The thing is, Cookie… You are KILLING it on youtube videos because you bring so much thoughtful, observant and articulated FACT to your audience. Your competition just has a hard time comparing!
Thanks Tommy! Really appreciate the stoke! I don’t see it as a competition though- as long as people are inspired to get on the water and have some fun then we’re all winners! 🤙🤙
I do agree, I watch a friend who's a pro freestyle sailor and he makes every track, Heli tack, backwind tack look effortless. It's a combination of pure skill and just knowing the sail power, wind direction and balance point of the sail and his counter balance (position on the board). He never fights the sail or worries about the sea state, his focus is position of body and sail every time.
I've made the same observation of Balz Muller windfoiling. Regardless of his extreme antics with the board and sail his body is always centered in the vortex of it all. It's like a little safe zone where small inputs can quickly regain control of the pandemonium he initiates.
Enlightening! Now I see the reason why I can't: too much focus on details but miss the basics: the balance pnt. This video is "the gospel to the intermediate". Thnx:)
Good observation. I've sailed for 45 years and have not heard this elucidated before. I watch learners on the cam in my area and can see that they need to learn this as they are held back and cannot 'commit' their body to the sail because of it. It kind of separates those who progress and those who get stuck in a semi-planing mode.
A crucial point in windsurfing!! And yes, I have forgotten it! I need to focus more on keeping the mast upright while changing positions. Again, thanks very much Simon!
Great tip! It took me a long time to figure this out - never had any instruction. I learned it by watching the experts do different tricks, moves etc. Every maneuver was balanced and effortless with control of the mast position was what I saw. As I started to do more myself I realized how to get the sail and mast where it was effortless and balanced. Wish I had gotten instruction from you years ago!! It would have saved me countless hours, days, years!
Interestingly I only feel these things now that I'm somehow past the basic things. Confidence and relax makes you explore and feel things more. Beside this, with foiling where balance gets a new dimension, I think I become a better fin windsurfer. Great if not the best instructional windsurfing channel out there. Would it be possible to make a video on the heli tack? Thsnks, Marko
Hey cookie thanks for the tip after 300+ hours of windsurfing i never came across that one. Can you make a video about how to safely crash or how to learn falling the right way. We have never seen you in the water or wet xD
That's funny, only yesterday, during a camp of my windsurf club I told people exactly this, with other names, and without the advanced stuff, but still. It all is so true...
Excellent point!! I totally agree with this.......Right, now for some wind to get out there and think about this....... It is also important to enjoy the session, I sometimes have a habit of putting too much pressure on myself and get overly self critical....I end up sailing better when I say to myself, lets just have a bit of fun before I wrap the session up..... Always enjoy your videos!!
another great vid! many thanks. Would you be able to provide details of a basic camera and mic setup similar to the one you use? Going blasting in Dakhla Western Sahara soon and would love to shoot a few vids..cheers Simon
I was expecting you to say time on the water..Great tip...I've been sailing for 30 years and hadn't really thought of that . I suppose I thought about it a bit after I had a really bad stack exiting a gybe when I pulled the rig too much to windward as I flipped before I powered on.. Being in lockdown I've been doing a lot of dryland gybe practise and this certainly shows when I let the rig get out of balance!
Time on the water is important, but remember "practice makes permanent- NOT perfect!"... You can spend weeks and years on the water doing the wrong thing and not improving... a few hours with the right coach- practicing the right things, can transform your windsurf for ever! 🤙🤙
Wow, the section about not being able to get on plane despite doing everything in the (other) Cookie videos correct is me to a 'T'!! I have been trying to sail with the sail more perpendicular to the board and facing less laterally, but now I understand why that's important. Can't wait to give this a shot next time out. Oh, and for whatever reason, the audio in this video was not up to your other videos (even the ones from last season!).
Thanks great video. I know I should keep sail at balance point, but in light winds I find it hard not to go slightly down wind in the correct balance point position. To keep going upwind slightly I seem to drop the sail back like turning, but hold it there. If I go back to the sailing position and balance point I stop going upwind. Any suggestions. Thanks.
The balance point is your “reset” point, your “go-to” point as your start and finish things. You cannot keep it there all the time. To go up wind you must sheet OUT, then lean the sail back, then sheet IN. Return to balance point. Repeat. ✅✅✅
I understand when you pull the rig across your body and find the balance point but when you get going in the foot straps and harness and foot straps the mast looks like it's leaning back and no longer in the balance point position..
