There is a great deal of wisdom here:

boards.co.uk/how-to/10-top-speed-tips.html

Thanks for posting - interesting.
i don't quite understand this one:
6. Go as broad as you can/dare in stronger windspeeds and feel the power slowly leaving the sail. Wait…wait…wait… and then slowly push the fin up to the point the power returns. Now you’re flying.

thoughts?

Go square as possible until you feel the sail feeling neutral/ -, then apply back foot pressure to drive the board upwind

Square is cross wind? I think you mean Broad....?

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Stuthepirate said..
Go square broad as possible until you feel the sail feeling neutral/ -, then apply back foot pressure to drive the board upwind keep some fin drive so that you keep some power on.

If you go too broad you lose drive so the top guys have an innate feel for when they need to stop the bear away to maintain speed for the 10s run or catch the next gust for another acceleration. Personally I still tend to go too far in the slingshot and get very peaky 10s results.

Good point in the article about going too small a fin. Shallow spots tend to force the issue but in deeper water sailing even 30+ fins can do 40+ on a good day.

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sailquik said..
Square is cross wind? I think you mean Broad....?

I suspect stuthepirate is a yachty??
sailing 'square' is or at least was in the day of symmetrical kites and non planning hulls
the term for sailing dead down wind- ie the boom and spinnaker pole were set square
to the hull to maximise surface area... I use the term at times and have to reinterpret what I meant for
windsurfers

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snides8 said..

sailquik said..
Square is cross wind? I think you mean Broad....?

I suspect stuthepirate is a yachty??
sailing 'square' is or at least was in the day of symmetrical kites and non planning hulls
the term for sailing dead down wind- ie the boom and spinnaker pole were set square
to the hull to maximise surface area... I use the term at times and have to reinterpret what I meant for
windsurfers

Didn't think it would be any different? I sail too..

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Stuthepirate said..
Go square as possible until you feel the sail feeling neutral/ -, then apply back foot pressure to drive the board upwind

Square works for me

So not literally "upwind", but fine tuning with the backfoot to maintain that sweet spot at the edge of being too broad/no sail pressure.
Its a good concept and something I could probably improve on. Sometime I start off too broad but recover with a gust - when what I should really do is sail a bit less broad and slingshot as the gust hits. I guess I'm just impatient!

But: "wait, wait wait" - why will this help the board to "fly" after foot pressure has resumed if fastest speed is actually for a brief period after sail pressure is lost? (the real importance of wait, wait, wait) If this is so, speed will actually be slower when the foot pressure resumes, its just unavoidable because the peak speed going extra broad can't be sustained.
Or, is it a series of step ups in speed (mini slingshots)?

Sorry for rambling, just trying to test my understanding

Point 2 says it is vital to learn how to crash the right way? What is the right way?

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Steve1001 said..
Point 2 says it is vital to learn how to crash the right way? What is the right way?

You're refering to the point Martin van Meurs made. I've been sailing with Martin for a long time now and he always told me to hold onto the boom as long as possible when crashing. The idea behind this concept is that the rig 9 out of 10 times will swing away from the board. By simply holding on to the boom during a catapult will throw you over the front of the board. Letting go at the right moment will also throw you away of the sail the moment you hit the water. Let go to early and you'll hit the board and/or sail. Let go to late and you'll smash onto the water like a block of concrete or will flip you over smashing yourself into the upper panels of the sail. Letting go at the right moment will make you skip the water and steer you clear of your gear.

The point he's making is valid. Speedsurfing is a mental game. Try pushing your gear as fast as possible, You only learn how your gear reacts when you start searching for the limits. Reaching those limits means you will crash trying to find them. Only when you know how to crash you can feel confident in pushing your gear. Crashing the proper way won't destroy your gear but, at times, will feel like you've been runover by a roadtrain. Crashing the wrong way will destroy your gear and, you guessed it, will also give you that runover feeling

I think in sailing "square to the wind" means your sails are square to the wind - i.e. boom is perpendicular to the direction of the wind.

In windsurfing I think some people refer to sailing "square to the wind" as a reach i.e. where the board is perpendicular to the wind.

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TheTank said..

Steve1001 said..
Point 2 says it is vital to learn how to crash the right way? What is the right way?

You're refering to the point Martin van Meurs made. I've been sailing with Martin for a long time now and he always told me to hold onto the boom as long as possible when crashing. The idea behind this concept is that the rig 9 out of 10 times will swing away from the board. By simply holding on to the boom during a catapult will throw you over the front of the board. Letting go at the right moment will also throw you away of the sail the moment you hit the water. Let go to early and you'll hit the board and/or sail. Let go to late and you'll smash onto the water like a block of concrete or will flip you over smashing yourself into the upper panels of the sail. Letting go at the right moment will make you skip the water and steer you clear of your gear.

The point he's making is valid. Speedsurfing is a mental game. Try pushing your gear as fast as possible, You only learn how your gear reacts when you start searching for the limits. Reaching those limits means you will crash trying to find them. Only when you know how to crash you can feel confident in pushing your gear. Crashing the proper way won't destroy your gear but, at times, will feel like you've been runover by a roadtrain. Crashing the wrong way will destroy your gear and, you guessed it, will also give you that runover feeling

So you come out of the harness lines? I always thought it was safer to hold on if you are hooked in..

When crashing, catapulting with 60+ km/h you don't have time to unhook. The only thing you have to think about is to hold on to your boom as long as possible. When you do this you will get pulled out of the straps. The rig will either swing away from the board with you still holding and also swinging away from the board. Another option is the rig will dip forward into the water with such force that you will be flipped over with your feet over your head propelling you over the front of your board. In both cases let go of the boom just before the rig hits the water. I've never noticed that I did unhook myself or that I was still hooked in when I smashed into the water. In most cases I unhooked automaticly or my harnessline snapped. That's why most guys I sail with always have a spare harnessline in their weight/crashvest.

