1. Downhaul Settings
2. Outhaul Settings
3. Batten Tuning
4. Board Setup
5. Boom Setup
6. Technique

1. Downhaul Settings:

All formula sails work best when rigged to the specs on the sail using the correct mast for that sail (except of course when brands print the incorrect sail specs!). In the case of strong winds, it usually is ok to pull on an extra 2-3mm downhaul but very rarely does it help to pull on more than this!

• A sail which is underdownhauled is unstable, heavy, has no acceleration, feels sluggish and creates a lot of backhand pressure which often creates a lot of spinout on your fin due to the draft being too far back.
• An overdownhauled sail on the other hand becomes twitchy, unstable, unable to point and feels unresponsive.

Although the tendency for the guys who’ve joined the formula racing from years of slalom racing is to just pull more downhaul, once you’ve exceeded the max-downhaul point for your sail you are actually making it more difficult by pulling more downhaul. Overdownhauling your sail can do two things; 1) release the pressure on the nose of your board, making the board fly out of the water and 2) make the sail feel very twitchy and unstable in your hands.

If you are using a widesleeve modern sail, look at the two battens above and below the boom when rigging. If either of these is ’s’ bending towards the luff then you are most likely using too much downhaul.

For the best performance, rig you sail to specs and work on the next 5 points to get control of your gear; downhaul is probably the last thing you should resort to in strong winds.

2. Boom Settings:

OUTHAUL:

Outhaul plays a MAJOR role in control in high winds. Put your boom out an extra hole (or two) and make sure your outhaul lines are setup that you can pull a lot of outhaul on. There is a point you will reach that you will start to lose angle with this amount of outhaul pulled on but it will give you control. As you improve, you can start to use less outhaul in the same winds which will give you better angle. See the Batten Tuning section below for more ideas on improving your use of outhaul for control.

HARNESS LINES:

Longer harness lines will help in strong winds. Most top sailors are using fixed lines despite the popularity of adjustable lines in different styles of windsurfing such as RS:X and slalom. A good option is to run adjustable lines that stay relatively fixed (ie, are hard to adjust on the fly) as these can be adjusted in between races on the beach fairly easily but still are stiff enough to not slip during races and become too long. A good example is the Neilpryde Adjustable harness lines which are extremely difficult to adjust on the water without breaking the clips, but stay in the length you adjust them to forever if you change them on the beach.

BOOM HEIGHT:

This is an interesting one. A lot of people advise lowering the boom in strong winds for control. This is a technique used in slalom boards where you are not relying on fin and rail pressure to the extent we are on formula boards. Lowering your booom 1-2cm may help for control, but lowering it any more than 1-2cm will actually make sailing more difficult!

Why, you ask?

Lowering the boom shortens the triangle you make between your boom, your arms holding the boom and your legs touching the board. This is the centre of lateral resistance and effects your power-to-weight ratio on a board. A heavier, taller sailor with longer arms, will usually be much faster and more in control in high winds (if all equipment and skill levels are the same). By lowering the boom you are reducing the amount of leverage you have on the board and it actually makes it more difficult to hold on to the sail in strong winds believe it or not. It is liken to the effect of using a board with a smaller tail in high winds, you don’t get the same leverage which makes holding the rig down much easier.

3. Batten Tuning:

This may suprise a lot of people, but many top pros are doing some tricky things with their battens to give them more control in stronger winds and sometimes allow them to hang on to a bigger rig than others out on the course.

When you get very overpowered, most people’s tendency is to pull on a lot of outhaul. This moves the drive of the sail further back which can sometimes make you lose angle upwind and make your sail feel very twitchy. Although most of us would happily exchange a little angle to gain some control, on certain sails it is possible to have both!

Find a piece of 8mm tube batten around 40-60cm long. 8mm is the same diameter as the large section (the opposite  end to the thin tip section). Push this piece of batten in to the batten pocket above the boom whilst still having the original batten in place. With a bit of effort, there is usually enough room to get both pieces in to the batten pocket.

What this does is stiffen the back section of your sail dramatically, which keeps the draft forward on your sail and gives you much more stability. More stability means you might be able to sail in strong winds with the outhaul pulled on only 90%, not 100%!

Generally speaking this is only necessary in some brands of sails. From our experience, Neilpryde and Point-7 sails which have more luff curve than other brands have more neutral back hand pressure and probably wouldn’t benefit from this extra batten. Gaastra, North, MauiSails and Severne sails which have a less radical luff shape would be better suited to this idea.

For extra stability you can even add this extra batten to the batten below the boom; with two extra battens in (above and below the boom) you get very good stability in the top end of the windrange however you may lose some sail shape in light winds, so remember to take them out on the light wind days.

4. Board Setup:

MAST TRACK:

The best thing you can do in strong winds which will help the most is to move your track forward. Usually more wind means more waves/chop and much more fin pressure, so the nose of your board will usually start to lift and that’s where you can get in to trouble. Move your track 1-3cm forward and test your board once again. If you can hold it down, keep it there, if not, try it even more forward. Don’t be afraid to move the track all the way to the front, if that is the only way you can keep your board down, then go for it.

Note that the further you move your track forward the harder it is to sail downwind sometimes. This is because with the track all the way forward the nose keeps very flat and downwind in chop it can be harder to get the nose clear of the waves to stop it catching. It is usually much better to be in control upwind rather than downwind in strong winds as there are features on the board that can help with the downwind more than upwind (see below).

FOOTSTRAPS:

Try running your back footstraps a little looser. This will allow you to get your foot much deeper in to the strap which is the equivalent of having a footstrap 5cm further in to towards the middle of the board. If you can’t handle downwind in the outside strap then get in to the chicken strap…

…in high winds you should ALWAYS run a chicken strap. Even if your board is comfortable and your skill level is up to allow you to sail downwind without it (which is usually faster), it’s nice to have one on for the time in between races where you are cruising around; it saves quite a bit of energy.

Find a nice light strap and make sure it is SUPER tight. Having a loose strap for a chicken strap is counter productive as you don’t want your foot completely flat on the back of the board. It is much better to be on the balls of your feet so you can control the railing of your board to help dodge rogue swells and compensate when you get out of control. The tighter you have your chicken strap the more control you have of your board; aim to only have the beginning of your arch in the strap, not your entire foot.

Even better than a chicken strap is a DOUBLE CHICKEN STRAP. These were made popular by the Mike’s Labs boards in San Francisco, who’s owners were used to racing in the strong winds and vicious chop of the Bay area. A double chicken strap allows you to have a strap closer to half way between the outside strap and the centre of your board instead of just being in the middle. This gives the best placement for leverage and control whereas in the middle like a normal chicken strap is a little bit unbalanced.

The new 2010 Exocet and JP FW boards have a double chicken strap feature which is sure to be very popular as it also means the chicken strap can be utilised in much lighter winds as it can sometimes be more effective. Traditionally most other brands have shied away from double chicken straps as it means extra plugs need to be built in to the board which adds weight (as does the extra strap).

BOARD CHOICE:

Sorry to break it to everyone but there are certain boards which are designed for high winds better than others. As a ‘general’ guide, here are the boards we’ve found to be the best in stronger winds:

• Gaastra Vapor (all versions)
• Starboard LWR
• Exocet Warp (2010)
• JP 100 Pro
• Starboard F159, F160 and F161

These boards usually have a combination of vee the length of the board (often all the way to the finbox), wide tails for leverage and concaves to give a smoother ride over the swells. The nose shape also plays a role in a boards abilities in strong winds; all these boards have nose shapes designed to handle strong winds and chop very easily.

5. Fins:

Fins play a bigger role than anyone could imagine. It is simply not as simple as saying “I should use a smaller fin” when you go out in strong winds.

You should pay much more attention to the characteristics of fins. A great high wind fin will have a lot of ‘twist’ in the tip. Twist allows the fin to depower when it gets overloaded. Much like the leech of a sail spills off the power in a gust, the tip of the fin spills off the power and stops you getting out of control. The more twist you have in a fin, usually the more controllable it is in high winds if the foil is working, however it is then at the expense of angle upwind if you have too much twist.

Raking your fin (less upright) also helps create more ‘geometric twist’ in a fin, however having a more upright fin will keep the nose of the board down a little. It’s a catch 22. Older style fins like a Deboichet R13 were commonly sailed at +8cm (2.5 degrees from vertical) which helped keep the nose down in stronger winds as this is a fairly upright fin, however, these fins didn’t have a lot of twist and were quite stiff compared to newer fins so aren’t as controllable in strong winds as the new shapes available. The rake can sometimes be a little confusing for some people, so our recommendation is to find the rake (consult your fin maker) that suits your board in light/med winds; you should be safe using that same rake in strong winds but add a little more twist to the fin for control.

Next comes the stiffness. In modern formula boards of the past 4 seasons with wide tails of +78cm at the one-foot-off mark, stiff fins will be the worst thing you can use for control. In the old days (<2005) everyone thought you’d need a stiffer fin in high winds as the soft fins would have too much power. This really isn’t the case as usually stiff fins (from the old days) have much less twist and are very bitey under your feet.

A new, modern, soft fin such as a VMG Blade, Kashy, Virus, Ifju, Z fin or others in certain circumstances create a lot of ‘vertical lift’ under the board which helps keep the nose down and have a better ratio of twist and flex which will help control the board in strong winds. Whereas a lot of guys used to change down to 66cm fins a few years ago, a modern fin will allow you to use even a 70cm in stronger winds than you could imagine.

If you want to learn more about fins then check our previous article on “Everything You Should Know About Formula Fins”.

6. Technique:

Technique plays a major role in all wind strengths in Formula Windsurfing. Where it makes the largest difference, is in strong winds as good technique will help keep you on the water.

The most important part of technique is your STANCE. Arms should be straight, and your body should be hiked out as far as possible from the sail. To hike even, further, you can even try tilting your head to windward as this increases the hike your torso gets. A few points to remember when hiking:

• Straight arms
• Shoulders rolled forward (to make your arms longer)
• Front leg ‘relatively’ straight and back leg slightly bent (see above photo)
• Forcefully arch your torso backward (it doesn’t need to twist forward, but its ok if you do)
• Tilt your head to windward to get the torso even further out.

The further you can hike, the better ability you have to absorb the gusts as they hit you and create more leverage against your sail and fin, which helps prevent you getting slammed. This also goes back to the ‘lowering boom’ argument from earlier. My experiences suggest lowering the boom any lower than 1-2cm will take away the leverage you have from your stance and make holding down the sail even harder. Move the track forward, before you move your boom.

