37
Above: It’s all in the detail. Spot the difference between these two photos. One has a loose and reactive leech
thanks to correct downhaul whereas the other has a tight and choked leech thanks to too little downhaul
Summary: 10 easy steps to a perfect board and rig setup
After attending to the bits and pieces above, from now on all you have to do is:
1. Adjust extension, sleeve mast into sail, put extension into mast, set downhaul and tidy downhaul away
2. Set boom length and connect to mast roughly at correct height, thread outhaul and tension just a little
3. Position mast foot on board at 130, 135 or 140 (according to board size) and click rig onto mast foot
4. Set final boom height off tail of board to your known position
5. Remove rig from mastfoot
6. Outhaul correctly and do the two or three finger push test. This may need a slight boom length adjustment
7. ‘Weigh’ boom to position harness lines and set harness line length (covered in next article)
8. Adjust footstrap position and size (covered in next article)
9. Put correctly-sized fin into board (covered in next article)
10.Re-connect rig and board, launch and ride with confidence and focus! There will be no more wobbling away
from the beach whilst knocking the boom up a bit only to wonder why your outhaul just went loose.
Remember to make small tweaks after the first few runs if you missed out any of the above settings or
something does not feel right
So that’s all for now. Have fun setting your board and
rig up and remember to play around with the settings a
bit. By doing this you will learn to feel the key
differences that changes can make and this cannot fail
to nudge your windsurfing forwards little by little. Come
back next time for part two, which will look at the
basics of harness line, fin and footstrap set up/tuning.
Simon Winkley is a RYA Advanced Windsurfing Instructor
and a RYA Windsurfing Trainer running instructor courses
across the UK and overseas
Sponsors: Starboard, Severne, Bray Lake Watersports,
Spinlock and Flymount.
2019 Overseas Coaching Clinics via Sportif:
(bookings: www.sportif.travel 01273 844919)
Langebaan, South Africa: 21-29 Jan & 25 Nov-3 Dec
Costa Teguise, Lazarote: 18-25 March
Safaga, Red Sea: 16-23 May
Weymouth Coaching Weekends at the OTC:
(bookings: [email protected])
2018: 8/9 December
2019: 30/31 March, 4/5 May, 8/9 June, 27/28 July
Queen Mary Foiling Sessions: regular
(bookings: www.queenmary.org.uk 01784 248881)
Connect: www.simonwinkley.com
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uk
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SURFING