Frequently Asked Questions:
Windsurfing Kit

See the Links page for extra Tutorial material. Additions to this page are welcomed from anybody, members or non members: please email your Q&A thoughts to FAQ@trentwindsurfing.org.uk.

Boards

Q. I am a beginner, and looking at a 2nd hand board offered by my neighbour. Its 90 litres, and 2.6m long.
A. This board will sink under your weight and you will never have fun with it. You will spend so long in the water that it will put you off windsurfing. Those kinds of boards are better for sea sailing. For a beginner, go with a buoyant longer board (wide ones are fashionable for beginners), and graduate to a smaller board when you get better. "Sinkers" should only be used by those who can water start, in wind conditions strong enough for a water start. For the 60kg-100kg surfer, the ideal board buoyancy is 170-190L.

Q. I have a board with 2 skeg positions, centre and tail...
A. All boards need the Tail skeg - essential for steering at all speeds. The Centre skeg (or daggerboard) is mostly of help at low speeds, or for beginners, or for people who need to get strongly up to windward. At planing speed, the centre fin makes the board more difficult to steer. A single deeper tail skegfin will give you the lateral resistance you need, and will make the board easy to steer at planing speed.  

Q. I have a old board with a liftable daggerboard.
A. This was a feature of boards of the 80s and earlier, reflecting the early dinghy sailing inheritance. You only need the daggerboard down when beating to windward - it will inhibit the board lifting onto a plane when reaching. If it can be adjusted with your toes, learn to kick it into the raised position when reaching or running. For beginners a deep daggerboard is helpful to stop the board rolling in a wobbly fashion and to stop the surfer going too far downwind. These older boards have skegfins that break off too easily when grounding. Consider upgrading to a newer board.

Feet

Q. What's the point of footstraps?
A. Below planing speed, not much. Once planing, more of your weight is on the harness, and less on your feet, so you have reduced frictional contact between feet and board. With Footstraps, the board stays attached at high speed and enables you to steer accurately with your feet and stay attached if you jump in choppy water or swell.

Q. Where should footstraps go?
A. Beginner boards have the footstraps far forward or not at all. Good boards have multiple holes, allowing you to fasten them on and experiment with strap positions according to your ability and the wind conditions. The rear straps should be near but ahead of the leading edge of the tailfin. The front straps should be 550-600mm forward of your rear strap or your legs will be too far apart.

Footstraps question....
Footstraps question....

Harness

Q. What's the point of the harness?
A. Without a harness the only way you can use your weight to counteract the power of the sail (resulting in forward drive) is through your torso, shoulders, arms and hands - very exhausting! The harness gives you a direct powerline from the rig through your hip to your feet to drive the board forwards, leaving your hands free to concentrate on trimming and steering. Some harnesses also provide some buoyancy.

Q. What's bad about a harness?
A. It's no help in light breeze, and in strong gusty conditions you can veer between sinking back with the sail on top of you when the wind fails, or being catapulted violently forward when you get overpowered. The answer is that experience helps you to hook/unhook rapidly, and to trim the sails to cope with gusts. (Footstraps help to prevent you being catapulted forward.) (Take your harness off before you stack up the roofrack before going home - or the hook can make a nasty scratch in the door.)

Q. At the shop there are waist-harnesses but my friend uses a seat-harness...
A. Waist harnesses wrap around the mid torso instead round the bum. Most shops only stock waist harnesses now. The hook is higher on the waist harness and most harness lines on booms are shorter and assume the use of a waist harness. Surfing and hooking/unhooking are altogether easier with the higher hook. Waist harnesses can provide buoyancy and some are like waistcoats with buoyancy and thermal insulation.

Mast

Q. The mast foot can slide, where should it be?
A. In the middle mostly! You can experiment, and find varying levels of control, e.g. the board trying to bear way or head up more than you expect. Generally, a very large sail (e.g. 9 metre) is better forward of the centre, and a smaller one (e.g. 5m) back from the centre - to maintain the equilibrium of the lines of the centre of effort to the centre of lateral resistance. Distance from the tail end varies from 127cm (small sinker boards) to 140cm (large, over 170L boards.) If the board is bouncing about and nose high, of you have light-marginal winds, or want to get upwind, then move the foot forward. Want it more pivotal or jumpy or less nose-heavy? now move it back. Use tape and a chalk line on the board 135-140cm from the tail to establish your centrepoint, which may not be the centre of the track.

Q. The rubber mast foot is developing fine hairline cracks
A. It's on the way out, and it could die when you are on the other side of the lake, or worse, having a day out on a sea site. Replace it with one which includes the webbing strap along side so you can limp back if the next one dies in the future. The rubber block can also detach itself from the metal plate and prong so the smallest amount of detachment will get worse rapidly.

Q. What mast do you advise?
A. A 4.6m mast is the most versatile - with a mast foot extension it will support sails from 5.0 to 7.5m2. If you can afford it, the newer ones with a higher carbon fibre content are much lighter to pull up from the water. If it is a two part mast, always separate the two parts for storage. If you store the mast in one piece (especially after sea sailing), it may stay that way due to trapped grit.

Sails

Q. I have one 7m sail, can I use it in strong wind by spilling wind?
A. You should use the appropriate sail size to the wind speed, and then use it efficiently. A large sail which is constantly sheeted out will still overpower you and will be difficult to pull-up-start. You will drift further downwind and find it almost impossible to get up to windward safely. A smaller sail used efficiently is far safer and you will go faster. When you look at the adverts there are many sails in the sub-5m size - these are not for children, these are for surfers who like extreme wind and waves!