Exactly right… the balance point is the to starting and finishing everything…. To get going to being in the balance point, then pull the sail in, back and down to speed up. Try this one…. ruclips.net/video/4PbHb-7CqJ4/видео.html
If I was to get going and the sail was not in the right balance point at the beginning and then pulled the sail in and got in the foot straps. From what your saying the sail would be alot heavier as it was not balanced to start with ? Thankyou
The board would likely 1. Not actually get going 2. Be very powerful/heavy, but not actually drive the board forward 3. Spin up into the wind very quickly
This really hits the nail on the head. I kind of knew this material, but only in my own way after having figured it out over a period of years with no lessons. For me, the big realization was that you almost never want the mast to lean downwind. There are exceptions to that, but not many. For example, I know that letting the mast dip downwind while flipping the sail during a jibe will almost always ruin the jibe. Either it will pull you into the water or at the very least it will make the board suddenly point upwind, especially if you're on a smaller board. I've learned that the wind wants to push the mast downwind into an "off balance" position, so you have to get ready for that by bending your knees and generally keeping low but not bending at the waist. Likewise, when sailing in a straight line you don't want the mast to be leaning downwind. I'm not even sure it's possible to sail with the mast leaning downwind. Your advice about keeping the sail balanced is a more refined and accurate version of what should be done with it while sailing straight, tacking, jibing, etc.
Thanks for watching and glad you enjoyed it. Interesting though MT in lean the sail downwind… there’s quite a few times that it’s necessary… have you seen this video on humane exits- a large scoop downwind and around will help! Search for : “Disco Gybe- How to exit your gybes!” Thing about all of it is wherevers the mast is moved to, you must bring it back up to the balance point to re-gain the control and begin the next movement.
@@Cookiesports I watched one of your jibe videos again and I see that you do let the mast dip downwind slightly when flipping the sail, but you are ready for it! You have your body positioned correctly so that the rig does not pull you downwind and into the water. You counterbalance the sail and pull the mast across your body and back into a forward, upwind position. I need to focus more on that! Thanks for these great videos! I will keep watching.
The most out of balance I get right now is coming out of tacks in light air, sometimes I'll get stuck unable to bear away, and the board goes sideways while pointing up into the wind. Only way out I've found is to get low, push the rig fwd and push super hard on the front foot to get moving again. Anything better to do?
Remember though- practice makes permanent, not perfect! Time on the board is great, but spending hours out doing the wrong thing will buy make you better- where as the right coaching points and practicing the right thing at the right time and you’ll improve far faster! A few coaching sessions with me and you’ll learn more than months just sailing about! 😜 Hope to see you in Vassiliki next summer!
@@Cookiesports Dana Miller. Wrote for a free west coast underground windsurfing paper in the mid 80's. Wish I could remember the name of it. He was a fixture of Hatteras and the Gorge in the 80's and 90's. Fueled the anti Kite movement in 2000's. Lives in Pistol last I knew and made peace with kiters. Last time I saw him was the late 90's at the Hatteras Light. Wonder if he is alive. In those days everyone knew everyone. Balance is Key!
@@frankiebob7345 glad he made peace with the kiters (I kite quite a bit too!). “Balance is key”… however the point I’m trying to make in this video- and a few others is “the balance-point”- where the sail is vertically balanced! 👍👍
The thing is, Cookie… You are KILLING it on youtube videos because you bring so much thoughtful, observant and articulated FACT to your audience. Your competition just has a hard time comparing!
Thanks Tommy! Really appreciate the stoke! I don’t see it as a competition though- as long as people are inspired to get on the water and have some fun then we’re all winners! 🤙🤙
I do agree, I watch a friend who's a pro freestyle sailor and he makes every track, Heli tack, backwind tack look effortless. It's a combination of pure skill and just knowing the sail power, wind direction and balance point of the sail and his counter balance (position on the board). He never fights the sail or worries about the sea state, his focus is position of body and sail every time.
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
I've made the same observation of Balz Muller windfoiling. Regardless of his extreme antics with the board and sail his body is always centered in the vortex of it all. It's like a little safe zone where small inputs can quickly regain control of the pandemonium he initiates.
You, Cookie, windsurf in a straight line. I can see that
Thanks!? 🤔
Enlightening!
Now I see the reason why I can't: too much focus on details but miss the basics: the balance pnt.
This video is "the gospel to the intermediate".
Thnx:)
👍👍👍👍
Good observation. I've sailed for 45 years and have not heard this elucidated before. I watch learners on the cam in my area and can see that they need to learn this as they are held back and cannot 'commit' their body to the sail because of it. It kind of separates those who progress and those who get stuck in a semi-planing mode.
