Windsurfing Diaries 2: A Beginner's Dream

So last Saturday afternoon, we got to experience some light wind (approximately 3-4 knots) coming from the north-eastern direction. The current was really strong, and we were kinda being pushed towards the National Sailing Centre (NSC) most of the time.

In the bay, under the light wind conditions, we tried going upwind to practice our tacks. I was able to achieve a few successive tacks under a particular senior's guidance. It felt good, but I know I'm bound to face some problems should the wind get any stronger. I can probably also increase my speed a little when tacking; usually I'd be too overwhelmed by how the wind fills my sail up and turns my board in the opposite direction, and this retards my reaction time. Reaction time to shuffle my feet around the mast, to dip and drag the sail towards the back of the board. Note to self: stop being so easily overwhelmed! Focus is key!

Going upwind, I played with the sail a little. Pointed, bared away, pointed, bared away. Did this a few times in order to observe the direction where the tip of the board was shifting towards. 

Mast forward=baring away from wind. 

Mast to the rear=pointing towards wind.

Something that was pointed out to the juniors when we bared away was that our hands on the boom were positioned too closely to the mast. This resulted in a rather ineffective angle to bare away (mast forward, but not much) as our wrist joints sort of restrict the hand movement. Tried shifting our hands towards the back of the boom and voila! Greater angle achieved, more effective baring away.

Tried to do a bit of running (wind coming from behind) towards the end of the training session and I conclude that I need more practice in this. Balancing on the board on a run is quite different as from the normal sailing position. Seniors demonstrated a few gybes and we too, attempted to imitate. More practice, less clumsy!

Anyway, I faced some problems in the training prior to this one. The main problem was that the wind-filled sail overpowered me easily whenever I got my hands up on the boom. In case you windsurf too (beginners only!) and face a similar problem, here's a suggestion: try shifting your your hands on the boom closer to the mast instead of towards the centre of the boom. In case you feel overpowered again, let go of the hand further away from the mast (instead of letting go both and allowing the mast to drop), and get back into secure position before you move off again.

All in all, it's been a rather fruitful training in going through all the basic techniques, at least for me. I just have to keep in mind to tuck my fat ass in, and not to overlean when upright. 

Till the next entry!