Author: windsurfsardinia

Windsurfing is one of the most beautiful sports. It combines the trilling of surfing, with the tranquility of sailing, and puts you in close contact with nature more closely than a ride. It is a sport that allows you to escape chasing the desire for solitude and to sail with hundreds of surfers in a truly unusual scenario. No other sport like windsurfing gives you the feeling of open spaces, between the beauty of nature that is as welcoming as it is sometimes wild. It’s a sport in which you can choose to explore new seas in the company of your friends, or you can sail alone in search of the innermost IO.
It’s fun, it’s easy. It is the perfect sport.

Windsurfing is a truly spectacular sport. From the rides on the biggest waves, to reaching the speed limits of your equipment, today it is a truly diversified sport, with practitioners having fun in disciplines far away from each other. As the ski has its free descents and the races between the narrow poles, so the windsurf has the sails with little wind and chases them with the nuclear bores. Certainly there are similarities between them, but they are quite different in equipment and techniques.

Light wind windsurfing is done with wind power of less than 10 knots, and is practiced with boards that can easily hold a man without giving the impression of sinking, while still. But this is nothing in comparison to HIGH-WIND windsurfing, or windsurfing with strong wind, in which only speed allows the board to float, which goes in PLANATA, and creates a really fantastic sensation.

Let’s dive into the world of windsurfing with light wind.

Crusing Windsurf

It is the most widespread mode in which windsurfing is practiced, and it is probably the simplest way. It prepares itself for a simple sail across the lake, or you set off on an excursion between the islets near the coast, or you go from one falls to the other to try one of the most satisfying sensations.

Freestyle Windsurf

Freestyle is something opposite to cruising. It’s about using your own equipment to perform some very precise skill maneuvers that can be going with the cutting table, or holding the boom downwind or making a jibe with your feet positioned on the stern, or doing a whole series of maneuvers that have disparate names: Vulcan, Spock, Table Top, etc. . Many windsurfers have made the purpose of their passion, just succeeding in these maneuvers, and it’s amazing what they can do. But it’s still just one aspect of this sport that is much more.

Windsurfing with strong winds is practiced when you have more than 10 knots, but usually the knots are from 15 to 25.These fantastic surfers manage to translate their board into an airplane, and therefore they can use much smaller boards with the which glide, in an enviable maneuvering skill. In fact, these boards go faster because they are smaller, but they certainly require more skill.

Slalom Windsurf

It is one of the most popular forms of windsurfing with strong wind is the slalom. When the wind rises, everywhere in the world you can find those with their very small table, they go back and forth at speeds that border on 70 km / h, managing to make very fast maneuvers even when at the end of an edge they are forced to jibe or to turn. They are really crazy unleashed regardless of the risks they run, but it’s really exciting to see them dart as if they had a reactor that pushes them to such high limits.

Bump ‘n Jump Windsurf

When the wind is sufficient and the sea is not flat, the most experienced windsurfers dust off their tiny table and leave to give a show. Jumps, incredible runs, breathtaking turns and laps of death that sometimes end in a great dive into the sea. The Bump ‘n Jump windsurfing unloads the same adrenaline of the slalom, and is practiced in winds between 20 and 40 knots, in so wild sea condition and atmosphere that you can’t even imagine.

Windsurfing on the waves

It is perhaps the most spectacular technique, and the one that requires more athleticism. Every ocean or gulf that respects itself produces the right waves to do WAVESAILING, so it is called in English, but the best conditions are created by those coasts that have a series of waves that arrive parallel to the beach and have a wind that cuts them perpendicularly (off wind) or parallely (side wind).

The right approach

As a beginner you will not be completely immune to the stereotypical image of windsurfing, according to which it is a tightrope walker where in a completely unstable equilibrium you must be lucky enough to take the sail quickly before the discomfort takes hold of us and let us stop and resell the equipment. Like many stereotypes, this is also false. With concentration, the application of teaching methods that you also find in these pages and, above all, with the right equipment and the right conditions anyone starts to sail.
However, let it be known: a positive approach is what it takes. People on the beach don’t care much about what you do. If someone observes you sarcastically, it will be even better after a few days or hours to sail happily around. It is important to measure the forces, avoid tears, accumulations of lactic acid and abrasions that would make you stand still the next day. Therefore, when fatigue arrives it is good to make an effort to put everything away and be ready the next day.

Hoist the Windsurf Sail: Let’s do it!

