Most common rigging mistakes

[kiwiben]

I would estimate that in my first 100 windsurfing sessions, about 95 of them I didn't have enough downhaul. It seems obvious now, but at the time I just didn't know.

What do you all think would be the top 5 mistakes for a person in their first 100 riggings, presuming they are sailing unsupervised like I did...

My guess for me would be:

1, Not enough downhaul
2. sail too small
3. board too big (after becoming good at waterstarts)
4. sail too big
5. ???

After the first 4 I get a bit vague. Would it be line placement? Mast track placement? outhaul wrong?
This is a cry for help to get me focussed on what next, now that I know how to prevent the first 4 from happening... please answer my desperate call...

Mast base in the wrong position.

[leysenkr]

it seems like you don't need the advice

Taking notice of crap advice !!!!

[vikingsail]

I'd make sure your battens are tight enough, if they're loose your center of effort is going to shift all over the place. If your sail came with instructions make sure you understand them so you can change your sail tuning as the wind changes.

[Farlo]

Hi Vikingsail, I've heard diverse opinions about sail battens. I used to tighten them a lot to remove all wrinkles. My shophandler advised once to keep them rather slightly loose, even on high end sails. This would ease rotation and only marginally affect performance (I haven't tried yet).

Hi Kiwiben, I guess you spotted the first two most common mistakes, the third may be incompatible mast/sail. You still see summer sailors with mast too long/stiff and 10" clearance between sail and board. Board too big? Hmm... given your 100 Kg it must be huge.

[kiwiben]

thanks farlo, yep, I have a 205litre Bic Techno

But I don't hardly use it anymore, my biggest board is my 121l carve. But I think maybe I use it when a smaller board would be faster, or more in control. When I do trust the wind to be strong enough I get out my little 80litre wave board and it's fantastic.

I guess I was also referring to something I saw in UK WS mag: Some pro was saying the most common mistake he saw was the big board/small sail combo.

The other comments are interesting and useful too. For example, I always just put my mastbase in the track in some random position. If I do happen to think about it I shove it forward for no particular reason. I will pay more attention from now on. The point is to get the board just skimming on its tail without getting too loose, correct?

[Farlo]

Hi Kiwiben, there have been a few posts here about mast track tuning recently. I believe the most forward position can accomodate many sail sizes and sailor weights & skills. Moving it backward leads progressively to a more sensitive area where the board's behaviour can vary a lot and ultimately +/- 1 cm will matter. Big board/small sail is common mistake for sure, but different than big board/proper sail for the conditions (and probably better than small board/big sail). You can always regain control by tuning your sail or reducing fin size, within certain limits of course. If the sail is too small, well... it's too small.

[agrelon]

Sometimes I feel a big board/small sail combo can be quite nice, makes planing jibes and duck jibes super easy.

Definitely used to under downhaul my RAM 5.8m, the one time I downhauled it as far as my back could go the thing was fast as hell. Better to sail big sail with loads of downhaul than small sail with too little.

[Farlo]

Fully agree. What I mean is that before going down in size you can always try extra haul and smaller fin. It worked for me in many occasions, moreover these days where the wind is quite unsteady. Adversely there's little you can do with too small a board or sail, except waiting for gusts.