Technique Over Chop:

Finally, the biggest liability for sailors in high wind is keeping control of the board as you go over chop and swell. Usually, when overpowered, your board rails excessively at the top of a swell and then spins downwind aggressively as the wind gets under the nose of the board, then you die.

There is a special technique to getting over the swell which is a combination of timing and shifting your body weight. Much like driving a rally car fast is about shifting the weight through the corners, keeping a formula board on the water is about shifting your body weight to compensate for the extra lift over swells.

This is what SHOULD happen:

1. Nearing the top of the swell – sheet out a TINY bit to reduce power, shift your body weight forward.
2. Going over the swell – keep the sail slightly unsheeted, BEND YOUR KNEES (all the way to your chin if you need) in time with the wave to absorb the steepness of the swell whilst still keeping your body VERY far forward.
3. As you enter the crest after the swell – sheet in aggressively and point the board hard in to the wind to compensate for the extra power generated by lifting over the swell.

All that should happen in 2 seconds!

To explain further, each swell you go over you should be bending your knees as the wave moves underneath you to keep the board trimming flat. Much like a mogul skiier uses his knees to absorb the bumps in the snow. Don’t unsheet the sail completely, as this will fly the nose of the board. Simply unsheet 5-10cm to reduce the power in the fin as you go over the swell. Shift your entire body forward (in the harness) about 30cm to help keep the nose of the board down.

If you have no choice but to get airborne over the swell, lift your back foot to raise the back of the board and keep it flat so it is not flipping whilst in the air.

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That’s all you need to know about high-wind formula sailing. The most important part to all this is PRACTICE.

Singlehandedly, the best way I’ve improved my high-wind skills was when everytime I arrived at the beach with +25 knots and all my friends would be rigging slalom. I would rig my 10m and go for a very short blast on the formula board before switching to slalom. Gradually over time I’d get more and more used to the feeling and control in strong winds and be comfortable enough to try new settings in this wind. Then at the next race event it blew +30 knots and I was the only one who was prepared for these kind of winds. It’s that simple. Go get out there!

Before we start with Jesper’s comments, let’s go through a few things about the boards for those who don’t already know; starting with the names.

HWR = stands for Heavy Weight Racing
LWR = stands for Light Weight Racing

With the below specs of each board, you can quickly see that the LWR has a larger volume and a smaller tail width. Having a larger board for ‘lighter’ sailors essentially started the confusion as you would think, that a lighter sailor would need a smaller board right?

Some other things to note about the boards is their development pathways. Essentially, the previous 160 and 161 have been very popular boards with many top riders last season, even more so than the later 162 model. Starboard noted this and took the path of developing two very different boards which each show some important characteristics of their predecessors. Despite the new cutouts and tailshape and slightly different rockerline, it’s fair to say that the LWR is a development of the 160, with it’s ‘looser’ feel and smaller tail for blasting off the wind. As the 160 was popular in windier, choppier conditions, so too will the LWR be. The HWR, is a development of the 161 and 162, capturing a few great features of each board whilst making some certain improvements as Jesper will discuss.

So now to Jesper’s comments …

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After some training in Sydney I may have some insight in to what board would be best for you to choose…

We have all seen that all the boards developed over the last four years are working really well even now. It’s really up to the racer to get the best out of it on the course. Many sailors quickly blame their gear for being slow, but hey, if you are stuck in the 2nd row on the startline – everything is pretty slow right?

I have been testing the HWR and LWR quite a lot in a variety of conditions. Mainly in flat to choppy water – which is pretty much like what the worlds in Argentina will be held in and also what we race in on the international circuit.

The HWR and LWR are two totally different boards, no question about that. The most fun board to ride is the LWR – it reminds me of a slalom board with a narrow tail, round nose and is really just easy to sail. Despite this, I am still choosing the HWR for racing at most events this season!

To put things in perspective I am 189cm tall and 89kg.

The LWR is as I said before, a great board. It will work really well for smaller guys 60-78kg. It rides a lot different than the HWR and depending on the size of the rider you probably want to look in to riding bigger fins in light winds. If the board get’s clear wind it really goes fast and keeps accelerating whilst still being easy. Downwind the board sits high and there is no chance that the nose will ever catch the chop, one can go super deep and fast. If I come to an event where it’s going to be windy each day, I would not make any doubt to register the LWR. The Grand-Prix in Fortaleza, Brazil for example would be the perfect place for that kind of board. Or Łeba, Poland with side/on shore 15-25 knots.

In bigger fleets however, lighter winds and being a bigger rider you definitely want to go for the HWR. Why?! Because this board you can really push to the max. When saying push I mean it really points upwind and you can push on the back leg and it just goes for more angle. If you are stuck in bad air/water there is always a chance where it will become a lot harder on the LWR as you need to go more for speed, especially being a bigger guy. Since everything is settled on the first upwind in most races – you don’t wanna be losing angle and going for speed. I have tried experimenting by getting myself into the worst situation and I can always comeback on the HWR. On the LWR I can too, but to a lesser extent as I need to go for more speed and I lose too much angle.

The HWR takes smaller fins. The tail is powerful compared to the LWR and I am still using 70cm fins on the board at all times. Being a lot wider the board planes really early and you don’t have to bear away too much when pumping onto the plane after tacking or starting.

To summarise:

• If you are +80kg go for the HWR.
• If you are <80kg and you usually sail in light winds, go for the HWR.
• If you live in a place where there is consistent medium winds, like in Sydney where the wind varies from 12-20 knots, go for the HWR.
• If you live in a windier place with swell and chop (like Fortaleza) go for the LWR.
• If you live in a light super wind place, like Florida, go for the HWR, regardless of your weight.

I will be using the HWR mostly this season, but for the windy events, I will be on the LWR.

Any questions, you can drop me a mail; find me on www.vesterstrom.com.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1x mast bottom section (broken or complete)
• 1x mast top section (to be used as a hammer!)
• Hacksaw & sharp knife/blade
• Sandpaper with block (80-120 grit)
• Acetone & an old rag
• Epoxy & Q-Cell Filler
• 300mm x 200mm piece of 200g per m² “plain weave” carbon
• File (the bigger the better)
• Bank/Credit card (an expired one!)
• Plastic cup & stirrer
• Rubber gloves
• Masking Tape & a Pen
• Clear Plastic film (any thickness, any size)
• Tape measure.
• Glass of beer (optional)

Let’s get to work. I would suggest doing this outside (or in the garage if you’d like to escape your other half).

Step 1 – Cutting.

Cut the broken mast section to a length of 460mm (obviously one end is the bottom of the mast) – important to make the cut square to the edge of the section (otherwise in use the mast will bear on a point instead of the full circumference – refer Step 9.).  You can check by putting the cut edge against the bottom of a mast and marking the high points; sand the high points using 80 grit on a sanding block.

Step 2 – Sliding.

Select the section to use as the spigot which needs to be 270mm long (pink section in Figure 1a).  The mast has a taper starting at about 600-900mm above the base.  Slide the ferrule of the broken mast through the mast extender from the bottom until it is a firm fit.  Mark 150mm above the top of the mast extender; this is approximately the top of the spigot.  Remove the broken mast and mark the 270mm spigot + 50mm both ends of the proposed spigot. I use the masking tape to make these markings.

Step 3 – Knife Me.

Remove any plastic film/stickers/graphics on the mast so that carbon is exposed (best to use the sharp knife/blade to scrape and remove any film).   Give the spigot  a clean with the acetone to remove any glue used on the film and then a light sand to remove any high spots.  Now slide the broken mast inside the mast extender, get a firm fit – maybe force it a little and then re-mark 150mm above the top of the mast extender.  This point may have moved from the mark you made in Step 2. After you have removed the film and given it a sand, remove the broken mast.

Step 4 – More Cutting.

Cut the mast 270mm below the mark made in Step 3. Next, cut the broken mast 50mm above the mark made in step 3.  Now the spigot will be 270mm long + 50mm at the top as a contingency that you will remove later (Step 6) after the spigot is glued to the mast extender.

Step 5 – Cleaning & Peanut Butter

Clean the inside of the top of the mast extender and the outside of the bottom of the spigot with acetone.  In your plastic cup, mix up an adhesive paste using epoxy and Q-cell (filler) to the consistency of soft peanut butter and coat both surfaces with this adhesive.  Slide the spigot up from the bottom until you have 150mm + 50mm of contingency extending above the top of the mast extender.  Now with a rag and acetone clean any adhesive on the inside of the mast extender below the spigot (otherwise it will foul the adjustable mast extension).

Step 6 – Cutting? Oh yes we do.

When the adhesive is set, cut the extension of the spigot to length – 150mm above the tip of the mast extender.  Next repeat Steps 2. 3. 4. & 5 for the reinforcing cylinder (blue section in Figure 1a).  Tap the reinforcing cylinder into position with a mast top section.  Important to get a firm fit;  it will not be perfect as the taper angles vary slightly, but it needs to be firm!

Step 7 – Carbon Time!

When Step 6 is complete before the adhesive sets, you can then build up the diameter of the spigot where it extends inside the mast.  As this section is tapered use 1 layer of carbon reinforcement 150mm long and then a second wrap 75mm long (carbon rectangular strips will be approx 170mm wide – circumference of spigot + 10mm overlap).  Mask the top 50mm of the mast extender to avoid painting with epoxy in the next step.  Give the spigot a light sand and then clean with acetone. Wet-out the carbon with epoxy resin on a film of plastic and then use your bank card to remove the surplus resin.    Apply a light coat of epoxy resin to the surface of the spigot and then lay-up the carbon over the spigot using a gloved hand.  Now you need a strip of clear plastic about 40mm wide that you will wind tightly around the carbon overlapping the proceeding layer by 50%.  If you cannot find plastic, use insulation tape (do not use masking tape – it will stick to the carbon).

This plastic/tape clamps the carbon around the spigot to ensure a good adhesion and squeeze out the air and surplus resin that may be entrapped below the carbon.  Do this step carefully so that the carbon threads in the weave remain straight (If you try to tighten too much the carbon layer will twist around the spigot).  Position the lap in the top layer at 90⁰ to the lap in the bottom layer.

Step 8 – File Me!

