Hi all.
I have had 4 sessions windfoiling and find that the boom is uncomfortably close to me while going upwind. I find it hard to hold for a long run, with my arms pulled close to my body. I have shorten my harness lines but they are basically directly above the hook, not taking any weight. I am using a NP V8 7m and a fairly wide slalom boom. My question is: would a narrower Freeride boom help me keeping a bit of space between me and the boom and a more comfortable position or am I dealing with a normal learning issue that could resolve as I progress?
many thanks
This is a normal feeling as you begin as, unlike regular windsurfing, you are much more vertical on top of the board. As you get more experienced, learn to be able to put more downward pressure on the rig and extend your body the feeling will go away. It is also common when starting to have less pressure in the sail (since there's less drag from the foil). All these things manifest as having harness lines shorter and more forward. Eventually, most of us are using harness lines as long or longer than on fin and the harness lines move back on the boom to where they were before.
In the meantime, work on relaxing and allowing your arms to extend. You don't need to use the harness as much foiling so you may want to try sailing a bit without it and try to find your comfort point.
And, if this doesn't work for you, let us know.
Need to extend yourself away from the boom. Lengthen the lines and learn to load them outward rather than down.
Otherwise you'll end up in the trap of ever shortening lines and worsening technique.
I had the same experience. In first couple of years foiling my harness line got really short and like you I was looking for a narrower boom. I thought the short lines were helping me get upwind but all it was really doing was increasing my catapult count. I have gradually gotten used to using the harness in an upright stance and now I am on longer lines. Basically extend your arms and don't worry that the rig is not plumb.
Paducah is giving you good info. Particularly about putting downward pressure on the rig as this is a key to controlling ride height. The mast base has lots of leverage forward of the foil, making the mast base pressure really powerful when trying to hold the foil down. Many folks talk about sinking into the harness lines at speed for this reason. It is less talked about but even with the back hand off the boom and the sail flagged you can still change the downward pressure on your front hand and use it very effectively to control ride height.
I have to agree. When I was racing formula, I had super short lines with a seat harness. You needed tons of leverage over monster sails.
Now with foiling, my line length has gradually gotten longer, and I use a waist harness. Completely different dynamic, and it works.
How high is your boom? It should be significantly higher than for windsurfing - at least a hand width.
As others have said - it's a normal experience that will resolve with practice. When I switched to foiling, I went down to 28" lines, but now I want longer lines again.
Boom is pretty high, about mouth level. I got used to really high booms during formula days. Boom height also affects foil pitch balance. Mast base position, boom height, and harness line length all work together. You have to experiment. Keep tweaking until it works.
