all strength and conditioning training had to be directly relevant to the sport and what we wanted to achieve.
Heaving dumbbells around, he said, would just build big, irrelevant muscle. All his conditioning exercises, therefore, used the apparatus and your own body.
For example we’d do sets of swinging dips on the parallel bars, (with ankle weights if he was feeling mean), push-ups from head to handstand.
Leg circles on the pommel horse. We’d do shuttle sprints, but at the end of each have to do a vault or a tumble – and many more.
Each exercise was designed to target a muscle group but because it was part of a balance movement, you were working all the smaller muscle groups as well.
And everything had to be done with a tight stomach. Tension is key in gymnastics, and indeed anything acrobatic or dynamic.
You’ve probably seen the TV bloopers, where a gymnast loses that tension in mid-move, they fall from the sky like a dying spider.
Basically we were doing high-performance Pilates before it was called that.
It was hard but somehow fun because. …
a) He introduced an element of competition.
b) We were actually doing the sport, not just grunting.
c) There was a technical incentive. If you held balance and form, the repetitions were a lot easier.
He also kept the exercise bursts to around 90 seconds, just a bit longer than the length of a competition routine, which these days is called, ‘training above race pace.’ Gymnastic is an intense, explosive sport, so our conditioning training was explosive and intense.
I’ve carried those messages with me into my windsurfing. In all my training (and there really isn’t too much these days) I try to replicate the sport. Keep as close to the water as I can. So in order of preference:
1. If it’s windy – go windsurfing!
Set aside part of the session, perhaps the end, to conditioning. Intensify the session. Get planing without hooking in. Try stepping straight into the straps and pumping from there. Count the pumps.
Try sailing out of the harness for longer and longer periods holding the hips high and the stomach as tight as possible.
Do a series of ‘pops’ or chop hops without hooking in, on each tack.
If you’re sailing in waves, sail in the waves! Imagine you’re in a 20-minute heat and have to complete 5 jumps and 5 rides and stay in the same spot. You’ll crawl up the beach.
The All Black rugby team draw the difference between ‘man strength’ and ‘gym strength’.
Man strength is the natural strength you develop over years from continuously performing a physical chore like chucking sheep into the back of a truck.
Gym strength is just the ability to lift a weight and grow a muscle.
2. Don’t be a WINDGURU SLAVE.
In light winds, still go windsurfing. It’s the same exercise, same techniques but, without a solid counterbalance, it’s potentially even more demanding, if you make it so.
Gybe or tack continuously so you have little time to hook in and relax. Light wind sailing in the waves on a floaty thing can be the most aerobic of all.
3. Little wind – on the beach. So there’s barely enough wind to windsurf. But you can lay an old fin-less board on the beach, fit it with a small sail and get twiddling.
See how many tacks or rig changes you can do in a minute – you’re working the right muscles and drilling a technique.
4. No wind and the SUP.
The SUP has transformed many a windsurfer. Learning to balance and turn without a counterbalance is brilliant exercise for windsurfers who often use the rig like a drunkard uses a lamppost.
And when it comes to cardiovascular training, if you get it as a by-product of doing a sport you enjoy, rather than grinding it out on a static pain machine, you’re far more likely to persevere.
And finally, if the water is not available through weather or lack of general proximity then you do have to find something else to do.
For aerobic training everyone has their own favourite tools, running shoes, a bike, a swimming pool. Personally mine is the Concept 2 indoor rower.
I say ‘favourite’ – I hate the bloody thing, but being a supported exercise it’s easier on my dodgy knee and I have yet to find anything that better mirrors the act of windsurfing.
But whatever tool you’re on, think windsurfing and replicate its rhythm and intensity. It’s periods of relative calm (hooked in reaching) followed by short explosive bursts (a gybe, a jump, a tack, gouging bottom turn).
So if you’re on your step machine, program in hills. If you’re on your bike, find hills. If you’re running, look for a hill or put in the odd sprint.
That sudden intense effort is you fighting to keep head and rig above water in the shorebreak and waterstart before the next dumper. And does it have to hurt? Probably…
Once, after 2 months of heavy gym training I flew to Barbados for a regatta. On the first morning I met up with fellow racer Mike Burt. He too had been on the weights. We compared pecs – it was official, we were both ripped.
