Postby jkrug » Sat May 19, 2018 8:18 pm
that's why i said i wasn't talking about the 'real short masts'. imagine the ease of riding a 1 inch mast. but we're talking approximately 60cm vs 90cm here, i think. when i first learnt (and believe me, i still consider myself a beginner after 6 months under my belt), i went from 18 inch mast (1 day) to 24 inch mast (3 days), to 39 inch mast (many, many days), all with footstraps. It was harder at each step, but even then i noticed i was riding mostly my board (not the foil) on those shorter masts. and when riding on the foil, touching down often. i was just trying to get the feel of things, and those more experienced told me to just learn that way, keeping the nose down. after finally feeling a bit comfortable on the 39 inch and rarely touching down, i took my straps off and had a hell of a time learning to start strapless...but practice made it happen. then i got a surf style wing with the 24 inch mast. and now i'm touching down again! so that's what i meant. for me, i want to be proficient with big and short masts. btw, i tried my surf wings with the 39 inch mast one day, and i couldn't even get up. conditions were terrible, and i haven't tried it since, but i will, and i know it'll be another challenge. one thing helps me with takeoff...send the kite the opposite direction i'm about to go in. i do that to get myself a bit out of the water, then i quickly send it back forward. this gets me pointing downwind properly on take-off and seems to slow the process down, in a good way.