Tips for transitioning to planing in control

[bostonsailor]

It does not head up but the opposite bears away, speeds up and I feel like i am about to lose control so I try to lean back more, bend my knees, apply back foot pressure, rake the rig, etc. I am trying to do too many things in too little time so I get catapulted or just drop into water on windward side. I am also trying to get a feel for the right amount of sheeting, sometimes i oversheet and sometimes I don't do it enough. I think this is part of my learning so I need to keep trying. Next time, I will try to commit more to the harness which should allow me to hike more and maybe I can practice getting into that front foot strap.

[NOVAAN]

The straps are place so that your feet are in the correct position for high speed runs and control. Read what ramps wrote over and over. I advise front foot first for a lot of reasons. Others say opposite. You decide. A few tips. To get up to speed, head off the wind until the board starts to plane. At that point you should do what ramps said. When you put your front foot in the strap you pressure the windward rail causing the board to round up wind and lose speed. Two ways to stop that. Keep the weight on the back foot until the board picks up speed. Pull up slightly on that front foot until the board heads off the wind. At this point the board should be flat and up to speed. Now do what ramp said with the front foot. Weight it slightly and feel if you can pick up the back foot a little. If so, quickly slide it into the back strap. You should be up to speed and the board will respond to rail pressure "foot steering" To do all these things you need to think quick feet. Be lite and make the movements fast. To keep on a plane head off the wind in the lulls and head up wind in the gusts. If your heading off wind and still losing speed take your back foot out and stand the sail forward and upright. This might get you to the next gust. Speed is your friend in all things windsurfing. Every thing is easier when all that sail pull goes away and your locked in place. Are you sailing in So Cal?
I know lots of people there that would be willing to help
If you want to talk windsurfing feel free to call me anytime. 805 219 0435 Tony

[konajoe]

[techno900]

Looking at you GPS speeds, it appears that you got over 10mph about 7 times, but you didn't stay there for long. While I haven't tried to figure out what speed is needed to plane (it will vary from board to board), my guess is that you aren't going fast enough for long enough to get in the foot straps. If you are planing, 15+ mph (just an estimate), you need to sustain that speed while going for the straps.

While your board is being pulled up on plane, the force you feel in the sail is much more than you should feel once planing, this is because of the drag of the board (nose high, tail low), but the extra pull drops off quickly when the board flattens out to its planing position and the speed increases quickly. It just takes getting used to the new sensation of speed , and I am guessing that as you hit this new speed, it may be an "oh, sh#t" moment and you are doing a few things

[konajoe]

Also, read my post on page 3 of the recent thread titled "Beginner Question: Turning Down Wind". You will be trying to do the opposite. But you'll see the forces in play, and understand why you're getting catapulted.

[NOVAAN]

Most "beginners" do not sheet the sail in enough to get the full power for a given sail size. When you bear off the wind with a sail that is sheeted out you actually present more sail to the wind thus adding power. This can be a good thing in lite wind sailing. Your feet and body transfer the power of the sail to produce forward motion of the board. You must resist the forward pull of the sail by bending your knees and a slight lean back as the board starts to go. If you can also add a back hand pull on the sail, a sail pump, the board will scoot up on a plane. There is a balance between going to much down wind and not enough. To much down wind and your likely to go over the bars. Not enough and you will have a difficult time getting the board to plane. You need to learn by trial and error what works best for you.

[bostonsailor]

Thanks a lot to everyone who took the time to share their advice. I went out on the water today at Pleasure Bay, wind gust hitting 30 kts with average wind around 25 kts. I was overpowered with my 6.0m2 although on the upside my Garmin showed max speed of 22.5mph. I definitely committed myself more to the harness and it helped me stay on the board planing longer however I was swimming a lot today. I practiced raking the mast more and i believe it helped avoid catapulting but I still managed to fall on top of the boom a lot so I need to work myself getting into foot straps soon because I am also literally getting tired of dancing on the board. I also think steering by the feet is necessary at this speed because changing the sail angle causes me dance more. Tomorrow, I will use a smaller sail and practice getting into the front foot strap. Cheers!

[NOVAAN]

In that much wind and at that speed you must be in the straps in order to control the board and sail...

[windward1]

Bostonsailor,
When you are at planing speed you need to get into those straps. Your whole method of sailing changes. You need not be playing hardly at all with sail position. It will be in tight most of the time and steering is all by angling the board with your feet via the straps. You now steer the board like a surfer, not a sailor. When you come off of a plane due to a wind decrease, you go back to being a sailor. Remember, you are a sailor or a surfer, depending on board speed.
W1

[snapster]

Hey bostonsailor, I can't offer any advice, since I'm even more of a beginner than you, but just saying hello, as I'm in the Boston area too. I've gone out to the Upper Mystic Lake and Pleasure Bay so far. You can't miss me on my giant exocet 11'8" windsup.