Tuning your waveboard

I finally got around to measuring and marking the mast track as per Jem Halls instructions. He recommended marking 130 and 135 cms from the the tail.

I have to say (hence the post) that I am amazed at the difference between my two boards. The Exo Wave 105 has its mast track STARTING at 130 (where the bolt goes in) so realistically I can't set up less than 135cms from the tail. My Pocket Wave 92 has a mast track that FINISHES at 135cm - just where the bolt is across the box so realistically I can't get the mast foot further forward than 132cms.

That's a big difference and if Jem is correct in only ever setting the mast foot between 130-135cms then it means I don't need 3/4s of either mast track!

Has anyone ever looked at this - I wonder now what I've been missing out on by using "the stick it in the middle" approach!

Cheers

I don't want to know where that is for you ya sicko

I don't want to know where that is for you ya sicko

Warning - LONG!

TUNING YOUR WAVE BOARD
A wave board has to do many things. It may be called upon to give big, smooth, flowing turns in big waves, or it may be asked to deliver snappy, pivotal little turns in mush. Or it may simply be required to deliver good control and decent jumping performance in choppy conditions. And any of these in anything from 15 knots through to 50kts+. Expecting perfect performance in all these areas is indeed asking a lot of a board. However, if you take a bit of time to tune your wave board for the conditions, you will definitely give it a lot more chance to perform to its best. With the help of some of the UK's best wavesailors, Jem Hall attempts to deliver the comprehensive guide to getting the most out of your wave board, be you first timer, intermediate or expert wavesailor. Pix by Raf Czepulsjkovski
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Most windsurfers are fairly comfortable with the idea of tuning their sail to suit the conditions. More wind = more downhaul/outhaul. However, the idea of tuning the board is something that most sailors are much more vague about - a shame, since with careful tuning we can reap huge benefits. This is particularly so with wave boards, where a few simple tweaks can dramatically improve performance. From my coaching clinics I have seen time and again clients getting much better results on the water after tuning their boards correctly for the conditions.
So in this feature I will be examining the various wave board tuning options available, when to use them and how to make the most of them. The comments are valid for any normal wave board or freestyle wave board in the 70-90L range. As well as drawing on my own coaching and testing experience for this, I will also be including some insights gained from working with Team Fakefish riders Chris Audsley, Louise Emery and John Skye. Past world wavesailing champion and all-round top bloke Francisco Goya will also be injecting his wisdom.
There are six tuning options on a wave board:
„X Mast foot Position
„X Footstrap Position
„X Footstrap Spread
„X Footstrap Size
„X Fin Position
„X Fin Size
Before we look at what each of these can offer in the way of adjusting optimum performance, it¡¦s important to understand what we¡¦re actually trying to do when tuning a wave board...
The main focus of wave board tuning is on making it ride waves well - which largely comes down to maximising and maintaining speed through your manoeuvres. However, there are two very distinct styles of wave riding. I¡¦m not going to get into a full-blown discussion of wave riding technique here - all I want to concentrate on in is the main distinction as to whether you are wanting the board to ride off the back foot or the front foot. Essentially, this means where the majority of your weight is applied as the board goes through the bottom turn.
Front Foot Steering
If you want to drive the board through a fast, wide arc turn you need to maintain more weight on the front foot. This is the best method for riding bigger waves, and in decent cross/cross-offshore wind conditions.
Setting your board up for front foot steering is focussed around maximum control, as you are aiming to turn the board at high speed, using pretty much the full length of the rail, and keeping this speed up through the bottom turn and into a fast powerful top turn. The downside of tuning your board to maximise front foot steering is that it will make the board less willing to turn in a more pivotal fashion, feeling stiffer and not turning so tight at slower speeds
Set Up
Mast foot forward - keeps the nose down.
Foot straps forward - engages more rail.
Fin back - board tracks better through the turns and is more stable.
Back foot steering
If you want to make the turn more pivotal with a tighter arc, you transfer more weight to the back foot, turning the board more on its tail and tail rocker. This is the usual method for waveriding in cross-on to onshore conditions. When tuned to maximise back foot steering, the board will be more lively and manoeuvrable, yielding tighter turns and more of them. The trade-off may be less control.
Set Up
Mast foot back: Lifts the nose to give a shorter rail.
Foot straps back: Weighting through the rearward rails.
Fin forward: Board more manoeuvrable.
So let¡¦s now look at each of the six variables in more detail, discuss what happens when you adjust them, and look at when and why you might want to make particular tweaks.
MAST FOOT POSITION
In order to be able to tune your board to the conditions you need some reference points on the mast track. Measuring from the back of the board, mark up the 130 and 135cm points. (Don¡¦t assume the manufacturers¡¦ measurements are accurate!)
To give you a starting reference point, most riders position their mastfoot somewhere in the 132.5¡V137.5cm range, according to the conditions. The main aim when tuning your mastfoot position is maintaining boardspeed while riding the wave, and in general you put the mastfoot forward a bit to increase speed, as for when doing front foot turns. All our pros were agreed on this. Over to Chris Audsley:
¡¥I go for between 133 and 136cm on my wave board. For example, if it¡¦s onshore I will set the mastfoot at about 133-134cm because I turn more off my back foot when riding in onshore conditions. Yet in cross shore conditions I have it about 136 so I can get more weight forward over the front of the board to get more rail in. ¡¥
Finding the right spot can be a revelation - moving the mastfoot just a few cm forward or back can make all the difference. and John mentions how he was struggling to keep speed until he moved his mastfoot forward to 134¡V136cm, which he says ¡¥totally transformed his sailing¡¦.
And this is possibly the most important point of all to take away from this article. Even if you don¡¦t take on board any of the other tips, just remember this: The old adage of ¡¥whack it in the middle of the mast track and she¡¦ll be right¡¦ is pure, simple, utter rubbish. Boards have their mast tracks at very different positions - you need to measure where your mast track is in relation to the tail, mark some reference points and use them. Setting your mastfoot at 136cm might mean it¡¦s quite near the front of the track. That¡¦s fine... Believe me. From first hand experience, dropping down a logo high choppy Cape Town face you definitely want that nose down...
FOOT STRAP SPREAD
Where these are placed can often be the jewel in the crown. I have sailed loads of boards and thought hmm this isn¡¦t feeling right, I can¡¦t get the rails in or I¡¦m not holding speed. So I come in, change the strap positions and - whooohh, what a beauty!
