Windsurfers - Technique - Under Planing Conditions (strong Winds, More Than Appr. 15 Kts)

Under Planing Conditions (strong Winds, More Than Appr. 15 Kts)

Typically, at this point a harness is worn in order to more efficiently use the body to counter the force in the sail. As the wind increases, the rider continues to sheet in the sail, and the board picks up speed. The fin begins to generate lift. This causes the amount of board in the water to decrease, therefore the rider must follow the waterline towards the back of the board towards the foot straps, until eventually the rider is in the foot straps. At this point the board starts to plane on top of the water, rather than moving through it, skimming over the surface at much higher speeds. At what wind speed exactly this planing threshold is situated depends on rider's weight, sail size, board volume and rider skills, but on average it is appr. 15 kts. The transition from sailing to planing requires a lot of energy, but once the board is planing, water resistance decreases dramatically. This means that it is possible that a rider continues to plane, though the wind has dropped below a level that would be insufficient to get him/her into a plane, a phenomena referred to as "ghost riding". To make the most of planing conditions, the board needs to be smaller. Sufficient lift and lateral resistance are provided by the fin. A centreboard can no longer be used as its enormous lateral resistance would immediately flip the board over. Advanced rider boards therefore simply do not have a centreboard. The fin experiences huge pressures on the leeward side, and is therefore often made of carbon fiber. On the other hand, a very low pressure area can develop on the windward side of the fin. This causes the water to boil, creating pockets of air which cause the fin to suddenly loose grip on the water. This is called a "spin-out", and if not corrected promptly, may lead to a violent crash. Ideal planing conditions for most recreational riders are 15–25 knots. Advanced windsurfers will often express the success of a day out on the water, or for that matter, a whole windsurfing trip, as the amount of "strap time" they enjoyed, because the foot straps on the back of a sail board can only be used if (and only if) the board is planing, and it is planing what constitutes the fun element in windsurfing to most windsurfers.

Directional Control is mainly achieved by putting rider weight pressure on either the left or the right rail (edge) of the board. Jibing is done at full speed (a so-called "carve jibe", "power jibe" or "planing jibe"), whereby the rider continues to apply pressure on the inside rail of the turn, leaning into the turn much like a snowboarder making a toe-side turn. Pressure is released from the sail as the board speed turns downwind, allowing for the sail to be jibed. Tacking is still possible, but at these conditions has become an unstable and awkward maneuver, because it cannot be performed at full speed. A heel-side turn while planing (called a "cut-back") is usually only executed in wave riding.

Fall Recovery: winds are now generally too strong to pull the sail out of the water while standing on the board, as with light winds. This means the rider has to "water start" the board. This is done by (while water treading) positioning the floating sail into the wind, getting underneath it (where there is no air), pushing the luff out of the water to allow the wind to catch the sail, and then having the sail pull him/her onto the board. As the sail then becomes suddenly fully powered, it demands full power and trim attention from the rider, exactly when he/she is at the highest point of exhaustion. To successfully transition from a water start to planing (and not another crash) therefore requires considerable training and a good physical condition. Occasionally a rider can be unable to recover when, with dropping winds, the sail becomes too small to water start and the board has too little volume to allow the rider to climb up and pull out the sail. Because of the latter condition, this fate usually only befalls advanced riders. With rising winds, it is also possible that the sail becomes too large (overpowered) to allow either water starting or sail pulling, which typically may happen to beginning riders.