>|> >
>|> >The solution is to go to either a smaller sail (so you are not overpowered)
>|> >or a smaller fin. The fin gives you lift but its lift component of
>|> >the force is being overcome by the opposite force vector from the sail.
>|>
>|> Sorry Nick but I have to disagree about the fin. I won't go into the technical
>|> specifics but it has been my experience that too small a fin (for the sail size)
>|> will increase the chances for spinouts.
>|>
>|> If the fin is too small the sails power will in effect cause you to put more
>|> pressure on the fin (unless your technique is perfect). Small fins with big
>|> sails cannot handle the load and will easily spinout.
>|>
>I agree with Felix -- if you are spinning out you want to go for either a bigger
>fin or a better fin. I can't imagine a plausible explanation for why a smaller
>fin would prevent spinout. Taken to the extreme, such an argument would say
>that you could eliminate spinout by going to no fin at all! However, I have
>read the same smaller-fin advice in an article in windsurf magazine, and IMHO,
>the author did't know beans about spinout or what causes it.
>Ned
I was sailing a 9' with an 11.75" Tuttle H17 which is an excellent fin and
*generally* not prone to spinning out. I felt quite overpowered and I know
I should have been on a smaller board (which I didn't have with me) or I
could have downrigged or the quickest and easiest thing to do was to
switch to a smaller fin. I swapped out my Tuttle for an 11" Rainbow Naish
Slalom and the problem of spinout went away. In this instance the larger
fin provided *too much* lift such that I couldn't hold the board in a
proper position. With the board jumping around, the fin became unsettled
and spinout occurred. Incidentally, the water was choppy so between the
excessive lift and getting slightly airborne, I had a tough time keeping
the fin working. For the majority of the time, I totally agree with the
notion of bigger fins = less spinout.
Larry
P.S. WRT bigger fins, Tuesday at Coyote Pt. I FINALLY put my H7 Tuttle
on my 9' with a 5.5m. The H7 is a 14.25"(?) pointer, but not a
blade. It was great! It felt incredibly solid against that sail.
Food for thought: Many people say that bigger sails generate more force
and therefore push harder on the fin. Don't we select a sail which we
judge to be appropriate based on how much force *we* can react due to
our strength? We try to sail at our upper limit of strength so that
we can go the fastest. Force due to the sail is now a constant. What
varies now is our board speed and sail efficiency (i.e. induced drag).
In a *controlled* (controlled being in the laboratory sense of all else
being equal) sense, a small fin running at a higher speed can generate
just as much lift as a large fin running at a slower speed. Now to
finally get to my point. Shouldn't fin size be better determined by
considering board speed rather than a priori basing it on sail size?