Raise your booms, ladies and gentlemen.

I had some unexpected and undetected boom slippage/droppage yesterday. When I eventually noticed and raised it up again I was reminded of the virtues of high boom.

I planed earlier
I went faster
I went upwind better
The board became more loose and maneuverable
I was able to carry more speed on the wave


"Higher boom = higher fun levels", pass it on.

+1

i also adjust my harness after a while as it rides up and does the same as a low boom.

My booms are alway sliding down. Scratches up the mast too.

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ikw777 said...

My booms are alway sliding down. Scratches up the mast too.

Stick a bit of inner tube inside the clamp with contact cement. And dont lubricate your mast

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ikw777 said...

My booms are alway sliding down. Scratches up the mast too.

ikw777,
I glue 1.5mm thick rubber matting to the inside of my boom clamps - this eliminates any slippage and you don't have to have clamp really tight which can crush your mast. Actually I have been trying to source some tubular rubber that would go around the mast (similar to a cricket bat handle, but haven't had much luck). I really could just find a bike tyre tube that tightly fits over mast, although I'm not quite sure how difficult it would make mast to thread up luff pocket.

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NotWal said...

ikw777 said...

My booms are alway sliding down. Scratches up the mast too.

Stick a bit of inner tube inside the clamp with contact cement. And dont lubricate your mast

Beat me to it Notwal.

question:
Do you use the same boom height for slalom sailing, freeride sailing and wave sailing?
I have the feeling a higher boom is required with the more upright stance on FSW/wave boards.

I wasn't too sure about the other disciplines so I went on an image hunt:








I think it's fair to say that it doesn't only apply to wave sailing.

been slowly raising my boom height for years.as your technique gets better usually you can get away with a little higher boom. most new to sport have boom very low for control.

a higher boom increases board lift significantly, so getting thru lulls should be easier.

downside is a higher boom means a more vertical stance which in turn results in less lateral push of feet in straps, which can mean your front foot starts coming out of footstrap[esp in chop].

time then to put boom down a little.

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petermac33 said...

been slowly raising my boom height for years.as your technique gets better usually you can get away with a little higher boom. most new to sport have boom very low for control.

a higher boom increases board lift significantly, so getting thru lulls should be easier.

downside is a higher boom means a more vertical stance which in turn results in less lateral push of feet in straps, which can mean your front foot starts coming out of footstrap[esp in chop].

time then to put boom down a little.

are you lengthening your lines too?

a higher boom makes a harder water start

love those pics of the windsurf chicks there great keep them comen fellaswill have to ad one of them to my screen saver

I think it's very much a case of horses for courses with this one. For example on my quasi formula setup I run a very high boom (over head height). I do this for a number of reasons: firstly the board is pretty wide so when you're hiked out there your effective boom height is lower. The second and probably largest factor is that when you sail that type of gear you typically sail with the rig raked back as far as you can, this drastically lowers your effective boom height. The end result of the abnormal boom height when non planing is that when you're in the normal sailing position...it's pretty normal.

Conversely this setup on my wave gear feels straight up stupid. On wave gear I run my boom about chin height, or between shoulder and chin. Because you sail wave gear with the rig far more upright you don't get the variation in 'effective boom height' and I find sailing waves with my boom any higher than this frankly...difficult :)

I have to agree guys, I went for my first sail this season last week and made a point of setting the boom high, I had a really nice sail and not once was I ejected over the front.

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petermac33 said...
downside is a higher boom means a more vertical stance which in turn results in less lateral push of feet in straps, which can mean your front foot starts coming out of footstrap[esp in chop].

Ah, that may explain why I've had problems keeping my front feet from slipping out of the straps at times, particularly over choppy water, though I only had my boom set halfway between shoulder and chest height which I didn't think would be considered overly high. When it did happen a lot, I put it down to footstrap positioning!

Another thing about boom height, I recently brought a new 93L freeride/slalom board to replace my much used 85L freeride board. Using the same rigs on the 93L with the same boom height and settings, the 93L felt like it was being held back and didn't go upwind as well as I expected it to. I raised the boom about 2-3cm from where I had been using it for some time (on the 85L) and the new board came to life! Now much better upwind with considerably more speed and control (don't think I could sail comfortably with the same boom height on the 85L though, did experiment with boom position many times on this board before finding the 'sweet spot').

one year in hawaii, hedgie looked at my rig and said "whats up with your boom?"
i said "it's comfy" he said "be comfy and raise it 4 inches if you want performance and control"

gospel

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greenleader said...

one year in hawaii, hedgie looked at my rig and said "whats up with your boom?"
i said "it's comfy" he said "be comfy and raise it 4 inches if you want performance and control"

gospel

well said! and the gospel starts at your chin.

shoulder height is low.

if you are strugling with the front foot try more downhaul or outhaul and longer lines as gingerpom says.

There's always an exception the rule - take Phil Nott from Moreton Bay Mob. He's one of the more consistent sailors who has his boom set around stomach height.

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sausage said...

There's always an exception the rule - take Phil Nott from Moreton Bay Mob. He's one of the more consistent sailors who has his boom set around stomach height.

lol, that's true,

but doesn't mean it's right.

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greenleader said...

one year in hawaii, hedgie looked at my rig and said "whats up with your boom?"
i said "it's comfy" he said "be comfy and raise it 4 inches if you want performance and control"

gospel

I had a similar comment from Rohan Cudmore many years ago.

Now the boom stays around shoulder to chin height.

Peter Hart did an article a while ago where he started out with the premise that higher booms are better for everyone. He got one of his clients to raise their boom and found that they sailed worse, and were sailing better when they went back to their low boom height.

The article was called 'Gorilla Factor' I think, and he ended up comparing the lengths of peoples arms relative to their height. Not everyone has the same relative arm length, and not everyone sails well with a high boom.

Surely, everyone can try their booms at different heights and see how they perform and see the difference? I know myself when trying to plane a bit earlier I can raise the boom up to help, but if I am way overpowered I can lower it and feel more comfortable.

So is my boom too low, too high or just right.

Ignore all the other bad things, just the boom height

in the top photo i'd say your lines are too short for that boom height although i think the boom is good.

Hey Gestalt,
There are some great photos of boom heights from the KA Sails thread from Burrum this year - especially Phil (and not to forget his fashionable attire). Although I cannot copy photos into here as the thread is too old.
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=49881&SearchTerms=burrum

yes, and most of the booms are too low.

here is a photo of the guy who won





mk is another fast guy, he got the peak speed award one year.



i reckon you can pick those that have raced by where they rig their booms typically.

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windtechno said...

a higher boom makes a harder water start

do you still fall off? [}:)]

Gestalt,
Throw that one of Phil in the mix for comparison.

no, it will only prove me to be completly wrong again

here ya go sausage





i think it's a neil pryde thing.

www.guycribb.com/windsurfing_technique_holiday_DVD_0052v01.htm

i'm onboard panda,

i posted those photos above as phil is regularly sailing up near 40 knots and is one of the quick guys in qld and runs a low boom.

sausage was onto it.