Chilling out with Covid and have had more time than usual to analyze and ask people WS questions, and in addition to coming up with a plan to get faster and better next time, I've also realized I was doing something very basic wrong and only realized it via talking to people on instagram/text, so wanted to share it here.

For background, I spent a LOT of time watching WS videos while working out a bad shoulder for about a year before I got my new gear, and my favorite is the Cookie Ride Along series. I think he's got a great style, spends a lot of time showing what he's describing and they're generally very pretty videos. One thing that I had internalized that was causing me problems was how he describes getting planing and your angle to the wind afterwards. He's strong on saying you should stay upwind while slogging, but I think when it comes to planing he generally descirbes it as getting planing and then working your way back upwind. I think I took that too far and generally when I've gotten onto a plane I've gone back upwind right away without getting all the way up to speed. Easy simple takeaway is stay downwind until I'm fully powered and in the straps next time, as opposed to feeling the board going well and then jamming it back upwind to avoid losing ground.

With that in mind, I always like to prep notes for WS days when I'm trying to learn something, and for next time my notes read:

-stay downwind after getting on the plane to accelerate more
-get back strap engaged while sitting out harder into the harness; this should take weight off the board to avoid the spinup as well as giving me more righting moment
-the sitting back should help sheet the sail closer to centerline

If we get another chance to sail this year I'm looking forward to trying this out!

Mmm, I would recommend you staying away from notes, checking boxes, setting up rules. I’ve been down this path and it doesn’t work well. In my experience what helps the most is paying attention to what is going on with rig, board and wind and reacting accordingly. Windsurfing is very dynamic activity and you can’t really put things inside boxes and stick to them, you have to be able to improvise and adjust on the fly.
For example what you say about staying downwind until gaining enough speed sounds to me like drifting downwind until you run out of space and then slogging back upwind or God forbid taking a walk of shame. You should be able to get planing fast and making enough speed in a matter of seconds to be able to point across and eventually upwind and regain the ground you’ve lost while getting on the plane. Especially on our small lakes we don’t have the time and space to procrastinate. That’s why your equipment has to be tuned right and of adequate size preferably.
Also the videos that you watch online although undoubtedly great learning tool, they still can’t beat what you can observe and try to implement right on the spot from the experienced locals riding alongside you. That’s why I tried to position myself in front of you most of the time when we sailed together on Wolf and that’s how I learned the most myself.
Btw I like the catapulting videos you posted on Instagram Really! To me catapulting at your stage means you are on the right path. It’s a proof that you are taking chances, daring and trying to get powered up instead of just sitting back defensively. Regardless, catapulting is not fun and probably the most sure way to prevent it is to utilize your front arm to act as a trottle-pull in with your front arm and you sheet out and spill the wind; push out and you sheet in and power up. It’s a great way to control power but timing takes experience like everything else. It’s a lot of information to process all at ones. The good news is that gradually it will become a muscle memory and you’ll start to react without even thinking about it.
Unfortunately I don’t recall what articles I posted for you last year for winter reading but here is one I like a lot from Harty about feeling the pressures and understanding what they mean. Notice in the pictures he’s on the same board like mine AtomIQ , ha ha. He’s been sponsored by Starboard for a long time, a great mentor. I wish I could afford his winter classes in Brasil (sigh).
www.windsurf.co.uk/peter-hart-masterclas...eling-the-pressures/

KM wrote:
Cookie over-emphasizes the foot-steering aspect of getting on a plane and spends too much time loitering with only the front foot in the straps. If it's not enough wind to put the back foot in, putting the front foot in will just slow you down. He's sailing in conditions well over the planing threshold.

Can't resist adding an additional dose (That I'll probably delete in a day anyway...)

Can't agree more with Ady. This sport is one you improve by doing it - a lot. The theory with the basics is rather simple at the level most practices it. So, doing windsurfing with a very process-oriented mindset won't help much I think. Like I said before (and deleted), you have to make mistakes many-many times to get the feel for it and slowly train your body (and mind) to adopt the correct responses to the ever-changing dynamics of the sport.
For example with planning jibes, it took me a few minutes to watch the video of the top-3 best instructors on YouTube. Then it took me a few repeats of those videos to consciously memorize the key steps and moves, but it took me literally 5 years and 100s of trials and fails to finally score a decent one. Maybe I'm a slow learner but I doubt keeping tabs on the process in bits and pieces would have helped. Maybe I'm wrong...

Keep slogging and catapulting. You're learning something every time this happens and every time it happens it is less likely to happen again! Having said that, thanks for sharing your experience anyway.

