I've got the equipment set up so that when perpendicular to the wind, the board feels free, riding mostly off the fin, quite slippery on the water. Going upwind, the nose feels slightly higher, but otherwise still good. When going broad off the wind, the nose is lower and board starts to feel planted hard down, somewhat draggy, feeling like going through the chop rather than flying over. Perhaps the fin is lifting the rear of the board too high at speed pushing the nose down. It certainly doesn't feel like railing up and feels quite comfortable even a little too comfortable...

I could perhaps adjust mast track/boom height/down haul to focus on down wind. This feels like it's going to compromise reaching and upwind big time.

Keen on hearing what your approach is.

"Ideal fin size" differs between upwind and downwind sailing... ie: choose a smaller fin size when you want to speedsail and deal with it making it harder to go upwind.

Board size matters too - all things being equal, smaller is faster.

You could also try moving the mast track back a little; boom height shouldn't matter too much (as that tends to be more about personal preference).

Very hard to diagnose without sailing same conditions, seeing what you're doing, what you've rigged & how you've rigged it. But from how it seems don't bare off so far, move harness lines on the speed run side slightly forward. Unless you are flying the board onto the run it will bog down so lift until you have enough power to float the board then do little bare offs with the gusts.

I'd try moving the mast back in the track also.

Thanks for the feedback.
Matt, point taken re fin sizing, what works for down wind is going to compromise elsewhere. Like yourself Gestalt also suggested moving the mast track back. Is this a common thing to do for down wind (compared to reaching and upwind). Or is this advice specific to symptoms described above?

Mk7, what's the thinking behind harness lines more forward on the speed run side? Currently sail/rig feels ok...

if your mast foot is currently located between middle to back of track moving back further is a great way to eat boom when that gust hits when you're running broad in the chop. If you are comfortable on rest of run then as you swing off the wind unless you push away with your backhand you oversheet, stall the flow & sink the board. Remember that your apparent wind changes when you turn off the wind. If your gear is good on every other point of sail then it should be ok off the wind, just got to make allowances for the shift in power & sometimes if you have adjustable outhaul let it out to create some power.

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mkseven said..

if your mast foot is currently located between middle to back of track moving back further is a great way to eat boom when that gust hits when you're running broad in the chop. If you are comfortable on rest of run then as you swing off the wind unless you push away with your backhand you oversheet, stall the flow & sink the board. Remember that your apparent wind changes when you turn off the wind. If your gear is good on every other point of sail then it should be ok off the wind, just got to make allowances for the shift in power & sometimes if you have adjustable outhaul let it out to create some power.

Mast foot is about middle position, if anything maybe a little back from there. The board feels great on every other point of sail.
I think you might be on to something here with over sheeting. I don't consciously push away with the backhand, so if I'm sheeting out its minimal when going down wind. Will try sheeting out next time. Thanks!

dont sheet out, you need to keep pressure constant, just be very conscious of not sheeting in as the shift in apparent wind basically does that anyway. Dont run quite so broad when you bare off is quick fix (just take say 10 degrees out of it until you get used to feeling the wind). Some speed locations are not good when you're tied to a bank/channel as it doesnt give you room to move to keep the power on, heavy guys are really affected by this.

Thanks...
I had a chance to briefly give it a try today. It felt better. I was roughly 110 deg off the wind, not quite as broad as I normally go. The board had control and skipped over the chop. I only sheeted in enough to keep good power. Also not going too broad, both made a difference. Mast track was a whisker more forward than usual too. When more comfortable, going to nudge that back.