Planning a 205L JP Funster

[nomadicprs]

Thanks for all the good info from everybody! Yes Unfortunately I have been sailing with the daggerboard. Not really sure why to be honest with you I can do jumping jacks on this board its so stable. My theory was a big float board would let me concentrate on sailing and then I'd worry about a balancing act with the 145. Most of the sails are probably 6 years old I've inherited but I didnt wanna buy anything new until I had gotten over the worst of the learning curve ie the destroy gear really quick part. I'm defiantly gonna try some of the tips you guys gave me. One last thing should I get more comfortable with the Harness on the 205 before moving down to the 145. Only reason I ask is I have to have the board moving pretty good to get in the harness which is rare that its moving so fast. Should I just make my lines longer and get in the harness way earlier just for practice or is this gonna get me launched?

[DonORiordan]

Its probably good to do a bit of both. You will need to spend some time on your 145 to get used to that board. Even while not planing, you'll need to learn to resist its short board tendency to want to point upwind all the time (which is typically done on short boards by leaning the mast a little bit to windward, and both sheeting in and driving the nose back downwind with the front leg, often in tandem with a 'scissoring' movement of your back leg (simultaneously pulls the tail upwind). The smaller the board, the more you have to do this while off the plane. Once planing however, these board tend to sort themselves out. (The tendency to point upwind on a shorter board is due to waterline length while off the plane which affects the center of lateral resistance...some physics playing in here which you'll have to learn to adjust to). So, to learn to deal with it, spend _some_ time on your 145 as well as your big 205.



Now, to harnessing.
I'd recommend long (24-26" or possibly even longer) lines and a waist harness initially. This combo is really easy to hook in and out...I can do it on my 105 L board while shlogging/barely moving.

Its conceivable you are already in a seat harness (fits around your butt like a diaper, and has a lower hook). Latest advice from the pros/magazines is for seat harness to have short lines (more control over lots of power, but harder to hook in & out), and waist harness to have longer lines (more flexibility for quick reactions, ease of hooking in & out etc).

Eventually, if racing/ blasting at warp speed across flattish water is to be your game with major power in your sail, you'll possibly favor a seat harness.

But if you find yourself chop hopping/jumping /wave riding/freestyling or often even just general freesailing and doing other kinds of maneuvers that require lots of hooking in and out (like frequent jibing/tacking), you'll favor the waist harness for that ease of use.

This goes double for beginners, where ease of hooking in and out is key while trying to figure the whole thing out and deal with all the other variables that make our sport so challenging yet so much fun.

With a waist harness, try to adopt a figure 7 pose while sailing...straight arms form the top of the seven. Back through legs down to feet nice and straight. forming the diagonal part of the figure 7. (You cannot treat a waist harness like a seat, its not for 'sitting down' in, which folks often get away with on a seat harness. If you try that, you'll find the waist harness tends to ride up until it meets your armpits...uncomfortable).

The other thing you can adjust while learning the harness is your boom height. Try lowering it a bit more initially to facilitate hooking in and out...as you get more skilled at this you can then raise it back up


Summary:
1. use waist harness plus long lines (consider adjustable lines initially which you can make shorter as your skills advance).
2. practice harnessing on your big board (less variables to deal with)
3. But do spend some time on your smaller board also, as you will have to learn to deal with that board also and its tendency to point upwind.

Soon, you'll be ripping!

D