How To Windsurf 101 Complete Ebook

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com
Index
Disclaimer........................................................................................................................................4
SAFETY...............................................................................................................................................6
Safety in Windsurfing......................................................................................................................7
Rules of Right of Way....................................................................................................................13
How to Get Back to the Shore if the Wind Drops.........................................................................16
Avoid Sunburn...............................................................................................................................18
BASICS..............................................................................................................................................20
How to Start Windsurfing..............................................................................................................21
How to Turn...................................................................................................................................24
How to Steer..................................................................................................................................26
The Courses...................................................................................................................................28
How to Tack...................................................................................................................................29
How to Gybe..................................................................................................................................31
How to Stop...................................................................................................................................33
The Golden Rule of Windsurfing...................................................................................................35
Physics...........................................................................................................................................37
INTERMEDIATE...............................................................................................................................42
How to Windsurf with a Harness...................................................................................................43
How to Set up the Harness Lines...................................................................................................46
Being Trapped Under the Sail is Harmless....................................................................................49
Windsurfing Catapult.....................................................................................................................51
Planing...........................................................................................................................................53
Spin Out.........................................................................................................................................56
How to Windsurf in the Foot-straps...............................................................................................57
The Beachstart...............................................................................................................................59
How to Windsurf through Waves...................................................................................................62
ADVANCED......................................................................................................................................64
The Waterstart................................................................................................................................65
The Planing Gybe..........................................................................................................................70
How to Jump..................................................................................................................................73
OTHER USEFUL STUFF..................................................................................................................76
How to Carry Your Kit...................................................................................................................77
Low Wind Alternatives..................................................................................................................83
High Wind Alternatives.................................................................................................................86
Buying your First Kit.....................................................................................................................87
Buying a Wetsuit............................................................................................................................89
Knots – Square Knot......................................................................................................................92
Knots – Bowline............................................................................................................................94
Knots – Clove Hitch......................................................................................................................97
How to Treat Calluses..................................................................................................................100
RECAPS...........................................................................................................................................102
Starting....................................................................................................................................103
Turn.........................................................................................................................................103
Steering...................................................................................................................................103
Tack.........................................................................................................................................103
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howtowindsurf101.com
Gybe........................................................................................................................................104
Harness....................................................................................................................................104
Plaining...................................................................................................................................104
Footstraps................................................................................................................................104
Beachstart................................................................................................................................104
Waterstart positioning.............................................................................................................105
Waterstart................................................................................................................................105
Planing Gybe...........................................................................................................................106
Jumping...................................................................................................................................106
About Arne Gahmig.....................................................................................................................107
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Disclaimer
Before you start to read, I believe I should strongly advise you to get an instructor to teach
you how to windsurf. Especially if it’s going to be your first attempt ever at windsurfing.
Windsurfing is a very technical sport and you can make a lot of mistakes and go through a lot
of frustration if you try to learn on your own, or strain a friendship if you accept having a
friend teach you. All the information I share away is intended mainly to serve as a refresh so
you can correct any bad habits that might have sneaked in throughout the unsupervised
sessions and hindering your progress. That being said, I have also tried to explain every step
in sufficient detail that someone could indeed learn without supervision.
There are many reasons why one might want an instructor to teach you how to windsurf.
Windsurfing is an extremely technical sport in which a lot of details can be gotten wrong and
internalised, hindering our progress in the more advanced stages that build upon the basics. These
are a coupe of reasons for which I believe you should definitely hire a windsurf instructor,
especially in the initial stages of your learning:
Correction
As I just mentioned, learning how to windsurf on your own can be detrimental to your progress as
there are a large number of things that you can do wrong. Elements such as keeping the front arm
straight, avoiding the monkey stance or bending our back to pull the sail out of the water are crucial
to get right from the first lesson. They are also elements which are very quickly forgotten that an
instructor will detect and correct as they occur.
Tailored progress
While learning you will get loads of well intended advice from your friends. However, they might
not necessarily know which your next learning step should be. Depending on the spot you are
windsurfing in you might be better off learning the beachstart before learning to plane or using the
harness. I have heard of kids in Hawaii or Isla Margarita that have skipped the gybe entirely and
jumped straight to the front loop (although this is probably just your standard adolescent “getting
ahead of ourselves” :)).
Aside from knowing which your next step on the learning ladder should be, an instructor will be
able to tell you if you are even ready for the next step. Countless times I have had students wanting
to learn to waterstart when the beachstart was not solid, or wanting to learn how to carve-gybe when
they weren’t planing properly.
Safety
We are talking about an extreme sport in a potentially dangerous environment. Having someone
next to you while you are trying out a new manoeuvre is a very sensible thing to do. Many times my
task for the hour lesson would be to “keep company” to students who did not feel safe at a new
spot. I would accompany them with kit that was a little bit easier to handle so that if they grew tired
by fighting for a waterstart in non-flat water, they could take over my gear and up-haul to sail back
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to the beach safely without being washed onto the rocks by the current.
Also, arriving at a new spot that is more challenging than, for example flat water, might give you a
hard time. You can save yourself lots of frustration by just getting someone to check out how you
are coping with the conditions like shore break or gusty winds and give you a few crucial pointers
on how to save your energy or improve your control over the kit, etc.
To conclude, hiring a windsurf instructor is a very smart decision when wanting to learn a new
manoeuvre, arriving at a new spot or going back on the water after a longer break. Hiring an expert
will shorten your learning curve and secure the shaky elements of your technique.
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SAFETY
6
Safety in Windsurfng
Windsurfing is a potentially dangerous sport. In fact it is considered an extreme sport for a reason.
That reason is mainly the fact that it is carried out in an environment we cannot control, namely the
ocean, sea, lake, etc. Other sports offer security in terms of reduced risk of injury or equipment
failure. Risk is the relation between the probability of something negative happening and the
severity of the consequences of it happening. Both these factors are pretty high in windsurfing as
we are traveling at high speeds, using gear that is subjected to high stresses and in an environment
that is not exactly a good place to be in if injured or with broken equipment. I know I would rather
have a broken leg or be unconscious (not that I want any of these…) on firm land than in water.
Despite this fact, safety is often disregarded. I must confess that I am guilty of not sailing with a
helmet or a lifejacket, sailing in offshore winds (albeit always close to the beach) and not inspecting
the gear properly before every use. That being said, my home spot tends to have side-onshore
winds, an effective rescue service and lots of other sailors that can look out for each other. In any
case it is important to know what can go wrong, make sure to take the precautions to minimise the
probability of it occurring and to reduce the graveness of the consequences if it does happen.
Inspect the kit

Looking over the windsurfing gear before we go on the water takes less than two minutes and yet
not many people make it a habit to do so. The few most important things to look for are the
following.
Board
It takes quite an impact indeed to break a board in two. However, a board doesn’t just snap the first
time it lands flat on the water. It take a number of hits before the materials give in. Take a look
along the surface to see if there is an indented line across it where it may have started to delaminate.
If it is the case it won’t be long until we land a jump and are suddenly left with two pieces.
Mast-foot
The power joint is made of rubber. With every use, the rubber will be pushed beyond its elastic limit
to a certain degree. Add to this the corrosive elements such as UV rays and salt water and at some
point cracks will appear. These cracks will get bigger with every extension until at some point the
joint will just rip apart into two pieces. The last place you want this to occur is far away from the
shore. Therefore, before every use, check the mast-foot.
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Outhaul and downhaul ropes

It is important to remember that ropes wear out easily. The outhaul and the downhaul are often in
the sand which leads to erosion of the fibres of the ropes. Once the outer layer of the ropes has
eroded, the inside will not hold for long. The consequence of any of these two ropes ripping is that
the sail loses tension therefore becoming practically useless. In the case that this should occur it is
useful to have a spare rope with us. This doesn't take up much space as it can be wound up around
the harness hook bar.
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Sail
It makes sense not to hit the water with rips in the sail cloth. While a hole in the sail will not likely
prevent us from getting back to shore, a small hole or rip can turn into a big hole with every jump,
crash or wash in the waves in the same way that a crack in the windshield of the car will grow with
every bump on the road.
Mast
A broken mast is the equivalent of being helpless in the water as you can no longer use the sail in
any way at all. Even with a loose outhaul or downhaul you can still lift the sail out of the water and
kind of drift slightly across to the wind and get back to shore. A broken mast will not let you do this.
Before putting the mast in the sleeve of the sail check it around the bottom and around where the
boom is connected as these are the two areas most prone to break. Any cracks should be taken
seriously.
Boom
Another thing that will render your sail useless is the boon breaking. This tends to happen at the
head where it connects to the mast. Usually the creaking at that location will be an early enough
warning for you to make sure you replace you boom before it snaps. You might think that the boom
can still work in the other direction. After all, the holm on one side is still intact right? Wrong. The
stability of the boom comes through the entirety. If it is broken on one side, the other will usually
just bend with the force of the sail.
Be sensible
Not in a storm
I know that what the guys from the Red Bull Storm Chase do looks cool. And it is. But you should
remember that these guys are professionals who have a lot of experience in extreme conditions
AND who are aided by helicopters, jet skis, etc. I have pushed the limits to my windsurfing level
many times including sailing in 40+ knot winds and mast high waves. However, in conditions like
those I don’t experiment with manoeuvres and I make sure I have the physical condition to cope in
a wipeout, etc.
Check forecast
Before heading out on to the water, it is wise to know what the weather is going to do. In some
regions of the world the weather conditions can turn on you in a matter of minutes and I have heard
a few stories of people being stuck out on the water in a sudden downpour. Despite this, in most
places the weather forecasts are pretty accurate. Don't make the mistake of going on the water if the
forecast says the wind is going to decrease in the next hour. If you do, at least stay near the shore!
Not in offshore winds

The worst situation you can find yourself in is being blown offshore and unable to propel yourself
to shore. If you are on a small lake you might say that eventually you will reach the other side. Sure,
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but how long will that take and how long can you stay warm in the water? If you must go out in
those circumstances, make sure there is an alternative (motorised) means of getting back, like a
lifeguard with a jet ski.
No windsurfing at night
It might sound like a no brainer but please don’t be silly enough to go windsurfing at night. Sure
there are events with loads of lights shone on the water for freestyle photos. But please don’t be
stupid enough to do this on your own, or with a friend for that matter. It is just a plain unnecessary
risk.
Safety Gear
When riding a bicycle you should wear a helmet, when driving you would wear your seatbelt, when
climbing you should wear a harness, and when you go windsurfing you should take the same
precautions to avoid injuries and reduce the consequences.
Helmet
Hits to the head are never a good thing. It doesn’t take high speeds to make a catapult ending in the
head hitting the mast risky. I have only ever had two hits to the head with the mast, both from
catapulting over a misjudged chop wave and both times were barely worth mentioning so I have
never felt the urge to put on a helmet that makes me feel constrained even if only in visibility.
However, I know that wearing a helmet will always be safer than not doing so.
Life Jacket
Life jackets are obligatory on Lake Garda. Of course they are a good idea since we are in a medium
that drowns people who go unconscious (due to whatever reasons, air insufficiency, hits to the head,
etc.).
Flares
If you are going to be on the water close to the dusk in non-favourable conditions (which I don’t for
a moment suggest you should ever do) make sure that if something does happen that you are able to
signal your location to the rescue services in the dark. This means a flare. However, as I said before,
you shouldn’t be windsurfing at night anyway…
Know the basic knots

The 3 basic knots every windsurfer should know are the square knot, the bowline and the clove
hitch. I have dedicated a chapter to these in the final section of this guide.
Not intoxicated
This may sound like a no-brainer but it needs to be said. As much as we enjoyed Matt recovering
10
from his hangover by surfing in the movie Big Wednesday, heading onto the water intoxicated by
whatever substance that reduces our reflexes and our decision making ability is just plain
irresponsible.
Ensure emergency services are available

I know that many great spots will be far away from frequently transited places. As enticing as they
may be, we must take the time to make a reasonable assessment of the dangers of something going
wrong and the likelihood of something unfortunate happening. Analysing waves, the reef, currents
and possible exit points are a good starting point. On top of this try to avoid windsurfing in places
where emergency services are not readily available. The longer you have to wait for rescue, the less
likely by the minute it becomes for them to find you as the possible displacement from where you
were last seen to where you end up with wind, waves, current and your own attempts to get yourself
to safety through swimming or sailing.
Don’t go on the water alone

Even if there is an emergency service available. They will not go looking for you if they do not
know someone needs to be saved. Make sure that someone on shore knows that you are going on
the water, how long you will be and how you will notify them when you get back. Apart from this it
is also wise to not go windsurfing at a spot if we are the only ones out. I am the first to appreciate
how awesome it is to not have to back out of a wave due to someone else being on it already or
some reckless idiot jumping into the wave that had lined up perfectly for you. However, in terms of
safety, it is helpful, comforting, safer, etc. if you have the ability to let someone know as soon as
you are in trouble rather than have to wait for someone to notice.
Know the rules of right of way

In places where there is a lot of traffic on the water it can look a bit like the roads in India. To make
11
sure the accidents are kept to a minimum we need to know the rules of right of way. In El Médano I
must admit that often this is not the case. Many people simply refer to the manoeuvre of the last
instant. The problem is that this may not be likely to change as just one or two people acting
according to the rules won’t change other peoples behaviour. However, if you are involved in an
accident and it turns out to be your responsibility because you didn’t give way or held your course,
you might face legal consequences.
12
Rules of Right of Way

