Sailing a short board upwind
William Warburton
|>
|> Are there any tips on how to sail back up the wind? I appreciate that
|> it is not possible to sail as close to the wind on a short board as it is
|> on a long board but any movement upwind would be useful.
Hi,
Start on a reach (actually all short board sailing is done on a
reach) and then as soon as you have "good" speed start luffing up
(turning closer to the wind) slowly. As soon as the board slows down
& starts to come off the plane (the nose drops) bear away (not a lot)
and pick up more speed again. Repeat until you run out of water...
This means that you work upwind in a series of scallops averaging the
closest you can get to the wind whilst still planing. The better the
sailor, the smaller the scallops. It helps if you like seafood in the
early stages, since the scallops are quite big then.
W.
--
VitSea 292, Tiga Slalom, Baxter 270 wave and half a Fanatic Bee,
6.2 Topsail 5.1/4.6 Tushinghams 4.2 sShokwave & half a Gaastra 3.2 :-)
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Ken Poulton
> it is not possible to sail as close to the wind on a short board as it is
> on a long board but any movement upwind would be useful.
[ Maybe FAQ material... I asked this last summer and got some great help
here. ]
The most important thing is to keep your speed up so you plane well;
it's much harder (and less fun) to slog upwind. You must point up as
close to the wind as possible but maintain your plane. This often means
pointing closer and closer until you start to lose your plane, then
falling off (turning a bit downwind) to rebuild your speed.
The second thing is to let your board heel to leeward (that is, sink the
downwind edge a bit). This lets you use the whole leeward rail (well,
as much as is in the water) to provide lateral resistance instead of
just your fin. The problem I found was that heeling to leeward causes
your board to turn downwind (normal footsteering when planing). The
trick here is to rake your rig back towards the tail in order to move
the sail's center of force back, which tries to turn you upwind.
Balancing these lets you plane in a straight line with the board heeled
to leeward.
The last thing is to use the right fin. I learned to go upwind last
summer with the above techniques using a ~speed fin; I was amazed to
discover recently how much easier it is to go upwind with a slightly
larger pointer fin. The pointer, however, is too much fin for high
winds (5.0 or better), so I'm now changing between two fins on my 9'0"
board, depending on conditions; it makes it much more versatile.
A smaller issue is that in choppy water, you can increase your speed
and thus how high you can point by steering around the bigger waves
rather than just plowing over them.
Finally: practice, practice, practice...
When you do these things, the next thing you discover is spinout!
But that's another FAQ.
Ken "just the FAQs, ma'am" Poulton
pou...@hpl-opus.hpl.hp.com
Peter Somlo
In article <7410...@hpl-opus.hpl.hp.com> you write:
|> > Are there any tips on how to sail back up the wind? I appreciate that
|> > it is not possible to sail as close to the wind on a short board as it is
|> > on a long board but any movement upwind would be useful.
|>
|> downwind edge a bit). This lets you use the whole leeward rail (well,
|> as much as is in the water) to provide lateral resistance instead of
|> just your fin. The problem I found was that heeling to leeward causes
I often sail my Bic Astro Rock close to the wind by heeling the board to
WINDWARD (not leeward) by pressing down the heels (no pun intended). The
rocker of the board in this position wants to steer it upwind which, with the
increased lateral resistance is just fine. Of course now you are not
planing, but you are sailing close upwind. Also, with the so tilted board
you slice through the chop - it's good fun.
Dr Peter I. Somlo FIEEE | CSIRO Div. Appl.Phys. | "Every coin has three
Head RF/Microwave Proj. | Natl. Meast. Lab. | sides - at least"
FAX: 61-2-413-7383 | POB 218 Lindfield 2070| (Somlo, cca. 1985)
TEL: 61-2-413-7505 | NSW AUSTRALIA |
Tom Albertz
> |> downwind edge a bit). This lets you use the whole leeward rail (well,
> |> as much as is in the water) to provide lateral resistance instead of
>
> I often sail my Bic Astro Rock close to the wind by heeling the board to
> WINDWARD (not leeward) by pressing down the heels (no pun intended). The
The windward heel may work, but it will be much slower than the
leeward heel. It's ok to foot steer the board to a higher reach,
but once on the reach, you're better off to level or heel slightly
leeward. In order to compensate for the upwind turning, you have
to move your rig forward. This moves everything forward which
increases wetted area on the board, which increases drag and moves
the center of lateral resistance forward, for which you have to
compensate by moving the rig more forward which..........
What I don't know is whether the fin has better windward lift on
a leeward heeled board. It seems to. It also seems to have better
spinout resistance.
It's a great feeling to be positioned right over the fin, with the
rig raked way back and just flying upwind. When you get it, you'll
know!
Juri Munkki
>> I often sail my Bic Astro Rock close to the wind by heeling the board to
>> WINDWARD (not leeward) by pressing down the heels (no pun intended). The
>> rocker of the board in this position wants to steer it upwind which........