We went out into the waves – we came back in 5 minutes later both totally knackered and feeling like we never windsurfed before.
Some regimes, notably heaving big weights around, can actually be counter-productive in a sport that is primarily about balance.
Overload – the one true fitness principle According to the well respected Journal of Applied Physiology “overload is the one overriding truth in physiology.” You go the gym and do the same old circuit, it may have general health benefits, but you’re not getting any fitter.
To get fitter you have to push yourself and ‘overload’ the system and actually damage the muscles and connecting tissues. You’re no doubt familiar with DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness).
That soreness is not lactic acid but tiny muscle tears that have brought an inflammatory response. The tissues then repair themselves and become stronger and more pliable – but only if they’re allowed to – which is why rest and recovery is so important. It is the foundation of fitness.
My body reacts far better to high intensity, interval training (HIIT in the trade) than it does to lower intensity volume training.
I’d also rather dive into a freezing swimming pool than edge in inch-by-inch – and pull off the Elastoplast in one rip.
Get it over with I say. I’d rather hurt a lot for a short time, than a hurt a little for a long time.
But overload does not have to imply a ‘sprint ‘til you vomit’ approach. It can simply mean gradually increasing the frequency, length and/or intensity of your workouts.
Are you a ‘Non responder’? As mentioned in the beginning, people respond differently to the exercise. A recent study in Finland put 175 people through the same aerobic and strength program.
After 21 weeks some had improved by as much as 42%, others, not one iota.
Some of you may have seen last year’s BBC Horizon program ‘the truth about exercise’ where the presenter sought an exercise regime to reverse the descent towards ill health, notably diabetes, that had been the fate of his ancestors.
The researchers identified him as a ‘non responder’ to exercise. That is to say he could run or cycle as much as he liked and he wouldn’t change his VO2max – his ability to process oxygen.
However, by obeying a shockingly brief daily routine of 3 X 20 second full sprint bursts on a static bike, he altered positively many of his health markers including his sensitivity to insulin.
The ‘non responder’ label provoked a bit of a backlash in the physiological circles – namely Louisiana State University
“People do respond differently and it appears to be in the genes. But motivation plays a huge role. We have people who come in four times a week but they are not pushing themselves. But there are no ‘non responders!’
Everyone will get fitter and healthier following the right exercise approach, which should be relative to their goals and appropriate to their current level of fitness.”
I do encounter people on courses who love their windsurfing, but who have thrown in the exercise towel claiming that nothing seems to make any difference.
But I’m afraid if you are such a person it is probably that you’re just not trying hard enough in the right way … sorry! Your gym, fearful of litigation, may be to blame.
With notices like: “if you feel tired or hot or short of breath immediately stop, go home, have a little lie down and call a doctor” plastered on every machine, no surprise people remain a little too comfortable.
Mr. Motivator When all is said, motivation is often the elusive ingredient. And it’s the same for the elite sportsman as it is for the amateur. Hence the pro usually trains with a view to peaking at a certain time – like a 3-year plan leading up to the Olympics for example.
The amateur can do the same – just shorten the lead time and swap ‘Olympics’ for ‘holiday.’ It should be a massive incentive.
It’s tragic how many holiday sessions have been wasted because the perpetrator went nuts on the first morning and by day 3 hadn’t got a functioning cell left in the system.
But on the subject of motivation I leave the last word to Mr. Motivator himself – Whitey:
“For me it’s the possibility of maximizing the conditions when they finally arrive that keeps my thoughts positive as I pass (without stopping) yet another McDonalds or when my heart feels like bursting through my chest on a run…. Yes, I did say “run”.
P.S. If you’re interested in the latest fitness science in layman’s language may I suggest you read ‘The First 20 Minutes’ by Gretchen Reynolds.
Harty continues the physical theme in this month’s Affairs of the Hart’ on the back page. Next month he hits the technique looking at the Freemove phenomenon. Many of his life-enhancing clinics are full this year but a few spaces remain. Check them out soon by going to www.peter-hart.com, or by liking his Peter Hart Masterclass Facebook page.
