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Helpful tips for sailing in High winds
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rgomez



Joined: 13 Dec 2012
Posts: 112

PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 11:57 am    Post subject: Helpful tips for sailing in High winds Reply with quote

My local lake was blasting 30+ knots yesterday with heavy rain and churning waters. I did manage to get a few good runs in my 4hr session but I felt too defensive continuously sheeting out, catapulting, getting thrown over waterstarting to name a few of the problems.

I was definitely on too big gear a tabou rocket 125 + windgear 5.9 heavily down-hauled and out-hauled because smaller gear was not an option at the moment. I had my boom lowered to my chest level and long clip harness lines with my mast base forward.

I felt I was going too fast even tilting the mast sightly forward was making me about to catapult. I probably should have tried waterstarting with both feet on the board.

What else can I do to stay in control.

Thanks.
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alap



Joined: 17 Dec 2007
Posts: 156

PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 12:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

use appropriate equipment
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dllee



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 5328
Location: East Bay

PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 12:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

There is a reason most experienced windsurfer's carry multiple sized sails and more than 2 windsurfing boards.
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rswabsin



Joined: 14 May 2000
Posts: 444
Location: New Jersey

PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 2:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If it was blowing in the 25 - 30 knot range, you probably should have been on something like a 4.0 or 4.5 sized sail depending on your weight. That is a huge difference from the 5.9 you were using so my point is that there is little more you could have done to make sailing more comfortable with that size sail. As for your board - yes it was also too big but you might have been able to make that work by using a smaller fin suitable for a 4 - 4.5 sail(something like 23 - 25 cm freewave type fin). Mast forward position is correct in overpowered conditions.

Even though it sounds like you had a real rough time and was getting smacked around out there - you actually learned a lot. It probably wasn't pretty - but you learned how to handle yourself in really overpowered conditions and how to get yourself back to shore. Trying to water start gracefully with that sized sail in those winds... it ain't going to happen but you did your best and made it work. Sheeting out during the gusts is key, pointing upwind to kill some of your board speed, trying to jibe in the wind holes or lulls are other tricks that work when overpowered and make it survivable - and that's about it.

But in the end using the right sized sail, board and fin combo turns these conditions into a really fun day on the water and make all the difference.

Rob
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wynsurfer



Joined: 24 Aug 2007
Posts: 940

PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 4:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Did'nt you get that 95l Strapper? Are they all gone? That board would work great in 25-30 with a 5.0.
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 5:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am very well known for using bigger sails than just about anyone -- including very expert sailors 50 pounds heavier than I -- in my usual stretch of the very windy Columbia River Gorge. In very steady winds I've enjoyed a 6.2 when others my size enjoyed their 4.7s. At 30 kts, however, I would be very powered up on a 3.7, probably happier on a 3.2 if it was normally gusty. And I'd be on a 65 to 72 liter board intended for very high winds. In the central Gorge, where the sensor reads much lower because of its location, at 30 kts I'd be trying to survive on a 2.8 or packing up and driving somewhere else.

You don't need advice from us; we need it from you.

OTOH, the lower the boom, the greater the lifting/catapult force your rig can exert on you. Ditto leaning the mast forward. When dramatically overpowered --to the point a beam reach is unmanageable and physically risky -- I lean the rig back and pinch upwind as high as possible or cruise dead downwind. The former is easy; the latter requires much more practice but is a ball once well-learned.

Mike \m/
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NOVAAN



Joined: 28 Sep 1994
Posts: 1544

PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 6:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Not the right board or sail for that wind or your skill level. High wind world cup racers could make it work but not us reg. people. I'm 165lbs. I would be nicely powered on my 4.7 and 86 Tabou 3s... Most people sailing over powered will head up wind and sheet out for control. That works to get you back. Most likely way up from where you started. Try heading down wind but you must keep your sail sheeted in. At a point of sail down wind, the clue of your sail will be nearly pointing into the wind and will completely depower. Your board will slow down and you will be able to control your sail. Try this on a nice wind day to get the feel.
Don't sail in a strait line. In the overpowering gusts use the down wind trick or head up wind to cut your speed. In the lulls you should head down wind for a blasting ride to get back to where you want to be. You need to match the wind speed and water conditions to your body weight, board and sail size. And your skill level....But as stated you did learn something....
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coachg



Joined: 10 Sep 2000
Posts: 3549

PostPosted: Wed Aug 03, 2016 8:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If it's 30 knts, all you have is a 125 liter board & 5.9 it is time to grab one of these, sit back & watch.

Coachg



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techno900



Joined: 28 Mar 2001
Posts: 4161

PostPosted: Thu Aug 04, 2016 9:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

EVERY windsurfer has a limit. Beginner to pros hit conditions where either their skill level and, or their equipment will limit their ability to stay on the water without getting "blown away".

Pressing your limits will help you improve faster, but going out when it clearly is over you skill/equipment limits only creates problems for you and possibly others that may need to rescue you.

Always consider what will happen (and where you will end up) if all goes wrong while on the water.
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Thu Aug 04, 2016 12:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

techno900 wrote:
EVERY windsurfer has a limit. Beginner to pros hit conditions where either their skill level and, or their equipment will limit their ability to stay on the water without getting "blown away"...

or injured. Getting blown away is merely a nuisance where I sail; a rotator cuff injury, however, could easily end a season or, in my case, a career of WSing. Even wth the right size sail and board two days ago, I quit to avoid getting a shoulder ripped out of its socket due to extremely strong and very rapid-fire gusts. Even that sail's custom vinyl window and dacron leech, designed to take the edges off the gusts, has its limits; I can't imagine trying that day with an all-monofilm sail.
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