Q. I have a number of 2nd hand sails, mostly fabric and quite curvy.
A. Modern sails are flatter and of clear plastic, and will give better performance for less weight. They are also easier to lift out of the water, either for Pull up or Water starts. They are tailored to give the correct curve to your mast, providing you balance your downhaul and outhaul tensions correctly. Old monofilm sails are fine until you fall and put your hand through them! Newer sails are stronger.

Q. How many sails do I really need?
A. Two is a realistic minimum - something between 5.6 to 6.3m2 for windy days and something between 6.5 to 7.5m2 for light wind days. If you intend to sail at Rutland Water or on the Sea, a much smaller sail, e.g. 5m2 is also a good idea for winds above 20 knots. 5.6 is an ideal beginners size for an adult. Later you need a sail that can support your weight hanging in a harness - then you will need a larger size. Windspeeds in the Midlands are lighter than on the sea, so some TWC members have sail sizes of 8.0 to 8.5m2.

Q. Downhaul versus Outhaul?
A. Modern sails are tailored to be almost flat, but to curve the mast distinctly. The downhaul tension is extremely important, and it's advisable to thread it through all the pulley wheels and help yourself to haul it in with a metal tool, e.g. a harness hook. The outhaul is there to provide balance and does not need to be overtight. (always carry a spare 2m of downhaul rope in case yours snaps.) If you cannot achieve enough downhaul it may be that you have an over-stiff mast - they do vary in elasticity.

Getting the Downhaul right using your foot
Getting the Downhaul right using your foot. A Metal tool, eg harness hook also helps to get a grip on the rope.

Boom

Q. How high should I set the boom?
A. The height of the boom depends mainly on your height! The general rule is somewhere between shoulder and mouth/chin, but it may also be affected by what kind of harness you wear, where you place your mastfoot and how far back you stand. Don't judge it by the cutout in your sail sleeve as this varies between manufacturers. A seat harness requires a lower boom than a waist harness. A lower height is harder to pull out of the water and more skittish in gusts or lulls - and it's more difficult to plane or hang in the harness. Over high and you are also likely to be overpowered (because you have less leverage), and difficult to hook/unhook.

Q. Tell me more?
A. Insert the mast into the foot, and lay it down along the line of the board. If you are 1.5m the boom should be about 50mm inboard of the tail. If you are 1.9m it should about 150mm beyond the end. 50mm beyond the end is about right for most people. Judge your height and adjust accordingly. So for a mast foot 1.35m from the tail, this will result in about 1.40m boom height.

Wetsuits

Q. What should I look for?
A. There are two important considerations, good fit and warmth. A loose fitting one will fill with cold water every time you fill in (making you heavy and miserable), and an overtight one will be difficult to get into and out of and will tear more easily. This is why you should be careful about buying by mail order. The other consideration is warmth. The newer ones are 5mm neoprene which gives you much improved buoyancy and insulation. You windsurfing will improve much if you are not worried about falling in - because you can try more manoevres. Good allover wetsuits range in cost from £ 100 to £250.

Q. Don't the thick ones get too hot?
A. Yes, in light summer weather you will long to fall in, just to cool off. Keen windsurfers have summer 'shorties' which are light wetsuits with short sleeves or short trouser sections. These have less buoyancy, so a bouyancy aid or harness with bouyancy is advisable, and on some lakes, e.g. Rutland, are compulsory.

Q. How do I know what size to get?
A. If you have to buy by mail order, consult the Robin Hood Watersports Wetsuit page which gives tables for computing the leg and chest sizes which equate to S, M, L, XL etc.

Q. Do I need wetsuit shoes?
A. Shoes are extremely necessary, not only for non-slip contact with the board but because you have to step off the board and you never know what you might step on - rocks, sea urchins, rotting branches, thick mud etc.. You also carry your board on shore to the water, and you need the feet of a Kalahari bushman to manage the foreshore of Rutland Water without wetshoes. In winter, you lose heat through your feet, so they also contribute insulation.

Q. Do I need gloves?
A. Wetsuit Gloves are more for divers than windsurfers. If you grip a boom with a full wetsuit glove you will get tendon pain very rapidly, within ten minutes or less. But you need some sort of glove because in March or November, your freezing hands may determine how long you can bear to be in the water. There are full finger gloves designed for windsurfers, check them out. Another answer seems to be wetsuit open mittens - these protect the top of your hands from windchill, but don't constrict your grip on the boom. Another idea is to use kitchen washing up gloves, and another idea is to use fingerless gardening gloves.

Buoyancy Aid

Q. Should I wear one one?
A. A buoyancy aid or harness with bouyancy is advisable, and on some lakes, e.g. Rutland, are compulsory. A buoyant waist Harness is accepted although some are marked with labels saying that they are not a 'legal' buoyancy aid (its difficult to wear both at the same time). Your Wetsuit is an aid to buoyancy, and a 5mm is better than a 3mm, even if wet. Fresh water is less buoyant than Sea water. On the Sea, you are likely to get tired sooner (riding waves) and if you have a kit problem you could be blown out to sea, so wear a buoyancy aid. An additional major benefit is that if you have a major fall at speed e.g. catapulted and landing hard on the boom or mast, you can suffer injury. Injuries can include broken ribs, severe bruising, and in some cases, damage internal organs or life-threatening blood clots. All of these injuries are unlikely to be caused if you have some good padding around your middle, i.e. a buoyancy aid. Finally..... they give you much better thermal insulation in winter.

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Page Updated July 11, 2008