I tried a waist harness but think I still prefer the seat, I am on low speed beginner gear
I see on the comp vids they tend to use the waist harness
Maybe it depends if you are running free ride or race gear ?
What you're used to.
Me, old fart on Speed Seats for slalom, bump, wave, and foil.
Select to expand quoteLeeD said..
What you're used to.
Me, old fart on Speed Seats for slalom, bump, wave, and foil.
yep lee i would say i might be the same, set in my ways and too late too change even if it's better...
I have 3 different waist harnesses in the garage. Tried each ONCE, and didn't finish out the session with any.
Just gone to Severne POD seat harness for foiling, LOVE it
Light and free compared to my full on slalom seat harness, MUCH more comfortable than waist harness, loads power and twist into hips instead of my aging back! 
Waist all the way. You have much more control over the rig and you can move your hips/lower body far more freely which is very important when foiling.
Also with a waist harness you never get pulled up onto your toes as at times with a seat harness. If you've never used one they will feel very odd at first but the adjustment will be worth it, even more so if just free-foiling rather than racing. Does anyone at the top of the pwa still use a seat harness, even for slalom?
In the early stages just go with what you know. Too many variables can confuse learning. Once you start to get long rides and get the feeling of whats happening you can experiment with different harnesses, different boom heights etc
I was a seat harness guy all my life. Left my seat harness at the beach windsurfing and lost it. Cheapest replacement on Ebay was a waist harness. Started foiling with the waist harness with really short lines. I think I like it better or I just got use to it fast.
I tried foiling with the waist harness, because almost everybody uses it. So I bought one for ?25, but especially when powered up a bit I was not relaxed at all.Changed back to the seat harness and I am very happy and more in control. I guess just try and find out what works for you!
I started with a seat harness. Foiled for the better part of a year on it. Found a waist harness at a local swap. Gave it a shot. Now I won't foil on anything but a waist harness. The key is hip shifting. Once you're in the air, the hips are free to move fore and aft to fine trim the pitch and height. I couldn't do that easily with a seat harness at all. Also, when breaching the waist harness seems easier to recover without a splash down.
I'm 100% waist harness for foiling. I know many people who prefer shorter lines and a higher boom than their wave set-up but I'm the opposite. I like having the boom low enough that the harness just provides sheeting without any vertical component to keep my weight on my feet. Also I like long enough lines to allow me to move the mast forward or back to trim.
I'm generally using smaller sails, smaller boards and bigger wings than the race crowd. I am not an expert foiler but I've been at it 2 years off and on.
My foil boom height, seat harness, and line length is identical to my freeride kit's.
Only change is harness lines 4" farther forwards.
Select to expand quoteLeeD said..
My foil boom height, seat harness, and line length is identical to my freeride kit's.
Only change is harness lines 4" farther forwards.
While the 4" (10cm) move in harness lines may work for you, I'd caution others not to move them too far forward. While it's true that foilers tend to have less sail pressure and can move the lines a bit forward, with big sails or stronger winds, the harness lines shouldn't be too far from where they are normally.
If you place them too far forward, during a gust, the sail will get more back hand heavy. The way that most windsurfers counter that is to pull more strongly with the back hand which then tends to load up the back foot which then tends to load up the foil. In short, gust hits -> foil gets loaded up. Not what progressing foilers may want.
To the broader topic in this thread: +1 on the waist harness. Bigger sails use the same harness lines or longer with my biggest. Takes a while to get to that point, though.
Opinion 2.0
Pod seat for Race or blasting setups, Waist for carving/freefoiling/swell riding
