Riding technique: How to start gliding sooner – tips and tricks from Vincent Langer
reemedia
· 05.09.2026
Planing! That’s the goal of every windsurfer – it’s a guaranteed source of fun. As soon as you’ve crossed the planing threshold, windsurfing becomes proper fun! Before that, it’s often a struggle, or even a battle. “The sooner we start planing, the better. And the more we glide, the more fun it is,” Vincent Langer blurts out. It quickly becomes clear that Germany’s most successful professional regatta sailor of the last 15 years doesn’t want to just scratch the surface, but intends to go into detail on all aspects of gliding. We start with riding technique on the board and then move on to fine-tuning the equipment: “My aim is to show windsurfers how they can make the most of every opportunity to get planing as early as possible.”
How do you build up speed?
When there is a fin underneath the board, the key objective is to accelerate the board forwards – not to push it downwards. Propulsion is generated through an active riding style, for example by fanning or pumping. However, this creates not only forward pressure but also downward pressure. It is precisely this additional pressure that pushes the board deeper into the water and thus increases the planing threshold. That is why it is so important to actively push the board forwards without simultaneously putting downward pressure on it – even if this is not at all easy to achieve in practice. Many windsurfers make the same mistake here: they bend their knees. This is counterproductive.
The key is to actively accelerate the board forwards without pressing it down too much.”
A helpful tip for any amateur surfer looking to improve their pumping technique: practise when the conditions aren’t right for planing. Focus solely on keeping the board moving straight ahead. The nose should point steadily in one direction and not veer off to windward or leeward. The aim is to keep the board on a constant line, and each pumping movement should increase your speed – without pushing the board downwards.
What role does footwork play?
Many people rely too much on their knees and legs. As a result, they unintentionally push the board down – even if only briefly. During the glide phase, the legs should be fairly still and stable, almost stiff. It is only with more advanced technique that the legs are used deliberately to build up pressure in a controlled manner – directed forwards as much as possible. However, this is technically demanding and is not executed perfectly by most people.
When pumping, I deliberately bend my knees less, keep my legs and hips stable, and lean my upper body further forwards. The aim is clear: to shift as much weight forwards as possible. An excellent exercise is to place your front foot towards the mast base. Although this means standing with your legs unusually wide apart, it helps enormously to shift your weight forwards. This can be practised particularly well in conditions where you’re just failing to get into a glide.
What is the ‘70-30 technique’?
If you analyse the pumping technique of good windsurfers, you’ll notice that they all have one thing in common: the leech of the sail works significantly harder than the mast. You could roughly say the ratio is about 70 to 30 (for sails with a longer boom). The rear hand is also more active – even in choppy conditions – and covers a significantly longer distance than the front hand. In my windsurfing clinics, however, I often see a ratio of around 50:50, which only works with small wave sails with a short boom. This means that both hands are working equally hard – and that is precisely what requires significantly more effort to get into a glide, and is ineffective.
So what effect does this stronger movement at the rear of the sail have? It generates what is known as ‘backhand power’. This causes the nose of the board to lift up, rather than being pushed down. With a 50:50 ratio, each pumping stroke tends to push the nose downwards. A 70:30 ratio – or even 80:20 – ensures, on the other hand, that the nose lifts up. And ‘nose up’ ultimately means: more forward momentum. And this is precisely where the advantage of the ‘fächeln’ technique lies: it makes it much easier to direct the force in the right direction – namely forwards.
What are the key points to bear in mind when fanning?
The greater the intensity of the ‘fächeln’, the more power the sail generates – and the better the glide. In this context, intensity refers primarily to the speed at which the rear hand moves the leech from windward to leeward. The ‘fächeln’ is usually performed whilst hooked in. So you remain in the harness and, in a sense, move slightly left and right along the harness lines. The more power and speed you put into this movement, the greater the additional thrust you’ll ultimately gain, which you can use as an extra kick.
And every time you pull your back hand back to windward, you can also give a little kick forwards with your front foot to ‘activate’ the board, so to speak. I even try to make my back foot ‘lighter’ whilst doing this – that is, lift it slightly. But this is really demanding in terms of coordination. That’s why I can only recommend that every windsurfer includes sessions where they’re almost certainly not going to get into a glide, but can practise this very technique.
