Fellow road runners,
I loved mountain boarding all over my local park and now with only a small parking lot available just acquired a dropthrough longboard. First, it's cheaper, most likely just as stable, better speed over smooth terrain and lighter. Later I can probably swap for bigger wheels.
Anyway, I hesitated between pintail models or even kicktail. I looked at vids with tricks, and an interested in tacks, backwind jibes, shakas, 360s, and duck tacks. At least for now....
Any tips? Mast foot right behind the truck is good for tacks on the dropthrough? Loose trucks, wheels? Straps aren't my cup of tea on skates, for shakas though...
Finally I saw some cool tricks in pivot over the wheels?
Je n'ai pas d'acc?s ? une rampe ni fort d?nivel?, du plat smooth.Fellow road runners,
I loved mountain boarding all over my local park and now with only a small parking lot available just acquired a dropthrough longboard. First, it's cheaper, most likely just as stable, better speed over smooth terrain and lighter. Later I can probably swap for bigger wheels.
Anyway, I hesitated between pintail models or even kicktail. I looked at vids with tricks, and an interested in tacks, backwind jibes, shakas, 360s, and duck tacks. At least for now....
Any tips? Mast foot right behind the truck is good for tacks on the dropthrough? Loose trucks, wheels? Straps aren't my cup of tea on skates, for shakas though...
Finally I saw some cool tricks in pivot over the wheels?
I have no access to a ramp or any kind of bump, only smooth flat hard concrete.
I've got a similar board to that my solution was to make a plate that bolts onto the top of the front trucks using the existing holes & I tapped a hole to suit mast base .
I personally would not have it mounted in front of the trucks as I've tried that & I didn't like when you stepped off the nose then digs into the ground.
I also tried behind the trucks but it just didn't feel right for the balance of the sail & turning .
Having it just behind the front axel seems to be the sweet spot for me .
Makes sense to me. Looks like I have enough room to drill a hole right behind the truck and yet also have room to step over the front without tipping. Will test first to see where to place my front foot for tacks. Also can use a shim if my base sits over the truck that sticks out.
I won't get much drive from the sail as the wind doesn't come through quite well. The parking lot is really smooth where I'll be sailing so lots of momentum instead (just from pushing).
Before setting a sail too I can test how tight trucks should be so I can turn sharply while still have a fairly stable board when doing tricks such as slides. Tight trucks seem to be something important for higher speeds, won't be an issue for my situation.
Board is being forwarded from Miami, really looking forward to returning to one of my favorite sports!
Alright, finally got my board, the longest 3 weeks!
A-MA-ZING! Confirms this is one of my favorite sport!
Anyway, loosened up the trucks nearly all the way let me turn around tight enough (most of time!). Used the slight space left behind the front truck to secure my mast joint with the help of a big washer underneath and off I went.
My dirt skills came back right away and were helpful when I rammed into a parked car, slammed into a house window, ran over my dog and one of my daughters.
Besides this, it was so much fun jibing away, sailing switch stance, clew-first, ducking. Completed 360s, a no-comply tack (impossible to set 2 feet in front of mast base unless moving it so far back!
The wheels are super sticky and felt somewhat slow (78a), not sure they are slideable!
I also used a wooden stick as a paddle, wrapped the bottom with inner tube and pushed away, great workout and can ride both tacks! Nice exercice and fine tune carving.
Teaser vid: www.instagram.com/p/CAEY2GigPUw/
^ The only way i found to 'tack' was head upwind fast. Instead of stepping around front of mast as you go thru eye of wind, just slam the clew thru the eye of wind as the board goes thru eye of wind. Switch stance n your done. Guess you could do a duck tack as well. Plenty
of switchfoot fun. I found it much easier to gybe windskate than on windsurf.
Harder wheels (80-90 hardness) will roll faster n slide better. I like to run front trucks a bit tighter n power thru backfoot. Tighten trucks as speeds increase. Heaps of fun. Best thing is 10kts is plenty of wind to be carving around in. On hard surfaces sails 4-5m are perfect size to muck around with.
^ Yep. I picked up a landboard for $90. Bolted mastbase to it. Pneumatic tyres about 200mm diameter. 6-7m sails worked better. A lot more rolling resistance. Landboard has much larger deck, but has a much larger turning circle than a longboard skatey. Im getting a set of 9mm axle bearings n change to large diameter skateboard wheels. Concrete n bitumen is way faster surface than grass for those sub 10kt days. 
