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Optimal settings for seat harness lines and boom height
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grantmac017



Joined: 04 Aug 2016
Posts: 946

PostPosted: Sat Sep 23, 2017 3:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

isobars wrote:
techno900 wrote:
Size of sail - Generally, bigger = higher boom / smaller = lower boom

In my case, I set my boom height with the same knot in the same string whether it's my 3.2 or my 6.2. After all, my sailing style and my ergonomics haven't changed; only the swell size is really different ... we hope. It might be a different story if my 6.2 were a slalom sail and I sailed it differently than my 3.2 wave sail.


I'd say if anything board width and intended use matters a lot more than sail size.
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techno900



Joined: 28 Mar 2001
Posts: 4161

PostPosted: Sat Sep 23, 2017 4:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I used the term "generally", because there are endless variations. If you are on a "big" sail, say 9, 10, 11 - booms are high. Smaller sails, say 4, 5, 6, booms are lower, at least for many that sail in a variety of conditions with a variety of equipment.

Not everyone sails the same venue under similar conditions all the time.
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DanWeiss



Joined: 24 Jun 2008
Posts: 2296
Location: Connecticut, USA

PostPosted: Sun Sep 24, 2017 8:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

isobars wrote:
westender wrote:
Ittiandro, there is a perfect set up.

Only once the sailing style, venue, board, wind quality, rider's ergonomics and preferences, point of sail, fin, and many more variables are specified in great detail.


Another way of saying, "I have no idea what will work best for you." First of all, while everything in windsurfing and other pursuits may be a compromise, a particular compromise itself is very best possible way to go. For sailing in a seat harness on a longboard, your arms should be straight when comfortably powered. The softer the rails and smaller lift of the blades the longer your harness lines need to be to do one thing and avoid another.

Long lines are defined as creating a pull from your hips sufficient to create a lot of mast base pressure while sailing upwind. The more mast base pressure the more is power directed forward because you reduce the sideways pressure from your feet. With long lines you also avoid oversheeting the sail because you can actual feel the sail about to stall, then shift your hips forward and push on your back hand to unsheet the sail. Doing this will retain much of the mast base pressure so as to keep your speed up and the blades working.

The question of boom height is one of comfort as much as anything. That's why longboard racers almost always use adjustable harness lines that can adjust pressure on the hook.

Together, boom height and harness line length work together to create just the right amount of pressure on the mast base and on the board's rail. Very powered up, upwind sailing with the blade down requires downward leverage applied with our legs to the rail. The harder the rails, the more sideways pressure we can introduce with our legs. A SUP/windsurfer will have pretty soft rails and a lower-lift centerboard compared to a Raceboard Class or even a Kona One. Therefore, lower booms and longer lines should work better than a high boom and short lines since you want as much downward pressure and little sideways pressure.

I use very, very long lines when racing my Kona One compared to most racers of my height (5'6"). Max length is 38" but I hardly every use that unless planing downwind close to overpowered. My upwind length is about 33" (measured from the boom, along the line and back to the boom) and I run my boom lower in light wind and higher when I know I will plane downwind because sweeping the sail back effectively lowers the boom and increases pressure on my feet. A higher boom counteracts that and keeps me on a plane. For me, this means nose height in light wind and forehead height in higher winds. If the wind increases toward the limit of my sail, I will drop the booms more for control and rely on the increased lift of the sail to keep my feet light.

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GURGLETROUSERS



Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Posts: 2643

PostPosted: Mon Sep 25, 2017 3:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hear hear to that underestimated longboard racing art of using long harness lines and increased lift of a raked over sail to unweight the feet, and free the board.

It's a magical feeling, with great satisfaction, when you are able to just hit that point of balance and efficiency, with sail canted well over and stretched out body almost skimming the surface of the sea, at speed. (And to blast past a group of cursing racing competitors, as I once managed to do!)

I find the technique works fairly well with the Kona (don't race anymore) in cruising, where it can sometimes make all the difference speedwise, and being able to be 'slow' planing in the straps in somewhat lighter winds.

But of course, longboards, especially with centre boards, are merely for learners, and to be discarded and not taken seriously by 'proper' windsurfers, right?

WRONG!!
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GURGLETROUSERS



Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Posts: 2643

PostPosted: Mon Sep 25, 2017 10:57 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

In thinking more about it (the hanging off the canted rig stance in lighter winds) I'm not sure how it stacks up speedwise against other Kona users now that I no longer race longboards.

It's always in those lighter winds, when struggling to hold a plane, that the technique really seems to work. But then, it's only with the front foot in that perfectly placed front strap (balance wise) but the back foot free of the outboard rear strap and further forward (closer to front foot) towards the boards centreline. The outboard rear strap obviously comes into its own when planing is more guaranteed, with a more normal stance. (I find trying to use it while only just holding the plane, kills the speed a little, dropping you off the plane.)

How do other Kona 'experts' juggle that 'only just able to plane in lighter winds with difficulty setting'? All I can add is that it requires a lot of small continuous adjustments of body lean and rig handling to stay in proper balance. But I'm convinced it does seem to get the best out of the board (and pleases me) even if not still racing others!
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GURGLETROUSERS



Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Posts: 2643

PostPosted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 3:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Incidentally, my excuse for wanting to rake the sail over to windward comes from watching those absolute masters of sailing efficiency, the Fulmars. They may be bird brained but for gliding perfection low and fast across the surface of the sea with still and rigidly held wings, they are one of evolutions perfected life forms.

They seem to have mastered the art of being able to develop both lift and forward thrust with horizontally held (to the sea surface) wings with barely an occasional beat needed. All they require is wind and swell. Well I reason that if a pea brained bunch of oily feathers (they stink at close quarters, and Fulmars - foul gulls- spit at you) can work such wonders, why can't we Lords of Creation incorporate such into our windsurfing?

We have a large Gannet colony along a high chalk cliff coastline and I like to drop the rig (Kona cruising) and sit and watch them silently and effortlessly dynamically soaring up and down the cliffs as they circle round overhead. I really can't understand why so many windsurfers are completely uninterested (boring -what) in longboard venturing along coastlines? They would rather just sit there, waiting for a blow!

After all, I do both. So just who is loosing out?
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coachg



Joined: 10 Sep 2000
Posts: 3546

PostPosted: Tue Sep 26, 2017 8:47 am    Post subject: Choices Reply with quote

GURGLETROUSERS wrote:
So just who is loosing out?


No one. To each their own.

Coachg
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