Select to expand quotekdalton said..
another bad day on the water.15knots 5.3m sail every time I sheet in the sail trys to pull me in the water.let go of the boom x10.gettin nowere any tips.
8 knot barrier let alone 15 knot barrier one of hardest steps to master in windsurfing- stick with it brother- sounds like you are the determined type and will charge
sounds also like you are a surfer- the reward will be great - like robby says it super charges surfing when its on.
and u r in the right state- no crowds, great conditions if u know where when - of my time last year in hawaii, wa; SA conditions best by far
also sounds like u need a smaller sail- PM me and i ll loan you a smaller sail
got a heap of ex proto sails and boards happy to get out there on loan/super sharp deals to help crew out and get them on the water/stepping up
A mate at Middleton hasn't been sailing long. He never learnt to uphaul ( persisted in shallow water until he could water start). He's only ever sailed out of 3 gybes but he sails Middleton when it's pumping and can plane and do some jumps. It is possible to do it as sheetin has suggested. Once you can water start in both directions turning is a skill that will come with time.
my first year was hell, on tencate with a flappy sail, at clayton, its pesverence and good advice, summer gentle seabreezes and warm water will help, goowla is a difficult place, go down near the jet ski place near barrage and its a sand bottom, its only 2ft deep for 200m out, I sail goowla spring to autumm, so see u down there soon. mike
im learning windsurfing on a 5.3m sail the sail seems heavy and hard to control.would I be better off using a smaller sail to get the basics and learning to control the rig.if I need a smaller sail which size to use. thanks
I think it has less to do with the size of the sail in your case more the type/style of sail. I think for your size if you go to a smaller sail when trying to learn in light winds you will find you will not have enough sail to counter balance against or manoeuvre.
so which type of sail should I buy and what size. might drop in to the shop next week. how much for a new sail.
I would think the sail you have is OK to learn with in a wind strength from 5-20 knots.
Don't sheet the sail in too hard, get moving, sheet in a bit more
Lots of YouTube videos to help.
let me know if you are coming my way, I'll try and help.
cheers s018 ill try and get down Goolwa next week hopfully we can catch up so I can get a lot of advice.thanks
Hey kdalton, try and get a copy of the Beginner to winner DVD. Give me a yell if you have no success finding something.
Find experienced guys to sail with, ask questions and follow their lead on the water.
Persistence will pay off but a sail correctly downhauled will make your life even easier and more fun.
Select to expand quotekdalton said..
cheers s018 ill try and get down Goolwa next week hopfully we can catch up so I can get a lot of advice.thanks
Goolwa is always good in September when other places fail. Might see you there.
pkenny: Gem taught me the basics, but I found he talked a million miles an hour. It's all there, but you really have to play his videos in a movie player and go back and forth with the progress bar. (and infamous Darkplague when he was a beginner couldn't even understand him when I lent him the DVD). 
kdalton: If you see S018 at Goolwa, ask him for his old copies of Pete Hart instructional videos he has transferred to DVD. They are 80's videos, but still very applicable, and Pete explains things way better than Gem.
anything over 10 knots sail trys to pull me in.so went down the beach today it was about 15 knots. rigged up on dry land and put my front foot facing the nose of board bent back leg and keeped low and lent back and hips facing towards the nose. and had control of the sail.then tried to sheet in and out could feel the power of the sail.before my stance was like riding a skateboard .before when I sheet in it was full throttle or nothing.it only took me 15 hrs to work it out.now ive got to do it on the water.
I pinched this advice from another thread. It might be worth a try just so you can get to feel how a sail should feel.
General/Beginner/Newbie is the thread. There are some experienced sailors passing on a bit of info.
I don't think any prior experience is necessary, but they do have to be fit and keen. I start on land, teach them front hand/foot - back hand/foot instead of right/left first. To reinforce this get them to hang off the sail on land, both directions. Next lesson how to fly the sail in waist deep water, again both ways. When they're competent in that, swim the board and rig in water start position, easier to start in light winds, maintaining direction across the wind. No attempt should be made to actually get up until this is mastered in both directions. That teaches board and sail control, but can be a frustrating exercise and it's where the fit and keen come in. Once this stage is thoroughly mastered it's not too big a step to get up on the board and sail away.
Select to expand quotekdalton said..
anything over 10 knots sail trys to pull me in.so went down the beach today it was about 15 knots. rigged up on dry land and put my front foot facing the nose of board bent back leg and keeped low and lent back and hips facing towards the nose. and had control of the sail.then tried to sheet in and out could feel the power of the sail.before my stance was like riding a skateboard .before when I sheet in it was full throttle or nothing.it only took me 15 hrs to work it out.now ive got to do it on the water.
Keep at it, you'll have your bad days when you want to sell all your gear, but once you master it you will never regret it.
Yes, keep going,
We were only just saying we need to get down to Goolwa on the marginal days to give our daughter a chance to sail more, you are more than welcome to join us when we hit the lake!
Bull fighter, bow and arrow!!!!
Select to expand quotedivaldo said..
Bull fighter, bow and arrow!!!!
Excellent advice. It helped me once 
Just on the rounding up into the wind...I had this problem heaps and worked out it was because I had forgotten the basics of uphauling. I was trying to tilt the sail forwards to head downwind BEFORE I had got it fully upright. You have to have it vertical first. Stand on either side of the mast foot and after you've grabbed the mast with your hand, step back to the rear of the board from the mast foot and THEN bring the mast vertical into the spot you were standing in THEN angle it forward.
If you angle it forward before it is vertical it acts like a big water vane and turns the whole lot upwind. Took me two sessions and a lot of Goodling to figure out that.
MAST, FEET, FORWARD.
