Besides the increased wind speed, you now have whitecaps, chop, and maybe some swells to play in.  Compared to snow skiing, you’ve graduated from the bunny, through the intermediate, to the advanced slope.  Ballplayers, you’re in the big leagues.  Water skiers, the tow boat is ten miles an hour faster, and you’re on a slalom ski.

Which brings us to equipment—that changes too.  If you aren’t using the right stuff, high-wind sailing is a struggle.  (The wrong adjustment of the right stuff makes for a struggle too.  See Book 14, for rig, mast-track, and fin adjustment.)  If you like a challenge, sail a beginner board in these conditions;  it’s like white-water rafting in a rowboat.  Transition-boards (between 10 and 11 feet [305–336 cm]) aren’t that great either; they’re fine for sailing in a straight line, but turning is an adventure.

To make a broad generalization, you should be sailing a board not longer than 10 feet/305 cm (a short-board) without a centerboard and with footstraps.  If you haven’t put yours on yet, now’s the time:  high-wind sailing without footstraps is like snow skiing without bindings.

Footstraps and ski bindings have something else in common:   adjustability.  If the straps are adjusted too small, they’re useless.  If the straps are adjusted too large, they’re dangerous.

Quick—what’s the most common windsurfing injury after the bruise?  If you guessed a damaged ego, your location’s too high.  If you guessed a sunburn, your location’s too general.  If you guessed a broken ankle, your location’s on target.  This happens when your foot is jammed so far in a strap, because the adjustment is too large, that it can’t slip out when you fall forward—snap, rescue, hospital!

Figure 9.1~  Adjust the size of the footstraps small enough that you can only see your big toenail or not more than 1 inch (3 cm) of your bootie. But . . .

Figure 9.2~   . . . if the strap covers your instep, you’re asking for a large medical bill and an even larger amount of pain.

Having said all that, don’t be afraid of footstraps; they’re the greatest innovation since the harness or the hot shower.  When adjusted properly, sailing in them is safer than sailing out of them.

End of Excerpt