Hi, I got a seat harness with the gear I bought just wondering when you start to use a harness.I can sail along without too much trouble but do you use a harness after or before you in the foot straps

As soon as you can for both. Buy one as soon as you can and hook in as soon as you can when sailing (usually before going into the footstraps). Sailing without a harness is torture.

Quite a few forum topics on this in "Gereral" area. You need to be careful not to get catapulted when getting out of balance and flung forward. I always make sure my back foot is in the straps before putting on too much pressure so it keeps me from going forward. Others say to put your front foot in first, I think it is a personal preference, others may disagree. But harness and straps need to go together I think!
Cheers and go for it asap, makes sailing so much easier.

Looks like I will be using the harness nec time I'm out..Thanx heaps for the feedback really appreciate it...thanx for the tip on how to avoid being catapulted

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kpb said...

Hi, I got a seat harness with the gear I bought just wondering when you start to use a harness.I can sail along without too much trouble but do you use a harness after or before you in the foot straps

When your arms are hurting too much from holding the boom/sail! In a harness you can lean back and enjoy the ride.

I would get in as soon as you can especially when windy.

Have the harness lines set just so with a lift of the hips you can hook on to it, i always hook in before slipping into footstraps, you shouldnt need to look and all actions are smooth to keep the board stable.

play with the position of your lines to find the centre of balance and you may need to tweak for diffrent weather, for example when its howling i move mine out an inch or two.


Once in the harness its a diffrent sort everything becomes light, balanced and smooth, its great. Down side is your at one with the board and catapults happen very quick. This is whenthe sail pulls you out of the foot straps and throws you onto the sail at great speed sometimes it throws you out of the hook sometimes it doesnt.

Have Fun!

I will definately use the harness this weekend...here's to my first catapult ha ha

I like to use it windsurfing but not riding a bicycle if that helps

Get the hang of it all first, excuse the pun, as you need a bit of strength in the arms anyway. As you become more used to it all you will naturally want to hook in.
Try in light wind on the beach to get the feel for it, but be careful of getting overpowered as water is softer.
I find best order for hooking in is , harness , front foot strap , back foot strap.
You should practice hooking in and unhooking until its habit as there will be times when you have to unhook to not get flung. It is a combination of muscling the sail towards you and thrusting hips toward sail to easily unhook and should be a quick movement. Try practising each move separately on the beach and then together but the second move would probably look better if did it with the sail and preferably upright. Otherwise people might think you are learning to kite. Video to go here...
The most awkward time is when you are sub planing with power so be careful. If you hook in and get a gust you may find it is catapult time. Watch out for shallow banks as you don't want to be hooked in when your board stops dead.
Once you work it out you will know why we are all addicted to flying on water'.

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kpb said...

Looks like I will be using the harness nec time I'm out..Thanx heaps for the feedback really appreciate it...thanx for the tip on how to avoid being catapulted

Nec minute, he's catapulting.