Hi Everyone,

I've recently moved to WA and picked up windsurfing again after a 20-year break. I've got a great JP Funster 160 board. I'm now able to get into the straps and harness regularly, and am discovering the wonderful feeling of planing. The problem is that as I'm flying along I feel out of control. The board wanders left and right, and I'm being regularly thrown over the board, in most cases still hooked into the harness. I'm now starting to unlook as I'm wary and not confident. I'm looking for some tips or pointers to keep me progressing. Thanks! Also, I've set the mast about 1" from the very forward position. What's the idea behind moving the mast forward or back?

really try and lean back into the harness, generally when starting out it's never enough lean more, straighten arms out more.

If you are standing to upright try lowering the boom a bit as this allows you to lean further out which gives you further to travel before you go over the front

Try more downhaul, you may be being thrown over because the centre of effort is too high up in the sail. More downhaul will flatten the top off.
Also keep looking ahead and to windward to see gusts coming toward over the water.

I once catapulted and the impact broke my boom. I started feeling a bit wary of the catapult after that, but what sorted it out for me was Guy Cribb's technique tip called "downforce". Really focusing on hanging your weight off the boom through the harness to keep the pressure on the mast foot. The posture change dramatically reduced the amount of times I get catapulted.

Also a reason your board might be wandering around is because there is too much weight on the back foot. Hanging more into the harness should sort that out too.

When I finally broke down and bought new generation boards, I was getting catapulted often. I had swollen elbows from the defensive action of protecting myself. It happened when trying to get into the back strap which was no longer on the centerline. After some time, I found the right balance mix. Recently, since I have changed my locale by 1800 miles and could only transport one board, I have been using one of my older boards. Once out on the water I was catapulted much to my surprise. You have to be leery of this when changing board shapes, etc. I can get into the straps in my sleep on this older board which feels great, but the new ones have more advantages overall, don't they?

Some stuff to try short term - longer harness lines if you have short ones. Try at least 24/26/28 inch. Keep the rig away from you on straight arms when you're sailing. Check you have enough downhaul - if you can't find the rigging guide for your sail online, just ask someone on the beach, ideally someone with a similar sail. I don't know that board but I would move the mast foot to the centre of the track for normal sailing - right forward probably isn't helping. All this will help.

Depending on how much you weigh, if you're planing in strong wind on a 160 litre board, the board might be too big for you and the conditions. It sounds like you're planing in the straps, so if you can waterstart it might be worth trying a smaller board when it's windy. How much wind are you sailing in and with what sails?

Without having seen your rig I'd say Sailpilot is right, chances are you need more downhaul. I used to worry that I'd break something if I downhauled any further, but trust me you won't... in fact you're less likely to break something because you'll be less likely to catapult.

As for that out of control feeling, where are your straps positioned on the board? If you put them forward and inward, you'll probably find that you have a lot more control once you're up on the plane. Once you get more comfortable and want more speed, then you can start moving them outwards and further back.

Presuming that you're using the standard 28cm(?) fin and that you're not sailing in ~30kts, then I guess the only other thing to check would be that centre board is all the way up (are they removeable on the Funster?), otherwise you'll be fighting it all the time when you're moving at speed.

To answer your question on mast position, generally speaking 'forward' is for control and early planing, and 'back' is for speed and manoeuvrability.. the link below explains in a bit more detail.
http://www.boards.co.uk/articles/index.asp?ID_A=191&article_type=25

I don't necessarily use the measurements.. but the article explains about board trim etc

Having just done something similar - getting back into the sport after a long break, I feel for you.

The best thing I did on my board (127L F2 Stoke) was to move the front footstraps forward and in as much as I could. I also pulled one of the rear footstraps, leaving me with just the one on the centreline. That gave me *heaps* of control back. I also dropped the standard 'straight down' fin and put a weed ignoring wave fin on the board. It doesn't give as much lift, so the board didn't try and lift itself up on the windward side as much.

Keep your back foot jammed solidly into the footstrap. That's what stops the catapults!

I am concerned about your board pointing wildly. It sound like your rig is way out of trim, or you are over powered and hence, out of control. Does it feel like you are bouncing on the chop? the waves pushing your board around?

Out of interest, where are you sailing?

Thanks to everyone for the great tips and advice! (Just moved here from Vancouver - love Perth and Australia so far...)

I'm using 2 sails - 5.3 and 6.0. The 6.0 is a near new 07 Severne NCX, and I use it up to maybe 15-18 knots. My 5.3 is a throw-in 1996 model Simmer Sail, which I use when the wind picks up beyond the high teens into the 20s.

I'm enjoying it so much I'm sailing as much as I can - from a 3-knot day a couple Saturdays ago, to foolishly trying the 30-knot day last wednesday evening.
Because the wind has been pretty good lately, it's my old 5.3 that's getting most of the use. I suspect that my much newer 6.0 is a better sail, and may not be so top heavy.

I'll try downhauling the 5.3 more to see if it helps, and probably set my boom a bit lower.

Should I toss the daggerboard? It's removable, and other than helping me lean the board on the beach, not sure if it's helping?

My harness lines are 28, and my fin is the one that came with the board - 28. My footstraps are set in the 2nd of 4 positions - 1 being the most girly, and 4 being further back and further out.

Thanks again.

I'd remove the daggerboard when you've got planing conditions, and just use it for light winds. If it's down when you're planing it will create a lot of lift and make it really hard to control the board.

I don't know much about 13yr old sails, but they typically have a much narrower wind range than modern sails. If the 5.3 has an adjustable top and you're using it on the same mast as the 6.0 then more downhaul probably won't help much. In fact I'd be tempted to leave the 5.3 in the car with the dagger board and just use the 6.0. It's a bigger sail but it will have a much larger wind range anyway. If you want advice on rigging it, just ask around, preferably those who have Severne sails (better chance they'll know what they're talking about). Or there might be a rigging guide on their website (sorry, a bit ignorant about the Severne's)

If you're still a bit uncomfortable after making these changes, then go for the girly foot strap positions. I'd leave the boom adjustments as a last resort. Lowering a boom can help with control in high winds, but if it's already too low you'll be having all sorts of problems.

Good luck! Hope you have a bit more fun next time you're out there!