Windsurfing Magazine

luke
2010-05-27 08:56:22 | 6098 views | 7 Comments

by Dan Weiss
Windsurfing is always competition. Even rigging up is a race. We try hard to outsail each other. Nobody keeps score (well, nobody speaks of it openly) and we all want each other to do well. Sound familiar to you? It’s familiar to PWA slalom world champion Antoine Albeau. He sat down with us to discuss how racing tips apply to you no matter what you ride.

Albeau says almost everyone can sail fast. He claims that good technique and smart sailing allow everyone to get the most from their own equipment and skills.

Sail powered up.

Use a big sail. To maintain control, use an adjustable outhaul and pull it flat when the wind picks up. “The downside to this is exiting jibes, but a few pumps will do more than attempting to dump the outhaul to power up the sail.” He continues, “I use long harness lines to help control the board and keep it flat even though the sail might feel a bit overpowered. Long lines also help hooking in without killing the sail’s power.” As for board and fin sizing, Albeau says, “On longer runs, I use smaller board and fin combinations since these can be a lot faster. Shorter reaches mean less time between jibes, and I need the flexibility of a wider board and more powerful fin.”

Sail downhill.

“In medium chop, I really push the power and skip across the top of the chop. If the chop is in the form of large swell, I try to sail on the front toward the wave’s trough. Keep the rig as still as possible. Bend your knees to absorb the big stuff. Catching air is not fast!”

Don’t follow the leader.

“Don’t sail the same path as the person directly in front. I sail a different angle to go around. Turbulence from the sailor ahead grows stronger the closer you get.”

Punch through the Dead Zone.

Don’t sail in the wind shadow, where disturbed air and the board’s wake will trap you. Punch through this dead zone with as much power as possible. “I try to avoid it at all costs. I think the best way to pass on a straight is to sail above to avoid the wind shadow. Bear off to gas them only after the pass. Now they are sailing in my wake.” Nice!

Pick your path.

When sailing out to a fixed point and then jibing back to the start — even if there is no mark or solid object but just a general jibe area — be aware that the sailing angle back to your starting point is usually different. “It’s normal to sail a bit lower on the way out just to keep your speed up. If you plan to jibe around a fixed object and the other person is coming on fast, you need to jibe tight to the mark and close the door. To pass, go wide to keep up speed and start the jibe early. I can either come up to pass inside or rip by on the outside and then climb back upwind with the extra speed.”

Get up to speed!

Albeau jibes only as tight as necessary to avoid slowing down too much. Another tip? Sheet in softly. “I flip the sail in a way that unsettles the board the least. Others sort of dive to the new side.” This causes their sails to slam to the new side and the upwind rails to dig in. “They are trying to exit the jibe too high or trying to prevent rounding up after a really tight jibe.” He continues, “After the flip, it’s very important to let the board find its own path and stay flat rail to rail. Once I hook in I can close my sailing angle and have plenty of power to start taking those bites to windward.”

Jibe on swell.

Albeau also stresses trying to jibe on the front side of large swells. “It makes the board turn more sharply without any loss of speed.”