myiW Current Conditions and Forecasts Community Forums Buy and Sell Services
 
Hi guest · myAccount · Log in
 SearchSearch   ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   RegisterRegister 
Quickest recovery after swell hop
Goto page 1, 2, 3  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    iWindsurf Community Forum Index -> Windsurfing Discussion
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
justall



Joined: 30 Jul 2007
Posts: 442

PostPosted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 5:05 pm    Post subject: Quickest recovery after swell hop Reply with quote

When I hop some swell or an appealing boat wake, my landing can result in my tail sliding (the tail/fin isn't going straight). When the wind is a bit weak, this is frustrating, because I need to cut up or downwind to get it back in control which can take me off a plane that I worked hard to get a'goin Is this just how it is or, more likely, am I missing something in my technique? Thanks, in advance, for any tips.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
jingebritsen



Joined: 21 Aug 2002
Posts: 3371

PostPosted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 5:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

i try to slide over, rather than jump. compress the body as one meets the swell. then expand the body when coming out. put a bunch of mast foot pressure thru the boom, and pump a few times if necessary. when onshore wave sailing, jumping can put you in great peril if you stall and lose all momentum, as the next few waves may push you back toward the beach with extreme prejudice.

if more powered, then i'll turn the bottom of the board toward the wave face like i'm going to jibe, then abort the toe side pressure back to heel side to do a powered S turn at the right spot where i would have jumped instead.

_________________
www.aerotechsails.com
www.exocet-original.com
www.iwindsurf.com
http://www.epicgearusa.com/
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 5:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jeez.

While your fin is airborne, lift your windward rail and pull the back foot upwind. These two things drive the nose of your board off the wind, so your board lands aligned with your flight path. Thus there's little or no side force trying to spin your fin out. It lands already hooked up, awaiting your next command.

To achieve this on a board with its rear straps at the board's midline, you achieve both objectives by pushing your back toes downward in their strap(s) ( to raise the windward rail, exposing the belly of the board to the wind so the wind pushes the nose downwind), and bending that knee to push the tail upwind (and thus the nose downwind). Violins! You land with your board pointed where it's going.

I don't know how to achieve that with all the straps out on the rail.

When all this becomes second nature, you will learn to set the board down more gently so you can land pointed somewhat upwind, if so desired, without spinning out.

Mike \m/
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
dllee



Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 5328
Location: East Bay

PostPosted: Sat Sep 22, 2012 9:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Works the same with full on slalom or Formula boards, suck your feet up towards your butt, bear slightly off the wind from your takeoff direction, but don't head it downwind too much.
My slalom boards jump the highest, for sure.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
justall



Joined: 30 Jul 2007
Posts: 442

PostPosted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 7:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Many thanks, jingebritsen, iso, and zirtaeb! That will help me do better both when I'm looking for the hop and when I'm looking to stay out of the air. As I read your comments and visualized my session, I think most of the issues came up when I was leaning far off the board, so that I either had too much side pressure on the fin or was limited in the amount of feet-to-backside compression I could accomplish to flow the board over the swell profile. Your descriptions nailed it for me .... Thanks.

With a more thorough search on my part, I also found other posts on this topic (from as far back as 2004, Embarassed ) ... sorry to make you all re-post similar advice.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
cgoudie1



Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 2597
Location: Killer Sturgeon Cove

PostPosted: Sun Sep 23, 2012 8:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

So, if you do land sideways, and you're spun out, you can attempt
to correct that just like any other spin out, i.e yank your back foot
under your butt, take pressure off your feet (and therefore board),
bounce your board (up and down), jump again and land in line
with your motion, or slow to sub planing speed.

-Craig

justall wrote:
Many thanks, jingebritsen, iso, and zirtaeb! That will help me do better both when I'm looking for the hop and when I'm looking to stay out of the air. As I read your comments and visualized my session, I think most of the issues came up when I was leaning far off the board, so that I either had too much side pressure on the fin or was limited in the amount of feet-to-backside compression I could accomplish to flow the board over the swell profile. Your descriptions nailed it for me .... Thanks.

With a more thorough search on my part, I also found other posts on this topic (from as far back as 2004, Embarassed ) ... sorry to make you all re-post similar advice.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
justall



Joined: 30 Jul 2007
Posts: 442

PostPosted: Mon Sep 24, 2012 7:58 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

cgoudie1 wrote:
So, if you do land sideways, and you're spun out, you can attempt
to correct that just like any other spin out, i.e yank your back foot
under your butt, take pressure off your feet (and therefore board),
bounce your board (up and down), jump again and land in line
with your motion, or slow to sub planing speed.


Awesome summary. I have to say that I like the jump again (and this time get'er done right) option. Thank you.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
DanWeiss



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

PostPosted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 7:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Another way to do it is to pull your front foot out of the strap and bash the rail to leeward with your front foot. It feels pretty hairy the first few times, but yanking your back foot to windward will not always work, and tends to dig the windward rail down, the exact opposite of what you want to do.

It's a technique best attempted in flat water before moving ahead to wickedly overpowered in steep chop.

I learned this method from Andy Brant and Alf Imperato many years ago. It works.

_________________
Support Your Sport. Join US Windsurfing!
www.USWindsurfing.org
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
techno900



Joined: 28 Mar 2001
Posts: 4161

PostPosted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 8:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

All these techniques assume you are in the air long enough to actually turn the board & lift the windward rail. In the beginning, you just don't have enough air time to think about or actually do anything but land.

In time, it will work as you get more comfortable in the air.

On my formula or slalom board (foot straps on the rails), I haven't tried very often to get air. The board is very squirrely in the air and landing with my feet on the rail is scary as hell. I just don't do it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Tue Sep 25, 2012 10:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

People do it, but it HAS to be an ankle waiting to snap, given the leverages a long fin and wide board exert on a foot out on the rail. I suspect most ordinary sailors who jump those boards, like the fireman I saw running across a mile of loose creekbed boulders, have never done serious damage to an ankle before. Few ordinary injuries hurt as much (I've gone into shock lying in bed days after a sprain), hurt as long (many months), or have such widespread lifelong impact (e.g., endless future sprains, weakness, impaired balance, serious knee/hip/back problems as a direct result of weeks to months of limping). Probably the only beneficial legacy of my lifelong history of severe ankle sprains is my well-justified vendetta against FFF on sinkers in gusty winds and rough terrain. I've broken an ankle simply walking a bare floor, but by golly I've never sprained one windsurfing.

If the OP cuts his hopping teeth by emphasizing lifting the windward rail, he will develop an important habit which will automatically get him higher, reduce spinout, and protect his eardrums. Just don't learn jumping on wide boards with big fins and straps on the rails.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    iWindsurf Community Forum Index -> Windsurfing Discussion All times are GMT - 5 Hours
Goto page 1, 2, 3  Next
Page 1 of 3

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You can attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum

myiW | Weather | Community | Membership | Support | Log in
like us on facebook
© Copyright 1999-2007 WeatherFlow, Inc Contact Us Ad Marketplace

Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group