After the epoxy has cured, use a file or sand paper to remove surplus epoxy at the step where the mast touches the mast extender.  It is important to have a well defined step to seat against the bottom of the mast.  Now sand the carbon layers on the spigot until the mast will fit; it is preferable to have a firm fit not sloppy. You will need to sand the lapped areas first to remove high spots.  I find it best to get a strip of sandpaper about 50mm wide, 250mm long and use it like you would polish your shoes (covering half a circumference).

Step 9 – More Filing.

When the mast will slide over the spigot check that you have good contact around the full circumference at the step; you may need to use a file to remove any high spots.

Step 10 – Oh yes!

Drink your glass of beer.

SAFETY

Use a pair of disposal gloves to avoid getting epoxy or acetone in contact with your skin.  Step 7 is quite messy as you will have to handle the wet epoxy carbon laminate.  If you get epoxy on your skin it is preferable to use a laundry power to remove the epoxy – not acetone as it is absorbed through your skin and will lodge in you kidneys.

Photos by James Briggs & Sean O’Brien

This article is adapted from a great article in the latest Australian Sailing Magazine (June/July 2009). The article was written by 1992 America’s Cup winning tactician David Dellenbaugh and originally published in Speed & Smarts, a newsletter by David on tactics, rules and boathandling. We have adapted it for Formula Windsurfers.

When your position on the race course suddenly goes pear-shaped, it’s time to change gears and re-adjust your game plan. It’s important not to throwaway your original race strategy, but consider making a few adjustments:

Take A Moment

Before you start punching holes in your sail or sailing back to the beach without so much as even attempting one upwind beat, take a moment to assess your current situation.

• Is this early or late in the race series?
• Do you already have a discard?
• How good is your boardspeed in relation to others on the course?
• How confident are you in your pre-race strategic plan?

Why you should ask yourself these questions is to do with how much “risk” you would want to be applying when you get back on the comeback trail in the race. If you already have a few bad discards, it’s probably not worth risking everything to get back the bullet in this race.

Evaluate Your Risk

In any moment in a race, especially when you’ve had a terrible start, you must decide how much risk to take. Are you willing to go out on a limb and take a flyer out to one far corner of the course? Sure, it might be a winner and you’re back with the leading pack at the top mark, but it could just as easily be a loser, and you’ve wasted a chance to get a solid recovery score which will help consolidate your regatta results sheet. As a rule of thumb, when it’s early in the event (depending on how many races will be run at this regatta), you should generally take fewer risks. If you are recovering from a bad start, try to sail to your strengths; if you have good boardspeed, use that with one-on-one tactics to pass each board in front of you at a time. Taking large risks early on in the race can sometimes be a disaster. When you get closer to the finish line (eg, Lap 2) it’s time to start taking more risks to get the points you need.

A good example of this is if after your bad start, you see most of the fleet heading left on starboard tack. There is a one in three chance (33%) the right side could pay off. These odds are probably not high enough to take the right side on the first beat, however, if you are still doing poorly on the second lap, it might be worth giving the right side a try.

Minimise The Damage

Not making simple tactical mistakes is always good, but it’s even more important when you are behind in a race. Usually, the leaders in a race are further spread apart, so taking risks to get from 3rd to 1st doesn’t have much damage associated with failing. When you are down the back of the fleet, there is much more traffic and dirty air; the boards are usually closer together so small mistakes can result in larger damages.

When you get behind in a start, resist the urge to get frustrated and go for impulsive tactics. Sure, a bit of frustration is great for getting your adrenaline up, but don’t let it put blinkers on your race strategy. When you are behind, be patient and always pay attention to the boards in front of you to see the mistakes they are making and avoid them. It’s very easy to pick the best areas of the course for wind when you are watching the boards in front of you sail in to a big hole or a gust. Avoid making mistakes by sticking to your strengths and pass the boards in front of you when they make mistakes.

Strategy or Tactics?

When you are playing catch up, another decision you will have to make is whether to focus on strategy (wind shifts) or tactics (other boards). Both are important, but which to favour depends mostly on whereabouts you are in the race. Immediately after a bad start, don’t worry about other boards, get as quickly as you can to the favoured side of the course and close the distance on the rest of the fleet.

As you get closer to the finish line, the boards are spread out and you begin to run out of time to make large strategic plans. The second lap is when you should switch into tactical mode and start racing the boards immediately around you.

Don’t Throw Your Plan Away!

Many sailors often spend a long time before the start of the day’s racing collecting information out on the course about the wind, current, startline etc to find out which side of the first beat is favoured. But if they get a bad start they often seem very willing to forget about this information and head to the other side of the course. This often doesn’t make sense. Unless something changed in the start, the side that was favoured before, should still be just as favoured afterwards; if you decide to go to the other side of the course – you might be putting yourself even further behind!

A common example of this is getting buried on starboard tack on the startline and then tacking on to port to get clear air – the sailor then usually sails to the right side of the course instead of tacking back on to starboard when he’s clear of the starting boards (see Figure 1a for a diagram of this). If the right side isn’t favoured – why sail to it? One tack should take you roughly 8 seconds, at 8m/sec speed (average planing speed for a FW board) you would only lose 64m. Be aware that on a normal 1200m windward/leeward course (taking 15-20 mins) you would lose MORE than 64m by sailing to the non-favoured side of the course.

If your pre-start race plan said to go left, you might consider changing your mind after a bad start and going right when:

• You only had a slight preference for the left;
• Going right is the only way to get clear air (but it’s usually a bad sign and a risky strategy, if everyone else is going left); or,
• Conditions changed after the pre-start.

End Note

Racing windsurfers is a very mental game. Very few sports place such a high value on sharp analytical thnking, so it is suprising that sailors don’t focus more on psychological training (we hope to get some more articles about ‘psychology’ on here in the future). A sailor can have the fastest gear and the best fin on the planet, but this doesn’t help you if you are ‘psyched out’ of the starts. It is difficult enough to remain focused when things are going right on the race course, let alone when they go wrong. Take a moment to read through this article again and hopefully having some more informed ideas about ‘what to do’ when it all goes pear-shaped, will give you that confidence boost you need to get back in to the race.

Photos by AllegroCup.pl & WindBrasil.com

There were 8 boards registered with ISAF for use on the FW circuit. These included, the F2 FX-Z/FX-VI, Mike’s Lab L8, Starboard F162/Apollo, Gaastra Vapor, Lorch Thunderbird Formula F1 and the Exocet Warp Formula 100. We haven’t had access to all of these boards as some of them weren’t available in the countries we tested in or weren’t properly represented on the FW Pro Circuit during 2008, so for the purpose of this tuning guide we’ve only reviewed the more mainstream and widely available of the boards which included, Starboard F162, Gaastra Vapor, F2 FX-Z/FX-VI, Exocet Warp Formula 100.

The riders interviewed for this tuning guide include:

* right now, we haven’t been able to get access to any of the new F2 boards for measurement. If someone would like to supply these measurements, that would be great! Email them to Sean.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

We’ve supplied fin suggestions based on the fins the riders have previously tried with the boards. Its possibly that many different styles of fins will work with each board. We’re not suggesting you need have one of the suggested fins or you are wasting your time, merely that if you had already decided to buy a fin, here’s some helpful suggestions on model. We’ve tried to suggest a model from each brand but obviously not every fin was available to every rider. Consult your fin maker for more specifics before making a decision.

Mast-track settings and boom-height will change dramatically based on the fin you are using. We have given the settings as a ‘guide’ only. Start with our settings and then make adjustments to your own preferences and sailing styles.

Starboard F162 / FWOD

Starboard released two versions of their F162 board. The second version, released mid way through 2008, was an identical board given the graphics of FWOD (Formula Windsurfing One-Design, pictured left) as Starboard made a bid to create the new Olympic Windsurfing equipment for the 2012 Olympics. Although Starboard always maintained the shapes were identical, there was some speculation that the rocker lines were changed on the newer FWOD versions (weweren’t able to find this on the boards we measured however) to give them less flat towards the tail however, the main feature riders will notice is that the new F162’s or FWOD versions, sport a thicker grey paint and logo on the bottom of the board, either to stay with ISAF’s policies on Olympic equipment being difficult to modify by sanding or to help with early problems they had with the board with the veneer of the bottom of the boards weeping.

The F162 came under early criticism from the general public on the windsurfing forums that the board wasn’t performing well compared to its competitor’s boards, however, after a 12 months on the market it would appear now that it was just a case of sailors not realising how different this board was to its predecessors and not tuning the board correctly.

BOARD DESIGN / CHARACTERISTICS:

Compared to the F160/F161 Starboards, the new F162 is considerably wider in the tail and has a wider and thinner nose, with considerably less nose-rocker leading up to the front of the board. The concept behind the thinner and flatter nose, was to aid with the ’sticking’ problems that the 160 and to some extent the 161 had downwind, whereby the big and bulky noses of these boards would catch each wave and slow the board down. This new nose has been quite successful in improving downwind speed on the F162 even with the wider tail, which although helps immensely with upwind ability, the wider the tail, the more wetted surface-area you are dragging downwind.

This board sails incredibly ‘flat’, meaning that the nose sticks to the water and the board feels very rigid and stiff under your feet.  Because of the flat nose-rocker, you need to be mindful of always trying to set up your gear to keep the nose clear of the water. Even with good rail pressure, without the nose lifting you can produce too much leeward rail engagement, which slows the board down. As a result, the best tuning settings are ones that free the nose and help to rail the board.

FINS:

No doubt, with the ‘flat’ characteristics this board has when it sails makes fin choice a lot more critical then previous Starboard boards. The F162 requires an extremely powerful fin to help rail the board and lift the nose to get the board to ‘free up’ and stop sticking to the water. Don’t mistake a powerful fin for simply just an ‘upright’ fin; these are two different things. What the board requires is a powerful fin and the best way to do this is to try fins with little to no ‘geometric twist’ and torsionally stiff. The best fins showing these characteristics are the Kashy XS/XXS, VMG Blades ‘K’ model and Hurricane FRB6 with ‘0′ twist. During testing this board we found the Deboichet R20 not powerful enough to keep the nose of the board lifting.

The fins we recommended for this board are currently:
{column1}
Light Winds:

- Kashy 72/70 XS
- Ifju LWXS 70*
- VMG Blades K76/70
- Hurricane FRB6 ‘680′ S- 72/70
{/column1}

{column2}
Strong Winds:

- Kashy 70cm XS
- Ifju LWXS 70
- VMG Blades K70
- Hurricane FRB6 ‘680′ S- 70

{/column2}

*We hadn’t tried a cutdown Ifju at the time of testing. But presumably they would be as good as the 70.