While at first it might seem that the footstrap positioning is the most important thing - actually, the footstrap spread is actually the most important factor. And because we are not all blessed with the same leg length, it¡¦s something that you really need to tune to your own requirements.
When we talk about the footstrap spread, we are talking about the distance between the middle of the front strap to the middle of the back strap, taken down the longitudinal centreline of the board. And by and large, the spread on a wave board should be fairly wide - probably wider than you might have on your freeride board. Working through our team, Louise at 5¡¦ 6" has her strap spread at 53cm, John at 5¡¦ 10" likes 56cm, Chris and I at 6¡¦ like 57¡V59cm. Francisco did not give me his preferences but in a previous sneaky peak at one of his boards I measured 60cm! He once gave John a board to try out and being the polite chap he was, John took it out, gave it back and said very nice - he later told me that trying to sail it in the straps was like doing the splits!
So why is it good to have a wider stance? It gives you more control and allows easier jumping and the ability to control/steer the board in the air. To quote again from Chris:
"I prefer a wider stance on a wave board, so I can get more rail in the water when wave riding."
Find out what works for you through a bit of experimenting. When getting to grips with a new board I will usually start by setting my front footstrap in the front position, and then adjust the back footstrap to get my required spread - and go from there
FOOTSTRAP POSITIONING
Getting the spread right is the most important thing. Once you know your spread, you can tweak the board to be more front-foot-orientated riding by moving the entire strap spread forward, and for back foot riding by moving the whole set back. If you¡¦re riding a Freestyle Wave board which has inboard and outboard position options for the front straps, then you should definitely go for the inboard positions for wavesailing (and of course, a single rather than double rear strap).
The only other consideration with footstrap positioning is - if you are regularly sailing waves on one tack and are looking to maximise down-the-line wave riding performance rather than jumping - you may choose to offset the back strap, moving it closer to the leeward rail. This allows you to get the toes right across onto the opposite rail to really push down and commit that rail to the turn. I¡¦d suggest that this is best avoided until you really know what you are doing and can really benefit from that extra bit of grip in the turn - if your back footstrap is set big enough you should be able to turn fine without having to offset the strap.
FOOT STRAP SIZE
The pictures demonstrate the range of acceptable sizes, from tight to loose. In general, you should have your straps set pretty wide on a wave board, except in the most bouncy, choppy, overpowered conditions.
This is often a difficult one to get across to people, but believe me, it makes a big difference. Over to Louise:
"A big strap lets your feet get over the centreline of the board so you can commit more rail to the bottom turns. For frontside riding, the back strap should be set super big, so much so that the strap hits the top of the ankle."
And from John: "Having the straps too tight is one of the worst things to do when waveriding. If you can¡¦t get enough pressure on the leeward rail, riding is really difficult. You will bounce out a lot and it will be hard to really carve the board or snap it hard out of the bottom turn.¡¦
However, for backside riding and onshore conditions, it¡¦s right to set them a bit tighter to keep your feet in the straps, as your body movements are a bit more aggressive. It¡¦s also recommended in really bumpy, bouncy, choppy conditions - at Pozo, for example, everyone tightens up the straps a bit, simply to gain more control.
For jumping, bigger straps are good news too. This might seem wrong - surely, too big straps are no good for jumping as your feet will come out more easily, right? Actually no; bigger straps get the toes more over onto the leeward side which helps keep the windward rail up. If your feet are coming out of the straps you¡¦re probably doing something fundamentally wrong in your jumping anyway. (Sign up for a technique course now!). So basically, except in the most bumpy/onshore conditions, you should consider setting your straps a bit bigger.
FIN POSITION
Once upon a time, every board had a "classic" finbox, allowing quite a range of adjustment of fin position. Nowadays, with most boards having powerbox or tuttle fins, the whole concept of adjusting fin position is something that many windsurfers don¡¦t even come across until they get their first wave board. And then it¡¦s usually a case of, er, ah well, stick the fin in the middle of the finbox, like with the mastfoot... OK?
No! Fin position has a major effect on a board¡¦s performance. The basic rule is - bringing it forward loosens the board up (but can make it more prone to spin-out), while moving the fin back gives more tracking, speed and control. And there¡¦s nothing wrong with going to the extremes. The board may work best with the fin right forward or right back in the finbox!
Unfortunately though, beyond these basic concepts, it will come down to trial and error. But it¡¦s worth experimenting with as even very small adjustments can make a big difference. John marks his finboxes and tweaks starting from what has worked on previous boards, while Chris finds having the leading edge centred under the back strap gives him a gauge and he tweaks from there. As for Mr Goya:
¡¥Further forward in onshore wind (to increase snappiness). For frontside a little further back for control and speed.¡¦
FIN SIZE
This is a whole article in itself, but the basic approach with regard to fin size is relatively straightforward:
Use a bigger fin for more power in lighter winds, onshore winds, or if you¡¦re needing to hold up to windward because of rips or currents. You might also choose to use a slightly bigger fin if you¡¦re using a bigger sail.
Use a smaller fin for maximum manoeuvrability, when it¡¦s really windy, there¡¦s no current/rips and you¡¦re not having any problems staying upwind.
SUMMARY
So, now that you have greater understanding of how these six variables will effect your board, you should be able to get your kit set up perfectly every time, right? Unfortunately, no, it¡¦s not quite as easy as that. It can take a while to find your perfect set up, and as no two wave-sailing days are ever the same, what works perfectly one time might still need tweaking if next time out it¡¦s a different wind strength or direction. However, the more you think about tweaking your kit, and the more you experiment, the more you will get to know how your gear works, and your tuning will become quicker, easier and more instinctive. The best suggestion from all involved here is to experiment and when you find what works, make a note (by marking it on the board, if necessary), so you can easily recreate it.
And remember, listen to what your board is telling you. Unless you¡¦re already a top PWA rider, then the chances are that your wavesailing technique isn¡¦t perfect. But don¡¦t assume that the mistakes are all coming from you. If you¡¦re always bouncing out of your bottom turns, or just can¡¦t keep speed up down the line, it may be your dodgy technique, but it might just as easily be incorrect kit set-up. You won¡¦t know until you try a little tweaking...
Enjoy.

