Imagine that every single time you get to the beach you quickly rig your sail and perfectly tune for the conditions. You never fumble with your extension length, never need to stop to move your mast base, never have to adjust your boom height, never wish you had more downhaul tension and never fiddle with your outhaul setting. You are completely dialed in from the get-go, every time.
Is that even possible?
Yes, absolutely! With a combination of a short gear debrief at the end of your sessions and recording previous settings that worked well, you can get quickly dialed for your next outing.
For starters set up your gear to the best of your knowledge and go windsurfing. If you’ve never used your gear before, follow the manufacturers rigging guides like the Sailworks Rigging Guides here, or Starboard’s recommended settings listed directly on the boards.
Alternatively extrapolate your new gear setup from a gear setup you know you already have dialed in. This works great if you are updating your quiver of sails to the latest models.
If you feel that you want to make adjustments during your session, stop and do it. Take a mental note if you do the adjustment on the water, or even better a photo with your smartphone if you make an adjustment on the beach. I like to keep a journal of my rig settings. After the adjustment make sure to notice if it improved your setup.
Keep in mind it’s always easier to attribute an improvement to a setting change if you only modified one setting. With that in mind aim for individual incremental changes rather than multiple or drastic changes.
Ideally you will be finishing your windsurfing session with your gear well dialed in. Now the important part is before de-rigging take notes or photos of all your settings. I use my phone to take photos and notes in an app. It’s easy to add simple markup on your photos so you remember what the photo means and add it to your digital notes. While you have your phone out, don’t forget the selfie photo with your stoked face to make all your friends who missed the session jealous!
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The following are key settings I suggest noting. It looks like a lot, but many of these are “long-term” settings that I may only take note of once or twice a year.
The date and conditions.
Board, sail, mast, boom and fin that you are riding.
Fin position.
Footstrap position.
Mast base position.
Extension setting.
Distance between extension pulleys and tack pulley.
Headcap strap length.
Harness line position and length.
Boom height. I like to mark my ideal boom height at the boom opening with permanent marker. Alternatively use the stock boom height markings.
Boom length.
Gap between back of sail and boom tail piece.
Batten tension.
Now you’re ready to show up prepared for your next session, no matter if it’s the next day or 2 months later. You’ll be starting right where you left off.
Keep in mind it may take a few sessions to get settings just right, but with this methodical approach you will be closer to fully dialed in every day.
When it comes to dialing in your equipment everybody will have their own level of meticulousness and frequency. For some people the technical tuning is the fun part, whereas others prefer a hands off approach. I personally have my freestyle gear and wave gear tuned in for the season and rarely change anything. Most of these settings are memorized. On the other hand I am constantly tuning my slalom setup and taking notes. The above suggestions are not a chore, only use them to the extent that they improve the fun you have with windsurfing.