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Dwbh said..
Hey Jack - I am getting pretty good at staying in the harness - keep that up a bit and then start to go for the foot straps - did actually stand on them today.

Hey Morgan

Impressive progress on the RSX, and you can uphaul that 7.5 in strong wind, wow... For me, I will give up..

and for the straps. I am learning as well

The front strap should be a piece of cake, it is the psychological problem rather than a technique problem. Just enter it very early before planing. If not enough wind, just take your feet out..

I just almost enter into the rear footstrap recently (due to small place to windsurf, I have to stop or crash).

After entering the front straps, then sheet in and lean back, and enter the rear footstrap straight away. The whole process should take <5 seconds. The faster and earlier you do, the easier you can do. It should be surprisingly easy

Re the rail coming up usually on shortboards that's due to too large a fin for the conditions - and solution is put in a smaller fin or go to a smaller board..
Not sure about centreboard boards.. maybe too much centreboard down? Anyone can help?

Re board railing, if you are on a reach and you have the centreboadd down the board will over rail and thrownyou in. As soon as you have enough wind to plane the center board should be up,you will also go a lot faster and you will never get in back straps with centreboard down

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bc said..
Re board railing, if you are on a reach and you have the centreboadd down the board will over rail and thrownyou in. As soon as you have enough wind to plane the center board should be up,you will also go a lot faster and you will never get in back straps with centreboard down

Thanks Simon - reach? - is that going across the wind - with wind on my back? I was heading parallel to the south wall of the marina about 300 m out at the time and I am pretty sure the on my back. It was a weird experience I can tell ya. It was like the board was possessed and rising up out of the sea, man I didn't have a clue what was happening - it sure didn't make any sense lol.... Like I said I could see both fins rising right out of the water - was going really fast and planting my weight as hard as I could down on the board and the harness as I could and it still going up, and I am no light weight. I will put the centre board up when planing from now on.

Sboardcrazy - nice to hear from you and thanks for the comment - sounds like what you said too much centre board. The fin is a 66 cm as well - makes beach starts a bit hard as I have to be waist deep.

Benyip - Yeah the 7.5m sail has become relatively light compared to the 9.5m so just made sure I could up haul. I think I made the correct choice of sail for the day - just trying to figure this stuff out. Foot Straps - I am beginning to think you might be right with the 'psychological problem' with getting into the straps - I am heading up to Lake Cootharaba next month for a week non stop windsurfing will put in a ditch effort to get into the straps. It does seem a mystery to me how you guys get in them but I will get it. I am just going to concentrate on harness control. Once I have that I am going after the foot straps. Good on you for getting in the front straps - keep up the good work on the rear straps

Have fun

Hi Morgan

Some general settings for the RSX

Non Planing Mode less than 12 knots
Upwind- centreboard down, mast track forward
Downwind - centreboard up, mast track forward
Reaching - centreboard up, mast track forward

Planing Mode 12 - 25 knots
Upwind, Reaching, Downwind - centreboard up , mast track position 4 or 5 from the back.

Crazy Mode 25 knots and up
Same as planing mode but just keep moving the mast track forward as required to keep the nose down.

Edit: The centreboard is always either fully up or fully down, there is no benefit to be had by putting it halfway.

Beginning windsurfers who have never learned to sail a boat are at a disadvantage. Basic sailing concepts do make a big difference as a windsurfer is a sailing vessel which works the same as any other sailing craft, even if there is no rudder.

This link is to an online book provided by Yachting Australia:
http://www.yachtingaustralia.com.au/site/yachting/wa/downloads/Keel%20Boat%20Instructor%20Course/Intro%20Keel%20Boat%20Text%20Book%20Learning%20Resource.pdf

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cammd said..
Hi Morgan

Some general settings for the RSX

Non Planing Mode less than 12 knots
Upwind- centreboard down, mast track forward
Downwind - centreboard up, mast track forward
Reaching - centreboard up, mast track forward

Planing Mode 12 - 25 knots
Upwind, Reaching, Downwind - centreboard up , mast track position 4 or 5 from the back.

Crazy Mode 25 knots and up
Same as planing mode but just keep moving the mast track forward as required to keep the nose down.