In order to avoid collision we must abide by the rules of right of way of the sea. First we will look
at the hierarchy of the different vessels on the water. The ones on top have more priority whereas
the ones towards the bottom need to get out of the way.
Vessels not under command
—
Vessels restricted in their ability to manoeuvre
(freighter that takes ages to turn)
—
Vessels constricted by draft
(freighter in a channel)
—
Fishing vessels engaged in fishing, with gear deployed
(Trawlers, etc.)
—
Sailing vessels
(windsurfers & other sailing boats)
—
Rowboats
—
Power driven vessels
(motorboats)
Basically, the ones that have more difficulty in manoeuvring are the ones who have priority.
Now that we have established whom we need to avoid and who needs to act to get out of our way,
lets see how the rules apply within the sailboat category:
In the first two rules, one person will not be able to see the other. We must keep in mind that the
responsibility of avoiding the collision is always going to be of the person that can see the other.
Makes sense, doesn’t it?
Overtaking person needs to avoid collision

Two windsurfers going on the same tack, one behind the other and the one behind is going faster
with the intention to overtake. As the person that is in front is looking forwards (as they should)
they are not going to see who is coming up behind them. So it is on the person that is going to
overtake them to avoid collision. And no, shouting to get their attention to make them get out of the
13
way does not make you exempt from this obligation nor is it good form to do so.
Downwind over upwind

Again, two windsurfers sailing on the same tack. The one that is downwind is going to have a hard
time seeing the one upwind. Therefore, the one sailing upwind has the obligation to change his
course. Even if the one downwind decides to bear into the wind. If the one downwind can continue
on the closed haul course, so can the one upwind. That being said, if you are going to bear into the
wind, make the small effort to turn your head to avoid any scares or close calls. Basically, check if
the course you are going to go on is clear before you change it.
14
Port bow over starboard bow

This is the only rule for which a call had to be made in terms of priority as both people are in the
same situation. Two windsurfers are headed toward each other on different tacks. Both can see each
other and effectively one must get out of the way. Which? Instead of using technical terms, let’s just
put it this way. The one with the left hand nearer to the mast must change their course to avoid
collision.
However, the one with their right hand closest to the mast has the obligation of staying on their
course. They cannot go changing their course as they please as it makes the decision difficult for the
one which must get out of the way to decide on which way to avoid into.
In the end, it all comes down to common sense and common courtesy. Don’t be a nuisance on the
water and try to play fair when having to share the water with others. If in doubt on what to do you
can just stop or turn around. More than once have I had to hit the brakes due to the other not
knowing the rules and changing course when they shouldn’t or simply being selfish and ignoring all
rules. Most of the close calls I have seen have been when two people decide they can both still
arrive upwind of the predicted collision point and so not have to bear away.
As a small side note, these rule apply to when we are sailing on “flat” water. That is to say, not in
breaking waves. When we are sailing in breaking waves where people are riding the waves and
jumping around, the rules are a little different. However, the ones I have written about here are the
ones that will count 95% of the time so abide by them.
15
How to Get Back to the Shore if the Wind Drops

It can happen to anyone. It has happened to me more times than I can remember. It is annoying and
exhausting, but it can also be dangerous if you don|t know how to get back to shore with the kit.
First off there are two very important things to keep in mind:
1. NEVER LEAVE YOUR KIT!

The kit is the only flotation device you have and if you get tired you can just lay on it or hold on to
it rather than try to keep your head over water in the waves. Aside from this it also offers more
visibility for any rescue services that are looking for you. It is easier to spot a board and sail which
may even have bright colours than a person in a dark wetsuit mostly submerged in the water.
2. SWIM PERPENDICULAR TO THE CURRENT

Obviously we don’t want to go to where the current takes us. However, we are not going to be able
to be able to swim against the current. So, what is left? Swim perpendicular to the current towards
the shore. If we swim at 90 degrees to the current we will naturally be dragged downstream, but if
we keep swimming across it we will eventually arrive on land.
Beginner gear
Sail pumping
Using the sail to move forwards with no wind at all is a very useful skill to have indeed. Mainly it
consists of generating your own wind and then using the physics of the sail to work its magic.This
technique is to be used if there is at least a little bit of wind as it is faster than the one below.
Start off by leaning the sail far forwards to the bow and opening the sail. From there pull the whole
sail backwards to the stern strongly so that you move the whole mass of air aft over the board. It is
important to do this in one energetic motion. What this does is use the mass of air as if it were
stationary and we push the board forwards under it with our feet. This will generate a slow
movement forwards.Then sheet the sail in so that it is practically in line with the board so that you
provide as little wind resistance as possible with it and move it towards the bow again. The board
will naturally start to slow down again and when it does we open the sail again to repeat the
movement. This way we will advance slowly but surely towards land again.
Lay the boom on stern and swim

This method only really works if there is no wind at all as if there is a little breeze, the wind can
blow the sail back into the water and undo our work of putting the boom on the board. This method
is also slower than the one mentioned before as soon as there is a little bit of wind.
If the water is shallow enough, we can also walk back to the shore although this method also works
in deep waters. However there is a more and a less efficient way to do this. The most efficient way
is to lay the boom on to the back of the board. If necessary lover the boom. The idea is to balance it
on the board so that it does not touch the water. If it touches the water it will generate resistance and
make advancing through the water much more difficult.
16
Then go to the bow and pull the kit behind you. This works for wading through the water as well as
swimming if the water is too deep.
Sinker boards
Having the wind bail on you when you are out on a sinker board is one of the most annoying (and
tiring) things that can happen. On top of that, even though the wind disappears, the current in the
water will most likely continue, meaning that you will be at the mercy of the currents. This can be a
real problem indeed if this current is heading out to sea.
Waterstart position
Usually the wind will not disappear completely meaning that there will still be enough wind
available to keep the sail in the air. Here our best option is to lift up the sail with the front hand and
hold the back foot-strap with the back hand while keeping our body as horizontal as possible in the
wake of our movement (for less resistance). This will provide us will a slow yet definite progress
back to the beach. Another option is to hold the sail in the air with both hands and put the feet on
the board if this is more comfortable for you. It ultimately comes down to preference.
The benefit of holding the position with the feet on the board is that if the wind does pick up a little,
even if it is just a gust, it may be enough to lift us up with a waterstart and we can wobble on the
board in a sailing position back to the beach which is a little bit faster that dragging our body
through the water even if it is a little bit more tiring.
If the wind does disappear completely while we are doing this method we can always fall back on
the next method.
Boom on stern
It may be the case that the wind goes away completely so that the sail is not held up.by the wind.
Here we lay the boom on the back of the board, trying to keep it out of the water as much as
possible so that there is as little drag as possible. Then we stay at the middle of the board and hold
the sail in place by holding on to the mast at about 30 cm (1' ) above the mast foot. In this position
we start swimming back to the shore.
17
Avoid Sunburn
Baz Luhrman had it right. We usually don’t take the time to protect ourselves from the sun. This
goes for stretching also by the way. In both cases we are putting ourselves in a very careless and
potentially very harmful situation.
But focusing on the protection from the sun. This is a topic that is close to me as two people I knew
fell victim to skin cancer. Any type of cancer is a dreadful but there are a couple that can be avoided
easily: lung cancer being the first by not smoking, followed by skin cancer by reducing our
exposure to the sun.
Clothing
Of course this is a bit of a tricky one for anyone who practices an outdoor sport. Luckily for us, we
can reduce the exposure also with the use of wetsuits, lycra's (when it’s too warm for neoprene) and
the application of sunscreen.
The clothing however can only cover so much of our skin. The face is always exposed and body
parts such as backs of the hands and feet as well as the lips and ears are often forgotten when it
comes to the application of suncream.
Suncream
For me I always go all in with factor 50 although if I get my hands on something more potent like
Daylong Acitinica which is designed for the prevention of non-melanoma skin cancer in at risk
patients and of photodermatosis (according to what it says on the bottle). The best I have found for
the face is the waterproof sunscreen sticks like the one from Zinka. Quick to apply, doesn’t go all
runny when we get in the water and no mess on your hands. With normal suncream we tend to have
18
greasy hands after application meaning the grip on the boom will not be all too good. We have to
either rub them dry thoroughly with a towel or better yet, wash them with soap. We also have to
wait a little so it doesn’t start running into our eyes when we fall in the water.
For the lips I use a stick with SPF 50 after every hour or so as once they dry out and burn it is likely
for herpes to originate which will not go away easily and most likely not at all if you don’t spend
some time out of the sun. If it does appear, the initial stages will look like a blister on the lip. At this
point you can already start applying Zovirax on it as it aims to kill the virus.
After the sunburn

If you do get burnt, make sure to treat your skin, hydrating it properly. Any oil or cream that helps
hydrate the skin (like baby oils) will do the trick. Another great way is to use Aloe Vera although I
admit it is the icky way to go about it :)
Areas often forgotten:

- Ears
- Upper side of the feet
- Back side of the knee
- Just above the elbows (also remember that the lycra sleeves might slide/roll up
19
BASICS
20
How to Start Windsurfng

Before we start, we must first determine the direction of the wind and adjust the board and sail
position accordingly. The board and sail will be put into the T-position. This means that the board
will be set out 90º to the wind, and the sail 90º to the board pointing downwind.
Now with one foot on either side of the mast-foot we grab the up-haul and making sure we stand up
straight start pulling up the sail. Why keep the back straight? The sail can be anywhere from 2.5 to
6m2 big, maybe even bigger. All that surface is filled with water which makes it very heavy. Trying
to lift this through our back instead of the legs can and will hurt your back. Pressing up with your
legs is a simple way to avoid pulling a muscle or doing other serious damage to your back. This
factor is usually something we forget about quickly, especially as we get tired. Try not to forget!
The easiest way to pull out the sail is to stand up straight and to turn our shoulders and move up the
up-haul line with our hands until the mast is in our reach with the next shoulder turn.
We pull the sail up until the point where the sail is only just touching the water. As long as the sail
21
still has contact with the water, it has some resistance and gives us something to hold on to. This is
especially useful if we are in a location with waves which are going to knock us off balance. This is
our base position. Here we will control the board position, making sure that we maintain the T-
position. The next step is a sequence of steps. Memorise these three words like a mantra for this
moment: Mast. Feet. Boom
1.Mast. In one shoulder turn we grab the mast with the front hand just under the boom (if it is
more comfortable to grab above the boom, your boom is probably too low). Important at this
point is to make sure that the sail comes to us and not vice-versa. If we lean forward, our centre
of gravity is no longer over the centre of the board and the sail will pull us forward and down.
Later, as we get better, the hand will not go to the mast but directly to the boom.
2.Feet. As soon as we have the mast in the front hand our feet must move towards the back of
the board so that the front foot is touching the mast-foot and the back foot at shoulder width
behind. Leaving the front foot in front of the mast does two things. Firstly it hinders you going
as far back with your weight as you actually need to. Secondly, it opens the possibility of falling
in the water, your foot still on the board and the mast slamming down on your shin. Sounds
pretty painful indeed. I haven’t actually seen this happen yet but I was told this and I see a
realistic possibility of it happening.
3.Boom. Once we are behind the mast-foot we only need to grab the boom with our back hand.
I always recommend starting off using only two fingers to pull it towards you because what I
have seen time and time again is that everything goes well until we close the sail too quickly
and the sudden pull of the wind sends us flying forward. Close the sail softly and start getting
used to the power in it increasing and decreasing as we close and open the sail. As we become
more familiar with the effects of pulling and letting go we can do this more aggressively but
first it is best to go easy on the back hand.
Why not move the feet after grabbing the boom? Mainly because once we have grabbed the boom,
we will not be able to move our feet. At least at the beginning. This is for two reasons: On the one
hand, once we have power in the sail, you are going to be constantly on the verge of falling over
forwards, using a lot of resistance in the toes. This is because the pivot point (or centre of rotation)
is the mast-foot which we are going to have between our feet. On the other hand, we are going to be
quite concentrated on controlling the power in the sail and will not really have any concentration
space left for focussing on the feet as well.
Now to the actual sailing position: There are three main things we want to focus on when
windsurfing. These will remain true throughout all our windsurfing life, regardless of our level.
1. Front arm straight. This is the most important of the three and can be considered the golden
rule of windsurfing. A lot of energy can be saved, and a lot of progress can be sped up if we
follow this rule. I will explain later on why keeping the front arm straight is so important. For
now, just trust me on this and don’t forget it.
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2. Weight on the back foot. With low winds this one isn’t crucial, but as the wind gets stronger
and we sail on any course but upwind, keeping the weight on the back foot becomes more and
more important.
3. Keeping your body straight. I see this one very often. Even people that have been sailing
for ages use this “monkey stance”. It has got to be the most ineffective sailing position and least
aesthetically pleasing. I insist you keep this one in mind: your front ankle, knee, hips and
shoulder should all be in one line. This helps keep your weight on the back foot and forces you
to use your bodyweight to counter the pull of the sail.
To this I would add that we want to try and hold the mast so that it is perfectly vertical and our hips
facing the direction we are moving in. These two are important but the first three are to be corrected
first as we don’t want doing them wrong to become a bad habit. One last thing: Look forward! Just
as when we are driving, riding a bike, skating, skiing or whatever, we must see where we are going
to avoid collision with others and obstacles.
Recap important notes:

