beginner question: turning in higher winds

roarmoss · Joined: 22 Jun 2010 Posts: 18

In combination with the rig tilt, getting quite low, hanging your weight from the boom, will facilitate spinning the nose out of the wind to complete the tack.

Goodwind · Joined: 06 May 2005 Posts: 323 Location: On water

snapster · Joined: 02 Feb 2008 Posts: 22

techno900 · Joined: 28 Mar 2001 Posts: 4161

With no dagger board, you pivot around the tail. With the dagger board down, you pivot around the dagger. That's oversimplified, but the technique is different with and without the dagger.

In stronger winds - say over 10 mph, it's tricky to jibe with the dagger, and somewhat difficult to get the board to begin the downwind turn because the dagger in the center of the board resists the turning movement. Which means if you have some speed and wind, don't use the dagger. When you become really proficient with the dagger down, you can do a really fast snap jibe, but the technique is a bit different than a snap jibe without the dagger.

Bottom line is that your board will turn more easily without the dagger board being down when you lean the sail toward the nose of the board. You shouldn't have to move your hands on the boom, at least not until you are headed straight down wind.

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

The sail has a dynamic spot known as its center of effort. All its lateral force is concentrated there at any given moment. That COE is the balance point of its net forces.

The board has a spot known as its center of lateral resistance. All its lateral force resisting the sail's downwind forces is mathematically/physically centered at that CLR at that moment.

A zillion factors affect the CLR and COE locations at each moment, but when the CO is ahead of the CLR, the bord will turn downwind. COE behind the CLR and the TAIL is pushed downwind so the nose turns upwind.

COE at the CLR, the board goes straight.

These are very fundamental principles of WSing. Your progress is EXTREMELY dependent on knowing these and another score of fundamentals. You would benefit beyond your imagination by reading books and websites about the sport and by taking professional WSing lessons, if for no other reason than you'll never come up with all the vital questions to ask otherwise.

jingebritsen · Joined: 21 Aug 2002 Posts: 3371

PostPosted: 18 Sep 2016 21:30 Post subject: beginner question: turning in higher winds Reply with quote
Hey, I'm new to the sport. I finally had some good, stronger steady wind yesterday, and it was a real blast; got going really fast, and despite falling in every time I tried to tack or gybe, I was grinning.
Anyway, although I can turn the usual way with the rig in lower winds, I'm having some trouble turning in higher winds; I can kind of head up, but I'm having trouble bearing off and pointing more downwind. Here's how I can best describe my trouble: to bear off, I'm trying to bring the rig forwards. In order to do that, I have to shift my hands back on the boom towards the clew. But when I do that, it's kind of like I'm forced to sheet in, and it pulls harder than I want. And it seems awkward to simultaneously tip the mast forward, and sheet out, because then I have to lean over forward really far...
Any advice? It's fun to blast back and forth on a beam reach, but I figure I should be able to turn Smile
FYI I'm using a big 11' exocet windsup board, and a 5.5m sail.
Any advice?

11'8" windSUP. I can tell you everything you have experienced. having sailed one for years, in all types of wind.

dagger up, moderately powered to planing. turn the board with inside radius rail pressure with toes. again, mast foot pressure is everything in this sport. hang off tthe boom a bit by crouching too. helps with balance as a side benefit. like a third leg.... board will come around fairly quickly.

board planes really easily. for extra push off the wind after tacks, you may wish to step in front of mast foot.

you chose a very good board.

cheers

Sailboarder · Joined: 10 Apr 2011 Posts: 656

konajoe · Joined: 28 Feb 2010 Posts: 517

OK snapster. This may be a bit long. Sorry. You need to deal with sail trim and body position when turning downwind.

First, your body position. Get some paper and a pencil. Draw booms. Draw a line from the mast to the back end of the booms. Lift is generated pretty much perpendicular to this line. You want to counterbalance the lift by pointing your toes right at that line, and having your shoulders and hips square to it.

When you are sailing upwind, the back of the booms will be at the outside edge of your board. That means your feet should be pointed pretty much across the board, and your hips and shoulders should be just about parallel to the length of the board.

Now lets look at how things should line up when you're on something called a broad reach (maybe 110 to 150 deg from the true wind direction). A properly trimmed sail will have the booms sheeted way out to the side. To properly counterbalance the lift, you will have to point your feet at that magic line, and square your hips and shoulders to it.

So here's where the mistake happens, and folks get catapulted over the nose. You start out comfortably leaning out over the side of the board when going upwind. Now, if you continue to lean out over the side as you turn down wind, and the sail starts pulling you toward the front of the board, over you go. Make sense?

So as you turn downwind, you have to move your feet hips and shoulders to continue to counterbalance the lift.

Now the sail trim. Draw that same line from the back of the booms to the mast. Do your tilting back and forth along that line. When you tilt it forward along that line, you have to keep the sail sheeted in. It will give you the sensation that you are overshooting when you start to turn downwind, because of the geometry of the whole thing, but you're really not.

Now, as the board starts to turn, you have to gradually sheet out with your back hand. Otherwise the sail will stall, and you'll feel a super hard, awkward pull.

I hope this helps.

snapster · Joined: 02 Feb 2008 Posts: 22

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

And when your sail handling fails and you're getting light in the loafers anyway (i.e., on the verge of getting launched), SIT. Drop your butt towards your heels. Nobody wins a tug of war standing upright. I did that 36 years ago, and I still do it today when slogging sinkers across the shoreline gust zone in winds ranging every second or two between 0 and 30 mph.