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J64TWB
Joined: 24 Dec 2013
Posts: 1685
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 Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2016 5:08 pm Post subject: |
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grantmac017,
Put the mast track in the middle and forget about it. Sounds like from all your posts about sheeting in and trying to get on a plane that your biggest problem is not enough wind.
Focus on getting in those footstraps for the first time (if you haven't already). If you have sufficient wind, that board will unstick and take off! You need to be in the harness and footstraps for that to happen. Everything will seem out of whack unless you have sufficient wind to be planing fast and in the footstraps.
Try and go out in more wind.
If your going to focus on equipment, focus on what sail to use to make that happen and work on footstrap and harness skills.
Probably the most important rigging thing is having the sail rigged correct at this point. If there is not enough wind, no tweaking, fin, adjustment etc. will help. |
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jingebritsen
Joined: 21 Aug 2002
Posts: 3371
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| Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2016 6:19 pm Post subject: |
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trial and error.
move the base fore and aft. adjust your boom heights accordingly.
to learn to pump is a visual thing. find a sailor that is good at it and patient enough to teach it. one does a transfer of weight onto the rig, arms straight, then back on the board....
in an extremely light wind day in florida, we all tend to pump then grind upwind. why? big kits with big fins generate apparent wind by close reaching, not broad reaching. risk? sometimes the wind dies and one has a long slog back downwind.
look for gusts to jibe in. sometimes people sail in ruts. at each end there may be a lull.
the power of fin, sail and board will determine the right spot for the base. "stick it in the middle" has not, nor will not work all the time. just have to get out and try. if you have a sparring partner, change one thing at a time to help you both figure out what's best for both far faster.
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J64TWB
Joined: 24 Dec 2013
Posts: 1685
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| Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2016 7:25 pm Post subject: |
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| As a beginner I think you have bigger fish to fry than pumping skills and mast track adjustments. Stay focused on getting going. |
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westender
Joined: 02 Aug 2007
Posts: 1288
Location: Portland / Gorge
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| Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2016 7:51 pm Post subject: Re: Mast track for early planing |
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If it was me,, considering the wind you have, I'd be kiting.
| grantmac017 wrote: | Others simply say try it and see (do I need a single screw base for experimentation?).
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techno900
Joined: 28 Mar 2001
Posts: 4161
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| Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2016 7:43 am Post subject: |
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Some folks try to over analyze various elements of windsurfing. Some points are critical and some are not. For a formula board, moving the mast base is of little consequence for a novice to intermediate, especially in your wind conditions. Put it in the middle and be done with it.
Planing in light winds is all about sail size, rigging and PROPER PUMPING, which includes the entire body for formula. It involves pumping the legs and fin to promote lift as well as the sail for power. Once you have the skill, if the board won't sustain a plane after 3-4 pumps, forget it and wait for more wind.
Last edited by techno900 on Tue Aug 30, 2016 1:00 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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cgoudie1
Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 2599
Location: Killer Sturgeon Cove
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| Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2016 10:10 am Post subject: |
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Slalom boards are much easier for me to pump to a plane than formula boards.
-Craig
| techno900 wrote: | Some folks try to over analyze various elements of windsurfing. Some points are critical and some are not. For a formula, board moving the mast base is of little consequence for a novice to intermediate, especially in your wind conditions. Put it in the middle and be done with it.
Planing in light winds is all about sail size, rigging and PROPER PUMPING, which includes the entire body for formula. It involves pumping the legs and fin to promote lift as well as the sail for power. Once you have the skill, if the board won't sustain a plane after 3-4 pumps, forget it and wait for more wind. |
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Sailboarder
Joined: 10 Apr 2011
Posts: 656
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| Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2016 2:35 pm Post subject: |
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| grantmac017 wrote: | So now I'm getting distinctly conflicting information.
Some say it doesn't matter, others say that a forward position allows them to remain on plane during lulls.
More sail isn't an option at present since I simply can't afford a 520-550 mast and sail. My 9.5m is about as big as I'm gonna get.
My conditions are usually JUST subplaning with gusts above the planing threshold. So what I need is to get on that gust and stay planing as much as possible afterwards.
I may be needing to accept predominantly subplaning conditions and get a race board (looking at one this week). Average wind speeds should increase as we head into fall however. |
This is not conflicting information. This means mast foot position is not critical. Critical elements are: board width, sail size and tuning, fin size+type and technique.
Have you tried several fins with your setups? I don't think you gave us any info about that, so this could be the weak link in your equipment. |
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dllee
Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 5329
Location: East Bay
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| Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2016 3:58 pm Post subject: |
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Information overload.
Obviously, OP is a beginner. Having too much info just confuses him/her.
Why have multiple gears in a car? Heck why have an accelerator pedal to boot? |
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PeconicPuffin
Joined: 07 Jun 2004
Posts: 1830
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| Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2016 4:40 pm Post subject: |
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| grantmac017 wrote: | | PeconicPuffin wrote: | | Learn to pump, learnt to stay still with your arms extended. |
Can you explain this sentence a little more? Feel free to use crayons if necessary. |
I'm no good with crayons 
It takes more power to get a board planing than to keep it planing. Sometimes the wind is strong enough to keep you planing but not quite enough to get you there even if you bear off...at those times good sailors will pump their sails (which looks like sheeting in hard several times, but is actually hanging from the boom and scooting the board forward with your legs several times. Here's a video I found with a quick search...there may be better:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bik1h-i4dnY
As for staying still with your arms extended, one of the most important subtleties in getting planing and staying planing in marginal wind is keeping the rig "quiet" or relatively still...to maximize the efficiency of the wind flow over the sail. Every inch the sail is sheeted in or out, or fidgeting in the harness lines, disturbs this and makes the sail slightly less powerful.
If you can check out an ABK clinic there is a lecture (with practice on a simulator and then water practice) that covers all of this.
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Michael
http://www.peconicpuffin.com |
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PeconicPuffin
Joined: 07 Jun 2004
Posts: 1830
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| Posted: Tue Aug 30, 2016 4:49 pm Post subject: |
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| grantmac017 wrote: | So now I'm getting distinctly conflicting information.
Some say it doesn't matter, others say that a forward position allows them to remain on plane during lulls. |
It's actually not conflicting. But maybe a little confusing.
Getting planing and avoiding falling off the plane are two related but different things. When we're planing in marginal wind, the tail of the board starts to dig in and plow as we lose speed, which causes us to lose even more speed until we're not planing. The advanced sailor trick here is to swing forward a bit in your harness line to drive more weight through the mast base (while keeping your feet in the straps). Yes if your mast track position was a little more forward to begin with you'd fall off the plane later, but then when you are planing, you'd be bouncing around more with the front half of your board spending too much time in the water.
To get planing in the first place in marginal winds you're going to be doing everything to get the board scooting across the water, which may well mean not getting into the footstraps before your planing.
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Michael
http://www.peconicpuffin.com |
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