I just stick mine in the middle for the most part. But if you wanted to sus it out, draw some lines on the mast track and move it forward and back over a few hour session and see if you can suss out the difference. Do this a few times in different conditions and you should be able to work out what works best

Biggest thing for me was stance.

My EVO80 felt bl00dy awesome on a wave and the EVO92 (same age) never felt quite right. I thought it was me but then I read that article so did some measuring.

I measured the stance on the 80 and made the 92 the same and suddenly the bottom turn was fast and flowing etc.


EDIT - Marvin, did the divinycell block not extend about 2 or 3 inches in front of the box? I would have thought having the base right forward would be fine?

I reckon it can be very interesting what you find once you start serious surgery on your shiny new toys. It's a bit sad when things underneath aren't as convincing as they are on the outside. Often makes you wonder why the manufacturers didn't put a bit more effort in the construction? I've recently taken the saw to my beloved Mistral Twinzer, which went soft between the footstraps, despite having the best ding resistance of any board I've ever owned. Just an extra sheet of divinycell added to that high impact area in construction would have kept my treaured toy a virgin...

Cheers, Jens

I should also give Hoops a big thank you for all his generous advice in showing a newbie how its done properly - yes, a Nude board comes with the mast base and everything else well grounded in blocks of Divynicell.

I guess with the factory pop outs its a case of saving weight and materials. After all, they wouldn't want anything to last too long, now would they?

Maybe its a 2005 - the old salesman's trick of taking a year off for the unsuspecting (no names mentioned)

Here's a photo - maybe someone can identify - for some reason the JP website says that I don't have permission to view it.....

Also a photo of new mast base, for interests sake

Bertie...... a guy who works at a JP dealer calls it as a 2005
and gets red thumbs

Nameless red thumber, do you wish to post proof of why it is not a 2005 model JP RWW91?
Or are you content to just anonymously criticise?