Edit: The centreboard is always either fully up or fully down, there is no benefit to be had by putting it halfway.

To elaborate

A complete tuning guide for Kona, I think it can be used for RSX. Kona is a long race board that got daggerboard as well

http://www.konaone.com/learn-to-windsurf/guides/tuning/

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Dwbh said..

I am heading up to Lake Cootharaba next month for a week non stop windsurfing

Hi Morgan will this be the school holidays?

ive got the second week locked in plus most of first week with some creative rostering

Getting excited about being at the lake for non stop sailing

Fond memories....



Will we we see a collection of Rsx's join the long boards this holidays??

Cheers Jeff
ps it's a great spot for beginners - open invitation to all to come and join us for the holidays.
ive got plenty of kids/small rigs and boards to help out

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ikw777 said..
Beginning windsurfers who have never learned to sail a boat are at a disadvantage. Basic sailing concepts do make a big difference as a windsurfer is a sailing vessel which works the same as any other sailing craft, even if there is no rudder.

This link is to an online book provided by Yachting Australia:
http://www.yachtingaustralia.com.au/site/yachting/wa/downloads/Keel%20Boat%20Instructor%20Course/Intro%20Keel%20Boat%20Text%20Book%20Learning%20Resource.pdf

Thanks Cameron and Ikw and Benyip for the excellent information - I appreciate it Have book marked both pages. A bit under the weather today and staying home will have a read.

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jirvin4505 said..

Dwbh said..

I am heading up to Lake Cootharaba next month for a week non stop windsurfing

Hi Morgan will this be the school holidays?

ive got the second week locked in plus most of first week with some creative rostering

Getting excited about being at the lake for non stop sailing

Will we we see a collection of Rsx's join the long boards this holidays??

Cheers Jeff
ps it's a great spot for beginners - open invitation to all to come and join us for the holidays.
ive got plenty of kids/small rigs and boards to help out

Hi Jeff

There will be one RSX to put in the photo - Pacifico, Naish and Shark woo hoo

Looking forward to getting up there - 2nd week of the holidays

Cheers
Morgan

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Dwbh said..

jirvin4505 said..

Dwbh said..

I am heading up to Lake Cootharaba next month for a week non stop windsurfing

Hi Morgan will this be the school holidays?

ive got the second week locked in plus most of first week with some creative rostering

Getting excited about being at the lake for non stop sailing

Will we we see a collection of Rsx's join the long boards this holidays??

Cheers Jeff
ps it's a great spot for beginners - open invitation to all to come and join us for the holidays.
ive got plenty of kids/small rigs and boards to help out

Hi Jeff

There will be one RSX to put in the photo - Pacifico, Naish and Shark woo hoo

Looking forward to getting up there - 2nd week of the holidays

Cheers
Morgan

Sounds like you're making good progress with the new gear Morgan. Keep it up mate. Staying in the harness allows you more time on the water, which equates to more fun and more time to learn! The more board speed you get, the closer your feet will more intuitively towards the foot straps. If you analyse all the advice comments from experience sailors, much of their advice is around getting more board speed. Anyway, it won't be long I reckon before you post a "Yahoo, I was in the straps and fully on the plane today!!!".
Might see you, Jeff and the others at Cootharaba. Cheers mate and say Hi to Anita and the boys. Cheers, Jack.

Looking like a great week end to earn Brownie points. The boss wants to go shopping - so shopping it is. Not much going on by the looks and I have that dam sore throat thing again...

Well Well Well - feeling a little better today. Last weekend when I was out in the shed mucking about with our gear i noticed that our new (2nd hand) RSX was all banged up on the front end . Must have happened on one of my many stacks the other Sunday....... I didn't notice it out there. Anyway I have had it standing on its end since Saturday and water is still dripping out - today I have it out hanging on the line lol with the washing



Have to wait til it is totally dry and not dripping any more before I repair it - that might take another week or so OHH :-( Planning on getting down to Wello this Saturday for a blast in the warm Northerly. Looks like the I might have to dust off the Pacifico or the Naish if Jaye comes. That's it I'm going to the gym this afternoon...

