Re: San Luis Forebay Status?

From: Will Estes (westes@usc.com-DeleteThis)
Date: Tue Jul 25 1995 - 13:02:47 PDT


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From: Will Estes <westes@usc.com-DeleteThis>
Message-Id: <9507252002.AA18421@usc.com-DeleteThis>
Subject: Re: San Luis Forebay Status?
To: wind_talk@opus.hpl.hp.com-DeleteThis
Date: Tue, 25 Jul 1995 13:02:47 -0700 (PDT)
In-Reply-To: <9506258066.AA806695827@smtpgw.tds-hsc.com-DeleteThis> from "jmurdy@uunet.uu.net-DeleteThis" at Jul 25, 95 12:31:16 pm
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'tdsasg!jmurdy@uunet.uu.net-DeleteThis says:'
> 2. Always set up the sail in position on the tail of the board, don't
> try the push the sail out of the water and go yet.

Good advice. Let the board do the work of draining the race sail's
sleeve.

> 3. Wear a vest, designed for windsurfing, they do not get in the way
> and really reduce the effort in deep water. (con: in water that is just
> barely standable they make it so that it is difficult to stand)

Actually, they are kayaking vests, but you are right that they are far
better than the boating type.

> 4. Front arm straight, steer the sail.

Here is a trick guaranteed to teach a beginner sail handling skills:
travel to the very end of the mast. Hold onto it here and slowly work
forward. From the top of the mast, you have complete control and
leverage over the sail. No amount of wind can rip the sail from you
because strong wind will rotate the sail right away to its position of
least resistance.

As you move closer and closer to the boom, it gets harder and harder
to control the sail. But by practicing in progression from
easy-to-control to hard-to-control, you can teach a beginner to
control the sail in just two days. I've taught this trick to a number
of beginners, and not one has failed to remark at the end of the day
that it was the key event in their learning how to control the sail to
setup a waterstart.

> 5. This made the biggest for me, and came from my father-in-law's ABK
> camp manual:
>
> a: back foot in middle of board, front foot in water, ROLL THE KNEE
> FORWARD (as if you are trying to make the knee touch the universal), AND
> PUSH HEAD FORWARD TO MAST....TRY TO KISS THE MAST.

Now we enter the realm of religion. Does one practice the art of
windsurfing waterstarts with front foot first or back foot first?
Each sect has its prophets. Personally, I use front foot forward.
With the front foot forward on the board, and the back foot dangling,
you:

a) Run no risk of spinning out the back of the board. For beginners,
this is a big problem.

b) Greatly reduce the amount of leg energy required to get on the
board, because you can use more leverage from the mast

c) Can waterstart in absurdly light wind. I have actually been able
to waterstart in 10 mph by putting my front hand on the mast between
the base and boom, and bringing the front foot right to the mast base.

-- 
Will Estes                              U.S. Computer
Internet: westes@usc.com-DeleteThis                POB 3150
                                        Saratoga, CA  95070
                                        FAX: 408-446-1013



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