This time of year we could well be blessed with wind or be jetting off for a windy holiday and with this in mind and my desire to keep you moving forward, I would like to entice and coach you to learn to Vulcan as the Vulcan is the perfect introductory move to intermediate freestyle. I learnt this move a long time ago and it kept me sane whilst sailing on flat water, challenged me and readied me (and hopefully you!) to learn other moves that require a high amount of attempts (reps) and the inevitable crashes that can ensue. As ever, I implore you to be comfortable with being uncomfortable and ready for change. So let’s crack on with some top tips to educate, enthuse and inspire you to get the Can in your Vulcan, and I will highlight some common pitfalls also. For now, please say, visualize and repeat: ‘Early head and fast hands.’ Patience grasshopper all will be revealed.
(This feature originally appeared in the July 2015 issue of Windsurf Magazine. To read more features like this first, Print and Digital subscriptions are available. Prices include delivery globally for 10 x issues a year!)
TOYS TOYS TOYS I attempted to learn this move back in the day on the old school longer thinner boards of the time and actually only fully cracked it when the first freestyle boards came out. These wider platforms, or a big (relatively) freestyle wave / freemove board, really help with the learning of this move as they give you balance and time to slide (plane) backwards which buys you vital seconds to get your hand change sorted. You will also need a smaller fin to help you pop and then slide without catching, 20 – 22cms is good at the start and then size down again when competent.
The older freestyle boards were very user friendly and are also great for this move and enjoying a bit of bump n jump action too. If you are very serious about freestyle the latest incarnations are a little more dedicated these days, offering high speed performance for modern freestyle power moves and popping and sliding like a ninja.
My tip for these later species is to place your straps forward at first, as the modern boards have their straps situated quite far back for the likes of Kiri and Gollito’s aerial antics.
Drills before the Skills Whoa there cowboy and cowgirl, before you go off popping and sliding into oblivion lets give you some skills to steel yourself for the task ahead. As I said last month, preparation is key and the same applies for this move, be ready, enjoy the journey and be aware that crashing (feedback) is a part of the learning process.
Preparation drills to Can the Vulcan
• Popping – ensure you are very happy getting over the board and popping it in either direction, both across the wind and slightly downwind. Focus on opening the sail pre pop and the push and pull of the legs during the pop. Crouch down, pull boom down then spring up, helps initiate pop. No hop, skip and jumping!
• Tail grab jumps (hooked in) – release the backhand once you are in the air and touch/grab the tail. This gets your popping up a level and ensures that you really bend your back leg and that your hands get faster and freer, ready for the VulCan.
• Boom to boom tacks – Whilst you may use the mast for tacking, the BtB tack prepares your hands further to be fast and familiar with the hand change. Top Tip: learn Vulcans BtB so you have fast hands, and have to land with your weight forward as this will make your hands fast and open up learning to spock (Vulcan with a heli tack to make it a full 360)
• Sailing switch – Just as in gybes, where you can practice clew first sailing to improve your exit skills, sailing switch helps practice the finish to the VulCan and completing the move. To practice so, do a gybe and remain with both feet in the straps throughout the sail change and only get out of the straps after sailing on the new direction.
The moves that matter Let’s get down to business and give you a simple guide to the key actions to be performed.
Key Moves
• Slide front hand up to mast ready for fast hands
• Unhook and crouch down over the board, ready to pop and scissor the board to sail slightly off the wind.
• Pop and almost simultaneously look behind you (check the pic of my shiney head) whilst releasing the backhand in order to initiate the board rotation.
• Draw rig tight across your chest as back leg comes up to get the nose down ready for the slide. Fast hands draws the rig forward so the new side of the boom will become available and in view.
• Keep weight forward, land and lean on your toeside rail and the new side of the boom should be there and accessible if you have fast hands and an early head change of course.
• Switch hands. The old backhand goes over the front hand to become the new front hand and it is a boom-to-boom transition. Weight still forward, un-weighting the tail.
• Slide backwards, keeping weight centred and forward to assist the slide.
• Sheet in whilst switch foot as you slow down. Counterbalance the sails power.
• Get stable whilst in switch stance and sail off the wind ready to switch your feet.
• Change your feet and exit. Whoop!, well just quietly.
Well done, keep at it and be ready to get a lot of feedback (crashes) to nail this move, you can, shall and will VulCan and then you have got the gateway to freestyle nailed and the door is open to progress further.
Main tips and useful mantras
Let’s examine the key tips and useful mantras to repeat and focus on. These can serve as targets and also as self-coaching points.
