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NotWal said..

FlickySpinny said..

Don't throw yourself forwards. 4 Steps says nothing about throwing yourself forwards - in fact that's a pretty good way of getting hurt.

If you're trying it at speed and getting ripped out of the straps then turn more downwind at the moment of takeoff. Dead downwind will do.

At 4:50 Remco mentions throwing the body forward. I must admit I thought it was entirely about getting the sail across and forward and just going with the catapult.

Huh. So he does. I don't think I've EVER thrown myself forward in a Loop though. Not to say I know better but I've watched people trying to throw themselves forward and it's horrible.

Throw the sail UP and ACROSS, sheet in like crazy and do exactly what you're doing - hold on for the catapult.

Look at AUS2001's photo sequence. He doesn't throw his body forwards. Do that!

I have listened to a bunch of loop lectures and done a few days worth of loop crashes, but never completed one (mostly because I have a problem pulling the trigger when it gets really windy). One thing from those lectures that makes a big difference in the crashes is "riding the boom" - making yourself small and getting your upper body above the boom. Here's a picture of Josh Angulo mid-loop that shows this nicely:

It's mostly pushing down with the front arm. When you get it and ride the sail like that, the landings tend to be a lot nicer.
More pictures from this loop and lots of theory is at boardsurfr.blogspot.com/search/label/loop
I also find the posts on forwards4cowards interesting: forwards4cowards.blogspot.com/search/label/forward-technique

One thing about the Remko video (which is great) that was pointed out to me by Andy Brandt is that the wave in the video comes straight at the windsurfer. That's perfect for loops, but something you don't find often in chop. Some wave spots will have this kind of setup, though.

One of our local sailors actually took loop lessons with Remko in Margarita (where the video was filmed) a while back. He is now throwing loops on both sides pretty much every time he's out there. If I ever grow a pair, I'll copy him

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AUS2001 said..

Today was the day! I managed to pull off my first forward loops! So happy!

^ i'm 70-ish kg and this is exactly how i learnt - tiny chop but with a 100 litre-ish board, a 28cm fin and marginal winds. don't let anyone tell you that you need tiny wave gear, tiny sail and waves to learn them

landing them clean or planing is another level and takes a lot of practice, but getting around onto your back is the biggest step of the whole thing. there's probably only 5% of the worlds windsurfing population who can do just that