Should I pump or fan?
Any windsurfers who are physically unable to use the 70-30 pumping technique effectively would be better off using the ‘fächer’ technique. This has a lot to do with physical ability – if you don’t have the necessary strength or don’t gain a clear advantage from this technique, you’ll find fanning is significantly more efficient. With fanning, you can achieve around 50 per cent of what’s possible with a perfect 70-30 pumping technique. But that 50 per cent is still significantly more than what many windsurfers actually achieve with a pump technique that isn’t executed optimally. That’s exactly the point: you always have to put it into perspective.
For most windsurfers, fanning is the better choice. It requires less effort, is more consistent and often leads to a more reliable planing start. This is because, when pumping, the force generated is often not converted into forward momentum, but into what is known as ‘downforce’. You see it time and time again: windsurfers are pumping, working hard with their knees, body weight and the sail – and in doing so, they are literally pushing the board down into the water. This is precisely what prevents the board from planing early. What is far more crucial is that the board lies stably on the water and is not weighed down, but is accelerated exclusively forwards.
What is the ideal boom height for gliding?
The higher the boom, the more power a sail has; the lower it is, the less power, but the sail offers more control. In light winds, the aim must always be to raise the boom as high as possible, as long as you can still actively manoeuvre the sail. However, we usually have at least one, sometimes two or even three eyelets on the leech for attaching the boom. Lighter riders often believe they have to use the lower eyelet so that the boom is lower. If you always use the lower eyelet, the leech opens up more, which tends to mean you’ll start planing later. This means that, even for lighter sailors, the upper eyelet is ultimately always the better choice if they want to plane in light winds.
There are booms that offer more or less power. This has partly to do with stiffness. If you have stiff booms, you get better power transfer, which means the energy is converted more effectively into forward momentum. This definitely makes sense for heavier surfers. The longer the boom, the softer the overall structure, but the smaller the sail, the less significant this becomes. And the further a Vario boom is extended, the softer it becomes. The width and shape of the boom also play a role: if it is very wide at the front, the sail generally stands more upright, allowing you to start planing sooner. At the tip, too, the width of the fork ideally allows the sail to form a very deep profile without the sail’s profile being restricted by the fork.
How long should my trapeze ropes be, and where should I position them?
For most windsurfers, the harness lines are positioned too far forward. This means that when planing, the leech tends to be too open, resulting in less effective power being generated. If, on the other hand, you move the harness lines significantly further back, the front of the sail fills more fully. At the same time, the leech closes slightly more, causing the sail to generate more pressure overall and thus more forward drive. The result: you can get into a glide much more easily and efficiently – almost ‘passively’. You should feel yourself being pulled forward slightly.
This may feel a bit strange or even slightly uncomfortable at first, as you’ll feel a noticeable pull on your front arm. It takes a bit of getting used to. However, as soon as you’re gliding, your balance settles again. The pull is then distributed evenly across both arms, and the set-up feels much more harmonious. The length of the trapeze lines is always directly related to the height of the boom. As a general rule, slightly longer lines help you get into the glide. As already mentioned, a higher boom position helps you get into the glide sooner.
Accordingly, when planing, you can – or should – use longer trapeze lines. This applies to both a more passive glide and to ‘fächeln’. However, once you are in a stable glide, the requirements change: the trapeze lines should then be adjusted to be shorter. This brings you closer to the sail, allowing you to power it up more actively and ride in a more controlled, upright position. A practical tip: adjustable trapeze lines are a very sensible solution for optimally meeting both requirements – launching and controlled gliding.
What impact does fattening have?
Generally speaking, RDM masts tend to have more power than SDM masts, assuming they are of the same stiffness. If we fit an RDM mast of the same stiffness as an SDM mast into a freeride sail, we’ll get up on plane sooner with the RDM. Why is that? Due to the wind pressure and the reduced amount of material in the mast pocket, the profile in the sail can become deeper, which allows you to get up on plane more easily. A stiffer mast also pushes the sail’s profile further forward, meaning the maximum profile depth is further forward – in principle, this allows you to get planing faster, but at the same time, it also pushes the nose of the board downwards. A deep profile generates not only forward thrust but also ‘downforce’. I can counteract this, for example, by adjusting the position of the mast base. If I notice that the board is ‘sticking’ too much and doesn’t feel properly free, that’s a clear indication that there’s too much downward pressure.
