14 COACHING WINDWISE TECHNIQUE
Is your boom height right?
You want a comfortable boom position with it high enough so
that the harness lines pull down to help increase mast foot
pressure and trim the board flat. (Mast foot pressure is
applied through sheeting in, so make sure those lines are in
the right place too!)
• If your boom is too high it can lead to loss of control, spin
out and limit gybing.
• If your boom is too low it will reduce early planing and
fast gybe exits.
On boards below 160L boards with footstraps, set your boom
height by laying the rig back against the tail. The reason you
do this is that it gives a simple reference every time you go
into the water, plus, more importantly, you can learn to easily
fine tune to suit different mast track positions, conditions
and changes in board sizes or shapes. Only on large beginner
boards or WindSUPs, without footstraps, should you set it
against your body (often shoulder height). However, on
boards with footstraps, avoid measuring it against your body!
Boom setting for boards
with straps
As a general rule, for most adults over 5’7” the
underside of the boom should be past the tail on a
freeride board.
Boom 1 sailor height 5’0”-5’7”
Have the boom between 5-8cm inside the tail to 3-5cm
off the back of the board.
Reliable boom height
tuning rules
When you move up or down in size/width of board or
footstrap configuration, you will need to fine-tune your boom
height to suit.
• When moving onto a particularly wide freeride board that
has outboard strap settings, raise the boom slightly to
compensate for a more out-board body position.
• When moving onto a narrower board and or with inboard
straps (freestyle-freewave-wave boards) you’ll find you
need to lower the boom slightly to compensate for a
more in-board body position closer to the mast base.
Boom 2 sailor height 5’7-6’0”
Have the boom between ‘just off’ to 5-10cm off the
back of the board.
So for instance on my Dyno 105 with inboard strap settings I
have the boom just off the tail. On my Fox 120, which is
wider with outboard footstrap settings, I have my boom 1-2
inches higher to compensate for the more outboard
footstraps and sailing position.
Why you need to adjust your boom height
if you move your track
So, say my boom is 5cm off the back of my board and I
move the mast track forward for early planing, the boom
height would effectively drop. So to compensate, I’d put the
boom up so that it’s back at 5cm off the tail again.
Conversely, if I move the mast track back, maybe I’m on a
smaller sail or the nose is catching, the relative boom height
rises, so I drop the boom to keep it at the 5cm off the back
of the board.
If you’re conditioned to measure your boom height against
your body by standing the rig up, you’d be easily tricked into
thinking your boom height is the same. But if you change
either your mast track position, board width/size, footstrap
configuration it will change the boom height relative to your
sailing position. So learn to always reference to the tail and
fine tune as per the guide.
uk
WIND
SURFING
Boom 3 sailor height 6’-6’5”
Have the boom between 5-15cm off the back of the
board.
Boom range
We will all have our own idiosyncrasies, but if learn to
reference to the tail, because when you change mast
base position, board size or foot strap configurations you
can adjust more accurately.