Arnie is 6'4" (194cm) tall and has the rear strap all the way in the back and the front strap all the way forward. His long legs require this spread and garantee a good distribution of his weight, increase maneuvaribilty and most of all enhance board control in most conditions! Remeber: no control no fun!
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A perfect trimmed sail. Note the negative top batten, progressive leech twist and loose areas. This setting will do it in most conditions.
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PappasrocK 11 Trim Commandments
See also: www.simmerstyle.eu
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Being 6'4" (194cm), Arnie adds 2-3" in extra mast extension to increase the mast sleeve's boom cut-out height. This way he gets his boom where it should be: chest to shoulder height.
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Arnie's, Riche's and Mike's lines are al 30" long. Sounds a lot? No way, that's what a high boom requires. It results in a stance more away from your board while keeping the rig upright. Improving planing, control and efficiency.  We are surprised to see how many shops still carry short (~20") lines... which modern sails do not need.
We have heard all the tips before: "extent your arms", "point your tows", "over hand grip", etc etc. But none of these tips really help if your gear is not trimmed and tuned correctly. Why? Because optimizing your trim for high performance windsurfing is a limitless process. One improvement will result in other trim improvements. Maximizing your trim is the true start of cutting edge windsurfing. So we from pappasrock decided to present the 11 Trim Commandments. Simply follow these and your windsurfing will become more easy, your improvements more rapid and your fun at least doubled! Guaranteed.
2) Foot straps: Thou shall widen they stance! Footstrap position determines the sailor’s stance and therefore the board’s behavior. For chop and high wind conditions, footstraps are placed forward and farther apart resulting in more control. On flat water footstraps may be best located further back, though still wide apart. The width between front and back strap is determined by your own length. Shorter people have them closer together; taller people further apart. Simple.
3) Mastfoot position: Thou shall be in the middle! Well, almost. Again, control is key. So slight forward placement increases board control by taking the sailor’s weight forward, more onto the board, controlling the fin. The mastfoot is set slightly in front of the mast track, which is an excellent position that keeps control in most daily conditions. Only in extreme light- or highwinds move your mastfoot 1-2" (2-5cm) forward or backward, respectively.
4) Fin position: Thou shall be forward! At least so much forward that the front/leading edge of your fin is in line with the back of your rear foot strap. It starts to get boring, but this enhances control. It might kill your speed a little bit but that can be compensated using a thinner and straighter foil. Wave sailors would want their fin more forward so that the leading edge is almost under the middle of the back strap (read foot). Speed sailors may want it more back.
5) Downhaul: Thou shall twist nicely! The basic trim that works for almost all sails is one that shows a progressive leech twist. A negative top batten, with a loose leech around 2/3rd into the sail between the top and 2nd batten. This loosness is reduced to max 1/3rd between the 2nd and 3rd batten and the leech is tight below the 3rd batten. This ouhaul setting works in most conditions, assuming a correct outhal and recommended mast. Increase the outhal with increasing winds and vice versa. Very simple. Also, when you are heavier than normal (>75kg = 170lbs) decrease the outhaul a little (increasing low-end power) or use a stiffer mast, for lighter people (<75kg = 170lbs) again vice versa. The adjustment range between ideal low wind trim and ideal high wind trim is often 1-2" (3-5cm).
6) Outhaul: Thou shall be tensioned! Make sure you have positive outhaul tension. For modern sails (less than 5 yrs old) that means you set your boom to the required length and pull the outhaul ~1" past the point of first resistance. The outhaul has direct impact on rig performance. Reducing it creates a deeper profile, more top loose, generating power for light winds and heavy weights. Increasing it flattens the profile, tightens the leech, increasing handling, and speed in strong winds and for leight weights. Modern sails are very well trimmed with the outhaul only, once you have your downhaul tuned correctly. Negative outhaul is from the stone age and works only for older (race) sails (mid-late 90ies). Note, skinny masts require an additional 1/2-1" outhaul beyond the recommended settings.
7) Outhaul/Battens: Thou shall not stick out! A great outhaul reference is the forward end of the 1st batten above your boom. If the forward end passes the mast without touching the mast the outhaul is set well for medium-to-high winds. If this batten end makes mast contact during rotation the outhaul is set for light-to-medium winds. If this end sticks out in front of the mast, the outhaul needs to increase. Note, downhaul will influence this reference as well.
8) Batten tension: Thou shall not wrinkle! Batten tension is simple, but overlooked by many windsurfers. Battens are the "ribs" of your rig, and keeps it stable (controllable). Tension the battens until the sail becomes visibly taught, removing wrinkles. Warning: severe over tensioning  will cause asymmetric profiles and affect batten rotation. We think cambered sails are of the past and/or only to be used by serious professional racers and we advice against using them for average recreational usage. Modern 6-7 battened no cam sails are very stable, easy to rig,  easy to sail,  very fast, cheap, durable and thus more FUN! Stick with the fun factor!.
9) Boom height: Thou shall be heigh! Boom height is VERY important as it impacts overall performance directly, but it is too often disregarded. A very good position to begin with is chest/shoulder heigh.  We suggest rather high than low. A higher boom keeps your rig more upright, more effective, places more of your weight onto the rig and less on the board, causing early planing. A low boom will make initiation of planing difficult, decreases control, and maneuvrability. A high boom promotes earlier tail walking; but only in high winds. In very light winds the boom is best raised to assist in planing.  If the wind is very strong, lower the boom 1-2", your weight becomes more on the board; increasing control. Myth: Higher booms make maneuvers difficult. The opposite is true: most maneuvres require you to pull down on the boom (gybes, turnes, carves, spocks, grubbies, flakas etc. etc.) not pull up, with a high boom this goes automatic.
10) Harnesslines: Thou shall be long! Well, as long as your under-arm plus handpalm to be exact. Long harness lines come from a high boom. You see, everything connects with everything, and lines are equally important as any thing else we mentioned before. Harness lines are your power transfer: their position and length will affect the rig's, and your, performance. Period. Assuming you have found the correct position (on land: place your lines around the spot on the boom where you can hold your sail with one hand in the wind. on water: when the lines are placed correctly you will be able to sail for long moments with no hands), place the lines no further than 3 to 4" appart, preferable 0 to 1" only. This will transfer the sail's power to you more directly.  Then make sure your lines are of correct length, well actualy you find that out first... For most windsurfers 24-26" lines are a good length. Shorter lines will limit control, speed and your reaction time to adapt to the changing wind and sea conditions. Overly long lines (>36") may cause arm fatigue and frequent contact with the water. The under-arm plus handpalm length garantees perfect grip when hooked in.
11) Pro windersurfers: Thou shall listen and learn! Ask the real guys and girls, the pro's, those who windsurf to make a living (or because they can't do anything else...). They are on the cutting edge of windsurfing, know exactly what works and apply that. Not surprisingly all of our 10 Commandments are used by the pro's too. We ask, listen, learn and apply. Not blindly, but wisely. Look at how they rig, and how they sail. If it's good for them, it sure is good for you. Think otherwise? Well ask your self: If a race car driver puts rain tires under his car because it's raining, would you question that? Nooo.... Oh and ask those who know. Trying to learn a spock from somebody who cannot do a spock will not bring you far.
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Single Fin Wave
Twin fin Wave
1) Foot straps: Thou shall show your tows! Make certain your feet have plenty of room. All your toes should stick out, increasing control and stability. Too little room for your foot makes your sailing uncomfortable and hard to control, especially in choppy conditions. Tight straps are an old speed myth