This will certainly not apply to everyone, but might help a few.

After months (years?) of nagging from waiting4wind, I finally replaced my harness lines with a set that was two inches longer. Now my arms are fully extended and my weight is hanging out that little bit extra. Can now remain sheeted in when the gusts hit, and I'm definitely travelling quicker, keeping up with guys who used to pass me, and passing those I used to keep up with.

Yes Harrow,
Welcome to the LHLC (long harness line club).

you better spend another $20 and do the other side then

Just how long is long?

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knot board said...

Just how long is long?

That's a rather personal question

Depends on the length of your limbs!!

I'm 180cm average limb length, I use 26's and really like the feel, 28's for me feel long, but I do hang out further, 30's are too long for me, 24's feel too short.

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knot board said...

Just how long is long?

.. said the actress to the bishop

I hoped he meant somebody we wavesailors could pay when it is 2kn too light .... seems it is always 2kn too light at the moment and we have another week of it too

Yep started with 26's then went to 28's for a couple of years just gone to 30's this season. But I'm a knuckle drager with long arms and I do like to sail with my arms almost straight

I wish my harness lines would last a couple years, a year would be nice, either wear them out or break them em well before that

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knot board said...

Just how long is long?

I went from 22" to 24", although I'm only 5' 8" tall.

No worries Elmo,I'll knock you up a set of "unbreakable' lines out of some old anchor chain[}:)]

I read an article recently regarding harness lines. Apparently lenghts can differ a great deal from brand to brand. Saying that though, I'm 185cm and currently using 30" lines (according to the manufacturer) and have the ends touching on the boom, which to me feels about perfect, balance and length. I recently noticed they are being made now with only one end (see link)
http://www.dakine.com/windsurf/harness-lines/mono-harness-lines/

But being a fairly new comer to the sport I'm wondering what the benefits to longer vs shorter lines are (if any) and how/if it effects downforce etc.? Obviously harness types have a great effect also.

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Harrow said...

knot board said...

Just how long is long?

I went from 22" to 24", although I'm only 5' 8" tall.

Stand up Harrow...
Oh you are standing up

I suspect 24" for your height would be equivalent to 26" - 28" for 180cm plus . Also the closer you have lines together (touching or max of a fist spacing) gives you a fraction longer.

BTW - I'm same as hardie (height & harness length) and have boom at shoulder height around 1540mm.

I'm a born again windsurfer after 10 yrs or so of procrastination due to lack of enough $$ to buy qualitly equipment. I'm now back and went out for the 1st time last friday down at Elwood and had a blast on my '09 X-cite Ride. I'm 179cm tall and using 28" lines and found that my bum was hitting the water a lot of the time but the lines wouldn't go any shorter. I called SHQ the day after to ask if I should cut the lines to make them shorter but they said it was my stance that was the problem. "Need to move my weight toward the back of the board so my legs and feet are in line with the angles of the foot straps and twist my torso and head in the direction I'm heading."

Is this quality advice I'm getting? It sounds about right if i picture it in my head.

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Slowdog said...

I'm a born again windsurfer after 10 yrs or so of procrastination due to lack of enough $$ to buy qualitly equipment. I'm now back and went out for the 1st time last friday down at Elwood and had a blast on my '09 X-cite Ride. I'm 179cm tall and using 28" lines and found that my bum was hitting the water a lot of the time but the lines wouldn't go any shorter. I called SHQ the day after to ask if I should cut the lines to make them shorter but they said it was my stance that was the problem. "Need to move my weight toward the back of the board so my legs and feet are in line with the angles of the foot straps and twist my torso and head in the direction I'm heading."

Is this quality advice I'm getting? It sounds about right if i picture it in my head.

yes this is right. also if you are hitting the water you need to push your hips towards the sail instead of sitting in the harness. this also means that you a driving the board better through your legs.
personally i use 28" and im about 173cm, short lines just give you bad stance and consequently less control.

This thread encourages me to try out the 71cm DaKine harness lines I bought a few months ago in Perth. I currently use ones around 20 cms shorter so it will be interesting to see I go with them.

Does the type of harness make a difference to harness lines? I use a seat harness with a fairly low hook, not really a hook, its a roller.

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Mobydisc said...

This thread encourages me to try out the 71cm DaKine harness lines I bought a few months ago in Perth. I currently use ones around 20 cms shorter so it will be interesting to see I go with them.

Does the type of harness make a difference to harness lines? I use a seat harness with a fairly low hook, not really a hook, its a roller.

I,m 6' and running 30" harness lines with a seat harness.If your running a waist harness you would have to use much shorter lines. 20" lines with a seat is pretty short lines.Try raising your boom when you use the longer lines,it helps you to hang off the boom a bit more.

Mine is 28 ", and very comfy with a seat harness. I reckon I could use 30 ". The key is to adjust your harness correctly. I want to get some adjustables.

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fullmoon said...