In lightwinds, the tail width of this board will allow cutdown fins up to 72/76cm however most of the riders using this board used 72/74cm fins. The board requires a lot of power both from your fin and also from your sail, so it is recommended in light/medium winds to always use the biggest sail possible. Pro rider Jesper Vesterstrøm suggested he used his 11.8m sail up to 18 knots which is higher than other riders on other boards.  The extra power from your sail will help generate the lift the board needs to rail and also help power the bigger cutdown fins you are using.

MAST-TRACK and STRAP POSITIONS:

This board sails very flat, so to counteract this characteristic you need to get all the power and leverage towards the back of the board. Start with the mast-track all the way in the back (with your plate covering the serial number even) and straps in the back holes (front and back straps). Your boom height will depend on your style, however it is recommended to use as higher boom height as possible to help lift the nose of the board. Using larger cutdown fins, may cause the nose to sit lower in the water due to the amount of vertical-lift they produce; having a high boom, straps and mast-track back will help to counteract the fin and the boards insitence to keep sailing flat.

In stronger winds, the mast-track can be moved forward to aid with control, however it is not recommended to go much further than the middle of the track, even in hurricane conditions.

Overall, this is a very comfortable board to sail and the specified weights of the boards we measured were all within tolerances. It may require a little bit more tuning than other boards if you have been riding the previous Starboard FW boards as the F162 is a very different animal to its predecessors.

Gaastra Vapor Racing

Gaastra entered the Formula Board market quite late, with the Vapor Racing 2008 board their first ever FW board. Shaped by Tabou shaper Fabien Vollenweider and developed by Steve Allen (AUS-0) and Hubert Mokrzycki (POL-25), Gaastra were pretty quick to snag a good market share of the FW boards sold in 2008, even if it took them 10 months to acknowledge the board even existed on their website!

BOARD DESIGN / CHARACTERISTICS:

We’ve written a more in depth review of the Gaastra board which you can read here, however, the fins have changed immensely since that article was published and we recommend using the settings mentioned below rather than in the previous review.

The general characteristics of the Vapor board are that its got a nice amount of scoop-rocker, a very wide tail, similar (which we like!) cutouts to the F162 and a very well designed nose which has just the right amount of vee/concave and thin outline built in to it to make this board a real performer downwind, even in strong winds.

The board arguably feels similar under the feet to a Starboard F160, however, with the wider tail, the board feels much more ‘free’ even in light winds. It is a very ‘aggressive’ board, meaning that the nose rides high in the water and the board feels very twitchy and responsive under your feet. Although, there will be no problems with control, even in high winds, with this board, the general ride characteristics are that the board is extremely loose and ‘flighty’ with the nose being lifted easily and fin/rail pressure being generated easily. All the tuning settings for this board are to keep the nose tracking straight without bobbing up and down which is can do with the wrong mast-track position. This is one of the few boards that is not very fin specific, almost any fin will work and feel comfortable with the board, which is a great attribut to its design.

FINS:

As we mentioned, this board works well with almost any from an old Deboichet R13 up to the latest Kashy/VMG etc super soft fins. With the very forgiving feeling this board has in high winds and the safety the nose of this board creates when sailing downwind in big swell, it will be possible to use much larger fins in higher winds with the Vapor board. We found the best fins suited to this board are the newer, much softer, swept-back fins such as Kashy, VMG Blades, Deboichet R20 and Hurricane FRB6 as these fins create a bit of vertical lift under the board which helps to keep the nose down a little and under control.

Different to the Starboard F162, you don’t need as much power from the fin to generate rail pressure with this board, so we recommend getting fins with maximum amount of twist in the tip which will help depower and settle the board down when the fin loads up in high winds and will also allow a much more comfortable and smooth ride downwind at deeper angles.

The fins we recommended for this board are currently:
{column1}
Light Winds:

- Kashy 74/70 XS
- Ifju LWXS
- VMG Blades K76/70 (Gaastra model)
- Hurricane FRB6 ‘682′ S- 72/70
- Deboichet R20
{/column1}

{column2}

Strong Winds:

- Kashy 70cm XS
- Ifju LWXS
- VMG Blades K73 or K70 (Gaastra model)
- Hurricane FRB6 ‘682′ S- 70
- Deboichet R20
{/column2}

MAST-TRACK and STRAP POSITIONS:

With a 12m sail, the mast-track should sit in the middle of the track. Any further back and you begin to stall the board as it does not require the track so far back to lift the nose, the shape of the board does this automatically. As it is quite an aggressive board, when the wind gets up you need to move the track forward to keep control of the nose. With the track 2-3cm further forward than centre, the board comes in to its own in strong winds, with a very comfortable and easy ride, despite how responsive the board feels under your feet. It might be possible to stay in the outside straps in strong winds much longer on this board compared with any other, due to its nose shape and wide tail. Straps should always be in the back holes on this board and boom height needs to be as high as comfortable.

We recommend running a higher boom and mast-track further forward to keep the nose at the optimum control level. If you were to move your mast-track further back than middle (to help lift the nose) and then run your boom lower to compensate, the board seems to ’stall’ a little and be slower to get planing.

Overall, Gaastra have done a very good job providing one of the few boards this season that is as fast as it is easy to sail and tune. Any fin, any sail and any sized rider will suit this board.

Exocet Warp Formula 100

It was said that Exocet’s Patrice Belbeoch developed the Warp Formula 100 entirely on his own without testing against another rider or another board brand. Whether that is true or not, Patrice certainly came up with a very different board for the 2008 season, turning away from trends or copying other designs and creating one of the most talked about boards in 2008. With its slick carbon look and black paint, the new Exocet, aka the “Black Machine” turned a few heads this year when Argentinian rider Gonzalo Costa-Hoevel ended his long-term deal with F2 to ride the new Exocet.

BOARD DESIGN / CHARACTERISTICS:

The first thing to notice about this board is the weight. At its ISAF registered weight, the Warp Formula is nearly 1kg lighter than than any other board on the market and we’ve found by weighing a number of different boards the gap could even be more than 1kg.

Much like the F162, the Exocet sails extremely flat, with the nose sticking to the water, however this characteristic is due much more to the underside of the board’s shape. There is very little rocker and concave in this board and very little nose-rocker towards the front. Exocet have widened the tail of this board immensely and the Exocet has become the widest tailed board behind the new F2’s, with an extra 1cm over the F162 and 2cm over the Vapor at the 30cm off mark.

The board has a similar sailing feeling to the F162 upwind in that the board sails incredibly ‘flat’ with the nose sticking to the water, however it feels a lot more stiff and rigid under your feet than the F162, probably due to the wider tail and flatter rockerline. With the super light weight, the board planes up considerably earlier than other boards with an 11m sail and has extremely good upwind angles in lightwind with its flat bottom shape. The nose appears to stick a little downwind in stronger breezes however this can be fine-tuned with the right fins and setup.

FINS:

Much like the Vapor board, the Exocet’s strengths are that it appears to suit a variety of fins. Everything from older R13 fins up to the latest Kashy/VMG etc super soft fins. The extra width in the tail allows the rider to use a big fin in stronger breezes however the fin must be working to help lift the nose of the board otherwise it could be counter-productive. Different fins give this board a different riding style. Using more traditional fins such as the R13, the board feels incredibly stiff under your feet and generates a lot of lift and speed upwind. As the R13 is a fin that generates a lot of ‘railing’ very easily downwind, we found this fin to give almost the best performance downwind in a variety of windstrengths as it helped rail the board which could clear the ’sucking’ nose of swells and also reduce the wetted surface area of the board downwind; decreasing drag.

Despite what fin you decide to use, the fin needs to have considerably less rake than other board models. A fin that is less upright will help to lift the nose of the board and may also generate a little more geometric twist in the fin which can help with speed downwind and giving the board a more comfortable ride downwind.

The fins we recommended for this board are currently:
{column1}
Light Winds:

- Kashy 72/70 XS (rake 4.5 deg)
- VMG Blades K73/70 (rake 5 deg)
- Deboichet R13 S– 70 (rake +4)
- Deboichet R20 70 (rake +4)
{/column1}

{column2}

Strong Winds:

- Kashy 72/70 XS (rake 4.5 deg)
- VMG Blades K70 or K68 (rake 5 deg)
- Deboichet R13 S– 70 (rake +4)
- Deboichet R20 70 (rake +4)
{/column2}

MAST-TRACK and STRAP POSITIONS:

The mast-track on this board needs to be run as far back as possible at all times; even in strong winds. The same goes for the footstraps. The reason being, upwind you need to release the nose of the board and having your setup all in the back with maximum pressure on your fin will help to generate the rail pressure needed to lift the nose of the board. Downwind, this board is susceptible to the nose catching waves and slowing down. To counteract this you must get your weight centralised over the back of the board and aggresively rail the board with your feet. Hitting the swell at an angle, whilst the board is extremely railed, will help reduce drag and improve your speed downwind. Fin choice will help with this and one of the main reasons we’ve included the R13 fin with this board is that it is arguably the best fin to generate the rail pressure needed to rail this board downwind and ‘fly the fin’.

On another note, there has been mixed responses as to whether this smaller, lighter board can handle a 12m. The Exocet feels lower on volume than other boards on the market (even though on paper, it is even bigger than some of the other baords) because the overall thickness of the board is less at the the tail and the flatter rockline makes the board appear to sit lower in the water. Although, Gonzalo has been using 12m successfully in light winds in the early part of this season, some heavier riders might find this board a little harder to get planing with the bigger rigs because the board will stall when the nose is pushed down during pumping.

Overall, Exocet have done a great job with this board and provided an interesting competitor to the F162, Vapor and F2 boards. This board, might have more advantages for lighter riders as it ‘may’ have more potential for early planing used with an 11m sail in lighter winds. It is a very easy board to sail/trim upwind however might require a bit more tuning downwind to get the best speed out of the board.