• Early head; for me this is crucial! As I pop I turn my head to look back which turns my shoulders and hips in order to get the board rotating.
• Fast hands; again this is equally important as the previous tip. Moving your hands tight across your chest and fast draws the mast forward to get you landing with your weight forward to open up sliding opportunities.
• Land and lean; as you land, lean forward and over your toeside (this avoids the rail and tail catching). If your hands are fast, the rig will draw you this way and again, you will love the slide!
• Kiss the nose; goes with the previous tip to keep you landing with your
weight forward.
• Stay centred; this move not only requires you to land leaning forward but also centred over the board so you can slide and then take the power up on the new side of the sail.
• Power up and get back and outboard; once the hands are on the boom and just before you finish sliding you will need to sheet the sail in ready for completing the move. Aim to counterbalance the amount of wind in the sail. i.e. lean out and forward if it is light and lean outboards even more to control more wind. That sailing switch drill comes in very handy here!
REMEDIES There are some common crashes in the Vulcan so lets examine a cure for these:
SYMPTOM; not getting board round far enough and then crashing out the side door fast. CURE; ensure the sail is open and the board is ready to pop and you are over the board and take off across or down wind and pop aggressively.
SYMPTOM; Not getting the board out of the water effectively. CURE; really work on the pop with your legs to release the board and your front arm to pull up and on no account ever bounce (2 pops or more in a row) into any aerial moves.
SYMPTOM; consistently landing and sinking tail (going out the back door). CURE; get hands faster and lean forward more on landing or land more over toeside with body weight centred over board.
SYMPTOM; catapulted whilst switch foot. CURE; let the board slide, decelerate and then sheet in with an effective counter balanced position.
SYMPTON; falling at the final hurdle of the foot switch. CURE; focus on effective power control in switch mode before you think the job is done. After this, pull down on the boom to lighten feet and then pull out the back foot and front foot almost simultaneously.
Kit Generous straps to allow you to land on your toeside Small fin for the slide and easy pop. Maximum 22cms! Long lines enable you to sail fast over bumpy water and over your kit
Conditions Flat Small waves with space between Swell with flat spots Go to the right spot to get the right conditions Safer and easier in moderate winds to start with
RRD boards, wetsuits, softwear, Ezzy sails and Pro Sport Sunblock sponsor Jem Hall. Get him live and direct on one of his highly acclaimed coaching holidays. You can also follow him on twitter / Facebook and Instagram.
Whether you’re a parent or a windsurfing school, choosing rigs for learning to windsurf can be a complicated.
So what should you look out for to make sure beginners have an easy, fun time on the water?
With the help of some leading schools, stores and centers we’ve come up with these tips to help you make the right selection for both kids and adults.
LEAVE IT TO THE PROFESSIONALS
If you’re desperate for your kids to love the sport you do, then you may have to swallow some pride as – for the very first steps – it’s always best to send learners to an experienced school or camp where professionals can teach them.
Kids also learn best in groups and without pressure from parents – at least for the basics – and will thank you for it when they stick with the sport for life.
A lot of instructors will also tell you that kids can give up more easily if Mom and Dad are watching, so leave them to it and come back once they’re hooked!
If you do teach anyone by yourself, don’t pressure them, ‘keep ‘em keen’ and make sessions short – and stop before the fun ends, especially if the wind’s too strong or the equipment too heavy.
If kids want to switch to building sandcastles instead, let them. They’ll come back to it in their own time.
Let windsurfing be just another beach activity so they’re happy by the water. (Let the adults build sandcastles too if they have too!)
SMALL, LIGHT AND WHAT ELSE?
We can assume ‘small and light’ are standard qualities – but what specifically makes some rigs better than others?
Thijs Surfschool in The Netherlands have years of experience with introducing people to the sport and say the number one consideration is strength.
‘For us this simply means Dacron, since kids step on and fall on the sails constantly, which monofilm just cannot handle.
‘Of course they have to be light too, since the kids have to uphaul a lot and the lighter the sail, the bigger sail they can use.
‘One other feature is simplicity during the rigging process. This should be as simple as it gets, so kids can also learn how to set up a sail.
‘Lastly – it’s better for sails to come with carbon masts on sails above 2.5 sqm. for enhanced performance without damage from bending.