****, when I get catapulted its survival mode. I don't think about it, if your gonna go, its too late to worry about it.
I had a ripper at LG in February, seemed to happen in slow motion. Round the front, hooked in, feet in the straps going upwind toward the weather station and a gust hit and that was it. glad I don't have sinus problems, the best salt water cleansing (LG has high salt content but safe to drink) Ive had. Go with it, enjoy!!!!!!!

Catapults seem to be much rarer these days with modern gear and sails. The only catapults I have had in the last few years are when I have hit the bottom with my fin at high speed! Not much fun at all and I still have the niggles from each one somewhere on the body.

Crashes from loss of control over chop at high speed are usually 'trips' where the downwind rail catches and it is all over in the blink of an eye and a world of hurt. Thankfully, I have developed a reflex reaction to immediately go heel down in these situations and have not had any bad ones for quite a while. It's much better to drag your bum than get smashed through the rig!

Speed Sailing, often results in catapults; You are sailing right on the edge, often sailing at full power over the back of wind blown chop. Sailing square to the wind give far more control, but is slower, while sailing broad is inherently less stable but faster. However, I do find that sailing broad, when I catapult, I typically land well ahead of the sail. Last year I did break my wrist in a catapult, I suspect that I banged it on the mast, but difficult to work out what happened.

Even on really flat water you can catapult, while speed sailing. I find that if I take too much pressure off the fin, if I am hit with a gust, it can cause spin out, which at 35+ kts may cause a big crash. Another flat water wipeout is caused by tail walking as a result of too much fin, and finally by too much sail / big gust

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mattspoonersurf said..
Speed Sailing, often results in catapults; You are sailing right on the edge, often sailing at full power over the back of wind blown chop. Sailing square to the wind give far more control, but is slower, while sailing broad is inherently less stable but faster. However, I do find that sailing broad, when I catapult, I typically land well ahead of the sail. Last year I did break my wrist in a catapult, I suspect that I banged it on the mast, but difficult to work out what happened.

Even on really flat water you can catapult, while speed sailing. I find that if I take too much pressure off the fin, if I am hit with a gust, it can cause spin out, which at 35+ kts may cause a big crash. Another flat water wipeout is caused by tail walking as a result of too much fin, and finally by too much sail / big gust

Ah that's why I haven't stacked it yet.. Haven't reached 35kts..

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mattspoonersurf said..
Speed Sailing, often results in catapults; You are sailing right on the edge, often sailing at full power over the back of wind blown chop. Sailing square to the wind give far more control, but is slower, while sailing broad is inherently less stable but faster. However, I do find that sailing broad, when I catapult, I typically land well ahead of the sail. Last year I did break my wrist in a catapult, I suspect that I banged it on the mast, but difficult to work out what happened.

Even on really flat water you can catapult, while speed sailing. I find that if I take too much pressure off the fin, if I am hit with a gust, it can cause spin out, which at 35+ kts may cause a big crash. Another flat water wipeout is caused by tail walking as a result of too much fin, and finally by too much sail / big gust

Apart from going downwind over big choppy waves, which is not the way to go really fast, if you are having catapults speed sailing you have something set up wrong.

In my experience, sailing broad is more stable. Sailing on a square reach (or too tight) overpowered make you very venerable to being lifted by the sail, tail walking or spinout. As soon as you can get to 125-135 off the wind it all becomes much easier to control on a speed course. (unless the real wind speed is faster than you board speed)

On speed runs, broad off the wind, the most vulnerable place to spin out is at very high speed as you take pressure off the rig and fin to slow down in big chop. My strategy for that is to crouch really low to absorb the bumps with my legs and stand right up on the board fully sheeted out. Pressure is then down on the board, not on the fin. It works well most of the time.

I think too much is being made of Martins tip about bearing away. Focus on the gems in the rest of the advice.

By far my biggest tip: Be in the right place at the right time! (in every way that can mean).

Lake George has taught me that the fastest speeds are not as broad as at windier places. In 25-30 knots there, I got faster speeds by going broad until the power started to go away and then come up a few degrees to put some pressure back on the fin. It is a fine balance, but is less than 30 knots of wind it is a feeling worth finding.

In 30 knots of wind and more you still have some pressure on the fin when really broad as the power is much higher in the sail at broad angles.

Having found an extra few knots in my gear recently I can put it down to a few changes.

One fast session was with a 2009 sail and next one was with a 2015 sail, new gear can help but not always. Crashes tend to happen when pushing at the wrong time, too much upwind or sailing square. Sailing at 90-100deg is slow compared to 120-140 and it should feel very light on your sail . Rig with purpose and learn about your sail and how it should look and feel. Don’t rely on the numbers alone

1. Be core fit, balance exercises, lower back exercises

2. Go with gear you know and can sail blindfold

3. Chase the gusts and keep the power in the sail and fin. Daffy explained this in his post.

4. Don’t move your body position, be stable. Every small movement increases the water contact on the board. More board in the water = slow

5. Sailing with weight can help but not always. Start with 1kg and slowly increase but it will wear you out quicker. See note 1

6. If the course is tight (Square) rig a bit smaller and go for an efficient style of sailing. Suits smaller sailors

7. If the course is broad rig a larger sail and go for power. You will not sail back up wind with this style, but can suit the larger sailor.

8. Ask questions, help each other

9. Be safe, know your limits and your gears limits. 150lt freeride won’t work in 40kt when your 68kg……ever.

10. Have fun……..always cos that’s why we do this

Hope this helps

Super spill Kato very valid points!