Tuning questions

[rangerider]

I was sailing with my x-cite ride and the Ezzy 9.5 today - the wind kept building and I went from barely planing to overpowered (in gusts) over about an hour and a half. My harness lines were initially set for my 6.5 and I had to use a lot of back-hand pressure. I moved the lines back bit by bit until things felt balanced but I'm wondering what other adjustments are helpful in terms of downhaul/outhaul for too much back-hand pressure? I had the down/outhaul at the low-wind setting and never adjusted.

Second - due to the marginal planing conditions I moved the mast base towards the back of the track but then felt like I was balanced on my back leg most of the time when reaching. Adjusting the harness lines helped but I still felt like I was riding the tail. I assume that if I had moved the base forward I would have been more balanced on my feet. For some reason it didn't occur to me until driving home. Sound right?

[dcharlton]

My first few years of windsurfing I didn't know I wasn't putting enough downhaul on the sail until a friend took the rig for a spin and said 'way too much back hand, you need more downhaul'.

The 9.5 is a big sail that can easily become too much when the wind picks up. but it also sounds like not enough downhaul is the culprit. Use a downhaul cleat to make it easier.

[johnl]

Generally speaking for earlier planning move the mast base forward. At least this has been my experience (although I'm sure somebody will disagree).

What I have done for years is set a two hole mast base so that I can just barely see the mast track in front of the plate. This has served me very well for many years and I have found very little need to change the settings. However freestylers will disagree since the location of the mast base also determines how the board rotates in tricks.

[jingebritsen]

base back makes the fin bite harder with larger sails. in lighter winds this can help.

base forward for a rangier setting.

base too far forward creates a conflict between lift of the fin and rail. lots of spin outs.

meager benefits for lower down haul settings. low end punch and pull like a truck thru lulls, at the expense of top end comfort.

9.5's from virtually any brand offer lots of benefits in tuning experiences. these apply to higher wind stuff. keep getting TOW.

[vikingsail]

going from low to overpowered wind definitely readjust your downhaul and your outhaul per the instructions that came with your sail. (Should always readjust outhaul when you change downhaul.) Buy a downhaul crank.

Think about getting an adjustable outhaul, that way when a gust hits you can reduce bad effects from big sail immediately.

[bred2shred]

Switching between a 9.5 and a 6.5 with the same boom, there is no question you are going to have to move your harness lines around. Harness line placement will be your primary means of keeping the rig balanced. You can make minor tweaks to the CE location with the outhaul setting, but your outhaul setting should really be dictated by how powered up you are and not by the location of the CE. In other words, adjust your outhaul to a comfortable power setting and then dial in your harness line placement so your rig is balanced.

The exception here would be if you're running an adjustable outhaul (on your 9.5 for example). With an on the fly adjustable outhaul, you can tweak the outhaul setting while sailing so that the power/CE stays balanced (tighter moves the CE forward and vice versa). Most people aren't running an adjustable outhaul on sails 6.5 or smaller, so in that case, again, dial in your power setting with the outhaul and then adjust your harness line placement along the boom to balance the rig. If you have a lot of back hand pressure, you will be driving all that power through your back leg and it will cause spin out issues as well as not allow you to settle into a comfortable stance.

sm