F2 FX-Z

F2 did something unusual in response to the IFWC’s two-year board design lock; they registered two boards, with the FX-VI being produced early on for the 2008 season and the FX-Z only being made available to the ‘general’ consumer much later in the 2008 season. Although the boards share some common characteristics, they are two different boards, with F2 shaper Patrik Diethelm working with Gonzalo Costa-Hoevel on the boards before Gonzalo switched to the Exocet team halfway through 2008. The boards appear to have followed two completely different development paths, each following on from the 2006 and the 2007 F2 boards, which were very different in concept.

For the purpose of describing the general characteristics, we will describe both the FX-Z and FX-VI at once.

BOARD DESIGN / CHARACTERISTICS:

Compared to the other boards on the market, the major design feature of the F2’s is their incredibly wide tails, with the Z being slightly wider than the VI and both being almost 5cm wider than any other board at the one foot off mark. Both boards sport a very rounded outline in their tail and a lower overall scoop-rocker than previous F2 boards which allows them to have good early planing ability despite the drag of the extra tail width.

Looking at both the boards, they appear very square as the tail is almost the width of the nose, but on the water is where they show their abilities. Both boards have a very ‘aggressive’ sailing style which is a little bit more technical to sail comfortably than other boards on the market. The F2 boards are easily railed with their flat vee section in the tail and very sharp rails in the middle however this can also make the boards feel very ‘flighty’ in stronger winds and chop and more mast-track forward pressure is needed to keep the nose down.

It is probably a fair comment that these are both ‘lightwind’ specialist boards. With the added tail width, it’s possible to run fins bigger than ever before (Pro Rider Dennis Littel used an 83cm cutdown Kashy fin in light winds with the FX-Z in 2008) as the added leverage from the board’s tail width allows greater control. The majority of riders will be using much larger cutdown fins in 2009 as large (+76cm) cutdowns are still relatively new on the market. To some extent, the F2 boards have helped drive the need for bigger cutdown fins in other boards on the market.

In stronger winds these boards can become a little more difficult to sail as they require a taller and heavier rider who can use their height to leverage over the board to keep control and stop the board from flying the nose; especially downwind. Of course, the wider the tail the more leverage you get against the fin but also more drag you get whilst sailing. It is a tough comprimise with these F2 boards as they definitely have the best lightwind abilities of any board on the market this year but at the expense of being more difficult in stronger winds and a little more technical to keep the speed up downwind as the tail seems to suck a little on the downwind legs.

F2 recommends the VI as the choice for lighter sailors and the Z for heavier/taller sailors. This is a good recommendation as generally speaking, most of the taller, heavier riders on the tour used the Z versus the smaller guys using the VI when they had both to choose from.

BOOSTER PIPES / CUTOUT PLATES:

As usual, the F2’s sport the booster pipes and adjustable cutout plates to help with the tuning difficulties downwind. The concept behind the booster pipes and cutout plates have always generated a lot of discussion in the FW world and many theories are out there as to their effectiveness. Originally, when the pipes were brought in to their FW and slalom range in 2006, F2 stated that the pipes were to eliminate the vacuum created in the large tail cutouts while travelling at speed. From testing the boards in the past seasons that have used the pipes, its been more apparent that the pipes play a better role in reducing the vacuum at low speeds especially when trying to pump on to the plane. The same can be said for the current boards, as the tail width does have the propencity to ’suck’ to the water whilst trying to initiate planing.

The cutout plates, give the rider four options (with plastic ringed spacers allowing the adjustments) by either using no plates, or putting 1-3 rings in between them to make the cutout depth smaller. All of our test riders found the board performed best with 2 rings in on both boards; in either strong or light winds, upwind or downwind.

FINS:

No doubt, with the insane tail width of these boards, it’s possible to use bigger fins than ever before. We had tested a smaller amount of fins out with these boards so there may be many more options available, but for tuning purposes, fins that work with the VI will work in the Z. Softer tipped and fins with a little bit more ‘geometric twist’ are a must with these boards to help release the board a little bit from the water and help it to rail. The fins need to be fast to generate the best lift but also to be powerful to help rail the board downwind. The best fins showing these characteristics are the Kashy XS/XXS, VMG Blades ‘K’ and ‘B’ models, the R20 and Ifju LW models.

The fins we recommended for this board are currently:
{column1}
Light Winds:

- Kashy 78-80/70 XS
- Ifju LWXS 70*
- VMG Blades K78/70, B78/70
- Deboichet R20
{/column1}

{column2}
Strong Winds:

- Kashy 70cm XS
- Ifju LWXS 70
- VMG Blades K70
- Deboichet R20

{/column2}

F2 FX-Z

F2 FX-VI

We hope you are able to use this guide to better tune your boards in 2009. CarbonSugar would like to stress that it is actually a ‘guide’ and not a definitive tuning methodology. Everyone is different and we only sampled a small number of fins, so please our recommendations as a basis to begin tuning and try your own settings to see if they are faster.

Feel free to post your comments/suggestions and personal experiences about the boards in the comments so the discussion can be built on.

Q >> How did you get into the fin game?

I’ve always been active in sailing; both racing competitively and building equipment. I’ve built my own windsurfers (everything from Formula to Speed) and even a state of the art Sports Yachts back in 1993, which was featured on the cover of September 1998 “Australian Sailing Magazine” (see below).

Anyhow, I guess it was no surprise that I started talking with Boogie at C3 Fins back in 2002. C3 Fins had just won the FW World’s with Kevin Pritchard (USA-3). I became a bit more involved, by providing feedback and occasionally inputting into the development. When Boogie retired from making FW fins in 2006, he offered to sell us his IP and tooling.

In the early days we dedicated a lot of time working closely with Boogie, to make sure we re-produced C3’s extremely high standards. From there we started an ongoing development program. We still keep in touch with Boogie to bounce ideas around. (Actually I was just speaking to him yesterday!) I hope we can live up to Boogie’s hard earned reputation.

Q >> How do your fins differ from other fins currently on the market?

Originally, C3 molds started with A, B, C, etc, so we have continued along that line. The latest evolution is the ‘K’. We commissioned Boogie to develop the ‘K’ fin using his latest foil design. We then got down to the detail of developing the best layups to meet our performance requirements.

Looking at the current trends on the FW fin market, other designers have moved toward swept-back outlines with very torsionally stiff layups. We decided to go our own way with an outline with almost neutral twist. This gave us better ability to control the twist characteristics of the fin by the layup; without having to combat or trade-off against the ‘geometric twist’ built into a swept-back outline of other fins.

Q >> Your fins appear to be ‘lighter’ than other fins on the market? How so?

Yes, that’s usually the first thing a lot of people notice when they pick up one of our fins. We use 100% carbon in the laminate and because of our outline we only have to put the carbon in specifically to control the bend and the twist, not to counteract the twist produced by swept-back outlines. We also cure our fins under extremely high pressure and heat which allows us to get very good fibre to resin ratios which results in a minimal void laminate. We have a few secret ingredients which also help keep the weight of the fin down; developed by C3 Fins. Any weight saving on your rig is a good thing. Have you ever seen a winning skiff with heavy foils these days?

Q >> Do you have a range of fins?

We’ve pretty much finalised our range of fins. We already have specific bends of the ‘K’ model for different sailing styles and equipment. We’re developing cutdowns, which help extra light-wind performance and balance the super-wide tails of current boards. For the serious racers, we are continuing to build fins to their personal specifications.
We have just finished testing our latest prototypes and are very pleased with the results. The current fin is extremely competitive. The fins have been described as very easy to sail, with an automatic trim and a feeling of hydro foiling.

Q >> Who Is Behind VMG Blades?

Anthony Woodrow, Brett Morris & I.

Q >> But Who Are You????

I (Chris Ting, AUS-5) am the actual guy who builds the fins. I’ve been actively racing FW since it began in Australia and I headed over to Portugal for the FW Worlds last September. (I hope I can make it to Spain this year!) I am also the President of the Storm-Riders (www.storm-riders.com.au) Windsurfing Club in Sydney which organises the big and growing fleet of regular FW racing on the east coast of Australia. VMG Blades is based in Sydney, Australia, testing in Botany Bay. I hope we can see a lot more sailors head over this way and enjoy our windy summers down under.

Q >> So when can we order a fin?

Production is limited at the moment. When the doors are fully open and ready for business, I promise CarbonSugar will be the first to know!

In the meantime, if you’d like to enquire about our fins you can get in contact with us at vmgblades@gmail.com.

Text: CarbonSugar
Text: Ceri Williams

> 2008 Marks the beginning of the FW Grand Prix World Tour. Could you explain to us how the tour came about and what you think it will mean for FW sailing this year and in the near future?

A world tour for formula has been an aspiration of mine since i became chairman; and only reflects the desires of formula sailors. The Grand Prix concept has been in existance for many years , but we could not put together sufficient events to call it a “tour”.

> The 2007 FW World Championships in Brazil last December, marked one of the first international events in a long time where the full maximum of 15 races were run. The success of this event has surely played a role in having 3 events of the FW Grand Prix World Tour in Brazil. Could you tell us how Brazil arrived on the map for hosting FW events?

Brazil hosted the 2001 Worlds, which was also a good event. Formula has a long history and is very popular in Brazil. That, combined with a respected and motivated organiser, was the catalyst to forge ahead with the 2008 tour. Wilhelm Schurmann (BRA-999) has also played a pivotal role in co-ordinating the project – being a vital link between the class and BRA organisers (Arrow Marketing and Wind Brasil)

> After 3 years of FW World Championships being held outside of Europe, do you think having the Worlds back on the mainland, this time in Portugal, will help boost the numbers attending the World Championships?

I am sure the numbers will be up for both 2008 in Portugal and 2009 in Spain. Both events are hosted by tried and trusted oranisers, in good locations, with enthusiastic sponsors. But it is important for any “international” class to ensure its premier annual event reaches all continents where formula fleets exist. I hope that we can take the championship to North America in 2010 or 2011.

> At a past FW World Championships, light winds made it difficult for some top sailors to achieve their normal results at the front of the fleet, and it was written on various forums that tour organisers were thinking of “money” first, before thinking about the ideal wind conditions to run events. Could you explain for us what exactly is looked at when a country puts forth a proposal to host a World Championships; what helps the FW Class decide on one venue over another?

Wind stats are important -but not the only consideration; yes we have minimum levels of prize money but also expect a certain level of service (benefits) for all competitors; and a minimm standard of organisational skills. Probably the primary consideration is to take the World Championships around the world- hence Melbourne (Australia) in 2005, where prize mone was not at normal levels.