Hi all, had a lot going on and missed the advice above, seems like it was a year ago instead of a few weeks! I hear all of it, sometimes it's just tough to distill everything when you're actually on the water which I why I often like to give myself a few mental notes for each sail just to make sure I'm not just going out there and repeating the same mistakes. I've really found no matter what I do on the water the first ten or fifteen minutes are usually pretty sloppy and just getting used to the feel again (and getting upwind) and then after that is when I usually make the best progress and learn the fastest. Next summer I"d like to plan a couple days with longer sessions with lunch in between, as I usually come up with the best notes while driving away from the water!

Anyway, the reason I was on this thread was for the following which may be relevant in winter for some. There are a bunch of decent weather webcams aimed at lakes in the area that I like to use to make a best guess as to what the ice cover might be on similar sized and temp lakes. Unfortunately nothing on Round, Silver or Wolf which are my favorites, but I found this spring it was pretty safe to use Fox Lake and Three Oaks as indicators for the ice cover at Silver. Geneva has a LOT more depth so freezes and thaws later that Silver. I wish there was soemthing that approximated Wolf in depth and temperature, but haven't found it yet.

Fox Lake/Pistakee, happens to be from a restaruant on the launches page ! Facing W livebeachcam.net/fox-lake-illinois-live-webcam/

Lake Geneva: The abbey. Cam is facing ENE from the WSW corner of the lake www.theabbeyresort.com/abbey_live_cam/

Lake Geneva, from the YC. Facing kinda N NW I think lgyc.com/geneva-lake-web-camera/

Three Oaks Rec Area, in town of Crystal Lake (not the actual LAKE Crystal Lake, but rather a flooded quarry) I don't think they allow WS there but it's a small lake with depth similar to Silver. Seems to freeze first and that about the same time as Silver. www.weatherbug.com/weather-camera/?cam=CRYTH

If anyone else has good indicators for when launches are sailable I'd love to hear it.

Thanks for posting the Cams.

Have only had a couple opportunites to sail this year, but luckily they've (mostly) been good wind day with time for long sessions. Naturally, as I've made one goal, new problems appear. I'm able to get in and out of the footstraps either in or out of the harness, and either before planing or after, which feels great and seems simple now, but as I've sailed a little faster I've picked up a new issue and I'm not sure if it's technique or setup.

Going faster on choppy days, after I sheet in I find that in that bouncing over the chop leads to the harness lines dropping out of the hook. Seems worst in powerboat chop where the waves are steep and irregular. Is this a setup thing, as in boom too low or harness lines too long, or is it technique, as in I should be committing more to the harness on the bounces? I have definitely found I can sheet on all the way if it's dead flat water, but in chop I can't seem to close the sail to the deck, which is perhaps related?

Anyway, thanks for all the advice over winter it's paid off the last couple times I've been out.

You are getting a very direct message that you are not committed (as in enough weight applied) enough to the harness at your regular cruising posture. You've got one more gear left to go. At the same wind pressure, applying more weight to the harness will unweight the board, increase your speed and apparent wind resulting in more firm sail to lean against, everything feels much more secure and you are going faster. Have to do it in a way that does not kill your speed or over-sheet the sail, maybe downhill off of a small chop. All this extra power and speed at the same wind velocity seems to come for free, but its because you've managed to greatly reduce the friction between board and water. Just this season (probably due to learning to wing), I've gotten more sensitive to reducing wetted surface as much as possible even after I feel like I'm planing. I'm finding out how much extra speed and power I get in the same wind.

David thanks for the observations. I watched the little bit of video I got from the other day and that totally makes sense with what I could see there. I'm getting more upright in chop without trying to, so need to get further back and out. I've had a nice flat water day and a nice choppy day in the last month and the flat water day I felt like I could sheet in all the way but on the choppy day never got the sail as close to the board. Thanks!

Another benefit of committing more to the harness is that chop doesn't bounce your weight up through your legs as much, your center of gravity is moving vertically less than your board, feet and lower legs are when bouncing through chop. Smoother ride through the chop. Other times you want the chop to go right up through your feet to push you upward (chop hop).

David that was spot on, and worked when used as directed! I noticed in video from last week that I was popping up a bit before hitting big chop, so had a sail today and tried to do the opposite, worked a treat. Very very messy jetski and powerboar chop today at Silver at a really unsettled wind day and only had the lines pop once at the start of a session, so thank you!

Loving blasting around but should probably be working towards something: what should I try next? Faster gybes? Waterstart?

Foorstraps question: I did an experiment and moved the stbd straps all the way out, kept the port straps in my "learner" spot which is kind of middle-ish on the front strap and far fwd on the back strap. I really didn't have any harder of a time getting into the aft/out straps and it definitely felt like I could go faster and trim on more.

Is there any actual downside to having the straps aft/out?