1. place the tree perpendicular to the table before climbing: it will give you stability;
2. get on the table;
3. place the feet on the board axis symmetrical with respect to the mast foot;
4. hold the recovery line from the bottom and bend the knees completely;
5. arms outstretched;
6. through the recovery line you bring the tree perfectly perpendicular to the table;
7. start taking advantage of your weight;
8. the tree does not come up straight due to various factors: keep the perpendicularity of the tree and the table in mind. While raising, correct in order to maintain perpendicularity: if the tree goes to the right you pull it to the left and vice versa, ok? Is critical!

Important:

• During ALL the operation the back or the back must remain vertical. This is the key to success that with minimum effort provides maximum stability;
• advance with your hands on the recovery line only after the sail has lifted a little. If you advance on the top before the sail has really moved you will end up unbalancing the trunk forward by straining your back and reducing stability;
• once you get near the boom you will have to take the boom. To do this do not stretch forward but bend the elbow of the hand on the top. I personally believe that the technique of hand crossing favors correct movements but it is a very personal thing. In the photos both options are presented, try and choose which one suits you best;
• as soon as you put the first hand on the tree (or boma), spread the aft foot a little (second figure). Finally, after grabbing the boom with the second hand, bring the bow foot parallel to the board next to the mast foot (third figure).

Hoist the Windsurf Sail: Tips and details

• The current retrieval buds are not very effective in hand grip and are not meant for beginners. If you find a cord of material and a generous diameter, make a series of knots at a distance of two fists from each other and use that one;
• at the beginning the gloves are precious because the recovery rope wears the hands very much;
• don’t use your back, ever! . Always and only use your weight: try never to lose the verticality of the bust, especially if you try not to go outside with your buttocks and forward with your shoulders (in the figure you can see the wrong position). If you keep this attitude, you will be overcome by the weight of the sail and the strength of the wind, and your efforts will go to loading your back, causing pain after a few attempts. The moments in which you are at greatest risk are when you grip the boom and when, immediately afterwards, you close the sail;
• don’t rush: the sail comes up slowly even with minimal traction. Just wait. Seeing is believing;
• don’t be afraid to leave just because you don’t know how to tack. Read how to change walls to equipment without needing to know any navigation maneuver;

All tables offer the possibility to adjust the position of the mast foot. The factors that determine the right position are:

• sail size;
• wind intensity

In principle the ideal position of the mast foot is that in which the sail center aligns itself vertically with the center of drift. This is why a large sail requires the foot to move forward and vice versa. With this concept we obtain the ideal position but not enough: we will move a few cm around this theoretical optimum considering other factors such as overpowering and the type of performance desired.
In conclusion, it is worth mentioning that with each sensitive variation of the foot there is one of the height of the boom: foot forward = boom positioned higher, foot back = boom positioned lower; this so as not to compromise the surfer’s position with the movement of the foot.

Large Windsurf Sails

Move your foot relatively forward. If you find it difficult to glide (under-opening), move your foot completely forward to advance the weight. To increase the top speed back up: the backward weight reduces the wet surface of the board.

Small Windsurf Sails

Move your foot back to compensate for the shortening of the boom. If you want to be even faster or if you want to pass the chop more easily (especially with the slalom), move your foot further back.

Strong overpowering.

When you are in the water with a sail too big, it may happen that the board does not want to know how to stay in the water, forcing you to sail on the stern (tail walking) like a runaway horse. In this situation it is advisable to bring the foot forward in such a way that the weight is a little more advanced.

The development of the current sails is very simple because it is based only on two adjustments: downhaul and ashlar. Everything else, like the slats and the camber, is fixed in the sense that the adjustment is made once and then no longer touches. It remains only to determine the height of the boom which, like the clew tension, can be easily adjusted even in the water to find the best trim or even to adapt to the changing wind.

Windusrf Sail Downhaul tension

We must first of all identify the reference voltage, that is the “center” of our future regulations. This is also useful for adjusting the length of the extension. To get an idea, do the following: mount the tree and adjust the extension so that the total size corresponds as much as possible to the length indicated on the sail (luff). The reference voltage will be the one that brings the wall angle very close to the pulleys of the extension. Obviously we try to have a bit of judgment: if we don’t make it or if the tension is ridiculous it means that we will have to adjust the extension neglecting the luff parameter indicated on the sail. As the tension increases, the leech is loosened and at the same time almost horizontal folds are formed in the upper part. The reference voltage is the one immediately preceding the formation of the first folds.

Windsurf Sail: Tension of the clew

This is much easier: by mounting the boom with the length indicated by the sail manufacturer and bringing the clew angle almost to touch the terminal there is a usually precise reference.