I also believe that formula has to live up to its promotion as an exciting racing class that can plane in 6/7 knots and still race in 30 knots, with the minimum of equipment. We also have to race in the widest possible range of conditions -and not favour either low or highwind specialists. Top sailors are the most versatile!

> With the resurgence in popularity of Slalom racing once again, many National fleets have opted to run combined events whereby FW is run up to 20 knots, and Slalom thereafter. Many event organisers appear to be interested in Slalom (in Poland/Portugal for example); do you think we will see this format appearing on the Pro FW circuit?

I personally have doubts about combining disciplines – especially if it involves 3 times as much kit to compete in an event. For National events – involving less time and cost for travelling – maybe it can work. That is a decision for National Associations to make. For the FW World Tour I think it must be on FW kit only – that does not rule out downwind courses and the elimination format as a light wind option however.

> The Euro-Cup Series, organised by ChoppyWater GmbH, has been the crux of the FW events in Europe for the past few years, but so far they have yet to post a calendar for 2008. Has the FW Grand Prix World Tour taken its place or are ChoppyWater still involved behind the scenes in other avenues?

The Grand Prix (GP) World Tour is not restricted to European events and the requirements for hosting a class GP are more rigorous in many ways. I do not think The GP World Tour has been responsible for the demise of the Euro Cup; but I think it has replaced it as the focus of international (formula) competition in Europe. This development is also alongside the growth of regional tours (eg. the Baltic Cup); and the relevance of the formula world ranking calendar to many National Associations where an “open” event attracts wider attention.

> The PWA is regarded by sailors as being the pinnacle of the sport. With Jimmy Diaz (an avid FW sailor) still onboard as Chairman, could you ever see FW returning to the PWA and do you think that would benefit the Class or not?

I am open to any idea that benefits formula racers, and in so doing is good for the sport. Many PWA (slalom) racers are (IWA /IFWC) formula racers. I think it is important for events to happen – formula very rarely fails to deliver an event (on the water).

I do not forsee a change of course for FW at the moment – ie, I expect to see further and continued development of the current event stategy – Championships (World, Continental and National) , the Grand Prix World Tour; regional tours and other “open” international events.

Hopefully the PWA can be involved in some way!

> With the introduction of the 2-year fixed Board designs (which everyone has welcomed!), sail and board development has appeared to have settled down and it’s not always necessary to have the latest equipment to do well at events. The biggest question on most sailor’s minds is now the Fins. Do you think the availability and increased prices of custom fins has an impact on the sport? As well as the mentality that not everyone can be riding the same fins as the Top Pros are using?

I think this is one area that concerns everyone. I think costs will also stabilise as development slows down, and more fin manufacturers will come on board – increasing competition, and decreasing costs. Of course we need a healthy formula racing scene to sustain that notion – I hope, I believe, that with current policies that is achievable.

Thank you for your time Ceri!

THE 2008 FW GRAND PRIX WORLD TOUR

Sines, Portugal // 6th – 10th May
Sopot, Poland // 4th – 7th June
Leba, Poland // 29th July – 3rd August
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil // 15th – 19th October
Sao Paulo, Brazil // 22nd – 26th October
Forteleza, Brazil // 24th – 29th November

When approaching the windward mark, always remember the three key rules:

• If you are lifted markedly heading to the mark on Starboard, gybe immediately on to port after the mark.
• If you are knocked markedly heading to the mark on Starboard, stay on the starboard tack to get the most out of the knock.
• The side of the course which is favoured on the upwind leg is generally the side to take on the downwind leg.

That shouldn’t be a “decision” on the racecourse; it should be a reflex. The only revision to the first two rules is if there is a favourable side of the course due to a geographic, tidal or other influence that creates this favoured side.

Knowing & Understanding Your Angles

The key to dramatically improving your downwindtime around the course: understanding what angles you can sail in what windstrengths. Simple huh?

Not exactly. Most sailors have a reference point on their boom, which is usually a perpindicular line to the mark (its easy to visual 90 degree angles) whereby when they see the leeward mark through their sail they will gybe when it lines up roughly with this boom reference point. I’m here to tell you that that isn’t specific enough and can allow boats in close proximity to gybe earlier/later than you and punish you into the leeward mark. A good way to combat this is to research the angles you can sail downwind in various windstrengths and then learn how to quickly gauge that particular angle by sight.

To do this accurately you are better off using a GPS unit to analyse tracks of your sailing in various windstrengths (something we will be writing about here very shortly). Here on the left is a chart I have made for angles that I can sail in relative windstrengths. Using about 3-4 months of GPS data from sailing FW in various windconditions, I have plotted the different downwindangles I have achieved against the wind speed on that particular day. Obviously, there are slight performance differences each session in the same windstrengthbut using a mean trend-line we can get a good estimate of what angle I can sail in what windstrength.

You only need to know a general group of angles, for example 8-12 knots, 15 knots, 20 knots etc. If you can learn what angles you sail in these windstrengths you can improve your downwind laylines immensely. For example, using my chart above, I see that I can usually sail downwind at 120 degrees with an 11m sail in 8-10 knots of breeze (see figure to the left for a visual representation of the Downwind Angles chart). I have a good idea of what 120 degrees (not to the nearest degree, but roughly enough that I can make an informed decision about where to gybe) looks like when I line the leeward mark up through my sail and I have a good idea of what 8-10 knots feels like when I sail my 11m. With that in information in mind, if you are the leading boat on the downwind, you can know that when you gybe it will be the perfect layline and that if the guys behind you have gybed any earlier, they are going to have to wipe off considerable speed to get down to the mark or to put in two extra gybes; you have protected your lead.

Protecting Your Lead

As Bethwaite states, a “boat with a small righting moment (like a Laser) cannot deflect wind too much, but a more powerful boat such as an 18ft skiff (or an FW board), deflects the wind an incredible amount”.

With this in mind, the most important weapon to protect a lead on the downwind run is to keep your pursuer always in your dirty air and disturbed water. If your pursuer attempts to pass you to leeward (that is, inside you), if possible you can bear off slightly and use your dirty air and wind-shadow to slow the passing boat. It is very difficult to pass on the inside unless the passing boat can sail significantly deeper than the lead boat as you have to sail through the worst of the air deflection from the leading boat, which harms downwind performance immensely. Should the pursuer try to pass to windward, it only requires the lead boat to luff him to windward and force him deeper in to the hopeless position.

In the case of several pursuers, as Manfred Curry would suggest: “one directs one’s chief attention, as on a beat to windward, to the one nearest”.

Know Your Competition / Force the Gybe:

The next tool in your downwind weaponry is your laylines. Get them correct and you’ve made it very difficult for the pursuing boat to pass you. Get them wrong andyou will find yourself sitting in someone’s dirty air at the leeward mark.

Everyone uses a different setup and may take a different fin and so it’s more than likely that in your fleet there will be some who are faster and can sail deeper than you on the downwind (if not, you have no excuses for not winning each race). To protect a lead it is important to have an idea of what angles the sailors behind you can sail. If you are in an unknown fleet, it should only take you one race or so to work this out. If your main competition can sail deeper than you at a similar speed, there are preventative steps you can take to protect your lead to the leeward mark.

Getting aroundthe windward mark first on the last lap, withonly the downwindto sail to the finish when the guy 10m behindyou is considerably faster than you downwind is a common and frustrating occurence (I’ve had my fair share). Despite the formentionedtactics above to protect your lead, withthe speeds an FW board travels at, blocking the sailor behind you is not always as easy as it would seem on paper as pursuing sailors can change positions from the hopeless position to a dominant position in less than a second in windy conditions and it is difficult to keep your eyes on the water ahead as well as on what your pursuer is doing. One of your few options to protect your lead in this instance is to play on your opponents mindset that he can sail deeper than you downwind…

The pursuing boat, knowing that he can sail deeper than you, most likely will gybe when the leading boat gybes and back his ability to sail deeper andfaster, hoping to use his better angle to pass on the windward side and use his wind-shadow on the leading boat as he controls the lead into the leeward mark. If you know your downwind angles in the particular windstrength, try gybing earlier than is possible to make the leeward mark. If the trailing boat is true to form, he may gybe when you do and both of you now will have to make an extra 2 gybes into the leeward mark. You know this before he does, so by heading a little higher out of the gybe you can put him into your dirty air and hold him in the hopeless position andforce him to have to gybe away to get clear air. This tactic is best when you are in a clear position with 1st/2nd together as it may allow the 3rd/4th boats an opportunity to gain if they are close enough and sail the layline correctly. If your pursuer does in fact gybe again to get away from your dirty air, you will both have the same amount of gybes to do however when you meet at the leeward mark you will be approaching on starboard to make your final gybe and will have right-of-way (provided you can fit your gybe in before he gets to you).

Gybing Strategy: 

Once you’ve practiced enough, you should be able to gybe and keep on the plane all the way through on to the next tack. In winds over 12 knots (ie, when you are able to consistently plane out of each gybe), a good gybe takes only 3-4 seconds to complete and regain full speed. This is considerably less time than a tack and usually you don’t lose much angle as when you are pumping out the gybe you can point downwind much further than you can actually sail to promote a quick gain back to full speed. In 10 seconds a FW board travels about 80m so you are only losing 25m or so in each gybe. That seems like a lot but in a normal course using a 1.3km rhumb line (shortest distance from windward to leeward mark), 25m is a small disadvantage compared to the advantages made in sailing the correct course downwind rather than the one with the least amount of gybes.

Sailing in onshore conditions in consistent winds, usually the bulk of the fleet sails the downwind run on starboard, taking one gybe to the leeward mark. This happens even in international fleets. In most cases (FW World Championship locations like Leba, Poland; Gangnueng, Korea; Forteleza, Brazil; Melbourne, Australia all had courses like this) the single-gybe run forces the sailors to sail right to the beach where they gybe on to port tack andfollow the beach into the leeward mark close to shore. 9/10 times there is considerably less wind close to the shore as breaking waves, sand dunes, trees, buildings or the land/water temperature differences creates turbulence for the wind andoften forces the clear wind into the air (away from your sails) thus creating light spots along the beach. A sailor who sails into the beach andtakes a little longer to get on to the plane out of the gybe, coupled with the tight angle he will have to sail to get out of the shore-zone and back into the clear air will lose far more than 40m versus a sailor who put in the extra gybes and stayed in the stronger winds out to sea.

