Here is just a small tip I wanted to give away to start off the month. It has to do with one of the most avoidable falls into the water at the beginner level that I have seen.

When we are starting to learn how to windsurf we will be in the initial phases of sail control. Once we stop moving our feet we will constantly be pulled over forwards at the hip. The most typical consequence of this is that we let go of the sail with the mast already inclined over the water. Only then do people tend to let go of the back hand (when they don’t let go of the front hand by mistake).

The problem of letting go of the back hand at this point is that the clew will touch the water and get stuck, thereby pulling the sail out of our hands.

This in itself is not that big of a deal. We just pull the sail out of the water and start again and that’s it. The mistake that I see most people do is remain standing on the board completely upright. The consequence is that the first wave knocks then in the water.

The reson for the wave being able to make us fall into the water so quickly is that our center of gravity is very high up and once the support (the board) is moved, we simply fall in.

If we bend our legs however, our center of gravity is close to the board and we are less likely to fall in

So remember, when you drop the sail but are not thrown in the water, be sure to bend your legs so that you don’t fall in stupidly and waste energy unnecessarily.