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"The top sailors of the US Olympic Team are happy users of the EASY-UPHAUL. Why? Because it works so well. I personally know that US Team members Mike Gebhardt, Cara Reid, Randy Somnitz, Beth Powell, Laura Chambers, Peter Wells, Doug Stryker, Jean Raas and Kim Birkenfeld use the EASY-UPHAUL, as does coach Skip White.
I use the EASY-UPHAUL, and when you come to Banana River Windsurfing Resort you will too, because there is one on every sail."
-Greg Winkler, USA40.

"The advantage for beginners is they don’t get tired uphauling. It won’t alter the number of times they have to uphaul, but they get more time on the water and have more fun. For ladies struggling with bigger rigs the EASY-UPHAUL has clear advantages, while junior sailors should be able to start younger as rig weight is the deciding factor."
-The UK magazine BOARDS

Uphauling! No one likes to do it. Everyone tries to avoid it. It’s a necessary evil. However, while it will never be less necessary, it has recently become considerably less evil. How?... By using a new product called the EASY-UPHAUL. This clever device lets you just hook in, lean back, and watch the sail breech the waves as effortlessly as Flipper... uphauling couldn’t be easier!
-Ken Winner, Equipment Editor WINDSURFING magazine

"This is great. I can’t believe I’m getting excited about an uphaul!"
-Clay Feeter, Founder WIND TRACKS magazine

The EASY-UPHAUL may look like just an uphaul with a loop in the middle, but it is much more than that. It is actually a precision instrument designed to eliminate the strain of uphauling. It is a simple device to solve a monumental problem, and it works. The loop hooks to your harness hook, and you lift the sail out of the water by leaning back. When you grab the uphaul, the loop falls off and you finish the easy part of uphauling. An adjustable buckle lets you set the balance point for your rig and height.
-NEW ENGLAND WINDSURFING JOURNAL

Mike Gebhart is the winner of silver and bronze Olympic windsurfing medals.

"When I first heard about the Easy-Uphaul I thought that it was another unnecessary gimmick. After all, a lot of inventions have come and gone in this sport. I mean how hard is uphauling anyway? After playing with the Easy-Uphaul for a few weeks while training on my Olympic equipment, I soon came to realize that I had developed very refined technique and muscles to resist the uphauling of the sail. But the average windsurfer is more worried about nailing jibes than how to uphaul. In fact most of my pulled muscles and strained backs can be linked to uphauling. After all uphauling, especially in stronger winds requires a lot of strength and technique.

 

In this photo, the EASY-UPHAUL is orange and stretches horizontally from the front of the boom to My harness hook. Also, the yellow elastic stretches vertically from the mast base and stows the EASY-UPHAUL tight against the mast when it is not in use. All these features are designed into your EASY-UPHAUL to give you a tool that is a joy to use.

After training in twenty knots for a couple of hours and then resting on my board, uphauling is usually the last thing I look forward to. With the Easy-Uphaul you just hook in and lean back against the sail, resting as the rig drains of it's inert water and weight with no stress
on the body.

At first the girls and senior windsurfers saw the ease and benefit, (showing their superior intelligence and lack of obstinate pride) but as I stuck to using the Easy-Uphaul in competitions, soon fellow competitors starting to ask if I would "sponsor" them with their own Easy-Uphaul.

After all, anything that makes the sport easier, conserves energy and is an asset on the race course.

Like the inventions of the adjustable boom, adjustable mast track, and the advent of the harness, the Easy-Uphaul is an innovation to stay.

From the perspective of learning to windsurf, uphauling the sail can wear you out pretty quickly. As it gets windier, this becomes more of an issue. Most beginners quit trying to learn because they get exhausted uphauling the sail. Their backs, arms and hands cannot stand up to the strain, of continuously pulling up the sail, sapping them of their energy and desire to continue on.

With the Easy-Uphaul this becomes a non issue as you use your body weight and your harness to take load off of the arms, back and hands.

As an Olympic and professional windsurfer, I have enjoyed turning people on to the Easy-Uphaul.

For BEGINNERS, the best thing about the Easy-Uphaul is it's ability to make the hardest part of the sport effortless, as it teaches you to start using a harness and how to trust levering against the forces of the sail. Because of this, I have been recommending people teach others to windsurf with the Easy-Uphaul from the very beginning. A lot of schools are switching over to this innovation.

My OLYMPIC competitors love using the Easy-Uphaul to save vital strength and energy while training and competing. When it's windy you can exert a lot of energy uphauling. This is a moot point when equipped with the Easy-Uphaul.

As a PROFESSIONAL SAILOR we use very large fully cambered sails. These 10.0's and 9.3's generate a lot of power and can be a bear to get out of the water. The Easy-Uphaul is so easy to use, that I even use it uphauling Sails on my shortboards. Once you try one, you will never go back to the old style uphaul.

I envision the Easy-Uphaul becoming standard issue uphaul of the future. In 10 years it will be hard to find old style uphauls being in the industry. Once you lean back.... there's no going back!"

--Gebi

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