3 Gybes? Make It Count:

One thing to note is when you do gybe on to port around the windward mark (you have a minimum of 3 gybes to complete on a standard windward/leeward course now) you should always complete your second gybe earlier than the starboard layline to head towards the leeward mark. This allows you to take advantage of any wind direction changes or gusts (see diagram to the left for a visual reference). The difference in downwind angle in 1-2 knot differences of wind is substantial compared to the same wind differences and upwind angle (which is minimal). Approaching the leeward mark on starboard with a final gybe to put you back on to port to round the mark it is important to not oversail the starboard layline as having to head up to make the leeward mark gybe wastes all your advantage in having sailed a different course to the other sailors. You are going to have to gybe back on to port anyhow, so does it make a difference whether its 2m from the leeward mark or 40m?? Better to be safe and always sailing a deep downwind angle than to overshoot and have to head up (crucifying your downwind VMG).

Attacking From Behind:

Assuming two boats are equal in downwind speed, it is difficult but not impossible to pass the leading boat on the downwind leg. Your two options are to sail a better layline (gybe earlier/later) and get the advantage into the leeward mark or to pass the leading boat either to windward or leeward with superior speed.

Passing to Windward:

The generally accepted better side to pass on is the windward side, as passing on the leeward side you have to sail through the very disturbed air and wind-shadow of the leading boat which is difficult to do unless you have a fairly big advantage in board speed over the lead boat. Assuming you are always sailing as deep as possible on the downwind run, luffing a little will increase your board speed at the expense of angle. Often times, the increase in board speed allows you to keep your downwind VMG the same and can help you pass the leading boat on the downwind as he may be sailing slower to go the deepest angle possible. He may luff you to try and defend this attack but within reason you can continue to luff higher and higher and increase your speed to overtake; its very rare for a leading boat to luff you all the way to a beam reach; and this allows you an opportunity to try to scoot through on the leeward side while he is not watching. This tactic works best for heavier sailors as they are usually faster on a broad reach angle.

Passing to Leeward:

Although more difficult, there are times when this tactic should be applied. The main instance in when you are pursuing a group of sailors. Often times, many in the group will be sailing a slightly luffed course to keep themselves out of the dirty air of the boats around them. Provided you are at a safe enough distance to not be affected by their dirty air too much, sailing a very deep course allows you to get into a controlling position leading into the gybe, as you will be closer to the leeward mark if you gybe at the same time as the leading boats. Despite the obvious disadvantages in sailing in someone’s dirty air, if you can sail inside the leading boats you will get the cleanest air when you gybe on to the new tack and if you have sailed deep enough to leeward, you are actually closer to the leeward mark than the leading boats.  

This technique of passing on the second tack rather than the first of the downwind leg is one of the best ways to pass a boat in front of you. The key for it to work is to gybe at the SAME TIME as the lead boat and to make sure you are on or close to the layline. If you make a good gybe you can quickly put yourself in front of the lead boat spilling your dirty air on them and they have no ability to do the same trick to you as you are already on the layline; sailing deeper will not help the former lead boat.

This technique allows lighter sailors to do this more effectively as they are able to sail deeper angles than heavier sailors on the same equipment.

Sail A Better Layline:

The easiest way to pass someone on a downwind leg is to sail the perfect laylines when they don’t. Easier said than done, but using the above techniques for understanding and knowing your downwind angles there is usually always an opportunity to do this in most races as a combination of nerves and pressure had by the leading boat can often times provoke them to sail a safe-layline (that is, to sail over the layline to make sure the leeward mark is made without an extra gybe). As the pursuing boat, you have nothing to lose by sailing an aggressive layline (gybing so early it is a tight run to make the leeward mark, and hoping for a slight wind heading to allow you to make the mark easier) and the lead boat has EVERYTHING to lose by messing up their laylines. Getting yourself into a good leeward position before you make the gybe will dramatically increase the chances of success in this instance.

End Note…

As always, there is nothing more beneficial to improving your racing than by GOING racing. The more courses you sail the more your laylines and tactics will become a reflex instead of a response and you will begin to assimilate the important sailing rules into your long-term memory, instead of your short-term one. Good luck.

Obviously I haven’t made them in every single screen-resolution however I’ve targeted the most commonly used based on the user-stats of this website. I’ve also provided the screen-ratios so if you have a different screen-resolution you can find the appropriate ratio’d version and it should still display nicely. For example if you run a 1280×800 resolution, the Widescreen 16:10 version will fit perfectly on your screen.

Briefly, a quick thank-you to all the sailors who donated their photos for me to use for these wallpapers. I will add some more down the track as better images become available. To give credit where its due, the list of wallpapers includes:

• Alberto Menegatti
• Antoine Albeau
• Gonzalo Costa Hoevel
• Jesper Vesterstrøm
• Sean O’Brien
• Steve Allen

Photographers include John Carter, Tam Hohnberg and John O’Brien however all images have been edited, airbrushed and otherwise touched-up by myself.

Enjoy.

Alberto Menegatti (ITA-456) 1600×1200 (Fullscreen 4:3) 1680×1050 (Widescreen 16:10) 1280×1024 (Fullscreen 5:4) 1024×768 (Fullscreen 4:3)	Antoine Albeau (FRA-192) 1600×1200 (Fullscreen 4:3) 1680×1050 (Widescreen 16:10) 1280×1024 (Fullscreen 5:4) 1024×768 (Fullscreen 4:3)

Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (ARG-3) 1600×1200 (Fullscreen 4:3) 1680×1050 (Widescreen 16:10) 1280×1024 (Fullscreen 5:4) 1024×768 (Fullscreen 4:3)	FW Startline 1600×1200 (Fullscreen 4:3) 1680×1050 (Widescreen 16:10) 1280×1024 (Fullscreen 5:4) 1024×768 (Fullscreen 4:3)

Sean O’Brien (AUS-120) 1600×1200 (Fullscreen 4:3) 1680×1050 (Widescreen 16:10) 1280×1024 (Fullscreen 5:4) 1024×768 (Fullscreen 4:3)	Jesper Vesterstrøm (DEN-111) 1600×1200 (Fullscreen 4:3) 1680×1050 (Widescreen 16:10) 1280×1024 (Fullscreen 5:4) 1024×768 (Fullscreen 4:3)

Chris Ting / Rick Murray / Murray Towndrow 1600×1200 (Fullscreen 4:3) 1680×1050 (Widescreen 16:10) 1280×1024 (Fullscreen 5:4) 1024×768 (Fullscreen 4:3)	Steve Allen / Jesper Vesterstrøm 1600×1200 (Fullscreen 4:3) 1680×1050 (Widescreen 16:10) 1280×1024 (Fullscreen 5:4) 1024×768 (Fullscreen 4:3)

Sean O’Brien (AUS-120) 1600×1200 (Fullscreen 4:3) 1680×1050 (Widescreen 16:10) 1280×1024 (Fullscreen 5:4) 1024×768 (Fullscreen 4:3)	Jesper Vesterstrøm (DEN-111) 1600×1200 (Fullscreen 4:3) 1680×1050 (Widescreen 16:10) 1280×1024 (Fullscreen 5:4) 1024×768 (Fullscreen 4:3)

Gonzalo Costa Hoevel (ARG-3) 1600×1200 (Fullscreen 4:3) 1680×1050 (Widescreen 16:10) 1280×1024 (Fullscreen 5:4) 1024×768 (Fullscreen 4:3)	CarbonSugar.com 1600×1200 (Fullscreen 4:3) 1680×1050 (Widescreen 16:10) 1280×1024 (Fullscreen 5:4) 1024×768 (Fullscreen 4:3)

First and foremost, it is important to clarify a few aspects of terminology used when people talk about fins, as scouring the popular windsurfing forums over the past few years you will find a plethora of information where people are using terms incorrectly and are only adding to the confusion. Here are a few of the key terms used in fin-ology.

Rake:

Rake is simply the angle of the leading edge of the fin, relative to a line perpendicular to the bottom of the board. Everyone started thinking about modifying the rake of their fins in a more mainstream sense around the 2003 FW Worlds. As Deboichet represented about 95% of the fin market at that time, the ‘rake’ scale became popularised under a number system only applicable to Deboichet fins.

Deboichet uses a scale such as +4cm, +6cm, +8cm etc (where +11cm is vertical). Both Kashy and Hurricane use a scale such as 2 degrees, 3 degrees etc (where 0 degrees is vertical).

Deboichet: +8cm = 2.5 degrees = 30mm back from vertical.

Ps. Remember that MORE rake, means the fin is LESS upright (more swept-back at the tip). Because Deboichet’s scale is counting up as you decrease the rake, a lot of people have mistakenly written on forums about more rake when they are actually talking about moving fins from +6cm to +8cm, which is LESS rake.

Generally speaking, the more upright your fin is, the more lift it generates at the expense of induced drag. In light winds, people usually have relatively upright fins and in strong winds, some may have their fins with a little more rake to keep control of the board. Another important point to understand about rake is that by changing the rake of a fin, you are also influencing the twist.

Twist:

Twist is probably one of the least well understood characteristics of a fin. It is most commonly mistaken as being ‘torsional-stiffness’, when it is in fact, something completely different. When sailing, the righting moment of the sailor is countered by the side-force (or lateral resistance) of the board and the lift provided by the fin. Twist (or in aerodynamic terminology, “geometric twist”) is the result of the lift developed by the fin acting very close to 1/4 of the chord, back from the leading edge, while the neutral axis for bending is about 40% back from the leading edge; so there is a torsional moment when the fin bends. Simply put, as you flex a fin when you sail, this causes the fin to twist.

The geometric twist is more pronounced if you have a fin that is more swept-back (raked). So you will probably get more twist with an R13 at +4cm than you would with an identical R13 at +8cm.

Twist is important for the performance of a fin both upwind and downwind. Having no twist in a fin allows you to generate a better upwind angle but at the expense of becoming uncomfortable (or difficult) to sail downwind. This is probably because twist reduces the induced drag of a fin (or vortex drag from the tip) which is a significant portion of the total drag of a fin at the speeds a windsurfer travels. The induced drag is reduced when the angle of attack [aoa] at the tip of the fin is less than the aoa at the root of the fin (particularly for a fin with a planform of a tapered leading edge, such as an R13).

