Sport Today

Hey everyone,
Now, alot of people would say to get big air, you need
speed.
"To get plenty of height you need to have as much speed as
possible."
Well, I haven't got a 'frequent flyers' status myself, but
I've been thinking...
If you're trying to get high off small chop, won't going
really fast just bounce you over the chop, and your airtime
will be really good for length, but crappy for height?
I've been considering inertia - a fast board acts like a
heavy board - if force in an opposite direction (or a force
pushing up, from the lift of chop) hits it, it will be less
affected than a lighter and/or slower board would.
If the chop isn't big enough to change your board's
direction (towards the sky), wouldn't speed just kill your
potential height off the ramp?
Is this true or is it just stupid assumptions?
Please fill me in on the truth!  It's really important that
I know.
Thanks,
Clive

Hey  Now! Clive,
It has been my experience in chop, swells, and breaking waves that speed
is  going to be the most important parameter in getting big air or
attaining the biggest vertical differential. Basically, in pure physics
terms, you are converting kinetic
energy into potential energy which can be measured as height. Many
factors come into play however, I will toss a few out:  the height of
the wave(substitute
chop or swell) ,the steepness of the wave, the incident angle of launch
from wave, the angle off the wind of the sail, the strength to weight
ratio of the sailor, surface area and weight of board and sail rig, how
clean the wind is, sailor sheeted in or out, draft stability and lift
factor of sail, vapor density of the air and many more minor factors
such as number of cameras on beach, psychological state of mind (fear,
aggression level, etc...).
I witnessed Ian Boyd get the highest documented jump in North America
(film and video) at Jalama Beach. He was on a 5.0 and hit a 10' heaving,
vertical section fully powered and was launched into orbit. He was in
the 45'-50' range and landed it nose first!
I know that I am talking waves here , but the same principles apply to
chop or swells.
I like a little extra width in the nose of my wave boards because you
get loftier aerials and more hang time. Go for it, every chance you
get!!!!

I think you are probably right in the case of a small chop but if you are
talking about a 3 metre ramp than the speed would make you go higher.

Francois

Aside from all the factors of speed, bump size and shape, board tail width,
etc., YOU also have a big impact on distance versus height.
1. You can project your board (with your legs) out in front of you or more
vertically as you take off to influence its trajectory. That one takes little
practice, but has a noticeable effect.
2. Even while in the air, you can dramatically change a distance or routine
jump into a MUCH more vertical jump with one simple motion that has virtually
no learning curve. It drives the board much more vertically, even straight up
if you wish, achieving a sensation of floating to a stop in the air. This "one
simple motion? Look up. Simply face the sky, and that's where you'll go. To
exaggerate this even more after you feel comfortable with it, involve your
shoulders just a tad, and you'll go vertical! Then to land normally rather than
on your back, you just freeze. Don't do anything. As you fall back to the
water, aerodynamics retards your sail's descent, rotating your board and you
right back to the attitude you are used to being in when you land. Two caveats:
stay sheeted in and stay hooked in. You can pull off this "look up; point up"
routine any time up to the apex of your jump, whether it's 30 feet or 3 feet
high. It feels like deploying a parachute, and you land like you were set down
on a marshmallow.

The first time I tried that was off a 10' swell with plenty of speed, and I was
absolutely amazed at the result. What started out as a big but routine jump
wound up as darned near a religious experience. I was sailing north towards
Washington, jumped straight north, and was looking "up", but rotated so far
back that I was looking back at Oregon behind me to the south -- upside down.
And I hadn't a CLUE how to get upright again for a landing. So I deliberately
did nothing, and just floated down into a totally normal landing. "I had time
to recite the Lord's Prayer twice on the way down."

Mike \m/
Never Leave Wind To Find Wind

To do a good jump you need to convert (parts of) the speed
into height and handle the other 2 souces right.

So for getting best height a steep ramp is most important.
Then you need to handle the sail right: Keep sheeted in and
lean back to go for height. Last but not least:
Coordination of your movements / weight shifts , the timing,
where and under which angle to hit the ramp:
Getting good air off small chop is an art which needs to be
learnt. You need to get a feel to see which part of a face to hit,
exactly when to push,... Being slower could help here in the beginning,
 you have slightly more time to get it right. But ultimately
speed will give you more air. It's a matter of practice.
And read the other responses in this thread, excellent advise !