– Back straight when pulling up the sail.
– Sail must come to you, not vice-versa.
– The order: Mast. Feet. Boom.
– The Golden Rule: Front arm straight.
– Weight on the back foot.
– Keep your body straight.
– Look forward
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How to Turn
At some point we need to turn to get back to where we came from. So let’s get down to explaining
how to control the board with the sail from the T-position:
By pulling the sail to the left or right we are able to turn the board clockwise or anticlockwise
(when looked at from above). The sail will always try to position itself in line with the wind so
when we shift it to the left, the board will turn clockwise so that the sail can continue being in line
with the wind. Another way of looking at it is to think of the sail as a stationary object which we are
holding on to while we turn the board with our feet: we can either pull with the left foot and push
with the right foot to make it turn anti-clockwise, or pull with the right and push with the left to turn
it clockwise.
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Sail over the front vs. Sail over the back

Sail over the front
This method is easier as we do not need to move our feet around the mast. We only need to turn
over our own axis. The downside: we drift downwind more.
Sail over the back

This way is a little more complicated as we need to move around the mast with our feet while the
sail is pulled over the back of the board (where we were standing a moment ago). The advantage is
that we do not lose much gained reach.
Initially I recommend to pass the sail over the back of the board since if we pass it over the front,
the board will point downwind and we will lose some gained upwind reach. Once we consistently
hold the closed reach course (more on this in the next chapter) we can sacrifice a little gained reach
by passing the sail over the front.
A small tip: Always position your feet so they are facing in line with the mast. If you ignore this
little detail you will fall in more times than necessary. This also goes for when you are lifting the
sail out of the water.
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How to Steer
So we are now able to sail in one direction, maybe even in both. Now we want to know how to
windsurf towards a specific point. Before we start it is important to clarify that we will not be using
the terms right or left as this will change depending on which direction we are sailing in. We will be
using towards the “front or back of the board”, “into/towards the wind” and “away from the wind”.
First we must understand why we move forwards in the first place. When we look at the windsurfer
from the side and from the top we see this.
The sail has a general pressure point. The arrows are forces. The green one is the wind pushing the
sail which is our propulsive force. However, if we didn’t have the counteracting force (red arrow)
acting through the centre-board (and later on only the fin) we would just drift downwind. Since both
arrows are in line, the board stays on course and only moves in the line of the blue arrow. However,
if we were to incline the sail forward (or slightly towards the wind), the arrows are no longer in line.
This causes a lever which turns the board downwind so that both arrows are lined up again.
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The same thing occurs when we lean the sail back (or away from the wind). Only that in this case
the board turns into the wind as the arrows are disalligned in the other direction.
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The Courses
Now let’s get to the individual courses
- Close hauled: This is the course going closest to the wind. If we turn any more into the wind,
we stall and lose speed until we stop completely and fall in backwards due to lack of power in
the sail.
- Closed reach: This is anywhere between close hauled and beam reach. We are sailing upwind
in any case.
- Beam Reach: Here we are sailing 90º to the wind direction.
- Broad Reach: This course includes any angle between beam reach and running. In any case
we are going downwind.
- Running: This course describes going downwind or close to it. We are sailing in the direction
in which the wind is blowing.
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How to Tack
Being able to turn around quickly without falling in is a pretty useful thing to know how to do in
windsurfing. However, I would like to note that it is not essential to know in the initial stages of
windsurfing. “Why?” you may ask. Well, basically, the way we tack and gybe with big boards and
small sails is different to the way we tack and gybe with small boards and big sails and until then
we can simply use the basic windsurf turn. With big boards we are going to rely a lot on the spare
volume that allows us to float and have stability even when the board is not moving. This is not
going to be possible when windsurfing with small boards. These boards won’t have any reserve
buoyancy and so won’t float when standing still which means that the technique in tacking and
gybing is very different. That being said, it is a useful thing to know how to do and a good thing to
practice as we solidify the foundations of our windsurfing technique. After all, it all builds the
sensitivity required for the sport.
So let’s get to it. Before we start we want to keep in mind that throughout the whole manoeuvre we
want to keep wind power in the sail. We want to try to keep equilibrium not by balancing on the
board but by using the wind in the sail. To do this we want to keep one hand on the boom at all
times, before and after changing sides. Let´s have at it step by step:
1. From the normal sailing position (1.) We put the front hand on the mast just below the
boom and the front foot moves to just in front of the mast. As we do this the sail is lowered to
the back of the board (or away from the wind) (2.) Important to note, we move and keep our
weight on the front foot throughout the whole manoeuvre.
2. The board starts turning into the wind. We continue holding the foot position, weight
distribution and hand positions until the sail is on the new side. A good indicator is when the
foot of the sail (the lower edge of the sail) is touching our shin (3.).
3. Right then we need quick feet. The longer we take to get from one side with pressure in the
sail to the other with pressure on the new side, the more likely it is that we lose balance and fall
in.
4. We bring the back foot forward to where the front foot was. At the same time the back
hand replaces the front hand on the mast. We keep the sail low all the way until this moment
(4.).
5. Now we simultaneously move the previously front foot to the back and bring the mast
forward to bear away from the wind (5.). The weight is transferred on to the foot that is now
in front of the mast.
6. The board will bear away. As it does this we must start to transfer the weight on to the new
back foot gradually and open the sail (sheet out) gradually so that the wind doesn’t build up too
much pressure in the sail as we bear away.
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30
How to Gybe
As with tacking, in my opinion, this windsurfing manoeuvre is unnecessary since our turn will be
quite different as soon as we start planing/gliding. However, to get to that level we need time on the
water and until then we want to be able to turn around with style without getting wet.
1. We start on beam reach (1.). We put the back hand further back on the boom and start to
lean the sail forward (towards the wind) (2.).
2. As the board starts to bear away, we move our front foot behind our back foot and place all
our weight on it (3.).
3. We keep leaning the mast forward and down towards the water.
4. We pass through the downwind course and continue sailing clew first in the new direction
gradually leaning the mast closer to the water.
5. At this point we move our feet forward so that the new front foot is next to the mast and
the new back foot a shoulder width behind (4.).
6. As soon as the feet are in place we shift the sail remembering to bring the mast forward
quickly as it shifts.
7. We luff up again so we get back to half reach again on the new side (5.).
Important throughout the whole manoeuvre is to really lean into the wind as we are going to have
the whole area of the sail available to the wind and therefore a lot of power in the sail. This gets
more and more important as we use bigger and bigger sails.
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32
How to Stop
This may be a silly question to some people but I have had it asked by various students. There are
actually 3 ways to stop:
1. Let go of the sail.

The most obvious is naturally to let everything go, in other words, just drop the sail and let it fall
into the T-position. With no power in the sail there is no propulsion and the sail dragging through
the water causes enough resistance to make you stop moving in a few short metres. The
disadvantage: we will no longer have anything to hold on to so we have to either bend our knees for
stability or fall in the water.
2. Luff up to a standstill
There will be times where letting go of the sail is just not an option. Maybe there is someone
downwind of you or you want to keep in control throughout the procedure, like when sailing in
waves. Also, if we are going fast, the sail falling in the water will cause the board to stop moving
pretty quickly meaning that, since you are not wearing a seatbelt, you will go flying. The best
option is to lean the sail far back and to put a lot of weight on the back foot so that the board turns
into the wind quickly. This way we stop moving and lose power in the sail quickly while staying in
control of the equipment all the time.
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3. Press against the wind

For those with a little bit more experience, when we are plodding along slowly and need to stop we
can lean the mast into the wind and push with our back hand. Obviously this requires good sail
control as we need to lean against the power of the sail with precision. I tend to use this when I sail
closely behind my students and they fall in. In this situation none of the others would be possible. A
key factor for keeping good sail control here is keeping the front arm straight.
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The Golden Rule of Windsurfng

In the first chapter I mentioned and insisted on the fact that keeping the front arm straight is an
essential element in windsurfing. Keeping this rule in mid will help us in the basic windsurfing
position, doing the beachstart, the waterstart, the gybe and many other manoeuvres. I would even go
as far as to say that this is the golden rule of windsurfing. Let me explain why:
Your front and back arms on the boom are the equivalent to the clutch and the accelerator of a car.
Naturally the angle of our body with respect to the sail has an impact on this statement but in
general it is true.
Back hand = accelerator
This is a no brainer really. When we pull the back hand to our body, the sail offers more surface to
the wind and we get more power in the sail.
Front arm = clutch
If you hold down the clutch of your car, what happens if you step on the accelerator? Nothing. You
can tread on that gas pedal all you want, as long as the clutch is held down you will not move an
inch. The same goes for us if we hold the mast hand close to our body. It is basically the equivalent
of opening the sail with the difference that we do not have the option of closing it with the back
hand. In order for the sail to catch the wind we must offer some surface to it which is not the case if
we pull the mast close to our body (depending on our course).
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Having the front arm bent is nearly the equivalent of opening the sail, power-wise. This might be
what we need if we need to take power out of the sail and we can´t open it with the back hand. An
example of this is when we are hooked in the harness and we hit a gust. In that case it is easier to
pull the front hand to our body than push with the back hand.
Now check out what a difference it makes to keep the front arm stretched:
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Physics
Why do I need to know this? Well, although you can probably windsurf by following the indications
of an instructor, if you are going to try and learn how to windsurf on your own, understanding how
the sail works will save you a lot of trail and error and frustration. It will also improve our technique
so that you can get the most out of the sail and enjoy the full range of what is possible in
windsurfing especially in terms of speed, the power-gybe and the bottom turn.
How the windsurf sail works

The sail works like the wing of an aeroplane. The funny thing is that I have had students that had
taken plane flying lessons have the workings of a wing explained as: “working the same as a sail”.
So, let’s explain how a wing/sail works shall we?
First, let’s pretend the sail is a rigid flat surface. The best comparison I have is comparing it to
sticking our hand out of the window of a car (if you have never done this, you didn’t have a
childhood)
When we stick our hand out horizontally, the wind generated by the car hardly affects us.
If we now tilt our hand slightly so the little finger (trailing edge) is lower than the thumb (leading
edge) the hand starts to get lifted. In other words it generates an upwards force called lift.
However, there is a second force, a sideways force called drag. As we continue to tilt our hand, the
lift reduces and the drag increases. Eventually there is going to be more drag than lift and the hand
will just be blown sideways rather than up. The same occurs with our sail.
Naturally just a small angle of attack of the sail to the wind only offers very little surface for the
wind to generate any sort of force on whereas too much surface (from a too large angle of attack)
will result in too much drag. We want to find the sweet spot between getting the maximum lift and
generating only as much drag as absolutely necessary.
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Relative Wind
So now we know how important it is to find the best angle of attack of the sail to the wind. As we
start to sail we only have to take into account the true wind.(blue arrow). As we start to move we
start to feel another wind component which we will call the board wind (red arrow – in sailing it is
called the boat speed).
If we combine these two wind components we get the wind we feel: the relative wind (green arrow).
Depending on which course we are on and the speed we are going at we will get a different relative
wind. Since our sail must be positioned at the perfect angle with respect to the relative wind, we
must constantly be modifying the sails’ angle of attack to get the maximum speed the wind and sail
can allow us.
Here is the relative wind as we build up speed.
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And on the next page is an example of how the relative wind varies at the same speed on different
courses.
39
I hope now you get an idea how to get the most out of your sail. Now a small change in how the sail
is built to get the most out of the wind.
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Sail Profile
Now let’s look at the profile of a sail and the air flow along it.
As you can see, the curve of the sail causes the air particles on the lee side to have a longer way to
go than the ones on the windward side.
According to Bernoulli’s Principle this difference in speed creates a difference in pressure. The top
side (our leeward side) having less pressure and the underside (our upwind side) having more. Since
the pressure acting on our side of the sail is greater than the pressure on the other side, lift is
generated and we move forwards.
These two components of lift generation (angle of attack and sail shape) are what makes us move.
Understanding this will help us get the most out of our sails in terms of speed and early planing.
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INTERMEDIATE
42
How to Windsurf with a Harness

Once we have reached the point where we can consistently windsurf back and forth without arriving
downwind from our starting point and where we tend not to fall very often, we are going to want to
have longer sessions. This means we need to find a means of not getting tired. It’s time to learn how
to use the harness.
What is the harness?

