It's often recommended to raise the boom to free the board / get going earlier.
I sail really gusty conditions so I need the harness lines long to allow me to get in and out quickly. When I raise the boom I'd need to lengthen the lines so that I can still get in and out. What effect does lengthening the lines have e.g- does it negate the raised boom?

The idea is that we place our body so we can have max leverage against our sail. The sail works best when vertical.

We look to have all of our weight through harness and stiff legs to drive the power into the board via fin.

Depending on your harness bar looseness (I like mine firm) and what you consider a high boom then yes they can be connected.

I like the image of having our sail upright, our back straight as against a wall and our legs pushing off as sliding down rock climbing, no seating though!

Select to expand quote

sboardcrazy said..
It's often recommended to raise the boom to free the board / get going earlier.
I sail really gusty conditions so I need the harness lines long to allow me to get in and out quickly. When I raise the boom I'd need to lengthen the lines so that I can still get in and out. What effect does lengthening the lines have e.g- does it negate the raised boom?

Raising the boom does provide lift and helps fly the fin. You can lengthen your harness lines if you want and this will not effect this lift benefit. However while longer harness lines are good for control in high wind, they hinder pointing ability. Like most things, the best boom height and harness line length is a compromise and depends on wind strength, water state and technique. For me, pointing ability is important, so I've recently shortened my harness lines from 32 to 28 inches. At this length I can still adjust my boom height up or down 3 inches depending on wind strength to optimize lift. Boom height is not your only tool to help free the board. Moving the mast base towards the tail also creates lift.

Select to expand quote

John340 said..

sboardcrazy said..
It's often recommended to raise the boom to free the board / get going earlier.
I sail really gusty conditions so I need the harness lines long to allow me to get in and out quickly. When I raise the boom I'd need to lengthen the lines so that I can still get in and out. What effect does lengthening the lines have e.g- does it negate the raised boom?

Raising the boom does provide lift and helps fly the fin. You can lengthen your harness lines if you want and this will not effect this lift benefit. However while longer harness lines are good for control in high wind, they hinder pointing ability. Like most things, the best boom height and harness line length is a compromise and depends on wind strength, water state and technique. For me, pointing ability is important, so I've recently shortened my harness lines from 32 to 28 inches. At this length I can still adjust my boom height up or down 3 inches depending on wind strength to optimize lift. Boom height is not your only tool to help free the board. Moving the mast base towards the tail also creates lift.

Thanks. Yes I've noticed it's harder to get upwind if they are too long. That's good if the length won't stuff up boom height.
I've always kept the mastfoot in the middle even with weedies but I'm starting to move it back a bit if conditions are tame enough.