Correct stance on a waveboard for riding upwind

[vanille_pete]

Hello guys,

can someone explain me: how do i correctly go upwind on a strapless waveboard (lets assume is flat or little choppy water).?
I've heard an read many different things like:

-try to stand straight so that your board is all the way down on the water
-try to move your back foot to the middle of the board, dont edge too hard, just bend the knees
-try to move your back foot to the middle of the board, put your heels on the edge of the board and dont forget to put pressure on your heels (like on a twintip)
-another guy told me to rotate my back leg and my knee, like the classical surfer guys do, to gain up wind ability by a moment created by my back leg in combination with my larger fins (crazy stuff!!)

i need some clarification on this topic to finally have go-to-way that i can try to improve. today i did a little bit of everything mentioned above, but it didnt work well :E

Thanks!

[MrWolf]

Hi Vanille Pete,

Well, all of that is useful. The main thing you need to focus on is creating board speed in order to go upwind.

I personally like to bring my back foot in front of the tail pad towards the middle of the board.
This allows to keep the weight more forward, nose down, and the rocker flatter giving you more board speed.
I apply pressure more on the rail to edge upwind rather than using the fins.

This explains it well:
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRR5l-yVqgc[/youtube]

[bragnouff]

I'd say "whatever works!"...
There's no definite answer as there are so many variables in the shape of a board that the differences can be very significant.
Typically, the back foot would be brought forward, but it's not always the case. I've had one board where it didn't help, and actually made the whole board bouncy and weird whereas more pressure at the back made it ride OK on the fins and the thinner rail towards the tail.
So you have to spend a bit of time experimenting with your board, with the main goal of building up good speed and maintaining it. Once you've found that good board trim, it will easily transfer into upwind position.

[TommyDuotone]

Try to keep the board flat by using more front foot pressure(more toe pressure, less heal). Use your hips to drive back knee into bend of front leg. (surf stance, not duck stance).This will help to utilize your fins to drive upwind. Think more fins, less edging. Keep your kite low(45 or less).

[jonysan]

Hi Pete,
As others have said, bringing your back foot forward helps board speed, also try putting your front foot further forward to help increase water line length.
One thing I find that helps, ride with just your back hand on the bar, (close in to the centre), and open out your shoulders , so you are looking directly up wind (front arm out wide, good for balance)
Your upper body is slightly twisted while looking upwind,
Keep your eyes on something which is in the direction you want to go, you can use this as a reference to how well you are doing.
Edging hard or Riding off the fins (board flatter) seems to be a "Black Art" depending on how powered up you are.

[juandesooka]

"When trying to maximise up-wind direction, move your feet as far up the board as possible and make sure your board is as flat as possible in the water so you’re maximising its surface and planing area. " https://benwilsoncoaching.com/blog/item ... ion-upwind Lots of other good tips on his blog.

Last season I played around with a more extreme version of flat board, feet forward, by trying out more of a snowboard racing stance: feet way forward, both in middle of board pointing nearly straight forward, full weight on front foot. It was noticably faster and in racing friends back out, could angle just a little more upwind. The negatives: get going so fast that if any chop, you will crash and burn. Plus the extra front foot weight led to thigh burn. But it highlights that flat board and weight forward helps.

[wind chaser]

.

[BWD]

The answer is going to be "all of the above"
But not all at once
It depends on the board, fins, how powered you are, the waves/chop, whether you need to "pinch" the highest angle or maintain higher speed, etc.
In a soft chop and light wind you probably will head lower and ride the fins until you build up enough speed to point with board pretty flat. Powered in nasty chop you will keep the kite high and edge the board more so the rail rides over the chop instead of slamming (especially if it's a light board and you don't want to break it) and probably try to pinch as high upwind as possible... and in between these extremes, lots of in between techniques.
In most of these with most boards moving your weight forward helps for 3 reasons:
1. Avoids "wheelie" riding with nose in the sky and plowing water with your foot on the stomp pad, that position is really for when you're on a steep wave and need the tail to bite the curving wave face.
2. Engages full length of rail for edging/absorbing chop.
3. Maximizes efficiency of planing area and fin lift in lower winds.
And again, not all techniques will fit all boards!

[Mr_Magic]

Like mentioned above I think there is no golden rule. It depends on the board and the conditions you ride.

Last weekend I had great conditions at a great spot, where you have everything, from mirror flat water, small chop, up to big chop/small waves (breaking). Wind was around 20 knots, all day long.
And so I just tryed out my directional (not a real surfboard, but "surfboard like" ) in all those conditions.
Looking for what works and what doesn't, how efficient is which riding style and foot position, better ride the board flat using the fins, or more Twintip style using the edge, and so on.

What I found out for me and my board, for going upwind is, the choppier it is, the more "Twintip like" I want to ride my board. Use the edge, put my feet closer to the rail and get my weight more on the back foot and the heels.

On the other side, the flatter the water the flatter the board.
I like to keep my board as flat as possible (but still comfortable) and put my feet closer to the centerline (back foot more or less over the fins) and then I try to "twist" my hips (and Board) a bit upwind, in other words try to "pull my front foot upwind" a bit, to get the pressure on the fins and direct the board to go upwind.

For board types, I think my board is quite easy to ride like a twintip, cause it's actually built like one and has nice rails, but if you have a board with rounder rails, edging it won't add that much to upwind ability then with sharp rails.

I have a Cabrihna Double Agent board. (without the foil )

Thats just what i personally noticed. Maybe it helps somebody.

[chalks]

All good advice and I do think that it depends on conditions. Where I ride (small waves, confused conditions) I would have difficulty in riding the board flat off the fins, so I tend to edge, although I have wondered if I was doing it wrong1

One other tip I did get was to ride with the front foot more pointed forward. This tends to open your stance and is meant to help going upwind.

As others said, it is a matter of seeing what works best for you.