slalom in rough water

Here we go !
Another racer "dude".
I slalom/race/sail Formula blah blah blah so I know best. Dude.

A) Big fins DO NOT give more board lift until on point of severe control problems. (ie railing. They give added lift TO WINDWARD. They DO NOT keep nose down. (Except in some sailors heads)

B) Waist Harness DECREASES amount of power available as it does not pull from centre of gravity of sailor. (Seat harness pulls from CoG Hence more force available but (probably) less manouverable.

C)Lanza is NOT a choppy venue.Its a wave venue. Rarely choppy.

D) 3 feet harness lines would NOT help. (Probably hinder ???)

Tell you what Dude you follow all this wonderfull advice. (ie Fin too big; harness lines 3 ft long; waist harness ) and Ill come and take piks.

Original poster was asking for some pointers about technique for helping control in choppy conditions. This is the BS he got !!! (Perhaps Jasper; Screamer and Waiting for wind (dude) do this all time ??

Probably the exact opposite of what he shoud have been told !
ie) For more control a) More DH
b) Smaller fin. (smallest you can infact use and still go upwind)
c) Commit to harness and stay there keeping rig loaded;mast track weighted and nose down.(The fin will NOT keep nose down; you do !!!)
d) Relax
e) Enjoy it. If you cant get your wave board out ! (Or your freeride)

[Ken]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Here we go !
Another racer "dude".
I slalom/race/sail Formula blah blah blah so I know best. Dude.

A) Big fins DO NOT give more board lift until on point of severe control problems. (ie railing. They give added lift TO WINDWARD. They DO NOT keep nose down. (Except in some sailors heads)

B) Waist Harness DECREASES amount of power available as it does not pull from centre of gravity of sailor. (Seat harness pulls from CoG Hence more force available but (probably) less manouverable.

C)Lanza is NOT a choppy venue.Its a wave venue. Rarely choppy.

D) 3 feet harness lines would NOT help. (Probably hinder ???)


Tell you what Dude you follow all this wonderfull advice. (ie Fin too big; harness lines 3 ft long; waist harness ) and Ill come and take piks.

Original poster was asking for some pointers about technique for helping control in choppy conditions. This is the BS he got !!! (Perhaps Jasper; Screamer and Waiting for wind (dude) do this all time ??

Probably the exact opposite of what he shoud have been told !
ie) For more control a) More DH
b) Smaller fin. (smallest you can infact use and still go upwind)

c) Commit to harness and stay there keeping rig loaded;mast track weighted and nose down.(The fin will NOT keep nose down; you do !!!)
d) Relax
e) Enjoy it. If you cant get your wave board out ! (Or your freeride)

My thoughs on some of this.

Harness lines:

Depends on how deep your are reaching (downwind slalom). Like formula racing, lengthening your lines on the downwind runs provides increased control, especially in rough conditions. Short lines are a guaranteed disaster for all but the best sailors on really bumpy full reaches.

Fins:

There is a point when a fin will be too big, but I have found the smaller fins more likely to spin out in very rough conditions. I like bigger, more powerful fins because I have better control and less spin out in the really rough stuff. This may not be true for everyone, just best for me.

Sails:

More downhaul will de-power a sail, but they get more twitchy and more difficult to control if running downwind. Again - Formula sailors "bag" their sails downwind for increased control and stability. This wouldn't be true on a beam reach. I have adjustable outhauls on all of my sails from 6.6 up to 11.0, which provide the ability to better manage control as conditions and point of sail vary.

All of the above may or may not be the best thing to do, but there are so many variables that come into play - wind, water state, point of sail, sail size, skill level, board size, etc. One must experiment a little to see what works best for them.

So its definitive then !
Advice for choppy conditions .
A) Slacken DH.
B) Fit bigger fin.
c) Fit 3 feet harness lines. (Forward a bit)

Our sport is full of BS.
From forums to magazines to websites. Definitive.

Oh and ditch the seat harness. !!!

And experiment a bit; whilst your swimming no doubt. !!

[Waiting4wind]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

So its definitive then !
Advice for choppy conditions .
A) Slacken DH.
B) Fit bigger fin.
c) Fit 3 feet harness lines. (Forward a bit)

Our sport is full of BS.
From forums to magazines to websites. Definitive.

Yep you're so right about BS on the internet!!!! 3 posts in a row.

Take a chill pill dude. C ya, I won't waste any more of my time posting BS here.

[LK]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

So its definitive then !
Advice for choppy conditions .
A) Slacken DH.
B) Fit bigger fin.
c) Fit 3 feet harness lines. (Forward a bit)

Our sport is full of BS.
From forums to magazines to websites. Definitive.

Congratulations, you finally got the message.
Thought you never would understand the excellent advice from Jesper.

[Screamer]

It's written DRIVEL, word you're looking for ;-)

Unregistered, I actually agree with a lot of what you say, I don't have a "gladiator" state of mind of a slalom pro and I bail out when the conditions warrant masochistic experience. I didn't say "look at the chop in the pictures", I wanted to say "look at the (totally unsuitable) conditions in which only the pros could survive (enjoy?) on slalom gear".

Sometimes it's not just what you say, but HOW you say it also.

Tone of your post you know.

[Farlo]

Well I'm not addicted to slalom boards either but waist harness (along with other tips) helps a lot in rough conditions. You don't necessarily need more power, just more control. Of course at the beginning you feel less "hoocked" but very soon it pays. [Sorry guys - it's just so fun to keep him going]

[mim]

Originally Posted by Farlo

[Sorry guys - it's just so fun to keep him going]

Yeah, I like him too!