Can any one help???

I have found that I seem to put too much weight on my back foot thus causing the board to spin out and end up into wind.

Worse than this is that the fin loses grip and the board tends to enjoy shooting along sideways. The problem also occurs when its choppy and I catch a bit of air.

To remedy these problems surely the best thing to do is just bear away, isn't it?

How can I stop it, correct it once it happens? I am using quite a large board, at the mo I have only one back footstrap on it, will it help if I have another one on there, therefore both further outboard??

Your advice is gratefully recieved in advance.

Olly

Olly...Spin out is just one of those things that seems to start happeningonce you reach your level...You'll soon learn to control it though. Putting two back straps on will probably actually make it worse as you'll be putting more sideways pressure on the fin rather than putting your weight over it.

Bearing away will help and you have to kind of pull your back foot back in under your arse to pull the fin back and stop it sliding sideways. As far as spinning out after jumps and chop hops, then that almost always happens, even good sailors often spin out a little on landing a jump, its just that they learn to control it and pull it back before it gets the beter of them.

Again, its just a matter of pulling your back foot and the fin back upwind, whilst forcing the front foot forward and increasing mast foot pressure to help you bear away. Try adjusting your mastfoot position and maybe harness lines a little next time your out as well...just experiment with different settings as changing these may change your stance just a little and stop you putting so much weight on your back foot....You'll get it in the end though... And beside, going sideways is an important part fo freestyle tricks, so think of it as practice for all those spinny slidey tricks you'll be doing soon.
Do those tips sound about right to everyone else?? Or am I talking rubbish?

Al.

Spinout - what a bag of worms!

The trouble is, there are so many ways in which it can happen. Ian's article (http://www.bristolnomads.org.uk/Toptips/toptips.htm#Spin%20Out) goes over some reasons - take a quick squint at the above link.

Other causes are:
- Going too slowly with too much sideways pressure on the back foot - causes the fin to stall.
- Fin too small, sail too big.
- Fin damaged, or just crap design
- Flying upwind over chop - always bear away slightly if you get airborne

In Ian's article, there's a mention of a method to stop the sideways movement when the fin's lost it's grip - that of dipping the leeward rail. This is what I try to do BUT - it can be very scary. If you're ploughing more or less sideways at 15 knots, dipping the rail probably means dipping it by a couple of millimetres! Any more & there's a good chance of tripping the rail & coming to a very wet end.

You've identified the main problem yourself - that of excessive back foot pressure. That's what you need to work on - easier said than done, but keep practising. Try to play at pushing the board forward through the front leg - even to the extent of locking the knee out - not the best style or technique, but helps get the feel.


[Edited on 9-3-2003 by MartinF]

my top tip is put more weight on your toes instead of your heels, if you push into the board with your toes you will actually put more pressure down the mast, another good thing.


I still get spin out particularly in short chop when trying to pinch upwind (and jumping), if your having trouble getting control back try quickly backwinding the sail by pushing forward with the back hand this will slow the board down and stop the spin out, but you've got to be quick to get the power back on before you lose too much speed.

I think the other answers come from more experienced sailors than me, but I went on Guy Cribb Day last year and asked about spin out. The reply was...

"9 out of 10 times spin out is caused by the harness lines being too far forward"

As an earlyish intermediatte this advise has been invaluable, I adjusted my lines according to the 1/3 rule and I have not spun out since (even when using my heavily bashed fin)

Hope this helps

SeanBo
(recovering from a great days sailing yesterday that ended up with a trip to the local hospitals A&E department....details in the diary)

As another intermediate I was having this same trouble last year.

I found that I was trying to put pressure on with the back foot to drive upwind and all I did was put pressure on the tail. I think you have to drive the board forward with the front foot and put pressure against the fin with the back foot (not down, but sideways).