*I’ve tried to keep this article relatively simple, but if you’d like to read some more about induced drag and geometric twist, try these:

• http://www.auf.asn.au/groundschool/umodule4.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induced_drag

Many top sailors will talk about the performance of their fins downwind, as much as they talk about it upwind. To be fast around the course you generally want a fin that performs downwind just as well as it did upwind. If you talk to some of the Pro’s on the circuit about downwind performance in fins you might hear them say that their fin is ‘working’ for them off the wind and allowing them to ‘drive’ off the fin to go extra deep. Most likely they are referring to the twist in their fin, as the twist allows the fin to ‘depower’ to some extent and let you drive off it, deeper downwind, whereas some fins with no twist are creating too much lift downwind and force you to head upwind, giving you that ‘uncomfortable’ feeling downwind.

Similarly, it’s been said by some Pro’s that soft fins that twist are actually faster upwind in high-winds (despite what’s in your mind about stiffer fins being better in high winds). The twist in the fin can help it depower when you’ve generated too much lift in a gust and help to settle the board down. Having a board with a very wide tail (+81cm) will help with the control in high winds also.

Torsional-Stiffness:

Put a fin in your board and then grip the tip of the fin with your thumb and index finger. Twist the fin tip like you are unscrewing the lid of a Coke bottle. What you are witnessing is ‘torsional stiffness’ and although it is related, it is NOT ‘twist’ in the sense of how a fin manufacturer will be measuring it.

High torsional stiffness has been recently receiving more focus with the popularity of the Kashy fins on the market. Most of the better Kashy fins I have seen are more torsionally stiff than the majority of Deboichet/Hurricane fins and I believe this helps the Kashy fins retain a constant angle of attack which helps increase lift whilst maintaining good upwind speed.

The confusing thing about twist vs torsional-stiffness is probably because some people may assume that a softer fin is always going to have less torsional-stiffness and therefore more twist, but in actual fact that is not true. Both twist and torsional-stiffness are dependent on the planform, rake and most importantly, the fibre directions when the fin is layed-up during manufacture. As a result, a fin with extremely high torsional-stiffness can be built to twist a lot, or it can be built to have no twist at all. It is not possible to check twist with your fingers using the method above; it is possible however, to gauge torsional-stiffness with your fingers using this method.

Flex-Stiffness:

This is the stiffness you generally hear referred to when you buy a fin. A soft fin, a S–, an XXS, a 651; or so the lingo goes. Choosing the right stiffness of fin for the conditions you are sailing is very important, however the choices are about as individual as they come and depends heavily on your technique, sail brand, board brand and wind/wave conditions.

In flat water (eg. a lake), you put a more constant load on your fin when sailing upwind whereas on the ocean with swell and wind blown chop on the swell, the load on the fin is spiking as you go over waves or if you get slightly airborne over a chop. The other thing to consider is rider weight and sail size. A 90kg rider holding his 11m in 25 knots is most likely putting a considerable amount more load on his fin than a 72kg rider on his 9.8m in the same wind.

Selecting A New Fin

So you are going to go and buy yourself a nice new shiny fin. First, you should ask yourself a few questions about what you want the fin for.

• Light winds? You most likely want a soft, powerful fin.
• Light winds in shifty/flukey conditions (ie, if you sail on an inland lake, with fresh water or in off-shore winds)? You most likely want a fin that points super high, even if it is slow; pointing high allows you to get into the new wind quicker.
• Medium-strong winds on the ocean? It’s possible you might want a fin that travels faster, even at the expense of a little height, to be able to dodge between swells and help with your downwind speed.

Now What? Some Ideas on Fin Tuning

Now that we’ve covered a little bit of terminology and some super basic ideas to think about when selecting a fin to buy, it’s time to move over to how to tune a fin and what to think about when you are testing fins against other fins. It is quite difficult to explain what you are looking for when you tune any aspect of your gear, let alone fins. Tuning fins is about an intuitive feeling for going fast, pointing high or going deep downwind and this key skill that the Pro’s possess is something that mere mortals find difficult to grasp. Notwithstanding what I have just said, I still believe it is important that someone at least makes an attempt to explain what this feeling is, because that knowledge is one of the most sought after pieces of information in competitive windsurfing and probably something that most Pro’s will not want to give away.

On that note… here goes…

The approach I suggest you use when testing fins involves 3 stages:

1. Trying the new fin; understanding and learning its ’effect’ on the board
2. Testing the fin against the best fin you already have
3. Testing against a training partner

Stage 1: The “Effect”

The first thing you should think about when you try a new fin is its “effect” on the board; paying most of your attention to the ‘trim’ of the board. Most boards, generally speaking, like to be sailed with the nose riding high (lifting a little) and railing well upwind with even pressure between the front and back legs (or a little more pressure on your back leg if necessary). Some fins do this naturally (like a standard R13), but with other fins (even some that may be faster than an R13) you may need to work hard to develop this response from the fin.

There is no substitute for time-on-water. Just go sailing and get used to the feeling off your new fin. Forget about changing settings at this stage. Just sail your new fin.

Stage 2: Test the Best

To test any fin, you should always test it against the best fin you already have. Go for a run on your current best fin and find the setup that gets the most out of that fin in the conditions you are currently sailing (boom height, mast-track position etc). Now without changing any gear settings, go for a run on the new fin and pay close attention to how this fin effects the trim of the board (does the board feel stickier? sluggish? more responsive? lifting the nose too much and losing control?). If there is a difference, the first thing to try is moving your mast-track. I always suggest moving your mast-track in larger movements; 3cm at a time can sometimes be good to get a first impression on trim. When you are more dialled in to the feeling you can start moving it 1cm at a time.

If there is no difference in how the board sails/rails upwind then try moving your mast-track around anyhow. It’s possible, this new fin, even though it hasn’t changed the trim of your board, could have more control at the top end and allow you to run the mast-track further back than your best fin, which may be a faster setting on your fw board.

Downwind, mostly you want to find a fin that helps fly-the-fin, which is, excessively railing to reduce the wetted surface-area of the board. Traditional tapered leading-edge fins with a little twist such as an R13 or Hurricane 4a will rail the board almost with no concentration necessary. Some of the newer, softer fins with more torsional-stiffness, (such as a new Select R07 or some model Kashy’s) might require a slightly more upright stance or different mast-track position to fly-the-fin more efficiently. The fins that will do this the best will depend on the board/sail combination being used.

Stage 3: Race Your Buddy

Now that you’ve tuned your gear to compliment your new fin, go and test it against your training partner to check its performance. It’s important in this stage to have a consistent training partner of a similar speed and one who appreciates the rules of ‘2-boat tuning’ and doesn’t just put you in the hopeless position all the time. You need to swap positions regularly when you run to make sure your position isn’t affecting the other sailor’s performance and it is likely, with two sailors, that one sailor might point higher and the other might go faster on their current setups. Every so often on the run upwind, change positions from windward to leeward boat, to see if you can judge whether one fin is going better than the other.

It’s important to understand how much ‘better’ one fin is going in the scope of the original points that were mentioned “when selecting a new fin”. HIGHER is different to FASTER. Imagine those strengths/weaknesses if you were in a race. It’s not much good being excited your new fin is faster upwind than your friend’s if he is going higher than you - when you purchased this fin to sail in shifty offshore conditions on a fresh-water lake. He will most likely punish you around the course and you’ll be 300 euros poorer.

Don’t forget downwind performance!

That’s It, We’re Done!

This is a pretty ‘general’ write-up about tuning fins, simply because the variables in windsurfing are too great to write a decent article on this unless you are writing about using a particular sail-brand, on a particular board, for guys at a particular body weight sailing in particular conditions. What I hoped to achieve, is to create a reference point and lay-down a few important points about creating your own system to efficiently let you test fins (with or without a training partner/gps-unit analysis) and get people thinking more about “what fins do to your board trim”, rather than obsessing over what fin is Antoine using.

If you remember the few key pointers about fin testing and learn a little about the terminology of fins, it will help you get more out of the millions of forum posts out there on fins (ie, I suggest you Google anything that Boogie has written on a forum in the last 6 years).

Hopefully this article will help with the next fin purchase. Down the track we will attempt to write something more specific to boards as with the new 2-year lock on board shapes, we are stuck with the current gear for some time now … In the meantime, here are a few frequently asked questions on fins from various windsurfing forums around the world.

Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Fins.

Q > I’ve read some Pro’s now prefer softer fins for high-wind; I thought stiffer fins were better for high-winds?

• http://www.star-board.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3526

I think you will find that statement to have been true about 3-4 seasons ago, but it doesn’t apply to the current gear. Since 2006, with the Starboard 160 (and now 161, 162). The tail-widths of the FW boards have increased dramatically; the same for nearly all board brands, not just Starboards. As a result, with even more power from the tail of the board we can run bigger and more powerful fins than ever before.

Although cutdown fins have been around a long time, they probably weren’t as mainstream back in the Starboard 147/158 days, but now look at the R19 (as a 76cm cutdown), which is the “standard” foil to come with a 161/162 board.

If you want more power in a fin, generally speaking, you make it bigger (ie, a cutdown) or you make it softer. So now we are seeing more people using soft fins in all conditions, not just lightwinds. And some (myself included to some extent), using one fin for nearly all conditions – the lightwind fin that works great in highwinds.

So with the extra control we now have with our wider tail boards and everyone using softer and softer fins, the brands have worked on the nose shapes, making them thinner and more boat-like (specifically on the 162 and Gaastra Vapor), which has allowed us to control these soft powerful fins downwind, where before it was uncomfortable with such power under your feet.

Another aspect that I suspect that plays a role is the “twist” in these fins. Hard to know exactly what happens with a fin under your feet, but I suspect the extra twist in the softer fins allows them to depower as they flex when you sail downwind and help with control, whereas a Medium fin would be trickier downwind and a Hard fin even trickier again as they can’t release the power and so end up forcing you upwind instead of allowing you the control to drive downwind.

Q > This new fin I have is making the board sail very flat, is this slow?

Probably. Depends on your board. As mentioned above in the tuning section, you are most likely sailing with one of these newer, softer and more powerful fins (a good example is a Kashy or what Deboichet is most likely trying to replicate with an R20). These fins create a small amount of vertical lift which in a sense, lifts the tail of your board which in turn, drops the nose of your board. I’ve read on some forums that with these fins the boards need to be sailed very flat, but I think you’ll find the fin is making your board sail flat (in other words, you don’t need to work so hard to get the optimum trim out of the fin; it is doing it for you).

Now go windsurfing!