Improve your stance

[<Juri Munkki>]

Check out the race sail tuning guide at the North Sails site (it's a PDF version of the cambered sail manual that they provide with the sails). The manual states that the way to control the forces on your feet/legs is to set the boom height correctly. But...it also says that harness line position depends on boom height, so you are sort of right in saying that harness line position and front/back balance are related.

I'll quote just a tiny teaser from it: "The decisive secret for maximum speed and especially control is a symmetric load on both feet..."

http://www.north-windsurf.com/download_area/dl_pdf/rigging_m/Cam_US.pdf

(They also have German and French versions of the manual.)

That part of the guide is a Q&A session with Micah Buzianis, Ben van der Steen, Robert Teriitehau and Christoffer Rappe.

[sukhdev]

Igor, pretty much. beauty is always symmetry isnt it? as juri points out its all about balance. thats why i dont put too much stock in the "pressure the fin" thingy. look at kevin p's rear foot angle. its a consequence of his total stance, not just one element in isolation.

silly things i do to test my setup. first is to sail with hands off the boom completely. second is weirder, to sail with only my rear foot in the strap, front foot floating or even the front leg crossed over the rear! second test is interesting because if you are not balanced, the rear leg immediately loads up and  you spin out. If you are balanced, you'll be amazed how easily you can sail in this "yoga" position as i call it.

symmetry.

[<JW>]

I regulary sail with both feet next to each other when going upwind. Back foot in the strap and the front foot right in front of the backstrap. It's as if I'm sailing a DIV II board. Fun to do and this gives me a good idea whether all is balanced OK.

Give it a go and have fun.

[<Igor D>]

Good Stuff! Thanks everybody for your insight. I am going to try your ideas to test my balance on the water.

The North Sails rigging and tuning guide is very informative and useful. The relationships of different parts of the gear setup are now very clear to me.

I also find the pushing accross the fin confusing. I feel the more I trust the sail to support my weight, the less I put pressure on the board with my feet, the faster it goes.

I now clearly visualize the dynamic components of the windsurfing (W.E.S.T. = Weight-Energy-Space-Time): the use of Weight of the body to control the Energy of the wind translates into the drive of the board through Space and Time. Great Stuff!