What now ???

Hey all.

Have been doin the hard slog for the last year and have managed to go from total kook trying to just uphaul on my giant prehistoric cheap arse "beginner gear, to getting into the straps and planing harnessed up and pulling of some carve jibes 60% of the time.

So now I find I am getting a little frustrated that I would like to be pushing myself a little harder and start getting some aerial stuff happening, like chop hops or eventually some sort of big aerials and loops.

I mainly sail at lucky bay and have seen how easy the kiters can get loads of air and am am starting to get a little worried that their aerial antics are looking a little bit tempting and maybe t/bagging might be worth a try.

Any tips to progress to the next would be welcome as I really do enjoy my windsurfing but just want to move on from going fast and trying to get my turns sorted.

Cheers Peta.

stop sailing at lucky bay and try dutchies or leighton.
You will start jumping and have more fun!

learn how to water start in swell and chop when over powered (upwind). and pretty much any condition possible.quickly and effectivly without burning to much energy.
WATERSTART in any condition is next!!!!
waterstart waterstart waterstart waterstart waterstart waterstart watershart!!!
ive always believe learning one discipline completely before moving on to the next. you have to choose tee bagging or windsurfing if you want to become pro efficient and a master there is no point doing half a job then quitting>>>
im in my 4th year and still a complete noob when i watch professionals.
i dont think ill master this sport in my lifetime to be honest. always learning.

or get a GPS and join a GPSTC team (on behalf of Mineral who must have missed the opportunity to post that).

And for BusterWA, with waterstarting, just stop falling of then you dont need to.


Seriously, Windxtasy is right, that starts a whole new learning curve/ladder. Then you have all the "degrees" of ocean to progress through.

Yep, sums it up for most of us.

Windsurfing is not hard, you just have to give it time. I cant work out why people say it's so hard I have just been back into windsurfing for 2 years now. when I got back into it all I could do was, beach start, uphaul and ride in the foot straps on a plane, and do a few jumps. I could hardly water start and could not jibe and tack.

Now it's all easy, just like driving a car. I have even learnt to water strat in 40+ knots with a 5.4 m sail, thanks to last saturday at Ricketts. I can jibe ok and me tacks are all cool. This summer wich is realy cool, I have been getting better at me chop jump too.

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easty said...

It's all relative - to the size of gear you are on. If I sailed a 140L board, i could say it's easy


WRONG I have learnt on a 120 liter board and i am heavy so its more like a 100 liter. Board size just makes the learning curve quicker. You still need to learn to be able to jibe on a plane what ever board size you have and it all takes time my friend.

You are taking the right steps, take it from a dinosaur if you are getting "60%" of your carve jibes in your first year you're progressing well, took me longer than that! Like others mentioned get your waterstarts sorted, it's the quickest way to get back on the board and it might just save you from a predicament. Make it a priority!



Chop hops are fun, we all did them to start our aerial repertoire of which mine was very limited. Use a chop at first then you can eventually lead to not even needing one to get some small air even in dead flat water.



If beginner kiters can be lifted and slammed into immoveable sea furniture in their first hour of having a go I don't think it can be that hard to get air. Now lets see a sailboarding beginner in their first hour try to do the same thing. Not likely. Getting any kind of air on any kind of windsurfer and the sailor has reached a level of technical competence they should be proud of. Personally a windsurfer in flight is a much more beautiful and exciting sight than a kiter in the air....dangling and wiggling to make it look more interesting. Just my observation.

The board doesn't know how old or cheap it is, if it's got footstraps it can jump under control. Get on the plane, find a bit of chop, hit it, pull down on the boom at the same time push down on your board and spring up, pull up with your feet in the straps forward foot first and hold that possie for a sec. Show the wind some of the boards underside (reason for lifting the front foot first) and it will assist you getting some height...you're now airborne. The next challenge is to maintain the same speed before you launched when you hit the water again and remain upright and planing...that looks super kewl. The more speed you have the easier it gets. The larger the chop the higher you will go.

We were bored one day and I remember a few of us jumped a dredging pipe half submerged (about 2' above the water?) in near perfectly flat water in a lake with just enough wind to get on a plane on semi-sinker short boards. Fins easily clearing the pipe. Height was no big deal but illustrates that you can jump without the need for a chop as a ramp. Your challenge has been set Grasshopper. Have fun!

Sheesh, I told you it's all still in my head...now all I've got to do is follow my own advice. How much does a TC weigh and where are those straps?