Another upwind thread...
I can't decide between two stances when heading upwind, the main difference being the hip angle. Assume all else is the same. Interested to hear which you use.
Gear: slalom or formula with race sails, moderately powered
ONE: hips parallel to the board. This allows me to keep my back leg really straight and point the toes of my back foot slightly back. This seems to load the fin nicely. The whole body can lean forward.
TWO: hips rotated to windward. This allows me to balance the rig forces better and seems to give a better sheeting angle. Harder to lead the whole body forward, it is more an upper body lean.
Guy Cribb says to keep the hips parallel to the sail on all points of sailing even though it's not that comfortable. It allows you to pull the sail in more easily.
I don't know if what I did is correct but I often have trouble feeling comfortable going upwind and last sail I bent the front leg a lot and held the boom up near the mast. I pulled by sticking my bum out against the sail into the seat harness // with the sail with my body slung forward..I felt like I was in the groove for once!
The junction in between my lower ribes was sore after and the inside top of my legs ( I could hardly pick my foot up to change gears) but it worked!
I'm not claiming to be any expert here but what works best for me when going upwind is to have the pull of the harness working through my front hip. That means the opposing force is going through my straight back leg loading the fin. The line of the hips will be more parallel to the sail than the board.
Also, toes on the front foot hooked up to sink the rail a bit
lean forward as if trying to look around the sail,
hands forward on the boom.
I have to concentrate on exaggerating all those things to go really well upwind.
A good planing breeze helps the most!