Adaptation of the Windsurf Sail to different conditions

• overpowering: cocked downhaul beyond the reference voltage. Continue to fuck until the creases on the leech reach at least the second stick (on certain current sails there are signs like “min, med, max” to have a reference on how much to loosen the leech). Cleft tension higher than the reference one: displacement of the clew angle with respect to the zero of about 2 or 3cm. When the wind increases further, exaggerate with the downhaul but not with the clew otherwise you get the opposite effect because the sail loses the right profile. If you feel that you can’t manage to keep the sail closed anyway, move the trapeze florets back a few cm. With this type of tuning the sail tends to twist or open upwards (see second image)
• optimal wind: tensions should be the reference ones.
• weak wind (just enough) and / or gustate: low-fucked downhaul; no folds at the top: compared to the reference voltage, it loosens a little more. Low clew tension: spring the top to have a swollen sail until it touches the boom under gust. Be careful not to get into the condition in which the sail rests on the boom: the profile has become unstable and, worse, the sail is ruined. With this type of tuning the sail remains rather rigid at the top (see first image)

Use a large bag to store and transport all the “small parts”: from the fins to the easyrigg. Premise: I think it is much more convenient for long-term holidays to transport the already-sailed sails rather than resort to tiring carts and mount everything on the beach every day.
For the “insulated” ride in the car I suggest instead to prepare the stuff with criteria: the order of the boards on the roof depending on the possibility of finding strong or light wind, the same for the booms. The sails prefer to cram them in the car for a long time, while for the most demanding trips there are some beautiful bags on the market to gather trees and sails all together; otherwise the choice to keep the sails in the car is obligatory because they are ruined if tightened with the straps. For trees I recommend reusing the bag of an old disused large sail otherwise to tie them individually on the rack (and to untie them!) It takes a long time that it is always better to spend in the water.

Choice of Windsurf Spot

To arm your sail, choose a place where the ground does not have sharp protrusions that are dangerous to your monofilm: the ideal surfaces are grass and sand, the worst are gravel and asphalt. Also consider other factors: that the space is sufficient to insert the mast and boom and to access all the parts of the sail (mainly: downhaul, ashlar, camber, chuck) and, in the event of strong winds, keep in mind that being repaired avoids so many problems that make you lose precious time … and patience! Personally I advise not to arm directly on the beach mainly for the sand – dangerous for the joining of the tree, for the boom and for the camber – as well as for the great exposure to the wind.

Finally in the water! Depending on your temperament, you will have come to touch the water at different times: there is the impatient that the first time you unload the car directly into the sea and mount it all with water at the knee, there is the pragmatist who he mounts the strap with the screwdriver and, when he puts his feet into the sea to try his hand at the WS, he has already read several titles starting from the Glenans Navigation Course and then concluding with the bound press of this indispensable site.
Does it make sense to talk about getting on the table? Yes, whether you are the Impatient or the Pragmatist mentioned above: both in fact underestimate how important it is to approach the equipment well in order to reduce physical damage and thus be able to prolong the stay in the water to make initial attempts.

How to go up
It was not difficult to get there but I say it: you go up the opposite side from the sail. If the water is deep and you are already tired you can pass the equipment from hand to hand in order to make it turn and be able to present you on the right side. You will avoid swimming.
The best method of climbing on the table is simple: you have to push yourself with your arms and try to climb immediately with the sole of your foot. If you have a whole wetsuit the gesture will be very difficult so you can help yourself by first supporting the knee which will be protected by the neoprene and will not abrade.
As soon as you go up, try not to roll on the sail, but stay initially a little off the edge from which you have just climbed: due to the tree constraint, the board cannot tip backwards and to find the right position you should take advantage of this stability. Remember, however, that before starting to recover, the feet must be positioned as per the manual or in such a way that the pressure of the sole of the foot falls approximately on the axis of the table.

Be careful

Two things to avoid: nutcrackers and abrasions. The first is rather dangerous for the hands and consists in remaining with the hand pressed between the tree and the sail. They tend to underestimate this thing especially those people who have tried their hand at the old windsurfer boards in which the mast foot entered the board by force without being rigidly blocked in the latter, allowing them to get really sick with this type of “maneuver”.
The abrasions, in addition to the above mentioned knees, are really of every kind. The only limit is the imagination. Don’t go up to “bearskin”, for example. It will not help you find more stability. I don’t write these things to make people laugh but because in years of teaching I’ve really seen everything. Beyond the tastes or the fact that some students must also bang their heads to understand things, I guarantee that with bare skin the abrasions are really annoying and the burning with sea water can make you stop earlier than expected, much earlier ..