Slalom boards the movie

Hi
I made a long and nerdy video about slalom boards, hope you like it. Have a nice weekend

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thedoor said..
"flat, flat, flat"

Stop making these video please, I don't need to pick up another windsurfing discipline

But you do! It is the easiest discipline especially in flat water! Even I can be half good at it!

Just one thing, Kasper. The vid is called "amateur slalom tips" so a casual viewer like me can't know whether these are the tips from a weekend warrior who is at the back of the pack in local events, or a guy who can finish well at the world championships. That makes a huge difference, when we're considering whether these are interesting items picked up by just another dude, or true insights from a pro.

Many of the things that a weekend warrior thinks are important are things that a champion knows are basically irrelevant to 95% of sailors. Without knowing what level you are sailing at (and I may have missed that bit although you do gybe well in the vids) we don't know which category your tips fall into,.

been sailing for 13 years and one thing that turns me away from slalom is getting the back foot in back strap. Till this day I haven't mastered that small step.

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Loreni said..
been sailing for 13 years and one thing that turns me away from slalom is getting the back foot in back strap. Till this day I haven't mastered that small step.

Replace your back two footstraps with two wave straps.

Wave straps are very wide and they are designed to get your foot in and out of them easily.

I put two wave straps on each of my two slalom boards and problem 95 percent solved.

Just do not try them as front straps as your will find it difficult keeping your front foot in them when planing.

I really want a video that compares and contrasts formula versus slalom

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Loreni said..
been sailing for 13 years and one thing that turns me away from slalom is getting the back foot in back strap. Till this day I haven't mastered that small step.

My humble suggestions. (1) In general you do not put pressure on your feet. Sail light: you do not lift with the front foot, you do not push down with the back one. Ideally it is your body weight position that trims the asset. Overpowered you bend your knees to "set on the toilet", less powered you come up toward the 7 position. If you are pushing and pulling with your feet something is wrong.

This also holds when you have only the front foot in the strap, but (2) when you move your back foot to reach for the back strap it is very easy to unbalance your asset. Typically one straightens the back leg to "go around the strap", moves the weight to the front foot, the sail follows ... and everything pulls forward when you are trying to move your foot back ... The trick is keep your asset as is. The movement is horizontal, no articulation at the knee, no up and down with your foot.

Find a bar or hold to a table with your hands, assume a windsurfing position and practice moving the "back" foot without moving the position of your body. You have four contact points (two feet and two hands) so it is not hard to move one without changing your position at all.

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Kasper79 said..
Hi
I made a long and nerdy video about slalom boards, hope you like it. Have a nice weekend

Keep it up, interesting things to consider. Not sure about your mast foot, had lots of them fail in the 90s.... it's an old BIC design.

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duzzi said..

Loreni said..
been sailing for 13 years and one thing that turns me away from slalom is getting the back foot in back strap. Till this day I haven't mastered that small step.

My humble suggestions. (1) In general you do not put pressure on your feet. Sail light: you do not lift with the front foot, you do not push down with the back one. Ideally it is your body weight position that trims the asset. Overpowered you bend your knees to "set on the toilet", less powered you come up toward the 7 position. If you are pushing and pulling with your feet something is wrong.

This also holds when you have only the front foot in the strap, but (2) when you move your back foot to reach for the back strap it is very easy to unbalance your asset. Typically one straightens the back leg to "go around the strap", moves the weight to the front foot, the sail follows ... and everything pulls forward when you are trying to move your foot back ... The trick is keep your asset as is. The movement is horizontal, no articulation at the knee, no up and down with your foot.

Find a bar or hold to a table with your hands, assume a windsurfing position and practice moving the "back" foot without moving the position of your body. You have four contact points (two feet and two hands) so it is not hard to move one without changing your position at all.

appretiate that!

It was always angry because I could master my 78L wave board while at slalom somehow missed the back strap and injured my fingers. Anyway when I return to windsurfing I'll go slow with 3 strap board (FS, big wave, magic ride etc don't know which one yet) as I figured it doesn't go that much slower than slalom.

And the lightest sails and then I'll see if I figured out slalom....thanks!

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PhilUK said..
Nice. I've used that Mouldcraft 2 part foaming epoxy and its good stuff. The 1st time I used it I think it was cold, 13c, so didnt work so well. I had a Fanatic Falcon which went soft on the deck between the straps and track, and that repair was good for 1 year.
2nd time on another board it was 20c and it foamed up much quicker and vigorously. It was away from the stance area and has lasted 4 years so far.