Although aluminum masts can be slightly lighter, we see the benefit of carbon or lighter-weight glass fiber being much higher and allows the sail to be used for progression too.’
Of course locations can vary, but if you’re running a school in a harsh sandy, high UV area with salt water your rigs will wear faster than in a freshwater lake in lower light – so Dacron copes better with wear and tear in most environments.
Monofilm sails can give great stability and work very well in super light wind when Dacron does not ‘fill’ so early – but it is forgiving to beginners, so many schools offer a mix of both.
Experienced instructor Bart Van Es , who’s worked multiple seasons in the sun in Curacao, rates film sails but agrees they are not as durable. ‘But for adults – and sizes over 4.5 – film is much better’ he adds.
Film can also be superior to Dacron sails without battens, but fully-battened Dacron rigs are hard to beat.
AND FOR ADULTS?
Most instructors will select a rig for kids based on their height, so in the sizes that overlap kids and grownups usage, the biggest thing to look for is range in the height of the boom cutouts.
Adults also benefit from a ‘real’ sail outline/profile rather than a ‘squashed’ or triangular sail – plus they tend to progress better with monofilm sails.
So apart from the size, the profile, handling and durability requirements are the same, especially as you get the progression stage.
WHAT DO THE KIDS WANT?
According to Yvan Alie from the busy Au Vent Fou center in Quebec, Canada, ‘Kids just want a sail that looks like a ‘real sail’.
‘They don’t want to use triangular, old-fashioned rigs that are uncool.
‘So they should have a nice outline and include battens as well.’
‘Dacron sails, so long as they are fully battened like a ‘proper’ sail, give the best option for feeling soft and forgiving as well as delivering strength.
‘Kids also like them better as they’re like the ones they’ve seen in action videos.’
Bart Van Es confirms this but points out that ‘kids learning to plane need sails with a ‘proper’ profile’.
RIGS TO PROGRESS ON
When it’s time to go solo and buy your kids first rigs, Thijs Surfschool usually advise parents to buy a sail one size larger than the one they last used in their lessons.
Again, check the sail you choose has enough ‘growing room’ in the boom cutout and some range for younger brothers and sisters too.
You can use small wave sails – and this is probably better for adults that are slightly heavier, but bear in mind some kids rigs have specifically designed, tighter leeches that promote early planing for those learning to use the straps and harness.
Au Vent Fou make a good point that ‘on sails up to 3.5 they’re not in planing territory.
‘When they’re stronger they can use small wave sails – but there’s nearly twice the weight between a 3.5 wave sail rig and a kids rig so choose carefully’.
Once the straps and harness are mastered, a sail with in-built leech twist is better and some brands have dedicated, 4-batten kids progression sails to consider.
Always check with your local store and rig the sails up first to see how the leech behaves or if the masts are strong enough for extra downhaul tension as well as comparing overall weights.
And what about price? Do you have to buy the best or the cheapest? Action 360 from Sicily advise that buying cheap can be an advantage as you don’t know how long the kid will need the sail or how long they’ll stick with the sport.
For kids there’s not need to buy a dedicated leaner’s board – just choose something they can master the intermediate planing skills on that will be more exciting for them as they develop.
ADVICE FOR SCHOOL
If you’re looking to setup a school there are some vital considerations to keep in mind:
Smart Investment: Of course strength is a major part of protecting your setup costs.
Gigi Madeddu is an experienced coach and center owner at freestyle hotspot SaBarra, Sardinia, where he has nurtured countless youngsters into the sport.
‘You have to get at least 2 – and preferably 3 – seasons in the sun and sand otherwise you’re losing money.
‘That means a selection of Dacron rigs are mandatory’ is his critical advice.
Standout from the Crowd: Sometimes a stretch of beach has loads of schools so it pays to buy a different brand to what everyone else is using and to choose models with bright colors.
Thijs Surfschool also add that ‘having different colors for each size/group helps you identify what you have out on the water to account for everybody’s safety and that all the equipment is returned to and stored in the right place at the end of the day.’
Mix of film and Dacron: Stock a mix. Super light wind suits monofilm and adults often learn faster on film sails too. But make sure rigs are fully battened whatever you choose for maximum versatility.
Dacron is more forgiving and soft in gusty locations and lasts at least two, if not three times longer.
