I've never seen such advice before like putting the backfoot first ! I cannot do that with my freeride/freerace board ... straps are too far outside .. may be it can work for models where straps are more inside.

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Lezardo said..
I've never seen such advice before like putting the backfoot first ! I cannot do that with my freeride/freerace board ... straps are too far outside .. may be it can work for models where straps are more inside.

As I understood him, he didn't say put the back strap first instead of the front strap. He said put the foot in the back strap before take off.

Listen a bit, I probably disagree with so much.... First thing I would say, remove foot straps and forget about them for now, same goes harness lines, sail size should be at least 1 M2 less, and larger, beginner foil. This idea in the beginning of video that wind foil is better in light wind, no chop is also from 4-5 years ago...

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Paducah said..

Lezardo said..
I've never seen such advice before like putting the backfoot first ! I cannot do that with my freeride/freerace board ... straps are too far outside .. may be it can work for models where straps are more inside.

As I understood him, he didn't say put the back strap first instead of the front strap. He said put the foot in the back strap before take off.

He clearly said "It's much better sometimes to sail along with your back foot in first ... " .. and in the vid it is not just before taking off ... he's accelerating and pumping to get speed with the back foot in only ... never seen that in any vids, any courses, any classic tutos ... especially for beginners.

I liked it, a few different takes which makes sense cause things are still evolving

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Paducah said..

Lezardo said..
I've never seen such advice before like putting the backfoot first ! I cannot do that with my freeride/freerace board ... straps are too far outside .. may be it can work for models where straps are more inside.

As I understood him, he didn't say put the back strap first instead of the front strap. He said put the foot in the back strap before take off.

At 5'32 he said put the back foot in 1st.
When I started, I found it easier to remove the back strap, as I could quickly move my back foot for fast adjustments in gusts. Now I've put the back strap back on. I dont always us it in stronger winds.
Maybe it depends on the kit used. With a massive front wing/small sail, then back foot 1st might work, dunno.

Since this thread is about learning to windfoil as a beginner, I agree with maimi's comment above. Leave off the footstraps altogether. Learn without the footstraps or harness. Get everything figured out. Foot position. How to handle the sail in varying winds (this is massively different from when you are sailing with a fin).

A beginner will have enough terror with balance, catapults, pitch control, and flying above the water without having to deal with footstraps and harness.

Then, when you have the balance figured out and can fly distances without touching down and can reasonably control the pitch (taming the porpoising), check your front foot position. Then mount the front footstraps there and use them all the time. Some experts never mount back footstraps at all.

Then, the harness is the LAST thing you go to as your learning curve advances.

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utcminusfour said..

Thanks for posting this video. Watching him pump the sail early on in the video was quite interesting. I feel I've been doing it wrong now. It took what seemed like so little effort to get up and going. Will definitely be trying to pump the sail that way next time I get out.

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PhilUK said..

Paducah said..

Lezardo said..
I've never seen such advice before like putting the backfoot first ! I cannot do that with my freeride/freerace board ... straps are too far outside .. may be it can work for models where straps are more inside.

As I understood him, he didn't say put the back strap first instead of the front strap. He said put the foot in the back strap before take off.

At 5'32 he said put the back foot in 1st.
When I started, I found it easier to remove the back strap, as I could quickly move my back foot for fast adjustments in gusts. Now I've put the back strap back on. I dont always us it in stronger winds.
Maybe it depends on the kit used. With a massive front wing/small sail, then back foot 1st might work, dunno.

Eeek. You are absolutely correct. I would never do this. Maybe it works for him but I'm in the leave the back strap off camp. I've got to admit my attention in the first half of the video was spotty because it felt like a Severne advert, not that they don't make good gear, and I was wanting to hear the tutorial part. Appreciate the correction.

Many years ago, I exited a jibe and for some reason put the back foot in first and immediately catapulted as I had nothing to keep me anchored to the board. The front foot just lifted. Since then I've always gone front foot first, fin or foil. YMMV.