Had the strangest session a couple days ago, where I felt locked into a point of sail upwind (pointing pretty high), both on the water and on foil...super weird, as I struggled to bear off...thought my sailing and windsurfing background (and previous winging success) would have bailed me out...any thoughts???

I'm 64kg on an 89Lx6'7"x19.5" Appleskipper DW, Lift 180hax/33carve and extender, new 4.5m Slick.

The 180hax is the newest piece and I just have a couple sessions on it in really gusty and choppy conditions on the local reservoir...

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SpokeyDoke said..
Had the strangest session a couple days ago, where I felt locked into a point of sail upwind (pointing pretty high), both on the water and on foil...super weird, as I struggled to bear off...thought my sailing and windsurfing background (and previous winging success) would have bailed me out...any thoughts???

I'm 64kg on an 89Lx6'7"x19.5" Appleskipper DW, Lift 180hax/33carve and extender, new 4.5m Slick.

The 180hax is the newest piece and I just have a couple sessions on it in really gusty and choppy conditions on the local reservoir...

This happens when the wing is not inflated at the right pressure. A difference of just 1 psi makes a huge difference in upwind performance

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FranP said..

SpokeyDoke said..
Had the strangest session a couple days ago, where I felt locked into a point of sail upwind (pointing pretty high), both on the water and on foil...super weird, as I struggled to bear off...thought my sailing and windsurfing background (and previous winging success) would have bailed me out...any thoughts???

I'm 64kg on an 89Lx6'7"x19.5" Appleskipper DW, Lift 180hax/33carve and extender, new 4.5m Slick.

The 180hax is the newest piece and I just have a couple sessions on it in really gusty and choppy conditions on the local reservoir...

This happens when the wing is not inflated at the right pressure. A difference of just 1 psi makes a huge difference in upwind performance

Interesting about the pressure in the wing...

Sounds to me like you were struggling with too much gear for the conditions. You get wind under the nose, load the front of the board as best you can, sheet in for balance, lean over, up wind you go.

Maybe get a better sail. If you have a shagged out sail it could have a flying shape that is hooked in the rear, and wants to round-up too much.

Go faster, then roll-carve the hydrofoil downwind as you drive away on the foil. This should be plan A. But it requires decent foils and sail.

If going too slow, then shuffle your hands aft on the boom a couple and times, and let the sail blow you down/away. Also pull your body weight up on top of your foil, just before you pull away.

Consider front foot straps if you don't have any. Since they allow you to pull the nose of the board away from the wind, to initiate some of the turn.

In really light winds I've had similar sensations. You can build apparent wind heading upwind, but harder to keep that up bearing offwind. I think the key would be to build the speed upwind and bear offwind while trying to keep the apparent wind up. Mixing some pumping into the dw sections to keep speed up in the sail can help.