Seat or waist harness??

Seat pro& cons you can sit down and sail & enjoy the ride. I personally find it quite relaxing.the negatives are you are more in the position of "going over the falls" .waist well you got to stand & sail which l personally find not as relaxing.they both are good .

Waist harnesses kill my back too - though sure my muscles will get accustomed to it thru time.

Seat harnesses with a fixed hook are another big NO for me.

Sliding hooks offer more control as you are able to transfer more of your weight to the nose of the board in the gusts.

I modify all my harnesses to have a sliding hook.

Flying Objects surf / seat model harness - offers a huge amount of padding / comfort for bad back sufferers.

I've never had my nuts squashed wearing a waist harness

When I thought about getting a seat harness I changed my mind. The advantages of a waist harness make it the best option. The better quality ones now don't ride up your body and you can still get plenty of downforce if your harness lines are long and you maintain a good body position and stance. A waist harness gives you plenty of freedom of movement when you are gybing or tacking (swimming too!). I know that a lot of those who use seat harnesses swear by them, but my reasons for sticking with the waist harness come mostly from the recommendations given by professional coaches using modern gear and long harness lines positioned close together on the boom. If you have a problem with catapulting then it is not really the fault of any type of harness. Technique, stance or rigging (check you have enough down haul) are the likely culprits.

I have both, and use both, but seat more often for light wind, flat water, big sail windsurfing.
For me, best seat harnesses are adjustable in hook height, high for feel, low for flat water/big sails.
Waist harnesses work great for 5.5 sails and smaller for me. Feel and quickness the main advantages.
Lots of slalom racer's use waist harnesses.
Just buy both, and use them accordingly.

I own a Flying Objects Transit harness.

Easy to modify.

You take it to a sail maker and cut the bottom fasteners out.

You then get the sailmaker to thread the webbing through only the top two fasteners,fixing one end so the hook doesn't come off.

Make sure you change the wide hook as well. A narrower hook will slide much more.

I've tied a knot in my webbing so its completely non adjustable.

Stops me putting on any extra kg's.

Takes me a good 2 minutes to put on,longer if i put on a kg of weight

obviously a personal choice based on many factors
pros n cons on both sides

Phil McGain has been known to wear both in a race
but damned if i can find a photo
NOT even on my blog #$%^&**()

seat harness gets my vote

I've used low profile (hip), low hook, lightweight seat harnesses since the late 1980s, in both surf, bump and jump, slalom and GPS sailing for the following reasons:
- I have no waist so even well design waist harnesses ride up
- I injured my lower back muscles (not windsurfing) in the late 90s and suffer from sciatica in my right upper buttock from time to time. A windsurfing session using the seat harness actually makes it feel better
- The hips are the strongest park of the body so connecting the harness to my hips provides a very solid connection to the sail, especially in strong wind conditions
- I like to sit in the harness and drive the board forward using mast foot pressure
- The low seat does not restrict my movement on the board
- I use longish (30inch) harness lines and shoulder high boom to keep my arms straight
- I rotate my body so I face towards the nose of the board and point my front foot forward to resist going over the falls

In the end though, there are a lot of options out there in harness design. Try them and use what feels most comfortable for you.

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seanhogan said..
seat harness gets my vote

I wouldn't even call that a seat harness, I'd call it a,,,,,,,,,, ah,,,,,,,,,, ah,,,,,,,,,, ah,,,,,,,,,,, ah, damn what would I call that?
Some harnesses just aren't meant for men to wear, but I'd follow her just in case she needed to be rescued.
A trolling harness, or a bait harness, that's what I'd call it, it would bait me.

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seanhogan said..
seat harness gets my vote

"I (eye) on Spreader "

I would be happy with a waist harness that doesn't ride up. First few runs are great then the bloody thing rides up.
Starts great then becomes a pain in the back , literally .
Got a bit of a gut though.
I don't think I'd like a seat harness , I like the pull from my lower back.
If I wanted easy I'd be kiting

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MrCranky said..

Imax1 said...
I would be happy with a waist harness that doesn't ride up. First few runs are great then the bloody thing rides up.
Starts great then becomes a pain in the back , literally .
Got a bit of a gut though.
I don't think I'd like a seat harness , I like the pull from my lower back.
If I wanted easy I'd be kiting

Try a mystic majestic. I recently saw a really big heavy guy (beer belly) wear one. He was at least 30 kg heavier than me, yet used the same size sails and boards, easily landing new school freestyle moves. (No it wasn't the harness. I have the same one, albeit size S. He was an ex pro ).

That sounds like the bees knees !
I will look into that.
Who sells them in Vic ?
Thanks for that

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Imax1 said..

That sounds like the bees knees !
I will look into that.
Who sells them in Vic ?
Thanks for that

I bought it from SHQ 2 years ago. It's a popular model and I think ZU stocks it as well. It's basically a "multi-sport" harness. IOW, a kitesurfing harness (it has a hook knife hidden in the pocket under the bar and a back loop) with a windsurfing hook. Considering the greater power generated by kites, kitesurfing harnesses generally need to be built stronger with better padding. So this harness is a bit overbuilt and bulky compared to an old-school windsurfing harness. But it's so comfortable. Around 100 sessions and it still looks new. It has outlived 2 wetsuits (some gear looks like it belongs on the set of Waterworld after a season). The NP Pulse I had before looked a bit tired after less than 30 sessions (and I wasn't using it, more like just wearing it), looked a lot flimsier, but weighed less as well. Make sure you try it on in the shop, hanging off the harness lines. The only downside I found is that the bar sometimes does not click in fully (once it slipped out on the water when I was hooked in). It's probably just the one I got. So now I double check that it's fully engaged. This bar system is also very easy to release in an emergency. The bar itself is massive. I liked the NP bar - it looks very elegant, but I heard of many failures (there is a video of Guy Cribb with a broken bar off the coast of Brazil. He's not exactly a heavyweight).

To keep a waist harness from riding up, just lower your booms.
When hooked in, if your booms are REALLY low, your waist harness will be forced to slide DOWN on your body.
Do a compromise and have the harness lines perpendicular to your body when hooked in, and the harness will stay IN PLACE.