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Waveriding General
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WAVERIDING
Ever heard "off-the-lip" or "backside aerial" down at the beach and not sure what it meant ? The following article is for beginner to intermediate wavesailors, and explains the basic manoeuvres aswell as some interesting tips which will help you with your wavesailling !. Wavesailing is not that hard, definitely one of the interesting aspects of windsurfing and you too can do it !!!! As long as you can jybe and waterstart, you are fit for your first waveriding attempts !!! Give it a go !
We have some of the best wavesailing conditions worldwide here in New Zealand! So let's get out there and experience it.
SAFETY FIRST
- before you hit the water, make sure that you've got a spare rope with you (put it in your harness pocket, if you can
or wrap it around the harness bar)
- check your ropes, mastbase and mastfoot regularly
Basically, there are two ways of riding a wave.
- Frontside waveriding (Going down the waveface, the first turn (Bottom turn) will be with the wind, as when gybing.)
- Backside waveriding (Going down the waveface, the first turn (Bottom turn) will be into the wind, as when tacking.)
Which one you choose will in most cases depend on the conditions and the spot you are sailing, but the frontside wavesailing is definitely the one favourable !
Sideshore conditions: Frontside waveriding
Cross offshore: Frontside waveriding
Cross onshore: Frontside and Backside waveriding
Onshore: Backside waveriding
General tips:
- Waveriding is very different than normal sailing. It requires much more commitment and moving around your body weight etc. Beginners always move away from the wave too much whilst trying to bottom turn. You need to commit 300 %, by just trying to carve as hard as in a gybe you will never get close to a cutback. Once on a wave, think more of it as actual "surfing" than windsurfing. Keep your bodyweight much more centered above the board rather than hanging out as in regular windsurfing. Then try to "surf" the wave rather than windsurf it. With a bit of practice you will learn to work the wave and optimize it so that the sail becomes more and more irrelevant. Just by placing your weight over the board and leaning forward you can stay on the wave, whereas windsurfing it will often leave you dropping out behind it. Dont get me wrong, the sail helps, and is crucial for powering through the bottom turn, but it helps looking at surfers, how they work and punp the board, and move their stance and weight around, that is exactly what you need to do on the windsurfer also.
- Loose backfootstrap lets you put the feet further to leeward rail, hence increasing power and control in the
bottom turn.
- Get a waist harness
- Harness lines should be a wee bit longer than for slalom sailing
Shorebreak:
Watch out for nasty shorebreaks at wavespots. (ie. Dumps, Wairarapa). If you get caught in a shorebreak, never ever get between the beach and your equipment. If you try and save your gear, and the wave pushes your rig against you, you might easily break your leg. Get out of there !!!!!
Right of way: (in terms of priority)
1.) The sailor going out to sea through the waves has right of way
2.) The sailor who is on the wave first, gets the wave.
3.) If two sailors get the wave at the same time, the sailor upwind gets the wave.
4.) If all the above fails, the sailor closer to the breaking part of the wave has
right of way, but you make more friends if you give priority to rules 1-3.
Save yourself:
Should you get trashed, try not to let go of your gear. Hold your rig above boomheight as much as you can. Loosing your gear means swimming. If you see a wave coming while you are in the water, always try to redirect the sail, so that it points masttop first into the wave. This way you will have more of a chance to hold on to it, and damage will mostly be minimal. You dont want the sail to be placed in a 90 degrees angle to the wave, as this will roll you and the gear around it a couple of times, which isnt very pleasant. The worst case scenario is masttop pointing to the beach, as this will (in Lyall Bay) most likely end with a broken mast as the top of the sail gets buried in sand/rock. Also do not try to hold onto your board (unless waves are very small), as your harness hook will damage the board whilst you get trashed !
Generally, it all sounds and looks scarier than it is ! Being in the washing machine can be quite fun, and its generally quite harmless as there are no coral reefs etc. around here.
(c) M. Hollenstein - www.wellingtonwindsurfers.co.nz
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