In <1260...@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM> to...@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Tom Albertz) writes:
>The windward heel may work, but it will be much slower than the
>leeward heel. It's ok to foot steer the board to a higher reach,
>but once on the reach, you're better off to level or heel slightly
>leeward. In order to compensate for the upwind turning, you have
>to move your rig forward. This moves everything forward which
>increases wetted area on the board, which increases drag and moves
>the center of lateral resistance forward, for which you have to
>compensate by moving the rig more forward which..........
The article you were commenting probably talked about going upwind when
you can't plane. In those conditions, you want the maximum amount of
board in the water to provide more lateral resistance. Once planing,
the leeward rail works much better, but if you're not planing, the
windward rail might work better.
>It's a great feeling to be positioned right over the fin, with the
>rig raked way back and just flying upwind. When you get it, you'll
>know!
YES! I want to go sailing... This has to be the hardest part of the
year. I haven't sailed in a few months and I still have to wait at least
a month or two before I can go sailing.
BTW: If your board is not planing in marginal conditions, it's not always
because your sail is too small, your fin is wrong or your board is
too small. Planing in marginal conditions in an art. Lifting the windward
rail is important in keeping the board planing, but getting the board
to plane by correct pumping technique and the right tricks is much much
harder. Once you know how to get the board planing, the rest is easy.
____________________________________________________________________________
/ Juri Munkki / Helsinki University of Technology / Wind / Project /
/ jmu...@hut.fi / Computing Center Macintosh Support / Surf / Arashi /
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Marc A. Lefebvre
>
>
>BTW: If your board is not planing in marginal conditions, it's not always
> because your sail is too small, your fin is wrong or your board is
> too small. Planing in marginal conditions in an art. Lifting the windward
> rail is important in keeping the board planing, but getting the board
> to plane by correct pumping technique and the right tricks is much much
> harder. Once you know how to get the board planing, the rest is easy.
So what are some good tricks to get planning in marginal
conditions. And can you explain the pumping ordeal. I have read many articles
discussing the pumping idea but I haven't caught on yet. Inquirring minds
want to know.....
>
> ____________________________________________________________________________
> / Juri Munkki / Helsinki University of Technology / Wind / Project /
> / jmu...@hut.fi / Computing Center Macintosh Support / Surf / Arashi /
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
---
___________________________________________________________________________
/ ** **** | World Cup 1994 \
| ** ** ** Marc A. Lefebvre | --USA-- |
| ** ** ** Computer Science Department |Go Albany Capitals -APSL |
| ** ** * ** University of Albany |--------------------------|
| ******* ******** | "Don't Drink and Derive" |
| "I'd rather be windsurfing!" `--------------------------|
| ml4...@sarah.albany.edu ml4...@rachel.albany.edu ma...@nick.csh.rit.edu |
\___________________________________________________________________________/
Frank Geick - INGRES/ADVISOR x3558
>>The windward heel may work, but it will be much slower than the
>>leeward heel. It's ok to foot steer the board to a higher reach,
>>but once on the reach, you're better off to level or heel slightly
>>leeward.
In my experience using a leeward heel will break the board on to a
plane when marginally powered. That is, I am slogging along, just
below a plane, and gradually heeling to leeward, the board accelerates
onto a plane. If you think about the angle of the fin under water, when
heeled to leeward, the fin is now lifting you out of the water. Heeled
to windward the force generated by the fin pushes the board under water
increasing the drag.
When you are powered and planning, back in the straps, with min(drag),
you will be at max(velocity). This alters the apparent wind, which
allows you to point higher. A good thing if you are working to windward.
/frank
Pierre Jolicoeur
>>In <1260...@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM> to...@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Tom Albertz) writes:
>
>In my experience using a leeward heel will break the board on to a
>plane when marginally powered. That is, I am slogging along, just
>below a plane, and gradually heeling to leeward, the board accelerates
>onto a plane. If you think about the angle of the fin under water, when
>heeled to leeward, the fin is now lifting you out of the water. Heeled
>to windward the force generated by the fin pushes the board under water
>increasing the drag.
I'm thinking about the angle of the fin under water... the board and
fin are symmetric, so heeling the board to either side should produce
the same amount of lift. My guess is that heeling to leeward 'works'
because it steers the board off the wind and this is easier to
compensate for in marginal conditions by raking the sail back a bit;
given the slightly awkward stance required to get on a plane in
marginal conditions (feet back, body leaning forward), it would be
very difficult to compensate for the stearing effect of windward
heel by raking the sail forward... and if one cannot compensate, then
the board would round up into the wind and lose all speed...
PJ
Ken Poulton
> fin are symmetric, so heeling the board to either side should produce
> the same amount of lift.
Only for downward forces. There is also a substantial leeward force
(caused by the wind in the sail) that the fin must counteract; under
these conditions, the fin will have a net upwards lift when you
heel to leeward.
> My guess is that heeling to leeward 'works'
> because
I think it's because you use the leeward rail for added lateral resistance.
Ken Poulton
pou...@hpl-opus.hpl.hp.com
Peter Somlo
In article <7410...@hpl-opus.hpl.hp.com>, pou...@hpl-opus.hpl.hp.com
Only true if the board is planing. If not, the leeward heeled board itself will
produce a downward force as a result of the lateral (leeward) force
component acting on it.
_____