The harness is made up of a hook and the clothing part which fixes it in place in the region of the
stomach or pelvis (this depends on whether it is a seat harness or a waist harness).
We use the harness to hook into the harness lines which are fixed to the boom. These will either be
fixed or if adjustable length harness lines depending on preference. Important as a prerequisite to try
to use the harness lines is that we already be used to sailing with a correct body position.
If we are not used to sailing with our hips forward and shoulders back, standing with a straight
body, and instead get used to using the monkey stance, we will have trouble feeling comfortable in
the harness as our body position will be completely different and we won’t be able to relax and feel
in control. This is why I insist on the correct body position in the initial stages.
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How to hook in
To hook into the harness lines it is important that we don’t alter the sails angle relative to the wind.
We don’t want to sheet in as we try to hook in as we don’t want to get pulled forward at the exact
moment in which we are “attaching” ourselves to the sail and are at our most vulnerable in terms of
stability.
The idea is to bring the boom closer to our body by bending both arms simultaneously, preferably
bringing our elbows down to our side (the higher the elbows are during this movement, the more
energy we will be using and the less control we will have over the gear). At the same time we lean
our pelvis forward, only enough for the hook to reach the lines. It isn’t necessary to touch the boom
with our chest only to make sure we get in. If anything, going too far can hinder you as often times
we separate from the boom again without having come near the harness line.
Sailing in the harness

This part is the one that takes some getting used to. Since the whole idea is to reduce the amount of
energy we need to hold the sail, We want to practice to just lay the hands on the boom as if we were
laying them on the keys of a piano and lean the sail forwards and backwards to stay on course.
Don’t use your thumbs and attempt to have only your fingers (or even only your fingertips)
touching the boom on the inside. Apart from using only the fingertips, try to focus on only pulling
with one hand at a time: the back hand when we need more power in the sail because we are falling
backwards, and the front hand to open the sail if we have too much power in the sail and get pulled
too far forward.
How to hook out

There is a reason I advised you to only use one hand at a time while sailing hooked in the harness.
The reason is that using both hands is the way to eject. Basically, by pulling the boom closer with
both hands brings the harness lines closer to our body, taking away the tension in them that kept
them in place, and gravity doing its thing to cause the harness lines to fall out of the hook.
It is important that when we try to hook out we focus on only bringing the boom closer and don’t
move our body. The most common error is to bring the boom close but simultaneously thrusting our
44
waist forward which causes us to hook out alright. However, the problem comes when we un-arch
our back to get back into the basic windsurfing position. What I have seen time and time again is
that in the moment that people bring their hips back into place, the harness hook cones back down,
right into the harness lines again, completely undoing the whole effort and even making the
situation more dangerous as we probably ejecting for a reason, like being unstable or wanting to do
a manoeuvre.
I recommend spending a while on the simulator, getting the technique down in a controlled
environment before you venture out onto the water. You want to get the feeling for how far you
really need to bring the pelvis forward and fine tune the relation between arm bending and pelvis
lunging when hooking in; learn to relax and practice using the arms only for positioning of the
boom rather than holding on when hooked in; and building the reflex motion of getting out of the
harness when you feel out of control.
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How to Set up the Harness Lines

The previous chapter focussed solely on the practical aspect of using the harness lines. In this part I
want to give a little more insight on how to put the harness lines in the correct position.
The whole idea behind using the harness is that we relieve our arms of having to hold on. This
means the harness lines should be set up so that we can technically windsurf without holding the
sail with our hands. How do we do this?
Remember in the chapter on steering that we have a general pressure point of the sail. If our harness
lines are set up to be in line with this point, we don’t need any other correcting forces (holding on
with our hands). This is the reason why some people sail with their harness line clips right next to
each other rather than 10-15 centimetres (4-6 inches) apart.
Some people like to put the harness lines slightly forward of the pressure point, others prefer to put
them slightly behind. This depends on if they are sailing overpowered or if the wind is gusty, etc. In
the end we don’t want to sail with one hand but without hands so I say, take the two minutes time to
position them correctly.
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How do we adjust the lines?

The best and most accurate way to determine the position of the harness lines is to connect the sail
to the board and set it up upright on the shore, as close to the waterline as possible (so the wind is as
similar to what we will find on the water as it gets). Set the boom in the correct position and hook
into the harness lines.
DO NOT stand on the board when you do this. Stand next to it.
I have seen so many people adjust the harness line position standing on the board with the fin
sticking in the sand taking all the weight of the windsurfer and all the load of the sideways force
from the sail. The fin can snap. Apart from this “minor” material consequence, the position is
awkward and not too accurate.
The ideal would be to use a simulator as it is flat on the ground (like it will be on the water) and we
can set up the harness lines in relation to how our body will be positioned on the board. As I
mentioned before, this is not the case for when we stand on the board with the fin, so DON’T DO
IT! Here is the correct way to do it.
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How long do the harness lines have to be?

This question is the subject of a lot of debate. Some say they have to be as long as the elbow to the
wrist. Others include the whole forearm. I say the harness line length varies depending on the sail.
For small sails (3.4 to 4.7) where we will be sailing a little bit more agile and the sail reacts quicker,
the lines should be short (I like to have 22 or 24 cm) and for large sails (anything above 5.7) they
should be longer (mine are 26 or 28 cm) so that we can really lean into the wind since we are not
going to be doing much more than sailing back and forth on relatively flat water.
In the end much of it is up to your preference and before you go for a specific length just because
someone told you to, try out a few different lengths in different winds/different sail sizes to find out
what suits you best.
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Being Trapped Under the Sail is Harmless

I cannot count the number of times In which I have heard the horror story of how someone fell in
and ended up with the sail on top of them so that they were trapped under it and were this close to
drowning, groping around and finding nothing but foil. You don't know where to swim because it all
feels the same and any direction you choose seems to go on for ever as if you were swimming from
the mast-foot to the top. Sure, I had that moment myself when I was a kid but never since then. The
main thing that has changed is my realisation that by staying calm, the oxygen we have in our lungs
lasts longer and we can use that oxygen for something better than wasting energy. For example, to
think and to find a way to get to the surface. I think I can make you feel calmer by giving you this
piece of information: follow the battens.
The sail has a number of battens across it spaced at no more than maybe 80 cm apart from each
other. Each of these battens goes from the mast all the way to the leech, meaning that if you find
one (less than a second of groping with your eyes closed is enough for that) then all you have to do
is propel yourself along the batten in either direction until the end of it.
And if you have the boom at hand then I probably don't have to mention that the same thing goes,
apart from the advantage that you can pull yourself along it rather than having to swim.
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I have also heard so many times from people that they don't hook into the harness for fear of getting
trapped under the sail underwater.
To me this is completely unreasonable.
“But how am I supposed to get away from under the sail if I can’t move?” I hear you say. Well here
is my answer:
You don’t have to go anywhere! All you have to do is twist your body so that it is in line with the
boom and poke your head out and then calmly get unhooked. The distance from your shoulders to
the hook of your harness plus the length of the harness lines is greater than the distance from the
mast to the location of the harness lines on the boom. Problem solved.
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Windsurfng Catapult
Every windsurfer has had one, and it becomes the fear of every harness user, especially at the
beginning. They can be painful and dangerous.
Now admittedly we won't be having such extreme impacts since we are not going too fast at the
beginning so I hope I haven't scared anyone away from the sport.
I will first talk about how to avoid getting catapulted and then about the best reaction you can train
yourself to do if you are already flying through the air.
Preventing the Catapult

Learn to read the wind and waves
Most catapults come through being caught off guard by a gust or wave. Learning to read the wind
changes on the water and the way the chop forms will help you massively to see what is coming at
you.
Go down a sail size

I used to love sailing way to overpowered. To the point that if I didn't do at least 2 catapults in one
session I wasn't satisfied. That phase has passed thankfully but it shows that a good way to reduce
your likelihood of catapulting is to get good at planing with a smaller sail.
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Long harness lines

If we have too short harness lines, the reaction time available to us when something changes
unexpectedly is very small. With practice we become better and it becomes more comfortable to
control the sail with short lines. Until then go for longer lines which give you a bit more leeway,
more range to move the sail without moving your body and greater ease to hook out.
Smaller fin
Slalom sailers use big fins firstly to avoid spin outs from the massive sideways pressure but also to
get lifted out of the water and have as little surface friction as possible. In other words, a long fin
can make your board lift out of the water at high speeds (my beginner boards lift out when planing
down a wave with the skeg out). If we know how to control this there is no problem but since that
probably isn't the case, make sure your fin is not so big as to lift the board out of the water
uncontrollably.
Have the foot in the back foot-strap

One of the main reasons that I recommend putting the back foot in the straps first is that this is the
strap that avoids catapults more than anything else. Only having the front foot in the strap is useless
as it is the pivot point over which we rotate in a catapult. More on this later.
Pull the front arm close

As you notice you are being heaved forwards, pull the front arm in to take the power out of the sail.
If you catch it early enough this will allow you to fall back backwards into the correct and stable
position.
Push against the wind with the back hand

This can go in combination with the previous one, although I would only recommend it if you
already have a little experience in lee-side sailing or some other form of sail control on the lee side
of the sail.
Last Second Solution

At some point you will catapult. That's just the way it is. Sooner or later you will be flung over the
board and land with a crash or a splash. It is up to you and how you will react which one it will be
and if the splash is going to hurt. The two things we want to avoid during a catapult is hitting the
board with the mast or our body, and also avoid coming to a sudden halt on the sail (especially the
mast).
The only real solution in this case is to sheet in as hard as we can and push the mast away from the
wind. What this will do is make the sail turn downwind and let us rotate around with it so that we
land in the water and ideally under the sail. I would recommend practicing this motion unhooked a
few times so that you get a feeling for the motion and build up the reaction before you need it for
real.
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Planing
Flying over the water is an amazing feeling. One that I try to have every student of mine experience
in their first lesson with me, which isn’t too hard considering that in El Médano we tend to have 20
knots and I am pulling them behind me with an elastic rope. Once you have felt what windsurfing
can be, or rather, what windsurfing is all about, you are hooked. It is an amazing feeling and yet one
that many people haven’t gotten the hang of properly despite advancing to more complex
manoeuvres. Even if it consists of only sailing back and forth, windsurfing is mainly made up of
sailing back and forth with some sporadic manoeuvres in between. Learning to plane comes
somewhere between learning to use the harness (making it easier to hold the power in the sail
required to start and continue planing) and the foot-straps (which are only really useful to use when
planing). You can start planing hooked in or hooked out of the harness depending on how well you
can cope with the sudden increase of power in the sail and how well you react to gusts, waves and
choppy water.
I can start planing on a 100 litre board and 5.7 when many others are struggling on their 130 litres
and 6.6. This is purely because of technique. Sure, having a bigger board and bigger sail helps, but
the correct technique makes up for much more. Make sure you spend some time working on your
planing technique and your future sessions will be much more enjoyable as the range in which you
can start to have fun on the water will be much larger.
First off, what is planing?

When we start to windsurf, the board sits in the water and begins to move through it much like a
container ship would. However, as we pick up speed the boards lifts out of the water and we start to
bounce over it like speedboats do. To get more technical, planing is when we are sailing (or gliding)
over the water rather than pushing through it and the water that leaves the aft end of our board does
so in a laminar cut-off fashion and not in a turbulent stern-enclosing way.
How to se start to plane? Very easy, by going fast enough. Sounds easy right? Many people will
have experienced planing at some point or another when they start to use bigger sails and actually
use the power that can be generated by them. However, we want to be able to plane with the
smallest sail possible since the larger sails get, the more cumbersome they are. Holding the plane
once we start windsurfing fast is not too difficult if we have a good grasp of the relative wind
generated by our boards movement. The difficult part is starting the plane.
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How to start planing

To get our board out of the water we need speed. Better yet, a surge of speed. How do we go about
this? By generating a surge of power in the sail and transmitting that power into the board. Let’s
look at this step by step.
1. Stand upright: do not bend your knees or bring your bodyweight down. Your entire body
weight should be used to lean into the wind to counter the pull of the sail once the wind hits
without getting catapulted forwards.
2. Change the course: Again remembering the wind forces in the sail, if we turn from the
beam reach into the broad reach suddenly, the area of the sail will suddenly be creating only
lift (because the board is meant to go nearly entirely in the direction of the wind) as the drag
force is also going where we want to go.
3. Shoulders away from the mast: You need to grab the boom a little further away from the
mast with your front hand and lean far back with your body in order to get as much sail
surface available to the wind as possible, as much weight back to resist the pull AND to be
able to generate a horizontal push on the board with your foot on the board instead of a
vertical one with your weight.
4. Keep your body tension: The less energy that is lost in this crucial moment the better. We
must keep our body tense for these few seconds because if we allow our body to be slack,
the pull of the sail will not be transmitted into the board but will be lost and we will have to
start over again. Keep your upper body and front leg in a straight line so that you can…
5. Push forwards with your front foot (pointing towards the bow). Focus on keeping your
hips pushed forwards as letting them go back as the shoulders get pulled forwards is what I
have seen many people fail in.
6. And now to top it all off, we need to do all this in one smooth and fluid movement and not
in a jerky way.
Continuing to plane
So now we have managed to start planing. How to we keep it? I say focus mainly on your sail
position with respect to the relative wind. Read the chapter on the physics of windsurfing if you
haven’t already done so to read up on the importance of this and how to go about it. With strong
wind we will usually find the correct position easily (or the mistakes are compensated for more) but
in light winds, the wrong angle of attack on the sail can kill your plane.
Planing upwind
One of the most asked questions regarding planing I get is this: how do I sail upwind? The problems
are usually that people turn in to the wind too fast and slow down quickly or get a spin out.
The solution to both these problems is a correct body position. While on a beam reach we might
still get away with the basic body position I explained in the first chapter but once we start to use
smaller boards, this will no longer work. This is because the board will sink easier and because we
will most likely be using smaller fins despite generating much more sideways force due to planing.
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What we need to do is shift our weight from the back foot on to the front foot and put
pressure on the mast-foot while leaning the sail to the back of the board. This may seem like a
mouthful but is the most compact way of expressing the solution to the problem.
We lean the sail back to hold the closed reach, we transfer the weight onto the front foot to avoid a
spin out (the back foot in the strap of course, don’t want you making a catapult because of some
chop) and the pressure on the mast-foot is to transmit the power of the sail into the board to keep the
speed.
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Spin Out
Spin out: the situation in which the flow of the water along the fin breaks off causing the board to
slide sideways or at an angle to the sailing direction.
So there you are, planing along, flying over the water and enjoying the sensation of speed when
suddenly the aft end of the board slides away from under you. The result of a spin out will vary
depending on the circumstances. While just cruising it will just be a nuisance which is corrected
with a little bit of technique. When wave riding it is mostly what we aim for in a cutback to get big
spray, hence the reason for small fins and/or multiple fins. On the bottom turn it might cause a more
precarious situation ending in a face-plant followed by a nice and thorough wash of the wave. And
in slalom sailing, a spin out might result in a coma in the worst case scenario although most likely it
will just cause a big splash and a scare if it isn’t avoided or corrected in time.
Why does spin out occur?