In such cases, it may be worth moving the mast foot further back to give the nose more clearance. There are various adjustment screws here that can be used to optimise the board’s balance – the key is always to find the right balance so that the board isn’t pushed down but accelerates cleanly forwards.
What options do I have with the luff adjuster?
The less luff tension you apply, the softer the sail becomes, because less tension in the mast pocket makes the sail softer. And the more luff tension we apply, the stiffer the sail becomes, and, of course, the sail then opens up further at the top. The problem is that heavier riders actually want a stiff sail with plenty of profile, but they also need a sail that isn’t particularly wide open to get planing early. This means they actually have to pull the sail tight to achieve the stiffness they need. But if they do that, the sail opens up too much, meaning they can’t pump it up as effectively. What can you do? You need to apply more tension to the battens – and not just the ‘power battens’. And you should check this extra tension at regular intervals.
“A deep profile in a sail not only generates propulsion, but also downward pressure.”
The fact is, sails consist of around 200 to 300 parts, which naturally stretch out as well. And if you’re someone who’s heavy, so that the sail has to work hard, we have to keep tightening it up. Sails don’t deteriorate straight away, but they do become softer over time. And we have to counteract that.
What is the ‘Power Latte’?
If I apply more tension to the batten above the boom – which I’ve dubbed the ‘power batten’, so to speak – I close the leech. This is a key adjustment that allows you to power up a sail. There’s enormous potential here that many windsurfers underestimate. The key is: don’t be afraid to be bold and really crank up the tension.
Are there any other tips on keeping fit?
My tip for anyone who decides to use just one large sail, e.g. a 7.5, and wants to be able to plane with it all the time: you can extend the mast extension further. Here’s an example: a 7.5 sail with a luff length of 484 cm comes with a 460 mast. But then you fit a 28 extension. Why? It raises the whole sail higher, which gives the sail more power. Yes, on the one hand, the mast inside feels a bit softer because it’s longer, but ultimately it definitely means you’ll start planing sooner. So, what do I do if I’m sailing an 8.4-metre sail in very light winds because we no longer have a 9.0-metre in the range? I adjust my mast extension to make it four centimetres longer!
Are large planks sliding earlier and earlier?
As a general rule: the larger the board, the sooner you’ll start planing – and the smaller the board, the more challenging it becomes. What many windsurfers often forget is that every board has an optimal sail range that it can handle effectively. If the sail is too big for the board, the power generated can no longer be efficiently converted into forward momentum.
A simple example: a 100-litre board with an 8.0 sail – in practice, this hardly works at all. You cannot harness the sail’s power in a controlled way. Conversely, however, it does make perfect sense to combine a larger board with a smaller sail. Large boards are easier to ride, get up to speed sooner and, thanks to their volume, offer significantly better gliding performance in wind holes. A classic example would be a 150-litre light-wind freeride board combined with a 6.0 sail.
Furthermore, the board size also affects the overall ergonomics and set-up:
- The larger and wider the board, the further away you are from the sail – so the gabel must be set higher.
- Taller sailors in particular may find that the gaff cut-out in the sail is too deep and no longer fits properly.
- In such cases, it makes sense to extend the mast extension further in order to raise the entire rig higher.
"We want the things that give us a lift – and as much of them as possible!"
Which fin helps you get up on the board quickly?
Basically, a fin simply has to be large and, above all, long. But the profile thickness is also a key factor in determining how much power a fin has. And I’m not talking about twist or flex here, because that’s completely irrelevant at this stage of the take-off; ultimately, we want a greater profile thickness. We want whatever gives us lift – and as much of it as possible. That’s why a fin needs to be thick, ideally right up to the tip, to provide take-off power. Fins with a lot of surface area at the tip generate plenty of power for take-off, which is key. A larger fin also helps when pumping or fanning to maintain the direction of travel. In other words, when I start fanning, a large fin also helps ensure that the nose of the board continues to point steadily in one direction.
