This video made me smile ...because I was cussing myself out today for NOT getting into the foot-straps AGAIN this summer season and then this fellow and a professional windsurfer come up with these tips !!!
Basically what they are saying is: Once you have decided what the wind is going to be for your session, bring ONLY one board, one sail, one mast, one boom and one fin ... The pro says use the same setup all season - like a 7.x m² sail, medium board and 36cm fin.
As you may or may not know, we now have only one vehicle in our empty-nest family home and it is a Toyota Prius C hatchback. For this reason, my longboard, a Mistral Equipe II XR, now resides at the in-law/out-law chalet up north.
This is the PERFECT place for it !!
There are NO reasonably priced roof racks for this car and I have managed to bring my JP SLW92 on top of the car ... with NO roof-rack
Now ...back to the subject at hand ... as this is a SMALL car ... I check many wind reports and take the setup that best addresses the conditions - for me. At times I bring 2 sails with the appropriate masts and fins. However, it is ALWAYS one board, typically my Fanatic Shark 145 HRS (which is now in for repair as it has developed a soft spot).
...and I have NEVER changed the sail once I have gone out on the water ...
So, do I feel like I am becoming a better windsurfer - with my 40 sessions on the water this summer ? I am feeling pretty confident in SW winds where there is no danger of me spending time IN the water = can go parallel to the shore @ OKA. I enjoy light winds (>10knots) and overpowering winds (up to about 50kph - let's say 25 knots). Winds tend to be very gusty and this does NOT lend one to want to try stuff much - and is my excuse for the foot-strap "laziness". I can waterstart, plane in the harness, tack and slow gybe. Bruno (previously of 2-rad and now windspirit) is saying I should be going down in volume.
My ~2000 Fanatic Bee 124 LTD should be able to handle sails from 6-8.5m² and may become my prime board next year !! Will that induce me more towards foot-straps or less ?
Time will tell !!