Value for money: Buy the best quality and ‘bang for buck’ that you can afford to extend the lifespan – but also benefit from re-sale value to customers.
We hope that helps you get the important people in your life into the sport. Now go and book some lessons – and then buy some end-of-season gear at a good price to enjoy the rest of this summer – and in the Spring!
JEM HALL - MOVE ON UP - PLANING AND GETTING IN THE FOOTSTRAPS
JEM HALL
MOVE ON UP – WINDSURFING TECHNIQUE
PLANING AND GETTING IN THE FOOTSTRAPS
I am looking to get you fully up to speed in your planing and rock solid in your footstraps. To kick off it might be worth revisiting my ‘Revolutions’ piece from a few months back and my fundamentals article on my technique pages on this fine magazine’s website – www.windsurf.co.uk. These tips are not just for intermediates but also for advanced sailors as perhaps the most important skill in windsurfing is planing early and getting in the footstraps efficiently, yet it is quite often the most presumed or neglected. So in this copy I will be describing different techniques to get you planing earlier, strapped up and providing tips for you to refine your technique and reflect upon.
(This feature originally appeared in the August 2015 issue of Windsurf Magazine. To read more features like this first, Print and Digital subscriptions are available. Prices include delivery globally for 10 x issues a year!)
One of the main strategies for early planing is to embrace the 3 T’s:
• Temperament – you actually believe you will get planing!
• Timing – to get planing in the most suitable area of the water (e.g. enough flat water between waves) and in the right amount of wind.
• Tuning – ensure you are in tune with your head, hips and hands and the huge effects their positioning can have on effective early planing and strapping up.
GETTING PLANING EARLIER Here are the most essential tips for planing early and moving towards strapping up:
• Look upwind to spot gusts to utilise.
• Chug upwind by sinking the rail to gain ground when not planing.
• The back foot is placed behind the front straps and facing across the board. The front foot faces forward and is towards the mast foot.
• Really pull down on the boom and get your weight on the rig, best achieved by being low and outboard!
• Get the rig away on extended arms, shoulder width apart hands, to ensure it is upright and catching the most wind.
• Place your front hand very proximal to your front harness line to illicit max power from the sail.
• Keep the board flat by mainly bending your back leg and pushing the board forward through the front foot and leg.
• Bear away (turn downwind) by scissoring your legs, push through the front foot and pull the tail upwind with your back leg.
• When looking to get the relevant foot in the strap ensure the weight is on the other foot and the mast foot through downforce.
DRILLS FOR THE SKILLS The common misconception in windsurfing is that to progress it is all about planing and windy sessions. Yet to plane early and strap up you will learn a huge amount more in light wind sessions with the skills I presented last summer on a SUP and a freemove board. This might be on a summer afternoon, or after work sailing or just staying out when the wind drops on a suitable board. The skills for these winds are wind awareness, seeing the wind, spotting gusts and lulls and changes in wind strength. The wind is your fuel and these skills help you best utilise it. Harness commitment and keeping a flat board are paramount so harness up, commit to it, (be a harness user not just an owner) and sail one handed, and really ensure you are very effective and efficient with your hooking in and out! Really work on getting in the straps whilst non-planing. Pull down on the boom and keep your weight forward and pop that front foot in and then go for the back strap. Learn to adapt on the fly and it will really build your skills. Remember these fundamental skills will be called into strong account when the wind kicks in and are what you will require to nail planing earlier and strap up smoothly, more often and in control!
“ Get down, get out, bend the back leg and push that board on to the plane ’’
THREE WAYS TO FREE UP THE BOARD (OR STRAP UP) Traditional: get hooked in and then into the straps. Perhaps the easiest technique for lower ability sailors or more moderate winds.
Active: from a dynamic low position get the board planing unhooked, then get in the straps and then hook in. This pays huge dividends for the future and is actually what I push people to do to build their windsurf fitness and ready my intermediates on my coaching holidays to become wavesailors. Planing carve gybes will only really be cracked if you can plane in the straps before hooking in!
New School: from a non-planing position get into the straps smoothly and then look to bear away and plane on a gust either before or after hooking in. Modern boards and wave boards prefer this as you can be more active with your planing and use your legs more to steer, unstick and almost lift the board onto the plane.