👍👍
A crucial point in windsurfing!! And yes, I have forgotten it! I need to focus more on keeping the mast upright while changing positions. Again, thanks very much Simon!
Thanks Joal!
A huge eye-opener for me!
One small point of basics, but tend to forget. I need to get back to the water and try this out.
👍👍👍 Let me know how you get on!
Great tip! It took me a long time to figure this out - never had any instruction. I learned it by watching the experts do different tricks, moves etc. Every maneuver was balanced and effortless with control of the mast position was what I saw. As I started to do more myself I realized how to get the sail and mast where it was effortless and balanced. Wish I had gotten instruction from you years ago!!
It would have saved me countless hours, days, years!
All that balance you mention- in soooooo many manoeuvres, comes back to the balance point! 👍👍
Wow! OK, I'll be sure to keep this in mind when I'm out on the water, I think this is where I've been going wrong. Thanks cookie
👍👍👍👍
perfect timing to release the video tomorrow is my first session planing and my first 5.6 sail session too , so exited
Hope not goes well! 🤙🤙🤙
Interestingly I only feel these things now that I'm somehow past the basic things. Confidence and relax makes you explore and feel things more. Beside this, with foiling where balance gets a new dimension, I think I become a better fin windsurfer.
Great if not the best instructional windsurfing channel out there.
Would it be possible to make a video on the heli tack? Thsnks, Marko
Thanks! Heli-tack video is on the way! 👍👍👍
Hey cookie thanks for the tip after 300+ hours of windsurfing i never came across that one. Can you make a video about how to safely crash or how to learn falling the right way. We have never seen you in the water or wet xD
Thanks!
I’ve fallen in during a few videos… and one coming soon!…
Have you seen this one?
ruclips.net/video/dpAvn6GGvqU/видео.html
That's funny, only yesterday, during a camp of my windsurf club I told people exactly this, with other names, and without the advanced stuff, but still. It all is so true...
Great minds think alike 😜
Another great video, thanks Cookie!!
Thanks! 🤙🤙
Excellent point!! I totally agree with this.......Right, now for some wind to get out there and think about this.......
It is also important to enjoy the session, I sometimes have a habit of putting too much pressure on myself and get overly self critical....I end up sailing better when I say to myself, lets just have a bit of fun before I wrap the session up.....
Always enjoy your videos!!
Thanks! 🤙🤙🤙
another great vid! many thanks. Would you be able to provide details of a basic camera and mic setup similar to the one you use? Going blasting in Dakhla Western Sahara soon and would love to shoot a few vids..cheers Simon
A few notes are in the description of the video. I’ll do a full video guide to my camera set up at some point soon.
Thanks for watching!
I was expecting you to say time on the water..Great tip...I've been sailing for 30 years and hadn't really thought of that . I suppose I thought about it a bit after I had a really bad stack exiting a gybe when I pulled the rig too much to windward as I flipped before I powered on..
Being in lockdown I've been doing a lot of dryland gybe practise and this certainly shows when I let the rig get out of balance!
Time on the water is important, but remember "practice makes permanent- NOT perfect!"...
You can spend weeks and years on the water doing the wrong thing and not improving... a few hours with the right coach- practicing the right things, can transform your windsurf for ever! 🤙🤙
@@Cookiesports Pity you're in the wrong hemisphere..lol's
Great video!!!
Thanks 🤩
Wow, the section about not being able to get on plane despite doing everything in the (other) Cookie videos correct is me to a 'T'!! I have been trying to sail with the sail more perpendicular to the board and facing less laterally, but now I understand why that's important. Can't wait to give this a shot next time out. Oh, and for whatever reason, the audio in this video was not up to your other videos (even the ones from last season!).
👍👍👍👍 thanks for watching!
Thanks great video. I know I should keep sail at balance point, but in light winds I find it hard not to go slightly down wind in the correct balance point position. To keep going upwind slightly I seem to drop the sail back like turning, but hold it there. If I go back to the sailing position and balance point I stop going upwind. Any suggestions. Thanks.
The balance point is your “reset” point, your “go-to” point as your start and finish things.
You cannot keep it there all the time.
To go up wind you must sheet OUT, then lean the sail back, then sheet IN. Return to balance point.
Repeat.
✅✅✅
@@Cookiesports thanks. Your videos are great.
@@DrLewPerren Thank you! I'll be back on the sea in Vassiliki this summer!