The reason for a spin out occurring is that the sideways force transmitted from the sail, through our
body and onto the fin is so great that the flow of water breaks off and the back of the board is
pushed to the side.
How can I avoid spin out?

There are several things that we can modify. First, in terms of equipment, it’s all about the fin. The
length and angle of the fin as well as its relation to the sail size determine both the amount we can
go upwind and the likelihood of a spinout.
Another deciding factor is the amount of pressure we put on the back foot and therefore on the fin.
How do I recover from a spin out?

Once the board has given way, leewards, we can correct it by putting pressure on the mast-foot with
our bodyweight while pulling the back foot back to put the fin back in the line of our movement, i.e.
in line with the flow of water.
If the fin spins out upwind (like during a gybe or a bottom turn) there isn’t really much you can do
besides hope you don’t wreck your kit.
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How to Windsurf in the Foot-straps

Once we have figured out how to use the harness properly, we will have had more than a few
catapults and silly lunges over the lee side due to not hooking out in time and not having anything
to stop us from flying over forwards. It is time to learn how to use the foot-straps.
Be it to avoid getting pulled off the board or to keep the board under control when jumping off a
wave, the foots-traps are a crucial component to windsurfing with speed.
A prerequisite to using the foot-straps is knowing how to plane. The main difficulty we are faced
with is the actual position of the foot-straps on the board. They are much further back than our basic
windsurfing stance. This means we have to learn how to sail with our feet towards the back of the
board and compensating for the weight at the back with the sail position and pressure on the mast
foot (I will get to that in a moment).
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The sail pressure point further back and the centre of gravity further back cause the board to slow
down and shoot into the wind.
Up until now we have gotten used to a certain body position that feels comfortable for the ideal sail
position. Now we must get used to a new body posture that has the feet more towards the back.
How to learn to use the foot-straps

My recommendation is to start off with no foot-straps and get used to sailing with your feet
gradually further back until you are able to sail as comfortable as possible with your feet where the
foot-straps would be without losing control (like having the board shoot into the wind).
How to stop the board from turning into the wind with the feet in the foot-straps?
This is a question I get asked a lot and a problem I need to correct very often. Think of it this way.
As we move our feet back we tend to keep our body position with regard to the board the same as
always. However, this means that we are bringing the sail to the back of the board. This means that
not only are we moving our weight further back (which causes the back of the board to sink more
and thereby cause more resistance and slow us down) but moving the sail back which causes the
board to luff up. These two components cause the board to turn into the wind uncontrollably.
So, what to do? We can do two things. The first is to consciously lean the sail forward. This is a
motion we are already used to but it also has a disadvantage, it means we have to lean forward,
putting a lot of weight on our front foot, meaning we are more prone to getting catapulted. Also, this
technique is hard to apply if we are hooked in the harness.
So let’s look at the second option. We must apply pressure on the mast foot. It may sound strange
but keep reading. The idea is to push/pull downwards with our front arm in line of the mast towards
the board. What this does is cause the board to receive a sideways force on the front which keeps it
on course. This method doesn’t require the sail to be leant so far forward that we lose control and it
helps keep the board flatter on the water so we don’t create so much resistance.
Think of it as trying to get your front arms' elbow to the mast-foot while holding on to the boom.
Now comes the actual getting into the foot-straps. I have a theory that differs a little from what is
usually taught. Most people are shown to put the front foot into the strap first and then the back
foot. I agree with this … when sailing on flat water.
However, when we are sailing in waves or choppy water, my recommendation is to put the back
foot in the foot-strap first and then the front one. Remember how I said that the back foot in the
foot-strap is the one that stops us from doing a catapult.
Putting the back foot in the foot-strap is not so difficult and so the change in body position will not
be too big other than standing with a wider stance. The difficult part is putting the front foot in the
strap as it is usually the one we are pushing into the board with and that is stopping us from being
pulled over forwards. The trick is to push down and onto the mast foot with the front hand as we lift
up the front foot to make up for the missing pressure of the foot.
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The Beachstart
Pulling out the sail to start windsurfing is for beginners. Real windsurfers do a beachstart by just
stepping onto the board from knee-deep water and gliding away. However, it isn’t as easy to learn
as it looks. Anyone who has given it a try for the first time will have noticed that there is more to
just putting your foot on the board and getting up (although it actually is just that once you know
the technique).
The beachstart, like the waterstart is predominantly technique. The beachstart (when done correctly)
consists of 95% technique and 5% wind. The 5% is actually just so that the sail doesn’t weigh us
down. The main components in terms of technique are the same for the beachstart as for the
waterstart so it is important to get the beachstart technique right to avoid creating bad habits which
will later have much more negative impact when we move on to the waterstart.
So let’s get to it. First off let me describe the beachstart as simply stepping onto the board the same
way we would get on to a high step: by putting our foot on the centre of the board and leaning our
shoulders forward so that our body’s weight centre is over the board and then push ourselves up
with the leg. As you can see, in theory we don’t need wind in the sail to do this. That being said,
let’s break the theory down a little bit more.
Board Position
First of all, board position. Before we try to get on the board we must have the board set up on the
correct course. It should be somewhere close to the beam reach (90º to the wind) or sightly more
downwind. The reason for this is that if the board is pointing too far upwind, the wind will be acting
against us. Then again, if the board is pointing too far downwind we can have too much power in
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the sail so that we can no longer hold it or get catapulted over the front.
Board control
In order to get he board into the correct position we must learn to control the board through the sail.
The control of the board for the beachstart and waterstart are different to how we steer while
windsurfing. In this case we need to use pressure on the mast-foot through our sail control to
position the board correctly rather than lean the sail forwards and backwards. Let me explain.
We always want to control the board through the sail. There should be no need to touch the board
with our hands… ever. The only time we touch the board is when we put our foot on it. To make the
board turn downwind we must push with the mast hand towards the mast foot. When we want the
board to turn upwind we must pull the mast to the wind (or towards us as we are going to be
standing upwind). We can also use the back hand as a lever if we push in the opposite direction than
the front hand (pushing to the mast foot or pulling towards the mast top, always without adding
wind power to the sail).
An important note: Do not pull down with the back hand when controlling the board as it will make
the board try to sail away or pull the sail down backwards. Use two fingers. We only want to make
sure the wind comes under the sail pulling it up slightly and not heaving us up uncontrollably or
pushing us down. One way to think of it is to keep the boom horizontal.
So much for the board positioning, which is what I have found to be the most challenging part of
the beachstart due to waves and current. Although if you are learning this in flat and clam water you
might find it easier. For those wanting to learn how to beachstart in waves and sail through breaking
waves check out the next chapter.
Getting up
Now it is time for the actual getting up on the board. As I mentioned earlier, the beachstart is like
getting up on a high step. In order to achieve this manoeuvre there are three main components in
our body position that we must apply.
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1. We must stand close to the board. It is easier to get on the board if the distance of our
weight displacement is 40cm rather than 80cm (from the side of the board to the center).
2. Now we put our back foot on the board. Some people have been told to put the front foot
on the board but the back foot is closer and doesn't make you twist your body thereby
making the control of the kit more difficult.
3. Keep the front arm straight. This one is absolutely crucial. Avoid bending your arm as
doing so will greatly hinder your progress.
4. Lean forward. Get your body over the board. This is another aspect you want to get right.
Avoid trying to get on by thrusting your hips forward over the board. The only thing this this
will do is leave your shoulders (and therefore much of your weight centre) upwind of the
board. This is good when we are sailing and want to counter the pull of the sail. However,
for the beachstart we WANT to be pulled forwards by the sail and onto the board.
So to recap:
• Board 90º to the wind
• Step on like on a high step
• Stand close to the board
• Front arm straight
• Back foot on centreline of the board
• Shoulders forward keeping the boom horizontal
• Close sail only as much as necessary
• Normal windsurfing stance
Before heading into the water and giving all this a shot I would first practice all this on a simulator.
The simulator is not going to move around as much (if it does it is usually because you are pulling
too much with the back hand when positioning yourself). It allows you to get a feeling for what the
motion should look and feel like. This allows you to be able to be familiar with the final component
of the beachstart already so that when you go into the water all you have to focus on is the board
control.
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How to Windsurf through Waves

My home spot is El Médano. It is where I learned to windsurf and where I have been teaching for
the last 9 years on and off. In that time I have seen hundreds of people keen on getting on the water
and having a great session only to experience a frustrating fight for even getting on the board and
sailing for more than 10 meters. I have seen experienced flat water windsurfers take a severe
beating and break gear on many occasions. The reason is that they never had to face a shore break,
much less such a constant one as here. And it really isn’t all that hard getting through the waves, all
you need to know is how.
We need to take into account that regardless of whether you are positioning the board for the
beachstart, the waterstart or just plain sailing, the method to get through a breaking wave is the
same. The biggest fight that I keep witnessing is to do the beachstart. The reason is that the waves
tend to come non-stop, with a space of 1 to 5 seconds between them. Here are the three basic things
you need to take into account when going through a shore break wave:
Go through the wave at 90°

This is the biggest factor to take into account when sailing through a wave, independent of whether
it has already broken or is just steep. The wave is a mass of water that is moving towards you that
will try to push us along with it, and if the board is not perpendicular to the wave, the bow (which is
the first point of contact of the wave on the board) will be pushed/dragged along by the wave. The
result is a loss of control. If this happens while positioning the board for the beachstart or the
waterstart, all our positioning efforts will have been undone. If this happens while sailing, the result
is either a way too fast luffing up to the wind, or a very entertaining catapult (at least for all of us
watching)
The faster the better

As mentioned before, the wave has a lot of inertia, meaning that when it hits us, it will try to push
us with it. Hitting it at 90° is one part of the equation, however, unless we have some energy of our
own to counteract the waves’ energy, it will in fact push us backwards. While handling the board for
the beachstart we can lean against the wave with the gear to stop it from pushing us over although
pushing the gear into the wave about a meter before the impact is more effective. If we have to
waterstart in steep/broken waves, pushing the board into the wave like with the beachstart can make
the difference of having to lay out the gear correctly again or not. When we are sailing, try to pick
up some speed between the waves so that you are not at a standstill when the wave hits you. The
faster you are going, the less the wave is going to affect you.
Bend your knees on impact

As I mentioned above, the wave will slow us down in some measure. In the same way that if we hit
a curb with the bike or get a stone under the wheels of a skateboard, if our weight centre is high up,
we will be more likely to fly over forwards. The solution in windsurfing is to bring our upper body
lower by bending our knees just before hitting the wave head on.
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One more thing:

Another little tip you can implement is make sure you have the weight on the back foot so that the
bow comes up a little and the board can go over the wave naturally and not necessarily
underneath/through it.
This advice is mainly for the conditions in El Médano where the wind usually comes side-on shore.
With offshore winds, the advice is still pretty much the same with the small additional hint that we
must remember to open the sail right after the wave because the difference in height before and
after the wave makes the air speed up, which feels like a sudden strong gust normally resulting in a
silly twirling fall by us over the lee side.
I hope this has provided some insight as to why your efforts in waves have been more challenging,
exhausting (maybe even frustrating) and that you are now equipped with the knowledge of how to
overcome even the bigger whitewash.
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ADVANCED
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The Waterstart
The waterstart: portal to the small volume boards. The manoeuvre that separates the men from the
boys, real windsurfers from the newbies, the dedicated from the dabblers…. The waterstart is the
manoeuvre you need to get a hang of to truly enjoy the sport of windsurfing.
If we remember the chapter on the beachstart, I mention that the beachstart is 95% technique and
5% wind. The waterstart is 80% technique and 20% wind. This means that we can still do a
waterstart easily even if the wind drops. However, I have seen so many people unable to sail back to
shore when the wind dropped just because their waterstart technique was lacking. Therefore I
recommend that everybody read this even if they know how to do the waterstart.
The technique of the waterstart is very similar to that of the beachstart. Basically you can think of
the waterstart as a beachstart without touching the ground. Therefore I recommend getting the
beachstart technique sorted out and perfected before you tackle the waterstart.
The waterstart can be an easy and energy saving way to get going again after falling in the water.
However, a lot of the time I see how people on a more advanced level (such as learning how to gybe
in lessons with me) waste a lot of energy on the waterstart. Let's first focus on how to lay out the
gear and lift the sail out of the water in the most energy efficient way so that your sessions on the
water can last longer.
Check the wind direction

