Upwind technique

[SurfShark]

Hi Sukhdev,
I read from your technique section that sailing upward wind on a formula board, u'll have to point your rear foot towards the back on the board and also rail to leeward and push the fin at the same time. I realised that i do get a better upwind angle and speed if i do all the above, but at the same time the strain on my rear leg is also greater. Is it normal to experience a greater strain or is there anything wrong with my understanding of upwind technique?

Another thing is that i am not too sure if i am using the right fin for my setup. i am using DROPS FL13 (width 89cm), V8 8.5, i am 72kg, and using a curtis 58cm fin. Shld i upsize the fin to 70cm to get better performance?

[sukhdev]

sounds like you are putting too much weight on your rear leg, weight should be balanced between front leg, harness, rear leg. You should aim to make the board move smoothly through the water. The rear foot also trims the hull angle (very slight tilt to leeward). Try hooking up the toes of  your front foot; this helps. Another important thing in upwind sailing is to look in the direction you are heading. Concentrating on a precise direction or point helps you to know if you are drifting off from the best pointing angle.

When planing, close the gap between the sail and board; this is key to going upwind.

58 is too small for FL13 except in seriously windy conditions. Standard fin on the FL13 was 66cm. For your weight it would be good to use 66 or even 68 as your larger fin and use a 62 or 60 as the smaller fin. 58 would be fine as a reaching fin but it doesnt have enough drive for upwind in lighter conditions.

[SurfShark]

Dear Sukhdev,

Thanks for the advice. Will change the fin to try if i can better my upwind sailing.

[sukhdev]

ok, 66/68 should work much better. Don't forget to run the track sligthly more forward especially if you are on a big sail (9.8 & bigger) and keep the boom high.

the FL13 is very very nice to sail downwind, easy to get really good downwind & reaching speed out of it; upwind needs some technique.