// Pulling down on the boom when powered up is easiest when low and beneath it’
Photo Nicolas Jones
// Sailing one handed gives you vital harness skills to dominate planing control’
Photo Nicolas Jones
// Keep planing in lulls by rolling your body weight forward with the rig upright and away’
Photo Nicolas Jones
TRADITIONAL: HOOKED IN AND THEN FOOSTRAPS.
Actions:
• hook in across the wind, spot your gust and scissor the board slightly down wind.
• commit hard to the harness and pull down on the boom as you lean out, weight back when well powered; weight forward when less powered.
• flatten board with bent back leg, get weight off your front foot, lift it up and pop it in the strap.
• accelerate by leaning out more to power the sail up and ensure you look upwind to take you there.
• with your back foot positioned next to the back strap pivot on it and pop it in whilst sailing across the wind or slightly upwind and with your weight more on the front foot.
Pros:
• Good early mast foot pressure.
• Really develops committing to the harness lines.
• Very effective in less powered winds.
• Less physical.
Cons:
• Board can accelerate too fast before riders get time to get feet in the straps.
• Hooked in catapults can occur if people are not low, committed and wind aware.
• The rider cannot go as far off the wind to use the wind more effectively to get planing as being broad and hooked in is very unsafe.
// Traditional: hook in, lean out, drive the board forward, pop front foot in and accelerate’
Photo Nicolas Jones
// Active: Get down and out, drive the board forward, get front foot in, accelerate, then hook in.’
Photo Nicolas Jones
// New School: Pull down on a bent front arm and then pop your front foot and then back foot in. Keep front knee bent and weight on balls of both feet.’
Photo Nicolas Jones
ACTIVE: STRAPPED AND THEN HOOKED IN.
Actions:
• With enough wind get out and get low on extended arms to scissor the board downwind and pull down on the boom.
• Really bend your back leg and from your low position pop your front foot in.
• If enough wind then go for the back strap.
• Bring the board back upwind to sail across the wind and hook in. If you are less powered you can hook in and then get in the back strap.
Pros:
• A strong safe position where you can really feel the wind and develop a dynamic active stance that you will use in many aspects of windsurfing.|
• Being so low and outboard you can really drive the board on to the plane.
• Gets you windsurf fit and develops active technique.
• Very effective in windy and well powered conditions
Cons:
• Quite physical.
• Requires good wind awareness as hooking in must be performed across the wind or slightly upwind.
NEW SCHOOL: STRAPPED UP NON PLANING AND THEN PLANE.
Actions:
• Pull down on a bent front arm and then pop your front foot and then back foot in. Keep front knee bent and weight on balls of both feet.
• You can choose to hook in either before or after planing.
• Spot your gust and because your feet are already in the straps you can just lean out and get low to drive the board on to the plane.
Pros:
• Foot movements are done early and so you are not upsetting the board when just at the threshold of planing.
• Again you can be dynamic, low and driving as you can hang off the rig from a low position.
• Makes your footwork and steering very subtle and refined.
• Readies you to sail on smaller boards and in a wave environment.
• Gives you a choice of when to hook in.
• Easy to hook in if you choose to do it early as the harness lines are very available.
• Develops key windsurf skills.
• Can be used in all planing winds.
Cons;
• Requires subtlety and wind awareness.
• Sail trim has to be sensitive so as to not over sheet or under sheet in.
Refine and reflect.
“If you are not planing then YOU are not planing.” I use this quote when coaching a lot so people take ownership for their planing. The wind will do what it wants but it is us who can take actions to tune our board, body and sail, be positive and be active in getting planing.
Kit: Generous straps to allow feet into the footstraps smoothly. Long lines enable you to move your weight to keep the rig upright and will hugely extend your wind range and give you way less catapults whilst also making hooking in and out way easier.
Conditions: Medium to strong winds and flat water are the best. If it is choppy or wavey then embrace these conditions as an opportunity to improve and to not limit yourself. Go to the right spot to get the right conditions. Windsurfing is challenging enough, help yourself by using watercraft from a recognised windsurfing centre to get back upwind if required, they can give you vital aid at a key learning stage.
RRD boards, wetsuits, softwear, Ezzy sails and Pro Sport Sunblock sponsor Jem Hall. Get him live and direct on one of his highly acclaimed coaching holidays. You can also follow him on twitter / Facebook and Instagram.
