An Introduction to windsurfing.
Starting to learn windsurfing? Windsurfing is considered an extreme water sport by many. Windsurfing or sailboarding, as it is called to some, has allowed individuals to demonstrate amazing skills on the surface of the water. The combination of carving through the waters, spinning in the air performing tricks with a splash down shows great athleticism. Windsurfing as a water sport lets you enjoyed being propelled across the water at various speed by wind power. It also gets the user really close to nature with seals and porpoises popping up to see whats going on. Windsurfers love to demonstrate their abilities whether in the sea or on a lake. One must be agile and be prepared for any surprise either from the gust of wind or breaking waves in order to maximize your experience. This truly is an extreme action sport. Steering correctly across the sea at low or high wind speed, cutting through waves and flipping in the air is what windsurfers live for, especially in competition. Large waves such as those found on the west coast of Ireland open up possibilities of racing towards a finish line while experiencing the thrill of conquering new heights on the water. Today windsurfing has made its mark by holding world speed records for sailing craft’s. Competitive windsurfing has created new schools and programs around the world, and coaching has made it possible to improve the skill level of the avid windsurfer. Understanding the current of the water as well as the wind power and how this affects you, the windsurfer, is very important. To start in the water or to learn any special maneuvers requires more advanced training and practice. In order to become proficient at this sport you must pay your dues out on the water. It’s beautiful to see the majesty of a skilled windsurfer, but one has to remember this was not achieved over night. The Windsurfing Sail. Windsurfing boards
Remember practice preferably in a group is the only true teacher which will help you advance.
Two designs of a sail are predominant: camber induced and rotational. Cambered sails have 1-5 camber inducers, plastic devices at the ends of battens which cup against the mast. They help to hold a rigid aerofoil shape in the sail, better for speed and stability, but at the cost of maneuverability and generally how light and easy to use the sail feels. The trend is that racier sails have camber inducers while wave sails and most recreational sails do not. The rigidity of the sail is also determined by a number of battens.
Beginners' sails often do not have battens, so they are lighter and easier to use in light winds. However, as the sailor improves, a battened sail will provide greater stability in stronger winds.
In comparison with cambered sails, rotational designs offer less power and stability when sailing straight, but are easier to handle when maneuvering. Also, rotational sails are much easier to rig. The leading edge of a sail is called the luff. The mast is in the luff tube. The rear edge is called the leech. The front bottom corner of the sail, where the mast foot protrudes, is called the tack, and the rear corner, to which the boom is attached, is called the clew. The bottom edge, between the clew and the tack, is called the foot.
A windsurfing sail is tensioned at two points: at the tack (by downhaul), and at the clew (by outhaul). There is a set of pulleys for downhauling at the tack and there's a grommet at the clew.
Most shape is given to the sail by a very strong downhaul, bending the mast in the luff tube. The outhaul tension is relatively weak, mostly to provide leverage for controlling the sail's angle of attack.
The sail is tuned by adjusting the downhaul and the outhaul. Generally, the sail has to be trimmed more for stronger winds. More downhaul tension loosens the upper part of the leech, "spilling" the wind at the gusts and shifting the center of effort of the sail down. Releasing the downhaul tension shifts the center of effort up. More outhaul lowers the camber/draft, making the sail flatter and easier to control, but less powerful, and less outhaul brings more overall depth to the sail, more low-end power, shifts the center of effort upward and to the front, and may limit speed by increasing aerodynamic resistance.
Different sails are used for various disciplines of windsurfing: wave, freestyle, free ride, and race. Wave sails are reinforced to survive the surf, and are absolutely flat when empowered to allow riding the waves like surfers do. Freestyle sails are also flat when empowered, and have high low-end power to allow quick accelerations. Free ride sails are all-rounders that are comfortable to use and are meant for recreational windsurfing. Racing sails, obviously, provide speed at the expense of qualities like comfort or maneuverability.
Boards used to be classified into shortboards and longboards. Longboards are usually longer than 3 metres, have a retractable daggerboard, and are optimized for lighter winds or course racing. Shortboards are less than 3 metres long and are designed for planing conditions. However, this classification by length has become obsolete in recent years as the sport has developed very quickly in materials and techniques.
Shortboards, that is most boards produced nowadays, are designed to be used primarily in planing mode, where the board is sliding over the surface of the water, rather than cutting through, and displacing the water. Planing is faster and gives more maneuverability, but requires a different technique from the displacing mode.
Many windsurfers (wind snobs) don't even consider sailing if the wind is not enough to plane (Force 4 syndrom). Lower volume boards are used as the wind increases. Larger shortboards should be planing with adequate, well tuned sails at wind speeds of 12 knots. The aim of planing at lower winds has driven the development and spread of wider and shorter boards, that plane in wind speeds as low as 8 knots.
Modern windsurfing boards can be classified into these categories:
- Freeride: Boards meant for comfortable recreational blasting, mainly in flat waters and small waves. They typically fall into the volume range of 120–170 litres.
- Wave boards: Small, maneuverable boards for use in the shorebreak. These boards allow to perform high jumps while sailing against waves, and let the sailor surf the face of a wave in a similar manner as surfers do. These boards usually have the volume of 65–90 litres.
- Freestyle boards: Small boards geared at performing tricks on flat water. Usually 80–110 litres in volume.
- Slalom boards: Shortboards aimed at top speeds, rather than maneuverability or ease of use.
- Beginner boards: (sometimes called funboards)these often have a daggerboard, are almost as wide as Formula boards, and have plenty of volume offering more stability.
Created: January 19, 2009
