Learning equipment for jumping.

[sailingjoe]

Recently I put together a twenty year old combination of glass board, mass track far forward and N.P. Anders B. cambered race 5.0 thinking it would be a good starter's kit for jumping. Any knowledgeable comments?

[DanWeiss]

[DanWeiss]

[westender]

Comments in what regard are you interested in? While not being used as a fence you can jump it.

To complete the package I would strap a block of Styrofoam to your back.

There is a very experienced Gorge sailor who does this. It helps with the water starts and also floats you face down which is handy for when you get thirsty.

[SlightlySalty]

[billgfc]

Hi there

while I am a total fan of the new equipment, it sounds like you have a good start.

A few years back there was a cover shot of Carl Meinberg doing an insane jump at the Hatchery. he had bought what I recall was an old Priester or Progressive Composite at Second Wind for around 100!

Not sure if you have a 2 cam or race, but that will help you get upwind to get better angle for jumps, get a fin with drive for conditions if you do not have one!

Good luck and enjoy

[isobars]

Bill, look at the poster. He's trolling, and you swallowed bait, hook, line, sinker, rod, and reel.

Mike \m/

[pacspeed]

Mike is on the money...sort of. SailinJoe, AKA Sinbad, AKA Bruce Swift, may ACTUALLY have bought this combo, but he is most certainly trolling. I dont think he ever actually logs on to the internet to do anything but.

Nor do I think he'll ever actually use said combo, primarily since he's well over 200 lbs and sails in Florida.

Pueno will be along shortly to inflame and abuse, leading to the inevitable accusations the they are one and the same, and the indignant response from Joe noting that he asked for "knowledgeable comments".

Sigh, is there nothing new going on in this sport?

[sailingjoe]

It's rather refreshing to see a straight answer from Dan Weiss for a change. Bill, I love your positive attitude. Optimists will always do better in life. It really is too bad so many sick and ignorant bastards live in our world and insist on maligning others or trying to exchange insults instead of ideas here. I guess that would be a Troll, but I'm not a childish name caller. It's also sad that so many insist on becoming regulars and projecting their narrow point of view and twisted egos on these forums. It's great to have guys like you here, Bill, who are true professionals in the field. Actually, I think I do have a good fin for this set-up. However, your opinions regarding fins are always welcome. Trying to keep everything in the same general period, I have the pictured High Aspect fin (bought second hand, but unused) matched with it. However, I was wondering if that might be too small. The whole set-up remains rather small for me, though. I'm thinking more for a young athlete similar to the guy who used the board before me. The sail has Race printed on it. Finally, I was wondering if someone thought there was modern equipment that would serve a budding young thumper better.

[isobars]

Presuming you're actually serious ... ah, never mind that; what was I thinking?

Presuming some lurker takes this thread seriously, blade fins are ankle-biters for novice jumpers because they re-enter and do their own thing before the board lands and has its say on direction of travel and board angle. You wouldn't play basketball in stiletto heels and you shouldn't learn to jump on a stiletto fin. You want wavy fins, which are more tolerant of angle of attack errors, don't trip you up due to sideways landings, and generally have less of a mind of their own. A slot is even more tolerant of said error, because it better manages the spinout that is the primary bane of new jumpers. You can always abandon the slot once the mechanics of getting air are learned.

Race sails are not as maneuverable as B&J or freerides or waves, and it's often necessary to swerve without notice to catch a ramp head-on.

Wider board tails help maintain dynamic flotation -- i.e., pop over rather than slice through -- as we smack the ramp.

The rest is technique at this stage. I learned to jump on a barely planing 6.5 on the original 12-foot Equipe on perfectly flat water by jerking the windward rail off the water with my front foot; the breeze beneath that 12-foot rail sometimes got my fin clear out of the water. A guy at Tampa's Howard Park consistently got 6 feet of air beneath his fin on knee-deep absolute glass by jamming the board tail down to create his own ramp. Dale Cook with the flu and a sprained ankle gets 40 feet of air on the same ramps and gear that I'd hit 12 feet with on my good days.

Learn HOW to jump first; the rest, except maybe that stiletto fin, is details.

Mike \m/