Man did I say feeling better - not sure what that was as by the afternoon felt like absolute s$%t, like the flu or something, so no gym and no windsurfing. Its probably because I haven't been windsurfing for nearly two weeks now, I am pretty sure that's what has caused this irritation (flu). Diagnosis - get back in the water soon say at least once a week and the symptoms should disappear. Would be nice if that was how it works.

Went down to Wello in the morning to have a look, there were a couple of die hard learners on the southern side of the point - How good is that - Good to see - way to go guys.

I decided to drill a couple of small holes in the tip of the RSX to ensure all water had an unobstructed path out of the board. I have got it strapped up in the shed sitting on alleged super absorbent paper towel to encourage the water out. Hoping to fix it on the weekend, will have to see. Note to self - follow Simon's advice point the front foot forward to reduce the chances of going over the front of the board.

Have a good half week everyone

Cheers
Morgan

We have met some really nice people in our windsurfing adventures and thought it might be a good idea to have a beginning of season sausage sizzle on Sunday 14th of September from 10am at Rose Bay at Manly, toilets and set up area, plenty of parking and water with tide coming in - a good opportunity to get together have a chat and even have a sail. We are going to try and get some noobies like us learners or people interested in having a look or even a bit of a go (wind dependent). We going to bring a bunch of sausages and bread. We would love to get some of you seasoned sailors there as well.

Tides seem to be around 1.30 pm ish high tide. Simon from Board Crazy said he's up for it.

So why not lets get together have a chat, a feed and a sail. Sounds good to us.

I think most people know we are learning this great sport of windsurfing -------- Myself (Morgan), Anita (my beautiful wife), Ben (older busy son) and Jaye our youngest. We have had some good days and lot tough ones but .......... still here trying and not about to give up - I say that for all of us. At the end of our first season we seem to be at varying levels Me - just getting used to the harness and trying soo very hard to get to the footstraps. Anita - has moved from the 3m kids kit to the 4.3m junior rig and even experimenting with our old school 4.5m wave sail (the green and purple on in early photos) Ben - very busy with family, business and his other passion drifting, last time we went out still moving forward and doing well. Jaye - well he decided the first day I had a lesson for him at Golden Beach that it was no good "I cant hold the stupid sail - I don't want to do it" to he just said to me not ten minutes ago "can't wait to get to Cootharaba am soooo excited" he is smashing it in the straps and harness. Moving into the sport at a rapid rate - Awesome

Even if there is no wind there will be plenty to talk about, look at and learn for us beginners.

All Welcome
Cheers
Morgan

Wonderfull idea Morgan

I'm off work that weekend but down for a Rc Glider comp that weekend

So conflicting interests Will decide closer to the date.

Cheers Jeff

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jirvin4505 said..
Wonderfull idea Morgan

I'm off work that weekend but down for a Rc Glider comp that weekend

So conflicting interests Will decide closer to the date.

Cheers Jeff

Sounds good Morgan. I'll commit to memory. See you there. Mal

Man - still water coming out of the RSX - how long does it take to get all water out of boards. I just have to keep it hanging up til the water stops coming out - it is only a very slow drip. It has been hanging now for two weeks.

Any hints to speed up the process??????

I will just keep it hanging til no more water comes out

Hi Morgan
Search google for board lady she repairs boards and has lots of usefull repair info - use a paper tissue as a wick.


I've got a vacuum pump if you want to get industrial

Cheers Jeff

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Dwbh said..
Man - still water coming out of the RSX - how long does it take to get all water out of boards. I just have to keep it hanging up til the water stops coming out - it is only a very slow drip. It has been hanging now for two weeks.

Any hints to speed up the process??????

I will just keep it hanging til no more water comes out

You need to put it on a spinner I know some one who has one do you want me to ask him to spin it for you?

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Glynn Merrit said..

Dwbh said..
Man - still water coming out of the RSX - how long does it take to get all water out of boards. I just have to keep it hanging up til the water stops coming out - it is only a very slow drip. It has been hanging now for two weeks.

Any hints to speed up the process??????

I will just keep it hanging til no more water comes out

You need to put it on a spinner I know some one who has one do you want me to ask him to spin it for you?

Glynn that would be great thank you

Looks like RQ beach this Saturday for a light wind sail. Why not I say. Woo hoo spring is upon us. Its been three weeks since we have been in the water hope we can still remember how to do it lol. Going to head down there late morning.