Wolfgang
--
Wolfgang Soergel                  
Lehrstuhl fuer Nachrichtentechnik / phone: ++49-9131-857781
Universitaet Erlangen-Nuernberg  /  fax:   ++49-9131-858849
Cauerstrasse 7             /     email:

D-91058 Erlangen, GERMANY /
http://www.nt.e-technik.uni-erlangen.de/~wsoergel

I like the lean-back advice.  I'll have to try it.

-Ed

I've only been jumping a year, but, its usually of flat or small chop. The
one thing I have figured out is that in these conditions I don't really use
the chop. Its all in how hard you push the board in the water and then lift
up. Speed helps because there is less drag holding the board down and the
air under the board helps in the lift, and your speed will make you go
farther.

U=gravitational potential energy=(mass)(Gravity)(height)
K=kinetic energy=(1/2)(mass)(velocity)^2

The transfer of kinetic to potential is not 100% because the collision
between the board and the chop is not an elastic collision.  Engergy
is bled off through sound and friction.

But the approximate solution is that U=K

You're left with h=(v^2)/2g

so the more speed going into the jump, definitely the greater air.

It's also interesting to see that a light person and a heavy person
will jump the same height if their kinetic energy is the same.

It also states that where gravity is the smallest, air will be the
biggest.  that's why everyone has heard how Colorado windsurfers get
unbelievable mad air (SARCASM!!!!!)

Thank you everyone for your thoughts.
I did a little dejanews search and found the missing
replies.
Anyhow, I'd like to apologize...  When I said 'chop' I
meant small chop.
The chop I sail in is less than 2 feet high at the most.  I
forgot to mention that. sorry.
I know how to jump, and I do get airborne (always room for
improvement, of course), but my chop can't be measured in
meters - I want to know that if I'm planing and I have a
1-2 foot slap 'o juice coming at me, will my high speed
just send me over the chop or actually be beneficial to
giving me bigger height off tiny ramps?
I was thinking that a board which can plane at low speeds
could be more affected by the small upward force of small
chop.  Of course, in 3-4 foot waves, the whole surface of
the board is pushed up and rides up the face, and speed
just helps so much more - the speed is in the direction of
the board, which is up after being redirected by the huge
upward force of a big wave.  But I'm talking about small
chop, the kind that doesn't redirect your board's nose and
you can't ride up.  In other words, I'm not talking about
ramps, just large speed-bumps (you know the kind - the size
of chop that's not quite big enough to become whitecaps
sometimes)
Alot of people say that chop-jumping (especially on small
chop) is all skill and you can't rely on your equipment to
do it, and I'm sure that's true (in fact, I'm positive).
After all, the same thing was said for carve-gybes for a
long time.
Clive

Clive -
RE:" But I'm talking about small
chop, the kind that doesn't redirect your board's nose and
you can't ride up.  In other words, I'm not talking about
ramps, just large speed-bumps "

Speed is still vital, for the reasons others covered. Extra speed => extra
energy => extra height AND extra speed => the chop will deform less ... maybe.

After all, many sailors loop off knee-high chop.

Mike \m/
Never Leave Wind To Find Wind

Over-analyze much?

Yes, faster is better.
A steep ramp is better for height, less steep for distance.
Jumping into the wind gets more height, off the wind more
distance.  Weight and board design doesn't matter much.
Jumping is 95% technique.  Take a lesson.

Think less, ride more.

Grinder

Hey everyone, especially Clive/ Mike and some of you other "I don't do
straight lines" type guys.
Just found out today that Josh Stone and Werner Gnigler have collaborated
on an F2  board you guys might like.

It's 8' 6" (260 cm)  23+"  wide, and is made to plane up early, but it
isn't a modified slalom design or a modified wave design. It's shaped alot
like a surfboard, and is made for jumping, bumping and tricks.

Even the press release I saw says it's not fast.
In fact when I read the release, I thought you guys had written it, as it
sounded so much like what you've been saying you like or want.

It's a whole new category of board, it's not a Freeride like the rest of
Werner's designs, and It's not wave oriented lie Josh usually does.
More on this as I find out more, but this one's for you turny/slashy/jumpy
guys!
later

sailquik (Roger Jackson) US 3704 |Ph#in MD 301-872-9459
F2/North Sails/ True Ames/Rainbow|Ph#in NC 919-995-3204
US Sail Lvl 1 WS Instructor