i'm still working on my light weight foot strap's, not being a formula sailor i'm wondering if formula strap's need to be wider and stiffer too handle the extra pressure from the bigger sails and fin,and the same for speed sailing
Yeh, hate that heel dragging on small slalom/speed boards. I got that when I sailed a 89l AHD GT Special, it was unbearable.
If you've got it on your front foot too you get loads of spray in your eyes. That board was 59cm wide, I really wonder how big guys, who logically have bigger feet, can get on tiny speed boards which are >50cm wide....
I can't really comment on speedboards as I don't ride them, but formula straps can't be too wide.
They certainly need to be pretty strong as if you're b@lls enough to stay in the outside straps downwind in windy conditions you'll see you have to tighten straps regularly as even with the anti-twists, they twist around with all the pressure. I've torn a bunch of straps over the years for the same reason.
Your front foot on a formula board controls the trim of the entire board so the strap needs to be tight, stiff and not able to stretch (ie, that rules out all the comfy kiting straps that we tested out). The lighter you go, usually the more they cut your feet though but there is a few nice ones out there with very little water absorption and a decent amount of padding. They are the same width as normal straps on a waveboard or whatever which I think is the perfect width.
I would be worried on a speedboard about holding you toes down and heels up? Even on the flattest course there is still some bumps, how can you control the trim of the board? Wouldn't want to spin out at that speed :-0