Now where was I working on harness - getting the feel in various wind conditions without falling in.... that's right front foot pointing forward to counter being thrown over the front of the board. Yeah I got this

Jaye well he is young and has it sorted

Anita was working on moving to a slightly larger, responsive sail.

Awesome looking forward to it.

See you on the water
Morgan

I'll probably join you guys on Saturday arvo Morgan. I'm planning on going up to Lake Weyba tomorrow to check it out but I think I'm going to need something smaller than my 7.8 for the wind... I really need something around 6.5 that'll fit on my 460 mast..

No windsurfing for me this weekend. Busy with other things. Hopefully next weekend. Mal

AntsC - look forward to catching up again mate

MalJ - know the feeling has been a couple of weeks now since I have been in the water for varying reasons.

Work life has been and is very stressful - have been way overloaded with work at the moment so pretty keen to go out tomorrow for a light wind cleansing play around at RQ beach Lota side of the manly harbour - great spot for us learners.

Cheers
Morgan

Arrived at Cootharaba for a fun filled weekend with the Windwanders on the lake.

Nice start to the day at Cootharaba this morning - not so cool. RSX's and big smiles ready to go - pretty as a picture.

Looks good for the SUP Morgan!!

Hope the wind gets up for you.

Planning to get out tomorrow & try the new 6.7. Just rigged it up in the back yard & looks ok.

Have a good weekend.

Mal

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MalJ said..
Looks good for the SUP Morgan!!

Hope the wind gets up for you.

Planning to get out tomorrow & try the new 6.7. Just rigged it up in the back yard & looks ok.

Have a good weekend.

Mal

Hi MalJ - Nice - hope it is good for your 6.7m sail mate - should be awesome - the wind did come up and I got smashed but had some great fun

Happy Fathers day to all the dads out there..........

What a great weekend - Up to Cootharaba and met some really nice people, had a sail and finished fathers day with fish and chips in the rain at Caloundra with my beautiful wife and awesome son Jaye.

Friday went for a little light wind sail at Cootharaba with Jaye was a nice outing only short but nice just the same. Saturday caught up with Peter and Peter from Windwanderers had a chat and Peter set Anita up on his cool big little board with a 4m sail. When I finally made it around there she was smashing it. Nice to see.

Anita - Started out with Peters board and 4m sail doing well from what I could see - decided to head over and get her own outfit and get amongst it. Mind you by the time she got her 4.5m old school wave sail rigged and headed out it was a lot windier. A Struggle ensued, and she came in and set up old faithful junior severne rig. After setting this up all good she was going nowhere because the wind had gotten out of her league and unfortunately Anita didn't get going at all. I came back to "thats it stupid stupid sport - that's me finished too hard" and made some growling noises. Time for a beer for sure.

Jaye - He had an awesome time starting out on the RSX with the 7.5m Neil Pride sail and like the rest of us who over estimated sail size got smashed. He opted at this point for his Mistral Energizer 110L with the 6.6m Avanti sail - dads on it and said go your hardest son. Away he went and had the best time so far on a windsurfer - he said he was carving - water starting and generally smashing it and having a ball. Wave sailing here i come is what he said.

Morgan - With the no wind start feeling ok with the 9.5 Neil Pride - actually had to pump it heading over to Peter and the Windwanderers event. Tony Nowork was with me and struggling to get enough wind to get there and a when a nice puff came along and we made it. In for a bit of a chat to some nice folk from Sunshine coast and Hervey Bay.

The wind came up and we were away - wind seemed to be all over the place (maybe it was me) seemed like all of us were struggling a bit anyway. I got totally smashed with the 9.5m so it was a massive relief when Jaye came and got me saying he was changing to the Avanti and Energyzer. Cool so I swapped to the 7.5m Neil Pride and did a little better - still got smashed. I tried the mast in varying locations on the massive mast track on the RSX but didn't seem to help. Finally a massive catapult and smash the front of the board is smashed again Grrr. I have it hanging in the garage again as we speak. Not sure how I feel after this weekend on the water. I am certainly hoping Anita is going to stick with it but time will tell.

I will have to get it fixed for Sunday at Wynnum with Simon.