Missing this small little detail is by far the one which has robbed the most people of a lot of energy.
By trying to lift the sail out at an angle which has the wind pushing down on the sail rather than
going underneath it and lifting it up, many windsurfers end up tired in a matter of minutes. Before
you do anything in terms of handling the gear or making a physical effort for the waterstart, take a
moment to ensure you have a clear notion of the wind direction.
Put the sail on what would be/is the upwind side of the board when the board is pointing in
the direction we want to start in
Let’s assume we want to start on a starboard tack. If we have the sail on the upwind side of the
board, all we have to do is turn the board under the sail (if the board was on a port tack) so that it is
set out on the starboard tack. If the sail were laying downwind of the board, simply lay out the
board so that if the sail were upwind (if we rotate the kit 180º), it would be set out for a starboard
tack.
Position the sail so that the mast is on the sailing direction and the clew is on the aft side of the
board
If the sail is not already laid out like this, we must flip the sail. The way we do this is by positioning
the clew upwind of the mast and starting to lift the clew out of the water until the wind gets some of
the sail surface and helps you by pushing the clew all the way on to the lee side.
Turn the gear so that the mast is between 20° and 90° to the wind
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There are two ways we can turn the gear. I generally recommend considering the mast top as the
centre of rotation and making the board move around it, always with the bow first (as this is the
natural direction to move in and will be easier). The exception is when the gear is practically
already correctly laid out and all that is needed is a few more degrees around. It is more effective to
swim 20° in the unnatural sense than 340° in the natural one. I recommend grabbing the mast
between the boom and the mast-foot and swimming parallel to the board.
Swim to the correct position along the mast

The closer the sail is to 20°, the higher up on the mast we must position ourselves to start lifting up
the sail. The closer to 90° the sail is to the wind the closer to the boom we must position ourselves.
At the 90° mark we must be at around 60 cm (2ft) above the boom.
Swim to the wind until the sail is flat on the water surface
Start swimming towards the wind with the mast in hand until the sail is lying flat on the water. Do
not lift the mast out of the water until the sail is flat on the water since if the clew is still to deep in
the water when you lift the sail up, the wind will blow the sail out of your hand and over the clew
instead of getting the rest of the sail out of the water smoothly. If the clew is in the water you will
not be able to hold it when the wind hits the sail, and if you are able, all that is going to happen is
that the sail sinks into the water again. It is very important at this point to not swim upwards. Focus
on swimming horizontally and only use very little energy to lift the sail. This will be much much
more efficient than swimming upwards and using force. For one thing the sail will not arrive to the
position where it is flat over the water and will therefore be full of water, not to be lifted out. Swim
horizontally!
Lift up the sail slowly and don’t stop swimming

With the sail flat on the water we start lifting the sail with constant upward force. Do not jerk it
upwards. The water on the sail will keep the sail from going up and all you are going to do is waste
energy. Lift up the sail slowly so that the water can run out of the sail as you slowly lift it up.
Slowly lift the mast about 30 cm (1 foot) over the water surface so that the wind can do the rest of
the sail lifting for you. Do not stop swimming towards the wind or the clew will start to slip deeper
into the water.
Set up for the waterstart

Now all that is left is to move the sail over your head and grab either the boom or the back footstrap
with the back hand and you are set to tackle the waterstart itself.
So to recap:
• Check wind direction
• Set up board relative to the sail first
• Then rotate to get mast between 20 and 90 deg to the wind
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• Grab mast and swim horizontally towards the wind until the sail is laying flat on the water
• If the sail is not flat in the water it can get stuck in the water an undo all the progress.
• Start lifting the sail by continuing to swim towards the wind and lifting it up slowly but
steadily.
• Do NOT jerk it upwards as there is water weighing the sail down and will just use a lot of
energy for little result.
• Slow steady lifting up so the water can roll off the sail.
• Raise it up to 30 cm so the wind lifts it up completely
• Do waterstart
Now to the actual waterstart:

We position the board similar to the beachstart, beam reach or slightly more downwind for more
sail surface (if there is little wind). We get the board into this position with the same pushing/pulling
on the mast-foot as the beachstart in the horizontal axis only that we need the keep our body more
tense as we don’t have a ground to use as fixed point. To get and maintain the board in place we can
hold the boom or mast with the front hand and the back foot-strap with the back hand. With these
two contact points we can lever the board into place. We can either move onto the next step
immediately if we have enough wind or, if we don’t have enough wind, wait for a gust strong
enough to lift us out. Here is what comes next:
Once we have the gear laid out correctly we put the back foot on the board. If there is enough wind
we can put both feet on the board which will give us greater control. However, if we use only one
foot we can use the other leg to swim upwards and help us get on.
A very important note, when you put your foot on the board DO NOT push the board away from
you. You want to lay the foot on the centreline of the board and pull it towards you if anything.
Pushing the board away with the back foot will cause the board to turn into the wind and leave us
luffed up so far that we no longer have any wind lifting us. So, lay the back foot on the centreline of
the board and push with your front hand onto the mast-foot through the mast and pull the board so
that it is touching the back of your thigh.
As soon as the foot is on, the back hand goes from the back foot-strap to the boom (if you didn’t
have it there already). Once there do not immediately pull down. What you want to do is pull the
back hand upwards towards the mast top. Basically over your head. As you do this you want to
bend your knees and lean your shoulders forwards so that your chest is touching your knees. What
this does is in essence position the sail as vertical as possible while bringing your weight centre as
low and close over the board as possible. The result is as much sail surface available to the wind as
possible to lift us up and the minimum resistance of your bodyweight to pull us down. A good way
to check you are doing it correctly is to focus on keeping the boom horizontal at all times.
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As soon as we start to get lifted out it is important to avoid two things:

• Bend the front arm
• Lunge forwards with our hips
Both of these will sabotage our efforts and make us fall backwards into the water again. Try to keep
this in mind: we want the sail to lift us out of the water with the wind. We don't want to pull
ourselves up as we would doing pull-ups.
Once our body’s weight centre is over the board we must start to open the sail again to avoid being
catapulted over the other side.
And to top it all off we need to keep the boards position steady throughout the whole procedure. As
you can see, it is quite a complex manoeuvre indeed and one that takes a while to be mastered. I
would definitely recommend getting an instructor to guide you for the first two hours as keeping all
of these things in mind is nearly impossible… Also, it will stop you from taking up bad habits
(especially the front arm and hip lunging thing).
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So, to recap:
• Board on beam reach or slightly downwind
• Wait for wind gust if not enough constant wind
• Foot resting on the board, not pushing the board away
• Front arm straight and leaning the mast forward
• Bend knees
• Shoulders forward
• Let the sail lift us up and NOT pull ourselves up
• Open the sail in time
• Maintain board direction steady throughout all manoeuvre
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The Planing Gybe

Disclaimer: I will refer to both gybes as planing gybe so I don’t have to keep writing “power-gybe
and carving-gybe” all the time. Basically the thing that differences them is at the end anyways and I
will mention it when I get to it.
We have arrived at the holy grail of windsurfing. Sailing out on a plane, turning around and coming
back to the beach with dry hair. Once the waterstart is a struggle of the past an no longer a big deal,
it also becomes a bit of a nuisance having to let ourselves fall in the water to turn around and
waterstart back to the beach. It is time to learn how to do the planing-gybe.
First off, the technique of the planing-gybe has little to do with that of the beginners gybe. The first
is for small boards with little volume that sink when they are not planing. The normal gybe is for
large volume boards which float even when at a standstill. For this reason I recommend learning the
planing-gybe with a board no bigger than 120 litres, less if you are a lightweight.
So let’s get down to it:
1. Start by planing. As already mentioned a few times before, we want to be planing for this
gybe. The one thing that will make or break the success of this manoeuvre is speed. Having
it when we go in and keeping it throughout. The faster we go, the easier the entire sequence
of motions is going to be since the board will be more stable at high speed and the sail will
be easier to handle. Our immediate goal is to arrive in the downwind course having the same
speed as the wind since then the relative wind is zero and the sail can be handled much
easier.
2. Take the back foot out of the strap. We take the back foot out of the strap and place it on
the downwind rail and begin to put pressure on that rail.
3. Move our weight forward. As the board starts to turn we shift our body forward, over the
front foot to make sure that the board remains as flat on the water as possible instead of
having too much weight over the stern which would cause the board to sink at the back and
slow us down quickly.
4. Keep the front arm straight and the sail sheeted in. As we start to bear away, the relative
wind changes also. At one point the board speed is going to be faster than the actual wind
and the relative wind will be coming from the downwind course. To use this relative wind to
the fullest we must keep the front arm straight and the back hand sheeting in the sail to keep
an optimal angle of attack on the sail.
5. Keep the weight over the front foot. Resist the temptation of leaning back as you pick up
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speed on the downwind course. You want to lean forward with your shoulders without
sticking your bum out. Leaning back will only slow us down or make the board shoot out
forwards from under our feet and sticking our bum out will rob us of stability.
6. Keep steady pressure on the rail. If we stand on the board unsteadily we will be applying
varying pressure on the inner rail which will result in the board to not make a smooth arc
through the water but snake lines which will reduce our stability and speed.
Once we arrive at the downwind course we will do one of two sequences that will decide whether
your planing gybe is a power-gybe or a carve-gybe. Taking advantage of the relative wind being
close to zero, and so hardly having any pressure in the sail we:
Power-Gybe Carve-Gybe
Change our foot position taking care to keep Shift the sail making sure that the mast is
them positioned along the centreline of the brought forward again once it has shifted so that
board and putting a little more pressure on the we can grab the boom on the new side and so
heels to keep the board during. First we change that the clew doesn’t get caught in the water and
the front foot (of the old side), basically just the resistance in it pulling it out of our hands.
rotating it on the spot and moving slightly to the Now it is time to change our foot position: first
centreline of the board so it comes out of the the front foot which is taken out of the foot-strap
foot-strap. Then we move the back foot (of the and placed just behind the front foot-straps and
old side) and move it just behind the mast-foot on the centreline of the board; then the foot that
so that the board remains flat over the water and is on the rail is moved forward just behind the
so that when the sail is shifted we can transmit mast-foot ready to transmit the sail power into
the power of the sail into the board again. the board again on the new side.
We then we shift the sail making sure that we
bring the mast forward again as quickly as
possible as the clew can get caught in the water
when it arrives one the new side resulting in the
sail getting pulled out of our hands. Once the
mast is brought forward we can also grab the
boom again with the new back hand.
Once on the new side with the feet and sail set up correctly again we need to continue the plane (or
get back into it in case we slowed down too much). In other words we must lean back, close the sail
and push our hips forward.
I personally vary the gybe I do depending on the side I do it in. I feel most comfortable with my
right foot in front as I have a goofy stance when surfing or skateboarding. For this reason I do a
power-gybe when starting on a port tack and a carve-gybe when I start on a starboard tack so that I
stay as long as possible with my right foot in front as I feel I have more control. People with a
regular stance will probably prefer to keep their left foot in front longer. In any case, try out both
ways and see which one comes more naturally to you.
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To recap:
• It is important to be planing
• Back foot out of the foot-strap
• Start putting pressure on the downwind rail
• Weight forward
• Front arm straight, close the sail with back hand
• Keep body vertical: no sticking our bum out in a sitting position, no leaning back with the
shoulders
• Keep steady pressure on the rail throughout the manoeuvre
• Switch feet first, then shift the sail (power-gybe)
OR (Depends on preferred stance)
• Shift sail, then switch feet (carve-gybe)
• When shifting the sail, bring the mast forward again quickly so the clew doesn’t get caught
in the water
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How to Jump
I grew up and learned to windsurf in El Médano. Here we have waves nearly every day and the
stronger the wind, the bigger the waves. In other words, for me it came naturally to pick up speed
and at some point hit the wave right to take off into the air.
Most people who pick up confidence to windsurf at speed here end up jumping sooner or later,
mostly by accident. Let’s look at how to make a controlled jump so you can enjoy some air time
without risking a crash.
Speed
In the same way that when we are skateboarding, skiing, cycling, etc. towards a ramp, the first
requirement to take off into the air is that we hit the ramp at speed. The faster we go the higher the
jump.
Course
You can pretty much jump off on any course except the running course. The run up however, I
recommend to be a broad reach in order to have as much speed as possible and the option to luff up
a bit for a momentaneous increase in wind-power availability. To start off, the best angle at which to
jump off at is 90º to the wave so the your board lays flat on the water surface and doesn’t dig in on
one rail when going up it. Later, as you get better, you can change the course at which you take off.
Jumping off at a closed reach will usually result in slowing down in the air and landing vertically,
meaning that you will have to start sailing again from a standstill.
Jumping off at a beam reach is good to maintain speed. This course is best for long horizontal jumps
to keep planing after you land.
Jumping off at a broad reach is best for tricks in the air although your option for a long horizontal
jump remains. However, controlling the landing at this course might be tricky if you are
unexperienced.
Sheet in at the last moment

In order to get a little boost in speed we want to sheet in in a powerful manner just as we go up the
wave. The boost is necessary to compensate for the slight loss in speed due to the sharp incline of
the wave face.
Body tension
When in the air we have no water resistance to limit our movement in the air. This means that in the
same way that we had to adapt our way of controlling the gear when going from the beachstart
(with contact to the ground) to the waterstart (only contact to the water), we have to learn how to
control the gear when jumping (only contact to the air/wind). The idea is the same as for the
waterstart (leaning sail forwards or backwards/ pushing on the mast-foot or pushing on the board)
only that in this instance we need to keep more body tension as now the board is not limited in the
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vertical axis by water.