So the mast have always to be vertically?
That is the “reset” position for sure… it doesn’t stay there all the time though.
I understand when you pull the rig across your body and find the balance point but when you get going in the foot straps and harness and foot straps the mast looks like it's leaning back and no longer in the balance point position..
Exactly right… the balance point is the to starting and finishing everything…. To get going to being in the balance point, then pull the sail in, back and down to speed up.
Try this one….
ruclips.net/video/4PbHb-7CqJ4/видео.html
If I was to get going and the sail was not in the right balance point at the beginning and then pulled the sail in and got in the foot straps. From what your saying the sail would be alot heavier as it was not balanced to start with ? Thankyou
The board would likely
1. Not actually get going
2. Be very powerful/heavy, but not actually drive the board forward
3. Spin up into the wind very quickly
@@Cookiesports thanks
Loved this vid!! thank youuu!!
Thank you!
This really hits the nail on the head. I kind of knew this material, but only in my own way after having figured it out over a period of years with no lessons. For me, the big realization was that you almost never want the mast to lean downwind. There are exceptions to that, but not many. For example, I know that letting the mast dip downwind while flipping the sail during a jibe will almost always ruin the jibe. Either it will pull you into the water or at the very least it will make the board suddenly point upwind, especially if you're on a smaller board. I've learned that the wind wants to push the mast downwind into an "off balance" position, so you have to get ready for that by bending your knees and generally keeping low but not bending at the waist. Likewise, when sailing in a straight line you don't want the mast to be leaning downwind. I'm not even sure it's possible to sail with the mast leaning downwind. Your advice about keeping the sail balanced is a more refined and accurate version of what should be done with it while sailing straight, tacking, jibing, etc.
Thanks for watching and glad you enjoyed it. Interesting though MT in lean the sail downwind… there’s quite a few times that it’s necessary… have you seen this video on humane exits- a large scoop downwind and around will help!
Search for :
“Disco Gybe- How to exit your gybes!”
Thing about all of it is wherevers the mast is moved to, you must bring it back up to the balance point to re-gain the control and begin the next movement.
@@Cookiesports I watched one of your jibe videos again and I see that you do let the mast dip downwind slightly when flipping the sail, but you are ready for it! You have your body positioned correctly so that the rig does not pull you downwind and into the water. You counterbalance the sail and pull the mast across your body and back into a forward, upwind position. I need to focus more on that! Thanks for these great videos! I will keep watching.
The most out of balance I get right now is coming out of tacks in light air, sometimes I'll get stuck unable to bear away, and the board goes sideways while pointing up into the wind. Only way out I've found is to get low, push the rig fwd and push super hard on the front foot to get moving again. Anything better to do?
Try this… it’ll change your racks for ever….
ruclips.net/video/1GorYeXADoc/видео.html
I just looked up the surf schools in Vasiliki but couldn't find you. Do you still work as an instructor there and if yes, where?
Yes! I’m based at the Cosmos Hotel, Vassiliki! Hope to see you there in summer 2022!
There is only 1 point in windsurf. KEEP PRACTICING. nothing else matters! :)
Haha! I personally call it “board time”...the more board time the faster the learning curve.
Remember though- practice makes permanent, not perfect!
Time on the board is great, but spending hours out doing the wrong thing will buy make you better- where as the right coaching points and practicing the right thing at the right time and you’ll improve far faster!
A few coaching sessions with me and you’ll learn more than months just sailing about! 😜
Hope to see you in Vassiliki next summer!
Perfect
🤙🤙🤙
Well said cookie, thanks s bunch
Thanks! 🤙🤙🤙
i love
❤️
35 years ago a great Windsurfer said Balance is the Key. Big Sail and a Small Brain. Name that Windsurfer?
Oooo…great question!
Sounds like a Harty kind of quote!? Or maybe Naish?
@@Cookiesports Dana Miller. Wrote for a free west coast underground windsurfing paper in the mid 80's. Wish I could remember the name of it. He was a fixture of Hatteras and the Gorge in the 80's and 90's. Fueled the anti Kite movement in 2000's. Lives in Pistol last I knew and made peace with kiters. Last time I saw him was the late 90's at the Hatteras Light. Wonder if he is alive. In those days everyone knew everyone. Balance is Key!
@@frankiebob7345 glad he made peace with the kiters (I kite quite a bit too!).
“Balance is key”… however the point I’m trying to make in this video- and a few others is “the balance-point”- where the sail is vertically balanced! 👍👍