Myself and a mate, Mike, built a lot of these in the early '80's after trying the French 'Speed-sail' and finding that it had far too large a turning circle for the beaches we had access to. We used a heavy duty skateboard truck Nylon base and had the lower part of the truck sand cast to fit the axels.
We found it worked best on hard sand beach (Waratah Bay at low tide is fantastic ). There was usually too much resistance on grass and way too fast for safety on pavement (airport). On Pavement, slope is critical. A slight down slope and you go very fast. A slight up slope and you may not go at all unless there is too much wind for safety. Also, when we tried to sail on grass, (Parks and Paddocks) we found it very hard to find a place with steady, even wind. Even a single tree less than 100m upwind created a 'stop you' wind shadow.
We never had the chance to try on inland salt lakes, but I think on smooth, hard salt lakes it would be great!
I might add, these were perfect for learning to do Duck Gybes on the beach.
Windskates, are of course, a different thing and specifically designed for use on pavement and at relitively low speeds in quite light wind. 
Great feedback you all!
Hit a few pebbles and bulldozed through all of them until today... I swear my wheels are too sticky resisting slides!
Hehe, well mine are quite a bit larger than the regular skate pictured but very rubbery (78a)!
Addicted hardcore!
Would like to compile a vid with all of the moves.
Today, I added to my list of completed moves the upwind 360 (tried to slide it to get it more shaka-ish) and the heli tack.
Enjoy!
New moves completed: push tack, conca tack, clew first 360, bender and body "drag" (run).
What a great way to understand and discover new moves!
I think I pretty much completed all moves outside of moves requiring straps, slides
or stepping in front and around mast foot, In regards to slides, I'd need to hit about 30mph before I can break those wheels loose, they are like gokart sticky!
Might get some harder wheels so I can slide some of my moves as opposed to carve them.
Finally, speaking of carving, maybe a slightly shorter board would give me more maneuverability in my limited space.
Endless fun though and with the paddle stick those sticky wheels make for some crazy gforces in the turns!
Starting to slide, way more fun that I would have thought!
Wheels + heat + concrete makes for some really grippy terrain. So I aim at the smoothest patches and pray the Lord I won't eat it! It's a bit gnarly with the curbs and walls staring at me while skating.
Also got myself a set of more slidey wheels, hoping it's a bit easier to break loose at lower speeds.
^^ Manuel7 wheels hardness 88a n up will give you the speed n slides you desire. 92a will be fast n slidey if pushed moderately on concrete.
For tighter turns, rather than a shorter deck (even less space to stand
) i prefer a normal skatey setup. Deck 36"-40" long.Trucks BENEATH deck. Makes for much tighter turns. Think drop thru style was developed more for straighter line high speed rolling.
Landboard is possibly worse again because of angled deck where trucks mount. Which gives a much larger turning circle.
You could bolt your trucks to a flat plank n see how it turns. Usually a Riser or spacer (10mm or so) is used between deck n trucks. This can dampen vibration but also enables tighter turns before wheels contact the deck underside.
Happy shreddin!
Are you talking regular skateboard numbers or for longboard 70mm too? I got some 81a Flashbacks coming in the mail, hoping they'll work. Wonder if I should have switch to smaller wheels now :D !
I'm working on really having my weight over my front foot in the turns to get the rear super light.
At the "top turn" I'm shifting my weight all the way to the back from windsurfing habit, impossible to break loose!
Slides require speed and moves tend to shred speed . I think that's where a regular skateboard especially with a kicktail can comes in handy.
My mast base is set right back of the truck, maybe I could try setting it up in front of truck so I can unweigh the back truck more easily with mast foot pressure?
Ive used both diameter wheels, normal skate n 70mm. The 81a 70s will give better roll, more ground clearance, less stacks due to small rocks etc.
Ive tried normal skatey longboard n put chinook 2 bolt plate over narrow tail n secured with plate underneath. Gave me more deck space to move. But when you jumped off the weight of sail usually forces kicktail to ground. Only drawback ive found. Happy days.
Ive got trucks tightened enough that i can pump or carve the board to generate speed but not get speed wobbles. Still turns quite tightly.
Slides as you say, weight the front foot n drive the tail around with backfoot. Wheels hardness 90 n above will enable full board drift at speed when pushed hard.
In around 5-8kts wind, 15-18kts boardspeed can easily be achieved even with sails of 4-5m. Just watch those stacks!
Creative setup! I realized that my mast base bolt was offset and I just needed to spin it so that it's almost right over the truck. Easier to push. Does it work even better when the mast base is in front? Probably lightens the rear for slides!
My toe-side slides are decent, my heel-sides not so much!