Basically what happens when we do not stiffen our body in the jump, the feet will drop, taking the
board with them, our body will be stretched and we have no real control of what the gear is doing.
Keep the knees tucked in close to your chest and maintain some power in the sail.
Landing
Depending on how steep the wave is at the time of take-off we will do one of two types of jumps:
Flat horizontal jump

This is the jump you will be looking for with free-ride and slalom equipment as it aims to maintain
the speed all the way through the jump and landing without losing the plane.
When the wave is rather flat when we hit the lip (or the wave is pretty small) we will do a long
distance jump where the landing will be at speed. Here it is important that we land with the board
nearly horizontal. It is especially in these kinds of jumps that it is important to keep our body tense
as if we don’t do this we will have less control over the kit, our feet that drop will make the board
nose turn into the sky and when we land with the aft end first and the board pointing upward we
will make a sudden halt due to the water resistance. The result can very likely be a catapult.
I insist, make sure you keep your body stiff and the equipment steady in the air and you will get
more comfortable with each jump.
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Steep vertical jump

These are the impressive kinds of jumps. We aim to hit the wave so that we leave the top of the lip
just before it breaks (or when it is at a 90º incline). Again, as we start to go up the wave we must
sheet in the sail to compensate for going up the incline.
As we go up, we want to keep the body tension that I don’t get sick of mentioning. If we are able to
keep a stiff body we will be able to go higher. Make sure that you keep having power in the sail as
in the jump it will act like an actual wing lifting you upward. Once you have reached the top, keep
the position of the gear so that you land with the fin first. Landing on the water with the board
horizontal will damage the board as the sudden impact will cause the board to delaminate and go
soft. This is only the case for the vertical landings, for horizontal landings the consequences of
landing flat are not so great.
Another alternative is the nose dive which is pretty complicated and pretty dangerous if you are not
experienced in jumping. The idea is to turn your board from having the nose pointing upwards at
the top of the jump, to have it pointing down by the time we reach the water to land with the bow
first. If we get the angle wrong we either land with the board flat (delaminating the board over time)
or diving in too vertically (and risking a catapult, potentially onto the board).
Equipment that you don’t jump with

Beginners kit
Although I have done so many times during my lessons because the waves in El Médano are big, I
don’t advise anyone to try it, especially not if you’re only just starting. The board is so big that the
wind will blow it out of control. Plus, if the jump is too high there is no way to control it even if it
had foot-straps.
Formula gear
For the same reason as above, the board has so much surface that you lose control in the air. Also,
the boards are usually very flat, with not scoop or rocker, meaning that the boards nose will more
likely dive into the wave rather than over it. Additionally, since the boards tend to be very light (for
their size) the control that we have over them in the air is even less.
Recap:
• Be planing, fast
• Hit the wave at it's most vertical point
• Sheet in at the last moment
• Keep body tension in the air
• Land with the fin first
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OTHER USEFUL STUFF
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How to Carry Your Kit

Carrying our windsurfing equipment can be one of the most annoying hassles of the sport if we
don’t know how to do it right. Time and again I have seen people carry their windsurf gear in such
inefficient ways that this aspect definitely deserves mentioning. Most of it is common sense but
when you are used to a certain way of doing things or don’t adapt your carrying method to the type
of equipment and the environment, you will certainly create a habit where you are going to waste a
lot o energy in the process of getting your rigged gear to and from the water.
Sails
With enough wind
Above a certain wind speed this method is possible and even if we hardly have any wind, if we run
or walk fast we can generate enough apparent wind to make this work.
We can position the sail holding the lower end of the mast with one hand and the boom (close to the
mast) with the other by our side or over our heads. In both of these methods it is important that we
keep in mind that the wind is to do ALL the work. We only need to position the sail correctly
relative to the wind. In fact, we literally only need to use TWO FINGERS to carry the sail in wind
(look at my hands in the image below). If we need more than that, we are doing something wrong.
Important to keep in mind is that the mast needs to be on the wind side with the mast foot being
slightly more upwind than the boom, and slightly (5 cm, 2 in) more elevated.
With little to no wind

When we have very little wind we won’t have any help from the elements to lift the sail. However,
as I mentioned earlier, we can create our own wind by walking fast or running.
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Over the head

As with the method with wind, we can balance the sail over our head. One hand will be on the mast
and the other either on the boom or in the sail with a flat hand so as to hold it with the maximum
surface of the hand. The smaller the hand surface we use, the more we damage the sail.
DO NOT pull the sail down onto your head!
Our heads have a pretty small surface due to its round shape. The weight of the sail alone laying on
top of our heads shouldn’t damage it. However, it we pull the sail down, it’s the same as if we were
standing on it when laying on the ground. At some point it will deform the plastic/cloth/mono-film
of the sail.
Big Boards – One person

Daggerboard
If you are strong enough you can lift the board under your arm by grabbing hold of the daggerboard
or the daggerboard slot. Just make sure you keep the board on the lee side (downwind) of your body
as this way the wind is not pressing the board against you but instead you can let it swing away
from your body, especially in the gusts.
Over the head

If we need to go upwind we can carry the board on our head (going across the wind or downwind
like this can be tricky).
Remember, the board is heavy and has a large surface which means you can easily hurt yourself and
others if you lose control of it due to the wind knocking it out of your hands.
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Big Boards – Two people

Large boards are easy to carry between two people since the weight is distributed. The best method
is for one person to grab the fin (the board positioned so that the fin is pointing away from the body)
and the second person carrying the bow. As mentioned before, it is best if the board is carried on the
lee side of the body to make up for the wind pushing the board. Also, when walking in line with the
wind, the end with the fin (stern) should be pointing windward.
Buggy
If you are privileged enough to have access to one of these, be sure to use it. It makes your life so
much easier. Strap the boards on so that the wind doesn’t blow them off and hurt you or someone
else in the process.
Small Boards
Although small boards are lighter and easier to carry than beginner boards, there are indeed ways to
carry them that are impracticable and make life hard on us. Here are the methods of how to carry
them correctly.
Fin to wind
Before we begin with all the ways, one thing to keep in mind is to always carry the board with the
fin end pointing to the wind. This is the position that the board turns to naturally if we carry it at its
centre of gravity. It may seem common sense to avoid using energy to fight the wind but I see this a
lot on the beach.
Board on the lee side

The other thing to keep in mind is to carry the board on the lee side of our body. This way the wind
doesn’t push us sideways but rather we can let the board be lifted by the wind and thereby be less
heavy.
Under the arm

Nowadays, with the boards being wider and shorter rather than long and slender, this option of
carrying the board in the same fashion as a regular surf board is not always possible.
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One foot-strap
Grab the lower foot-strap and have the other on rest on your forearm. This keeps the board vertical.
Foot-strap + mast-foot
Again, keep in mind not to fight against the wind.
Board and Sail Combination

Foot-strap + Boom
This is the method I find the best and recommend. It is the one where we have the most control over
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the gear and so the safest. It is also the one that requires the least energy. We can also use this
method to walk upwind by simply using the opposite hands and having our back to the mast-foot. It
takes a bit to get used to it without having the board hit the ground.
Foot-strap + Boom (low wind alternative)

Although it looks similar to the previous one, it is prone to lack of control because the board can
start to flap about over the arm holding the foot-strap. However, with low wind it is a little easier to
carry the gear if it is heavy.
Over the head back foot-strap and mast

This consists of holding the mast underneath the boom, leaning the sail on top of your head and the
other hand holding the back foot-strap. The only time this one is practical is when we have to walk
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directly upwind. However, even then I recommend the first option as we will always have more
control over our gear.
I have seen other methods of carrying the gear but to me they are not the way to go as they are
cumbersome and offer less control.
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Low Wind Alternatives

What to do? We arrive at the surf spot and there are only 10 knots blowing. Some might say that the
day is ruined. That we are cursed to sit on the beach and tell stories of epic windsurfing sessions.
Others might say it is time to try kitesurfing. However, it is still worth hitting the water with a board
and sail, albeit some big kit.
Low wind conditions give us the possibility to gain sail control and try out new manoeuvres with
less likelihood of falling in. When I teach beginners I frequently practice sailing on the lee side, the
heli-tack or a sail stall (among others) mainly to stay entertained, but also to develop my skills. I
know that every attempt, even in low wind, contributes to getting the hang of a manoeuvre with
more wind.
So here are a couple of things you can try to master in low winds:
Lee-side
You can either stay on the same course and move around the mast or you can luff up into the wind
as a tack and stay on the wrong side. The trick is keeping the front arm straight and controlling the
sail power by pushing with the back hand.
Clew first
Again we have two options: Either by letting go of the front hand and flipping the sail (the clew
past our face) until the clew is in front. The other option is to do a gybe all the way just before
shifting the sail and then continue sailing in this stance.
Fin first
This is probably the most difficult one to get the hang of as it takes some body tension to keep the
board with the fin first. The easiest way is to luff up in to the wind until the board is pointing into
the wind and already on the new tack. Then, rather than jumping onto the new side, we walk to the
bow of the board. The back foot goes as far to the bow as possible and weighs it down. This way the
back of the board is lifted out of the water and the fin is in the air. At this point the board is really
unstable and will most likely try to shoot out from under us. To avoid this we must keep the sail as
far over the mast-foot as possible and keep our body tense. Here it is hard to explain as so many
things can happen. All I can say is that we must lean far forwards, putting pressure on the mast foot
while keeping the weight far enough on the bow to lift the fin out of the water.
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Helicopter tack
I use this a lot in my lessons, mainly just to entertain myself but also because each one is practice.
We begin the tack the same way as a normal tack except that the front hand stays on the boom.
Then, just when we would change sides we lean the sail forwards (without generating any pressure
whatsoever in the sail in the transition as that would make it difficult to lean the sail forward). Once
the sail is leant forward we slowly put pressure with the back hand and our body leans onto the sail.
It is important to keep the front arm straight throughout all this process. We maintain this position
until the board has turned onto the beam reach, even a broad reach, and then we rotate our body and
sail so that the clew turns through the wind. This way, when the sail is shifted it is not so violent.
Upwind 360
This one starts in the same way as the helicopter tack but instead of shifting the sail on the new tack
after rotating the clew through the wind, we hold on to the boom with the back hand, put all our
weight on the back foot as far to the stern as possible to the board can rotate over this point. If we
don’t put the weight so far back we will just be pulled over forwards and into the water.
Sail stall
By far my favourite move. We throw the sail away into the wind while on a close haul so that the
sail floats (hovers) over the water until the wind lifts it up again and back into our hands.
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Duck tack
While on a close haul we shift our feet to a switch stance and lean the mast onto the windward side
and into the wind. Once the sail is past our body, i.e. the mast close to the water surface we throw
the clew towards the water so that the wind lifts the sail up again towards us and leaves us on the
lee side. In this position we push the sail down to the back of the board hard to luff the board into
the wind. Once the board has turned into the wind we sheet in on the new side while leaning the
mast forward so that the board keeps turning onto the new tack.
And then of course comes the combination of all of these. Each of these are like dance moves and
once we get them down we can combine them. Examples of these are the sail stall into helicopter
tack, half the duck tack into the last half of the upwind 360. All this jumping and dancing around on
the boards with the sail ends up building sensitivity for the sail control which ends up improving
our skills in strong winds also.
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High Wind Alternatives

We are dealing with a sport that depends on the weather. In other words, there will be times when
there will be too much wind or simply not enough wind for our level. There are two alternatives we
have when there is too much wind, or too dangerous conditions for us to go windsurfing on the
water.
Simulator practice
The first option is to practice manoeuvres on the simulator. This is especially applicable for
beginners as we can run into trouble quickly if we go out in conditions above or ability.
Building up the control of the power in the sail is a crucial ability to have for windsurfing and every
minute you can spend honing this ability in the early stages will be beneficial once we finally get
onto the water. If you have only had a few hours on the water or even none at all yet, getting on the
simulator and practicing holding the equilibrium between our body leaning back and the sail
holding us up is going to make the progress on the water be much faster as you can then concentrate
on the board handling rather that the body position.
However, also for more advanced windsurfers the simulator can be a useful option. Practicing
controlling the sail from the lee side, the fast tack, the duck tack, the sail stall and a few other
manoeuvres.
Watch the pros

Not everyone likes to stand in the wind practicing on a simulator (you might also already be past
that). Another way to progress is to watch the pros. Seeing what is possible by watching what and
how the guys who know what they are doing do their magic can help us learn for when the wind
drops a little.
Naturally you don’t have to sit on the beach and watch. You can also make use of the endless video
library that is the internet.
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Buying your First Kit

