Location: La Perouse (Sydney), my first visit
Name: Ben
Experience: 5 months, learning planing, don't know carve gybe and water start
Weight: 60kg
Board: JP Explorer 165 Liters (275x75)
Sail: Extreme shot luff 4 battens 4.7m sail. (Only 370 Luff and 178 Boom). In the process of ordering a 6.7 superfreak to learn planing in lower wind
Wind: On shore wind, 20-25 knots first day, 15-20 knots second day

My first reaction of the spot: Very choppy water even the wind was not strong the second day

Got a few questions ?

1. In choppy water, the board was very difficult to turn (not sure because of too big board or whether my sail has a lower CE). Even tacking took effort.

2. Going very board reach without the harness lines was difficult (I wanted to go home). If I stood too far behind, the board sunk. if I didn't stand too far behind, the strong wind pulled the sail and my arms hurt.

3. non-planing carve gybe was difficult, stepping on the leeward rail did not turn the board that much. The choppy water made me very difficult to keep balance.

4. Planing: Still not into footstrap yet. Once I sit down on my seat harness with my ankle almost 90 degree, the board speed increased. The choppy water made the board very hard to balance. My front foot was stepping on the front foot strap for a short while. The unstable board just made me not confident of putting into straps yet. What should I do?

I am not in a position to buy smaller board because I don't think my skills are good enough for a smaller board
I know most of you are very experienced. Do you remember during your learning process many years ago, how do you solve these problems. Thanks