Hi all. I've only been sailing for 6 months now. I do 95% of my sailing at beaches in
chop. I have just cracked the harness. I can beach start and am polishing my water
starts. I have a question about my foot straps and their positions.
Below is a link to a picture of my board (Bic Techno2 148L) and my current foot positions
I have hand drawn (excuse my poor art work):
www.seabreeze.com.au/Media/View/2219526/Windsurfing/Foot-positioning/
Right after a beach/water start, I'm in the back footstrap very quickly. I really like
having my foot there, as I can carve the board really easy and I have control in the middle
of high jumps when going airborne. However, I can't crack the front strap. If I put my foot
in the front strap, I immediately carve upwind, lose speed and stale. I've tried bearing away
the sail, but no cigar. I need arms that are 10cm longer by the looks.
Just a few questions:
Is my footstrap positions ok for sea sailing ? (ie: should I put the two back straps
where they are ment to be and just deal with it ?)
If I keep this positioning, will the front foot strap eventually come ?, or is there a tip
that will get me into that front strap ?
I'm 65kg. 176cm high, my sail is a 5.2metre crossover sail, and I am using a 33cm
freeride fin.
Thanks for any advice :). Ja
Shark biscuit, IMHO I reckon for 68 kilo's a 148 ltr board is pretty big. Looking at the picture, the front strap is set well outboard and doesn't look like it can be set further inboard. For people learning footstraps, more inboard is easier in the initial stages as it doesn't upset the sideways balance of the board as much if you put too much weight on it, or fumble a bit as you search to get your foot in.
Don't despair though. Yours is a good board and you will get the hang of it.
I'd suggest this drill:
While sailing along with the back foot in the strap, exert mast foot pressure down onto the board (front hand weighting down through the boom), practise lifting your front foot off the deck for a while (or toes lightly touching the deck).
When you can do this (and it wont be too hard) you'll be able to move your front foot into the strap at will, without overweighting it. From there you'll find life sailing in both straps is easier, faster and way more fun.
** Make sure you practise this on both tacks
Good luck, let us know how you progress!
Excellent advice from Bondy,
I might just add:
When going for the front strap, remember to push down with the toes on your back foot.
my advice would be forget the back strap and concentrate on getting into the front strap first with your back foot infront of the rear strap.
then as you feel comfortable slide your back foot back and into the straps.
i'm guessing but going into the rear strap first could be upsetting your stance making you lean back and not "out".
is your back leg really bent also?
Also, as soon as you have your front foot in the strap, or even before you do that, hook in to get your weight hanging from the booms.
Thanks Gestalt. I'll give it a crack :). I'm sailing next weekend (back at work -- too
difficult to get to the beach during the week). I'll let you know how I go :)
Ja
they are like the most outward foot straps i have ever seen looks more like a speed board. i would not be able to sail that as well.
Bic techno's (the 150l ones) have always supplied extra holes for a centre rear strap, some times these are covered by the deck pad but nevertheless they are there.
The main purpose for the centre rear footstrap is for first learnes of footstraps/harness and is only meant to be a learning position, its not really an inboard/out board set up option for that board.
The user will never get the best out of his board and progress until the rear strap is set to the proper outboard position and then it will all start to feel much more balanced.
want balance just get longer harness lines and a seat harness. with the single foot strap and front straps inward it will be sweat as
Hey I learned on the same board (older version) and I still have it .
Do as the other guys before me suggested: 1) hook in (to be able to unweight the front foot), 2) front foot in and then back foot in last.
Also as a beginner I found it easier to get into the front strap only after the board was fully planing (unfortunately the Techno has only outward footrap positions at the front). Sometimes I used to put my front in too early when the board was only half-planing resulting in the immediatly going upwind etc.
If you go into the front strap early make sure you put all the weight onto the toes in order to avoid pushing the rail down.
And don't waterstart with feet in the straps. On smaller boards this may be ok, but on this size of board it's bad technique IMHO. I have actually seen somebody doing it and it looks very awkward.
And don't use two back straps until your comfortable getting in front+back stap using the centre back strap. Outer back straps are more difficult to get in.
Hope this helps.
Hi Guys. Well for the past 6 weeks, I have slowly progressed to the foot straps. Today I managed to go into both foot straps. I can also do it in the common order: front strap, harness, rear strap (however, the rear strap is still in the middle position -- the outer ones will come in time). Thanks for your tips :)
Ja
s'all good fun regardless of how many get offs and over the handle bars you get.
i don't bother useing footstraps. I just get a nail gun and bail my foot to the deck of the board.
Thanks guys. Well, next is the Gybe and Carve gybe.. and then it's on to thinking about getting a board better suited to surf. Welcome to Autumn :)
Ja
Here's a link to Guy Cribbs technique page, there's a section on footstraps that might help, plenty of other good stuff too
www.guycribb.com/windsurfing_technique_holiday_DVD_0076v01.htm
So I read Cribbie with Robby Swift article (good stuff) but there and a few things to mention-
Cribbie says your harness hook should start a few inches below your belly button to get lines pointing properly downwards and he spends a lot of time dragging his harness down. Seat harness seems pretty obvious solution?
Back strap on the mid line is so wave sailors can stay in the straps and carve the board both ways with heel or toe. I see beginners planing at half speed because they think this has goota be the right setup. Remembering that formula sailors call the middle strap the "chicken strap" , more control but less speed.
im still a newbie 12months sailling im going harness, back foot, start planning then front foot. reading this thread it seems im doing this wrong any idears is my setup wrong. i still do alot of cartweels if i dont get back foot in.
I reckon back strap first, then front as you start planing. I used to do front foot in first until a mate picked it up. Since I started backfoot in, I have a lot less catapults, early in the run as you are far more locked in.
Its amazing how much more speed you can get out of a board with the straps in the furthest outboard position. Though I have had a few "moments" when my heel has done a "Fred Flintstone foot brakes" on me at speed in chop. 
If overpowered, going for the back strap might not be a problem. However, in light / marginal conditions, going for the back strap is going to place pressure on the tail of the board as you got for the front strap. This in turn is going sink the tail and make planing difficult.
I always go front foot first, but I can't remember how I learnt.
Hope you don't get confused by all this advice. Try one thing at a time, visualize what you are going to do, and when you stuff up, stop and run thru it in your mind, to figure out what went wrong.
sharky said
Note: I was reading one of Guy Gribbs articles (I can't remember which one it was),
but I remember him writing about where the force directions are in the straps.
He said the back foot should be pushing down, and the front foot should be
pulling up.
I read more than sail. I think he was telling how to point a few degrees more when going upwind. Wave sailing (up and down the waveface without moving out of the straps) is supposed to need lots of front foot pressure to keep the rail engaged. Back foot to tilt the board. But that is pretty advanced stuff. To get enough speed to gybe without a wave to help back foot should definitely be in the outboard position.