It’s a little strange for me to recommend a first time board or sail buy to anyone. I bought my first
board by helping out at my parents surf centre to pay for it. It was a custom made twin fin wave
board with something around 50 litres. I must add that I was 11 years old at the time. And my sail
was mainly fragile mono-film with one batten and aluminium mast and boom.
However, despite this different initiation, I can still advise my students on what their first kit should
be like.
Board
First off, don't bother with buying a board with a centreboard (skeg). That is, unless you want to
stunt your own progress for not pushing yourself. The board you will use for the longest period of
time is something in the range of the 140-160 litres. Naturally this will vary a little depending on
your weight but generally this is the litre range you will get the most use out of.
This is the board on which you can learn the beachstart, waterstart, use of foot-straps and perfect the
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harness use with. It might be a little chunky to get into the speed jibe. Until you get the beach and
waterstart down it still offers enough buoyancy to allow for up-hauling.
All in all, my recommendation for a first board should also be one you will be likely to keep for
those really low wind days once you progress past it on windy days.
Sail
In terms of sail purchase, you must get something you will be using often, and that will depend on
where you windsurf.
On lakes we generally want something big like 6.0m2. In these cases it is important to go for weight
reduction. This means to spend a little bit extra on a light mast and boom as there is nothing quite as
painful as trying to lift out a heavy sail out of the water regardless of if it is up-hauling or for the
waterstart.
If you are going to windsurf at the sea where there are breaking waves, I recommend going for
something durable. Something that won't break on your first catapult or wash in the waves.
Typically 5.3m2 is a sail size you will be using often at these spots.
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Buying a Wetsuit
When we need to buy a wetsuit there are a couple of things we have to take into account. We have
to ask ourselves questions such as:
• What sport do we want to do with it?
• What temperatures are we going to use it in?
• How long will the sessions be that we use it?
The basic things to look out for are:
Thickness
Depending on the temperature of the air and water that you are going to be in and the length of time
that you are going to spend in it you will need a different thickness of wetsuit. It hardly bears
mentioning that warmer waters require less thickness than cold waters. Also, you may be in a
country where the actual temperature is warm but the water is cold so bear that in mind.
I was surfing in Portugal in July and despite the heat on the shore (and boiling inside the wetsuit)
the water was rather cold and only permitted sessions of around an hour with long wetsuits.
Naturally ones body constitution will have an impact on the thickness you need. I have seen guys in
the water in board shorts while others needed long suits.
Then again, if you are windsurfing and you are rarely in the water and the air is warm, maybe a
thinner one will do.
Type
As with thickness, this too depends on the temperatures but also on the use it is destined for. There
are currently all combinations of long or short sleeves with long or short legs.
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For kitesurfing for example, long legs are not too practical as the spray from a twin-tip board will
get fired into the leg and not come out through gravity alone, meaning the calf of the wetsuit will be
bulging with water which firstly reduces mobility and secondly wears out the elasticity of the suit. A
solution is to buy a long sleeve-short leg suit. I have also seen some riders buy a long sleeve-long
leg suit and cut off the legs just below the knee. Personally, I don’t feel like spending a load of cash
on a wetsuit just to cut it up, but that's just my opinion.
Also you might not want to get the surfers tan meaning that long sleeves and/or legs is what you are
looking for.
Quality
This is up to each individual. It depends on how long you want the wetsuit to last and how long
your sessions are going to be. You will not need a top quality suit if you are going into warm water
for half an hour every weekend but it is important if you are going to spend all day in it every other
day.
The material of the wetsuit will also impact on how easy it is to get on and off and on how well it
moulds to your body. Check out the elasticity and the combination of materials found in the suit.
Zipper
This comes in two parts. Firstly the zipper itself. There are different setups such as along the spine,
across the back or across the chest. The most applied so far has been the zip up the spine which
requires the use of a cord or band to pull it up. This band can be irritating if you are windsurfing or
kitesurfing and have it flapping about in your face. You can tuck it down the collar but that can be
just as uncomfortable.
Then there is the neoprene cover on the inside you need to take into account. Up until a few years
ago, along the zip on one side there would be a few centimetres of neoprene to reduce the amount of
water coming in through the zip. There is nothing as cruel as a warm wetsuit spoilt by that trickle of
icy cold water down the spine.
Nowadays the better wetsuits will have the complete area of the back protected with a neoprene
surface. Some even make sure it reaches up to the neck with a collar attached to pull over your
head.
Feeling
Last of all, and sure not least, you must make sure the wetsuit feels good when you wear it. Don’t
settle for anything less than something that feels like a second skin. Make sure the size is correct. I
wear a MT (Medium Tall). An L would be too wide for me and an M would be too short and be too
tight around the crotch and shoulders. It also won’t reach down to my ankles properly.
If there are any creases in it or areas that are not directly on your skin when you wear it
comfortably, go down a size.
Try it on and move around in it. Move your arms to simulate paddling, you don’t want the wetsuit
biting your armpit. Move your legs around, nothing more annoying than that pinch in the crotch.
Also move your head from side to side to see if the collar is going to chafe your neck.
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This might make you sweat a little in the shop but rest assured that it will save you a heck of a lot of
trouble later in the water.
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Knots – Square Knot

There are three basic knots one should know as a windsurfer as they can come in handy at one time
or another. There first is the square knot. The square knot is the most useful of the three I will talk
about as it is what we use when we need to unite two rope ends. This can help us out of a pickle
when the downhaul or the outhaul line tears on the water. Make sure you have control of this knot.
Here is the sequence for a square knot:
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Knots – Bowline
The bowline knot is the second essential knot on the list. It is the best knot to add a non-self-
tightening noose to the end of a rope. It is used on the end of the downhaul line to hook the harness
hook in to tense the downhaul.
Here is the sequence:
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Knots – Clove Hitch

Be it to tense the down-haul or simply as a quick fix to attach a harness line to the boom, the clove
hitch is the thirst of the three indispensable knots any windsurfer should know.
Here is how it is done:
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How to Treat Calluses

How annoying is it? Just off the plane, awesome wind forecast for the next few days and your hands
and feet are covered in open blisters from that first 3 hour session! It is a nightmare for anyone who
has been left stoked from a first session on the water but left the hands covered in blisters because
they haven´t had the time to adapt to the extreme sport. And the forecast looks like the wind will die
down in a few days … What are we to do?
We can choose to do one of three things:

Clench your teeth and fight through the pain
The first is to fight through the pain and just keep going with the mindset that “it will have time to
heal in the lull after the storm”. While this is a valid option for a masochist or anyone seeing the
pain as a reasonable price to pay for a session (guilty!), it doesn't solve the problem. If anything it
makes it worse and takes away from enjoying the session.
Return of the Mummy

The second option is to tape our hands covering the blisters. This is by far the most preferred option
as it covers the wound to a certain extent, protecting it from direct contact with the boom. Without
the constant friction on the boom, the lack of contact with the sand and salt water, the wounds have
a chance at getting better. They probably won’t heal, but they also won’t get much worse. Sure it’s
not the most stylish option to reenact the Return of the Mummy, but to a certain extent it works. It
can be a hassle to apply and depending on the affected area and our gripping style, the tape might
not last too long. Usually it is difficult to apply the tape in a way that it doesn’t roll up or peel off
with little more than making a fist a couple of times. I might make a post in the future dedicated to
the technique that works the best.
Let it Heal
The last alternative is to actually take a break from windsurfing and letting the wounds heal.
Naturally we are not talking about just waiting passively. We want to get back into the water as fast
as possible!
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Aloe Vera
By far my favourite approach. This plant works wonders. Depending on the severity of the wounds,
the healing process will take maybe a day or two, and when they are cured it will be with tougher
skin, ready for hardcore action. It is also good for scrapes and scratches and sunburns.
Applying this will most likely allow you to hit the water after a break of one day, maybe even less if
you leave it overnight and apply it again in the morning. The biggest downside is that it’s basically
goo, and it stains the clothes easily (and maybe permanently, I'm not sure) so you have to make sure
the area is covered. It also smells funny…
Either way, if we stick at it, it will be like curing the aching body after a workout session at the gym
and we will get used to the friction of the boom and end up with callouses. But that is something
you must put into alignment with your level of hand delicateness.
101
RECAPS
102
This is just a compilation of all the recap lists you can go through while visualising a new
manoeuvre or when stopping for a break in between sessions so that you don't have to read through
the whole chapter. I hope these summaries help.
Starting
• Back straight when pulling up the sail.
• Sail must come to you, not vice-versa.
• The order: Mast. Feet. Boom.
• The Golden Rule: Front arm straight.
• Weight on the back foot.
• Keep your body straight.
• Look forward
Turn
• Sail over the front to turn faster but lose gained upwind reach
• Sail over the back for no drifting downwind
• Keep feet pointing in line with the inclined sail
Steering
• Mast forward to bear away
• As board bears away, open the sail to avoid being overpowered
• Sail to the back to luff up
• When luffing up, no need to sheet in aggressively
Tack
• Front hand on mast, front foot in front of mast-foot
• Lean sail to the back to luff up and over the board through the wind
• When sail is on the new side, change feet
• On new side, lean mast forwards to bear away
103
Gybe
• Grab the back hand further back on the boom
• Lean mast forwards to bear away
• When board bears away put front foot behind back foot
• Lean the sail closer to the water as the board turns through the wind
• Move feet forwards
• Shift sail, making sure to bring the mast forwards quickly
Harness
• Hook in by bringing the sail to the body, not the body to the sail
• Sail with hands laying on the boom, not grabbing it
• Hook out by bringing the boom closer by 5cm so the harness lines fall out
• Don't lunge forward with the pelvis
Plaining
• Keep body stretched
• Bear away and sheet in
• Keep sail away from your body
• Maintain body tension
• Push forwards with the front foot to get the board out of the water and over it
• Make sure you are pushing the front foot into the board horizontally, not vertically
Footstraps
• Try getting the back foot in first
• When lifting the front foot to put in the strap, put pressure on the mast-foot with the front
hand to avoid board luffing up or slowing down
Beachstart
• Board 90º to the wind
• Step on like on a high step
• Stand close to the board
104
• Front arm straight

• Back foot on centreline of the board
• Shoulders forward keeping the boom horizontal
• Close sail only as much as necessary
• Normal windsurfing stance
Waterstart positioning
• Check wind direction
• Set up board relative to the sail first
• Then rotate to get mast between 20 and 90 deg to the wind
• Grab mast and swim horizontally towards the wind until the sail is laying flat on the water
• If the sail is not flat in the water it can get stuck in the water an undo all the progress.
• Start lifting the sail by continuing to swim towards the wind and lifting it up slowly but
steadily.
• Do NOT jerk it upwards as there is water weighing the sail down and will just use a lot of
energy for little result.
• Slow steady lifting up so the water can roll off the sail.
• Raise it up to 30 cm so the wind lifts it up completely
Waterstart
• Board on beam reach or slightly downwind
• Wait for wind gust if not enough constant wind
• Foot resting on the board, not pushing the board away
• Front arm straight and leaning the mast forward
• Bend knees
• Shoulders forward
• Let the sail lift us up and NOT pull ourselves up
• Open the sail in time
• Maintain board direction steady throughout all manoeuvre
105
Planing Gybe
• It is important to be planing
• Back foot out of the foot-strap
• Start putting pressure on the downwind rail
• Weight forward
• Front arm straight, close the sail with back hand
• Keep body vertical: no sticking our bum out in a sitting position, no leaning back with the
shoulders
• Keep steady pressure on the rail throughout the manoeuvre
• Switch feet first, then shift the sail (power-gybe)
• OR (Depends on preferred stance)
• Shift sail, then switch feet (carve-gybe)
• When shifting the sail, bring the mast forward again quickly so the clew doesn’t get caught
in the water
Jumping
• Be planing, fast
• Hit the wave at it's most vertical point
• Sheet in at the last moment
• Keep body tension in the air
• Land with the fin first
106
About Arne Gahmig

Hi there! My name is Arne Gahmig. I have been a windsurf instructor
on and off since 2004 and been on a windsurfing board since the age of
5. I am a passionate waterman meaning that I alternate between
windsurfing, kiteboarding, surfing and SUPing depending on the
conditions. In general I am more of a waves guy, which is hardly
surprising having grown up in El Médano, Tenerife (Spain) and so I am
most addicted to windsurfing, only recurring to the other disciplines
when the conditions are too soft for a 5.7 wave sail.
I have decided to set up my blog (howtowindsurf101.com) as a way of
putting into writing all of the steps necessary to start with windsurfing
and to keep advancing through the stages in the least amount of time
while still having loads of fun.
Everything that I post here will
be based upon my own
experience that I have obtained and will continue obtaining
in my sailing sessions and in my lessons.
I hope you get as much out of it as you can ;)
107

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Inspect the kit

Outhaul and downhaul ropes

Not in offshore winds

Know the basic knots

Ensure emergency services are available

Don’t go on the water alone

Know the rules of right of way

Rules of Right of Way

Overtaking person needs to avoid collision

Downwind over upwind

Port bow over starboard bow

How to Get Back to the Shore if the Wind Drops

1. NEVER LEAVE YOUR KIT!

2. SWIM PERPENDICULAR TO THE CURRENT

Lay the boom on stern and swim

After the sunburn

Areas often forgotten:

How to Start Windsurfng

Recap important notes:

Sail over the front vs. Sail over the back

Sail over the back

1. Let go of the sail.

3. Press against the wind

The Golden Rule of Windsurfng

Front arm = clutch

How the windsurf sail works

How to Windsurf with a Harness

What is the harness?

Sailing in the harness

How to hook out

How to Set up the Harness Lines

How do we adjust the lines?

How long do the harness lines have to be?

Being Trapped Under the Sail is Harmless

Preventing the Catapult

Go down a sail size

Long harness lines

Have the foot in the back foot-strap

Pull the front arm close

Push against the wind with the back hand

Last Second Solution

First off, what is planing?

How to start planing

Why does spin out occur?

How can I avoid spin out?

How do I recover from a spin out?

How to Windsurf in the Foot-straps

How to learn to use the foot-straps

How to Windsurf through Waves

Go through the wave at 90°

The faster the better

Bend your knees on impact

One more thing:

Check the wind direction

Swim to the correct position along the mast

Lift up the sail slowly and don’t stop swimming

Set up for the waterstart

Now to the actual waterstart:

As soon as we start to get lifted out it is important to avoid two things:

The Planing Gybe

Sheet in at the last moment

vertical axis by water.