Seems a piddly thing to ask, but A) my uphauls are all getting pretty old (not used in a very long time, and I'm worried about the bungee coming apart due to age), B) they were homemade from cord, webbing, and bungee cord, and C) they are pretty short, given that I like to run my windsurfing boom pretty low, and like the uphaul out of the way. (And D), they weren't that critical to me back in the day, as I just didn't used to use them very often.)

Now that I'm trying to get into foiling, it seems I'm going to be having a much more personal relationship with my uphaul, and maybe I should get something longer (ie, with the higher boom height needed for foiling, the uphaul has zero slack now) and stronger and more reliable (ie, not old, brittle bungee cord).

I'm not looking to drop a huge amount on an uphaul, but I'd rather not throw my money away on something bad, either.

Recommendations?

I use standard on my 7 booms.
3 for foiling.
I use 51" boom height for wave, fsw, and freeride foil.
54" for slalom and race foiling.
In between for freerace windsurf.
That means I have 7 uphauls attached to 7 booms and one new for a spare

I have a Dakine uphaul, $20 maybe, but I modified it with a strap 3/4 of the way up with a loop on the end (handhold and also hook hold when I was using my 9.0 rig) to use like the Chinook easy uphaul, also added a thin bungee line from the end of the strap to the bungee loop, that goes around the mast end, so it does not flap around in-flight. I high winds the strap with handhold loop end really helps to uphaul without having to bend over so far initially, so I get a couple of hand grips on the strap before I get my hand on the main uphaul bungee line.

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Sandman1221 said..
I modified it with a strap 3/4 of the way up with a loop on the end

Yeah, Starboard seems to make one with the extra bit hanging down - looks like it could be useful, though I could also see that loose end being hard to grab hold of, if the uphaul were under the sail, and/or if the loose end were floating around in the water, just out of reach. :-). Sounds like your little extra bungee bit would help with that, though.

I see a few that claim to have some type of foam balls in the webbing, too. I'm used to just tying a few knots along the length of the webbing. I definitely like having some type of solid lump that my tired hands can get some grip on when working my way up the line.

For smaller sails/shorter booms I like the Dakine Power Uphaul (wind.dakine.com/collections/wind-accessories/products/power-uphaul?variant=39802200228023). It's easy to grab and you can put the little handles in a good spot for using the uphaul for your front hand when sailing upwind or in light air. You can make something similar yourself but for $20 I'd just as soon give the shop or Dakine the money.

For big sails above 8.5 (or other sails with a big luff sleeve) it's hard to beat the EZ-Uphaul.

Just keep using what you've got - it may yet last you years. Uphaul by the harness line when it fails.

My Foiling rigs, RDM masts,booms,small sails are so light, pretty much anything will do. I saw a video of one of the IQ race guys with a 9.0, and the up haul line looked like kite string.. ouch

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Faff said..
Just keep using what you've got - it may yet last you years. Uphaul by the harness line when it fails.

LoL, nah, I was kinda nervous about the lower bungee coming apart the other day - it's sorta sprouting rubber bits. Given the amount of uphauling I'm doing on the foil board, I don't need that kind of trouble - I've got enough trouble just trying to figure out how to foil. :-)

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WsurfAustin said..
My Foiling rigs, RDM masts,booms,small sails are so light, pretty much anything will do. I saw a video of one of the IQ race guys with a 9.0, and the up haul line looked like kite string.. ouch

Yeah...and when that 9.0's luff sleeve fills with water and you're in swells it really really sucks to drop and have to pull it up. At least the board is ~200liters and easy to stand on.

After spending way too much time poring over uphauls online last night, I ordered an Ion Tec uphaul. It looked like a good combination of comfort, simplicity, yet its adjustable, and has the option of replacing the upper and lower rope and bungee parts. The Dakine Power Uphaul looks intriguing, so if the Tec doesn't work out well, I think that one is next on my list.

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WsurfAustin said..
My Foiling rigs, RDM masts,booms,small sails are so light, pretty much anything will do. I saw a video of one of the IQ race guys with a 9.0, and the up haul line looked like kite string.. ouch

Probably using kit string for less wind resistance and wind disruption across the sail starting at the mast.

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jims said..
After spending way too much time poring over uphauls online last night, I ordered an Ion Tec uphaul. It looked like a good combination of comfort, simplicity, yet its adjustable, and has the option of replacing the upper and lower rope and bungee parts. The Dakine Power Uphaul looks intriguing, so if the Tec doesn't work out well, I think that one is next on my list.

jims Here is my homemade easy uphaul strap made from a 34" long (from end of loops) 1" wide nylon webbing (sew a small loop on one end and a larger loop for your hand/hook on the other end). loop the small end (lower pic.) around the uphaul rope just above a knot (top pic.), to keep it from sliding down. Then tie a thin 1/8" bunge from the end of the large loop to the uphaul bunge loop that goes around the mast base. Makes uphauling a lot easier, and the strap also helps in high winds to swing the sail (just off the water) around to the leeward side of the board after a crash, while allowing you to stand upright (lot less lower back strain).

You know there is no wind when we talk about uphauls. Just waxed my snowboards and hitting the trails tomorrow. Good luck.

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Sandman1221 said..
jims Here is my homemade easy uphaul strap

I like that - I'll probably give it a shot - looks handy! (literally and figuratively)

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ZeroVix said..
You know there is no wind when we talk about uphauls

LoL, it's the truth!!

If freeride foiling with small sails the EZ uphaul really just gets in the way in my experience. Above a 7m is where it shines.
Then again I frequently uphaul just using the mast on foil gear.

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Grantmac said..
If freeride foiling with small sails the EZ uphaul really just gets in the way in my experience. Above a 7m is where it shines.
Then again I frequently uphaul just using the mast on foil gear.

I always use my easy uphaul strap because it reduces lower back strain/effort by a lot, my lower back is good and want to keep it that way. But when I did not have the thin line bungee on it, sometimes the easy strap would get lost under the sail so on my 5.8 I would just grab the main uphaul line, and that is when I noticed how much more strain the normal uphaul put on my lower back versus the easy uphaul strap. You have to bend over the same amount to pick up both, but the easy strap allows you to stand almost upright so you can use your knees to lift the sail before your lower back feels the weight of the sail, add wind pressure onto the sail and the difference in lower back and overall effort increases even more between the two straps.

And the taller you are the more the easy strap relieves strain on the lower back.

Personal preference for DaKine. Stretched out 2 Chinook uphauls in 2 seasons. 30 season Chinook user for hardware, but will not purchase a Chinook uphaul ever again.

Started foiling and prefer to use the smallest possible sail. Usually not large enough to water start without significant effort. Kicking with the foil wing scares me. Lots of up hauling. The basic Dakine uphauls at the "local" shop have been out of stock since early in the year. Why I replaced the 1st stretched out Chinook this past Spring with the now 2nd stretched out. Hopefully just a bad batch of bungee cord used.

If uphauling anything lighter then a +8m double luff race sail is causing back problems then it's time to address some overall fitness issues unless you are very light/short and at that point you simply don't need that much sail to foil.
The EZ uphaul gets caught in footstraps when waterstarting on most boards and since I waterstart +80% of the time while using a regular uphaul takes literally no effort it's a no brainer for me.