Its a good tip about different sails requiring a different mast foot position, as some sails are more lifty than others. Some brands have their tracks closer to the tail so putting the mastfoot at the back/at the front depends upon brand.

Out of interest, how long is the rocker flat section on those boards. How far from the back to where you can first see daylight or get a piece of paper under the ruler?

My ruler isn't long enough but there is a pretty precise description on the av boards website.

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Loreni said..

duzzi said..

Loreni said..
been sailing for 13 years and one thing that turns me away from slalom is getting the back foot in back strap. Till this day I haven't mastered that small step.

My humble suggestions. (1) In general you do not put pressure on your feet. Sail light: you do not lift with the front foot, you do not push down with the back one. Ideally it is your body weight position that trims the asset. Overpowered you bend your knees to "set on the toilet", less powered you come up toward the 7 position. If you are pushing and pulling with your feet something is wrong.

This also holds when you have only the front foot in the strap, but (2) when you move your back foot to reach for the back strap it is very easy to unbalance your asset. Typically one straightens the back leg to "go around the strap", moves the weight to the front foot, the sail follows ... and everything pulls forward when you are trying to move your foot back ... The trick is keep your asset as is. The movement is horizontal, no articulation at the knee, no up and down with your foot.

Find a bar or hold to a table with your hands, assume a windsurfing position and practice moving the "back" foot without moving the position of your body. You have four contact points (two feet and two hands) so it is not hard to move one without changing your position at all.

appretiate that!

.... as I figured it doesn't go that much slower than slalom.

Yep, in open water you hit a barrier around 34-36 knots anyway. On slalom boards I am regularly in the 29-32 knots 2" max range. But I have seen 27-28 knots even on my freewave boards in flattish water ... it is not that far. For recreational sailing sail size is what makes the biggest difference.

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LeeD said..
Do you have specifics in mind or a general overview?
Formula was 100 cm wide with blocky, thick rails.
Widest slalom was 91 cm width with thin rails, pulled in tails, and straighter nose rockers.

More general stuff. The history of formula and how it came about. I know slalom has been going on for decades, but would be interested to know how slalom has changed. Also sail differences

I think formula is upwind downwind and slalom is reaching but a diagram of the courses would help too.

I hate upwind/downwind sailing. But it's almost all I do windfoiling.
Anyway, like '97, Swein R walks into our shop dragging a Sonic W-75. What a pig!
At the time, 60 cm Mike Z-s were the dominant.
Swein borrows my NorthPrisma 6.5 and 7.5, masts and booms to sail Berkeley. Comes back after closing with a big smile. His 75 cm board killed all the slabs, up to 66 wide.
Next day, the crew is scrambling to order and find wider boards, saying they were dominated by that Starboard.
I stuck my head into the sand and concentrated on snowboarding.

Slalom sized boards with longer flat, much harder rails, higher nose rocker, less V, mostly in the 11-12. 5 lbs. range , tail width around 42 cm, much thicker rails, super high aspect 40-46 cm fins.

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Kasper79 said..

kato said..

Kasper79 said..
Hi
I made a long and nerdy video about slalom boards, hope you like it. Have a nice weekend

Keep it up, interesting things to consider. Not sure about your mast foot, had lots of them fail in the 90s.... it's an old BIC design.

I have had two fail on me, always in some pretty nasty crashes in cold weather, over a period of five years and I sail sail quite a bit. The plastic breaks around one of the screws. I am thinking about switching to duo tone ibase, it is also easier to adjust.

I have a Duotone iBase with a tendon as reserve that I keep with me when I'm sailing and I must admit that with this base I'm feeling much more confident knowing that if I breake my tendon when I'm 600m or more far from the beach I could substitute it with the other one in an easy way. My suggestion anyway is not keep the iBase on the board and just remove the tendon cause in I think that in this way the plastic fork that close the tendon could break quickly

Actually, it's kinda easy to install a base out in planing wind conditions, but 4+' ocean waves would be difficult.
Sit on board pointing downwind, lay rig on one side, base near your mast base.
Twist uni to line up....this you already know.
Bend uni, it's only rubber. Tendons are harder, mech easy.
Insert and jump into the water to waterstart away.
Seen girls do it in 22-30 knot conditions. Not in breaking surf.