Also, I checked my board as I thought I was getting wheel bite (stock setup) and yes I am, slight but there.
^^ 'Easier to push?" Only bcoz you have more deckspace to move? Never noticed moving mastbase on skatey to make a difference to easy to push. 
Having mastbase on tail kick will make slides easier as you can weight the mastbase infront of front axle. But it does suck if you jump off quickly. The kick part grinds into ground due to mastbase/rig weight.
No biggie if you are aware of it.
Yes to push start. The mast angle more raked back. There's more drive too from wind power.
You could screw a spinning wheel like on suitcases under the tail. It wouldn't touch under normal "sailing."
^ Ive skated a couple of those 'SURF'style skateys. More like a surfing carve. Good stuff. Just might be the bomb. The ones ive used were only 26-34inch length. I find it comfier to use longer board to windskate. Something closer to actual windsurf stance. Obviously a 53inch (135cm) board will be a beast to turn. 36-40inch is my fave.
Look at windsurf kit from mastrack back to midway between front n rear straps. Thats about length needed. Stance used when not planing. As you dont need to rake the rig n step back into straps to get it planing!
That's what so awesome is that each board brings a different flavor and pleasure to the sport!
I just realized I can pop and slide my board similarly to an air jibe! And basically jump too by loading and unspringing it. This longboard is very flexible then by pulling up on the boom the front just rises.
I'm baffled by how much fun this is! I have yet to figure out heel-side slides. I believe the sail needs to be loaded and vertical. Trying in switch and clew first.
Looking forward to spending more time on it and discover other things. A fantastic workout too!
PS: Beaches are still closed!
Found these amazing vids, clearly it helps to have the mast base forward:
www.continentseven.com/windskate-shaka-anton-munz/
Went for a run on asphalt. Wooo that's rough, vibrations are insane compared to smooth concrete. My ankles felt like the ground had been jackhammered! It's also much slower. How do people skate asphalt??
Possibly 2 more weeks of eating concrete for me. Practicing one hand sliding jibes. Trying to figure out how to slide a shaka, a bit tricky, so far either it looks like a shoveit or a sliding 360.
For top turn slides I'm quite a bit better on my weak windsurfing side??? Has something to do with the foot I use to jump.
Will receive my sliding wheels soon :) !
Manuel, to stop a lot of vibration on normal skatey setup i have in the past used a piece of havianas/ flipflops/ thongs. Put it between truck baseplate n deck. Tighten to desired smoothness. Also lifts deck a bit higher off ground. Not sure how to set up for dropthru trucks.
When I first started to read your post I thought you were going to suggest to use them as in-soles!
Great idea! For now it's ok, I think I could mount the trucks normally if I wanted. I am staying "inside" so far. Also I can control overall cleanliness, became paranoid about pebbles, how could objects so small act as wheel chocks!?!
Rode my new wheels today holy snowboard Batman! Wow, addicting!
The offset makes it easy to tune and control the turning radius while their drift angle compensate for the shorter turning radius.
The drift angle is so cool just on regular turns exactly like on a snowboard. Looking forward to more, only used them with my paddle stick. With my sail I can be more agressive since I can hold onto the boom.
So much fun, had no idea that we could get such riding sensations over hard terrain!
Maybe July 1st I can apply my newly developed skills on the water.
In the meantime, windskating is extremely addicting wow!
I've been trying to slide as hard as possible (requires speed, proper technique and commitment!) and sailing a lot in switch stance where turns are so much fun.
Also, I found out that rocky asphalt is not nearly as nice as more "diluted" asphalt which can be so smooth. Was paddling around today and noted how long the board will coast in between strokes over smooth asphalt, quite amazing.
In regards to pebbles we can actually bulldoze through most of them and worse I step off over the front. Sometimes I step over the board or the front wheel, the board being low and flexy, the wheels being small, it hasn't been a problem. Pretty cool.
A few pics:
www.instagram.com/p/CBzLC6tFYzn/
www.instagram.com/p/CBi7ahAlC2D/
Alright first "water" session after two months of wind skating, here are my thoughts:
- small boards can sink off the plane, footing is critical to balance
- the fin really bites in the turns!
- windskate helps sail tricks: laydowns, ducks, etc.
- windskate helps maintain windsurfing "fitness" (calluses, forearms, back, shoulders, etc.)
- on the water the loss of speed in the turns feels crazy slow!
- it's only water but after a few hard falls, my body started decomposing! (whiplash, back slaps, ...)
- we can throw about one trick every 3 minutes in the water but about 10 wind skating
- water sessions will vary greatly depending on conditions