No worries Elmo,I'll knock you up a set of "unbreakable' lines out of some old anchor chain[}:)]

NOOOOOOOO unbreakables please!!!! there are times when the HHHUUUUUGGGGEEEE catapult launches me that I am quite happy to feel the "Plink" of a harness line breaking, staying hooked in for the body slam hurts more

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Haggar said...

Mine is 28 ", and very comfy with a seat harness. I reckon I could use 30 ". The key is to adjust your harness correctly. I want to get some adjustables.

Haggar, I just purchased a set of the 2009 NP adjustable. these adjust on both sides. Best ones I have ever used.
Price over here for these
Had also, prior too these being available purchased another brand, and price wise, near on double, but usability for me was crap
I gave this set to one of my team mates, who thought they would be flash as. Made him happy anyway.

Just to add another dimension to the formula, there are now new harness lines that have the loop but only a single connection point to the boom. Great if you are the sort of sailer that likes to have your harness lines together (on the boom) and if you want to take the harness lines off - no need to pull your boom apart anymore.

Harrow, that's a good start, but I'm sure we can get another couple of inches from you. Next photo' I expect to see your arms straight, see below!

It's interesting I swapped gear with one of the other locals the other day who uses 20 or 22, can't remember exactly. I used to use that length before I went loooong (and never looked back).

Man, I felt like the sail was attached to my face, couldn't get on the plane, totally uncomfortable stance. It's amazing what you can get used to. I remember the transition to long felt just as uncomfortable but the perseverance paid off.

Another factor in the line length question is hook height on the harness,
i finally splashed out on a new harness the other week then went and rigged and sailed as normal, couldn't work out why it felt i was carrying the rig around all arvo and my arms were aching so much after just an hour.
wasn't until i threw my new harness in the back of the ute and it landed on top of my old one that i thought about it and did a quick measurement of hook height to find that the new one is almost 3" higher despite them both being seat harnesses
bought a shorter set of lines and problem now solved

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Here are some real old school harness lines, and harness. Check out how high the harness and hook are, and the wide spaced lines just knotted onto the boom. This was in Christchurch in, I think, the summer of 1982, not long after we first started using harnesses and lines. My first summer or two we hadn't heard of harnesses so just hung on! When the arms got too tired we slipped inside the boom and leaned back on the inside of the boom. I'm in the foreground with the grumpy look just having been beaten in the final and deciding race of the provincial champs by the guy behind me.

Hey, W4W, that's my old boom, with the SHORT lines !!!! Find me a nice "after" shot!! (Or else you just happened to catch me in the middle of a sail pump, judging by the board being on the verge of planning. )

If you look at most of the pwa wave sailors they all look like they run fairly long lines. I've been meaning to try some, just haven't gotten around to it yet, using 24"s at the moment.

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Harrow said...

Hey, W4W, that's my old boom, with the SHORT lines !!!! Find me a nice "after" shot!! (Or else you just happened to catch me in the middle of a sail pump, judging by the board being on the verge of planning. )

This was the shot from a few weeks ago, pre the long harness lines! So yeah we expect to see a big change.

I use 26 find them very compthy. One thing though sizes can be different between brands somthing to watch out for.

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vando said...

I use 26 find them very compthy. One thing though sizes can be different between brands somthing to watch out for.

Too true vando,
I was trying some 30" dakine lines but found them a tad long for me (190cm) bought some NP 28" lines and found they were exactly the same length (bummer). To fix this I've cut out about three inches of the plastic coating near one end and tied an overhand knot in the rope. Seems to have taken a couple of inches out and are now comfy.

Its amazing how many people have a go of someones gear that run longer lines than they are used too and love it. Even going from 24 to 26 makes a big difference.
I use 28's on my larger race sails with a seat harness and 26's on wave sails and a waist harness. The lines are just about touching each other on the boom.
Give it a go and you will never go back, just ask Harrow.

Why do we use inches when measuring harness lines? Australia has been metric for close to 40 years. We don't measure sails in square feet, mast length in yards, board volume in quarts or weight in bushells.

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Mobydisc said...

Why do we use inches when measuring harness lines? Australia has been metric for close to 40 years. We don't measure sails in square feet, mast length in yards, board volume in quarts or weight in bushells.

Well, the real answer I suspect is that most of the equipment comes from or is for the US market.

Why do you care? Its not as if you need to calculate harness line lengths. You know from experience what the sizes relate to, and if you really need to work it out, it aint hard.

It does annoy me though when you read US windsurfing information and they refer to wind strengths in MPH...

I wouldn't care what they measure them in, as long as I can find adjustable harness lines that work easily, and don't jam. I went from NP non-adjustable/adjustable lines to Dakine corrode-up adjustable lines. The only ones I have found that actually seem to remain workable are the Sailworks Quicktune ones.

So according to the packaging of my Da Kine harness lines they are 71cm or 28 inches long. I measured them and thats an accurate measurement in both metric and imperial measures. As mentioned above not all brands accurately measure their harness lines, according to a magazine article.