Issue 317 - JULY 2012
HANDBRAKE
Guy Cribb Intuition
Handbrake Words: Guy Cribb photos: INtuition
Using the harness correctly allows you to windsurf for much longer in far more control with zero power going through your arms, using your body weight rather than your strength. This Handbrake feature is especially for newcomers to learn how to use the harness, or for aspiring windsurfing instructors to teach their friends this summer.
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our front hand controls the Handbrake - pulling on the Handbrake to reduce power in the sail, or releasing the Handbrake to increase power. Yank on the Handbrake for an emergency stop or to prevent a catapult. Your front hand should never leave the boom when you are using the harness, however you should be able to sail one handed, letting go with your back hand only, for ages. This would be a sure sign you are using the harness and your body weight rather than your strength. If you can sail one handed letting go with your front hand for long periods of time you have poor trim or stance. Professional windsurfers find it very difficult to take their front hand off except for a second, for instance to raise it after winning a race or to pose for a photograph, but they can let go with their back hand for hours, even in extreme conditions, using their Handbrake for control. Learning to use the Handbrake and your harness correctly prepares beginners for a lifetime of comfort on the water, committing their body weight to the harness from day one to best progress through our sport.
Are you ready?
When you can windsurf back and forth returning to the same place on the beach that you left from, on a beginners board, without letting go of the boom when you fall off (that’s the crucial bit) you are ready to start using the harness. With the harness you can handle the power of bigger sails and learn to go faster, ultimately learning how to use footstraps and really start blasting/ planing. So don’t delay! Stop letting go of your boom and get on with using a harness.
Which harness?
Your harness hook should be as one with your body, tightly / firmly positioned below your belly button on your pelvis. Most men should use a waist harness and girls, due to your hour glass physique, should wear a seat harness to keep the hook low enough. Harness line length average 26”– 28” for girls and 28 – 30” for men.
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Guy Cribb Intuition Handbrake
Handbrake off
Handbrake on
Your front arm is your Handbrake. Pulling on the Handbrake de-powers the sail. There are various terms for powering and de-powering your sail, for example- sheeting in / sheeting out, closing or opening the sail, or INtuition’s favoured terms - Handbrake and Revs. Pulling on the Handbrake de-powers the sail because the action of pulling the mast towards you naturally makes the back of the sail sheet out/ open/ depower. This is especially true when using the harness as the sail pivots around the harness lines. Letting the Handbrake off increases power / gives you more Revs. Experiment with the Handbrake power, slowly pulling or releasing the Handbrake. Whenever you bend your arms they should bend with the elbow pulling downwards, never outwards (please see guycribb.com/ magazine features- A Time And A Place)
Beach preparation – Learning to use a harness
Emergency stop
Yanking on the Handbrake is your emergency stop, which naturally unhooks you from your harness lines.
Ensure the harness lines are tight on the boom and not twisted. They should be pointing down but ideally hanging about 20 degrees towards you.
Use a Cribb Sheet to correctly position your harness lines - the Cribb Sheet works for beginners and professionals alike. Or position your back harness line 33% back down the boom and the front harness line 15cm ish in front.
Ensure your harness is tightly strapped on, with the harness hook on the same level as a belt would be on your trousers / approx a fist lower than your belly button. It’s crucial it stays this low as this lets your harness lines suspend your body weight, whereas if the harness is higher on your body the harness lines Low hook High hook are more horizontal and therefore not suspending your body weight, only pulling you off balance. Boom height should be shoulder height for none planing conditions and fixed tightly on the mast.
Beach Practice
Hold the sail like a flag to position your board on the beach at 45 degrees to the wind. This is the best angle for beach simulation because it feels like windsurfing on the water at about 90 degrees to the wind- ie ‘reaching’- the direction you usually sail.
There is no point rushing out onto the water to learn to develop windsurfing skills - always practise them on the beach first.
Beginner windsurfing stance.
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More advanced position which will help you use the harness or handle stronger winds.
Correct hand position on the boom- back hand alongside back harness line, front hand half way between front harness line and the mast.
Safety Rules
Hooking in.
Look at the harness lines
Bending your back leg is a good defensive way to sail, dropping you a little lower however it twists your hips to face forwards. When you twist your hips to face forwards you de-power the sail. When you twist your hips to face sideways (Hip To Be Square article - see guycribb. com/magazine features) then you increase power of the sail. So turning your hips / harness hook can increase or decrease power – experiment with this.
Never let go. No matter how you fall off, never let go of the boom. If you fall on top of your sail holding onto the boom prevents you from landing on your ribs, or putting your knees or harness hook through the sail. If you fall over backwards and pull the rig down on top of you, holding on to the boom ensures you know where you are, how to un-hook, and which way is out.
Using your hips drop your hook into the harness lines. You can also pull the Handbrake on to help hook in or out.
Pushing your hips / ass out increase tension into the harness lines, and release the Handbrake.
If you don’t manage to hook in after two attempts, look forwards again, re balance / get comfortable, before trying to hook in again. Never try more than two attempts as by the time you get to the third attempt you have probably changed course / lost balance / lost control – another good reason for practising on the beach first.
I always teach my guests to get used to being hooked in under the sail in the safety of the shallows before they try the harness on their own. It improves their confidence and experience at this rather frightening time of their windsurfing lives. As we know with experience, holding on to you boom ensures windsurfing is very safe.
Pulling yourself from one end of the boom to the other, using the boom to pull you along underwater, increases your confidence and gets you wet and ready for a good windsurfing session!
Summary
Learning to use the harness is a challenge that will have you flung wildly out of your office or hangover into the sea on many occasion, but overall it is fundamental to your progression in the sport. When you are hooked in you are locking the engine (rig) and board (wheels) of this vehicle together with a rock solid chassis (you and your harness). Until then the engines power never really efficiently powers the wheels along. So, release your Handbrake and feel the force! As a beginner you were wisely told not to bend at the waist / push your ass out as it upsets your balance. However when you start using the harness this is exactly what you should do- the further out you push your ass, the more tension you create in the harness lines and the less that remains in your arms- the whole point of using a harness. With no weight on your arms it should be easy to windsurf one handed, letting go of your back hand only. See how long you can windsurf for one handed.
Guy Cribb INtuition - Riding the World By Storm Cribby is the worlds top windsurfing coach with nearly twenty five years of professional windsurfing and coaching skills, including multi times British Windsurfing Champion, British Team Coach, Youth Coach, R&D for the world’s top brands, long distance windsurfing star and all round windsurfing wild man. It is a pleasure to be able to share Guy Cribb INtuition technique with you in Windsurf Magazine. For more info about all of Guy’s coaching courses all over the world, and previous Windsurf magazine features with INtuition, please check out guycribb.com INtuition. Riding the world by storm. www.guycribb.com ©Guy Cribb 2012
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