always getting blown down wind.

[drgwizz]

I am looking for advice about a situation I seem to frequently find myself in. I start out seeking speed and after a few runs realize that I am getting too far away (down wind) from my starting point. I then spend the rest of my energy try to sail up wind to avoid the walk of shame. I know this is a somewhat open-ended question but perhaps I can start here?

[techno900]

If you have plenty of wind and the experience to go with it, any board can make reasonable progress back upwind. Knowing what equipment, conditions, weight and experience level you have will help determine the resolution. I am assuming you aren't on a longboard with a dagger board.

However, novices and some intermediates do have difficulty getting/staying upwind because of a variety of issues. Too little wind, board too small, sail too small, fin too small, not paying attention to where a beam reach will take you (lack of awareness).

Going for speed usually means bearing off into a full reach, or at least 20 degrees off a beam reach, which if repeated takes you a good distance downwind.

If I want to stay in line with my launch point, on each reach I will point upwind some, stay on a beam reach some, and bear off some. If it's a short reach, your jibe can take you downwind and you may not have much distance to head back up to where you started.

If you are planing with decent speed, it's just a matter of small technique changes to keep you upwind, and it shouldn't be fatiguing.

Tell us more about your situation.

[isobars]

Techno covered it well, and I'd add this: Do you have the skills to go upwind? I do, but my first few reaches are upwind, just in case the wind backs off or I rigged too small. Once I trust the wind to hold and am convinced I rigged the right gear, THEN I'll go downwind if I have some reason to do so. All this requires analysis, thinking, skill, equipment, awareness, and evaluation of the penalties of returning to shore downwind.

This brings us back to my opening question, which I believe you answered for us, because if you had the requisite skills, you wouldn't have started the thread. i.e., you could make up the lost ground. So here's a plan:
1. Know where your beam reach is and always stay upwind of it.
2. Study the videos and tutorials on pinching upwind. Guy Cribbs' website technique for this gets even my wave boards and fins upwind just fine.
3. Once you get good at pinching at high speeds -- and considering the other factors Techno, I, and others offer -- you can afford to play off the wind.

Tip: many otherwise decent sailors can't get small boards upwind. The reason is often obvious: they rig too small, for any of several reasons. Even on sinker wave boards, a bigger sail and/or fin helps tremendously in getting upwind.

[drgwizz]

Thank you for your reply! I am 46 and weigh about 170-175. sail most often a 120 Bamboo Gecko and a North ID 6.4 but I have a IDOL 5.6 and a Maui sails MS2 8.5. I also have a fanatic Skate 109 (got carried away watching to many Gollito videos) and a much larger RRD Z ride 165 that I rarely use. I used to sail as a teenager and decided to get back into it a couple years ago. I have probably been on the water 15-20 times in the last couple years. I can do things like tack and duck gybe in light-moderate winds. I have probably only had adequate planing conditions a handful of times (which is probably the issue; not enough practice). I used the 8.5 last time I went out in I guessing 12-15mph winds only planed a couple of times and wore myself out pretty quickly.

[isobars]

[cgoudie1]

Okie dokie, if you can plane (and duck jibe), you should be able to stay
upwind. Improving your technique would be the best practice, and that
would require a lot of description since we haven't seen your technique,
but, a few things which are independent of technique are:

Getting a bigger(larger surface area) more vertical fin on the board
you're having trouble with. If it's all of them, then just shift fins and buy
a huge one for the biggest board

Use the crutch of an unstrapped rear foot, by removing your rear foot
from the rear strap(while planing), and placing it in front of the strap, and
shoving sideways across the board deck.

Look up around the mast, hang your body forward off the harness lines,
and twist your torso more toward the nose of the board(or in
the more upwind direction you want to go)

Those 3 things will get you more upwind, without improving your technique.

If you can't get upwind while slogging a short board, I recommend burying
the windward rail to use as a dagger board, not rail riding, just cant that
baby over so the windward rail is heavy in the water.

Good luck,

-Craig

[bred2shred]

I agree with above, if you are sailing in non-planing conditions, use a longboard (board with a daggerboard). These types of boards are actually much more efficient than shortboards in sub-planing conditions.

When you have enough wind to use a shortboard and plane, then the trick is to bear off to get up on plane and in the straps, but right after you get in the straps, you want to turn upwind a few degrees so you don't end up down wind. The trick is to rake the rig back - your back leg will be straight, your front knee will be bent, and your stance will have you "peeking" around the front of the mast.

Another thing you can do is pick a landmark. Use this as a reference for each run. If you find yourself slipping downwind, then you know on your next run, you're going to have to work back upwind. If you find that you've made some ground upwind, then you can bear off and go for speed on a run or two. We use land marks all the time, especially when sailing in the ocean, to gauge relative position to the launch.

sm

[U2U2U2]

Quick thought
You are heading downwind too much to try and plane. When not planing head as much upwind as possible, most all the time.

You certainly have equipment. Why so many different brand sails?
Not the problem... Just curious

[d0uglass]

If the wind is barely at the strength required for planing you won't be able to go upwind well enough while planing to hold your ground. If you want to be able to go upwind well you need more power than just the bare minimum needed to plane.

So if you are underpowered you will need to split your time between spurts of planing (in the gusts) and aggressively schlogging upwind (in the lulls) to recover the lost ground.

A wise strategy is to schlog your way upwind of the launch FIRST. Build up a "surplus" of upwind distance, then spend it, but never let yourself get "in debt" (downwind).

Bigger sails, boards, and fins, and putting the footstraps further toward the edge of the board, will help you plane earlier and power upwind better when planing. Also, if you are catching weeds on your fin you won't be able to go upwind well, so make sure if you are in a weedy area you have a weed-shedding fin.

[isobars]