Today I managed to achieve the almost impossible -- waterstarting! Man it's tricky. To add to the skill factor, I was at Cabarita in a southerly, which means that although the trees around the lake were bending over, the wind around "the hole" was spotty at best.

Anyway, after about 5 hours on the water I had one successful waterstart in water that was deeper than I could touch the bottom. I had about 15 waterstarts further out where the wind was better, and I would tuck my legs up underneath me and pretend that I was in deep water, but I usually cheated a bit and used one leg to arrest my forward movement slightly...

The one successful time in deep water I somehow ended up with the sail in the air, both feet on the board with my bum in the water, then sheeted in, pulled the board underneath me with my rear leg and OFF I WENT!! Most of the other times resulted in either the wind dying, or the sail up in the air while I pedalled like fury to try to get one leg on the board while the sail did it's best to make me body drag behind the board and rig.

Do people usually get the sail almost vertical before putting a leg on the board? Every time I tried this the board would take off and the force of the water on my legs meant that it was almost impossible to get a foot onto the board. If I put a foot on the board before getting the sail up then the board would instantly point into the wind and I would blow bubbles.

My training DVD makes it look so easy, just throw the sail in the air, put your rear foot on the board and levitate up, let me tell you I find it bl**dy difficult.

What's the train like for a beginner like me in a southerly? If I can't manage a waterstart, will I eventually drift to somewhere where I can put a foot on the bottom? I'd really like to try the train but I'm a bit hesitant if I'm going to be in deep water for hours before drifting to a sandbank...

Thanks for any info,
Ben

Originally posted by nebbian

Today I managed to achieve the almost impossible

well done congrats!!


Do people usually get the sail almost vertical before putting a leg on the board?

No! fly sail just over horizontal, get foot on board, then start to raise sail, you need foot on board to control it's direction, and pull it underneath you.
When you get good you can just throw the sail up into a decent wind, and get launched out of the water and land on the board with both feet, but wait a month or so before trying this.


If I put a foot on the board before getting the sail up then the board would instantly point into the wind and I would blow bubbles.


This is what you need to practice, controling board direction with your foot, sounds like you are pushing with your foot instead of pulling. Believe me this is the key to waterstarting, once you can control board direction, and have good sail control, there's nothing stopping you.


My training DVD makes it look so easy, just throw the sail in the air, put your rear foot on the board and levitate up, let me tell you I find it bl**dy difficult.


This doesn't sound like the easiest waterstart for a beginer to me, can't say I watch closely how my mates do it, but I think most of them have got their foot on the board before pushing the sail all the way up.

Bladz

are you meant to alternate between sheeting in and out or some other technique?

when you get good sail control it comes naturally, something you can try, is on the beach, dig a hole for the fin, point board across the wind, sit on ground beside foot straps, fly sail and gently ease on the power to pull you up, (without cheating and pushing up with your legs, if you do that in water, you push the board into the wind).
So it's a subtle thing like riding a bike, it's all done by auto reflexes, and you don't have to think about it, just comes with practise.

Go Girl,

keep your chin tucked in, and aim to get mast vertical in order to force mast to go thru board. Think of a tube thru board that mast will slide thru if you pull it straight thru.

this action will get you up onto board in lighter winds.

best winds
Tony L

AAAAHHHHHHHHHH almost like yer first r**t

A handy tip: When the wind is not quite strong enough to lift you up, slip you hand off the boom onto the mast midway between the mast foot and the boom. This give you extra leverage, allowing you to learn in lighter wind. When desperate you can slip your other hand from the boom as well and grab the foot of the sail, this provides even more leverage.

quote:

---

Originally posted by nebbian


"Waterstarting is just a controlled catapult".

---

Fantastic nebian, well done, and what a great mantra.
All you need now, is to be able to invoke it at the start of a real catapult, and instantly regain control.
I've payed more attention to my waterstarts the last couple of sessions, and I certainly fly the sail before putting feet on the board, can also control board direction, just with the sail, but it's fairly horizontal, just flying enough to support it's own weight. If the wind is a bit light my foot goes on the board before pushing the sail vertical. But if the wind is strong enough, I can throw the sail in the air, it pulls me out of the water, and I just land on the board near the straps.

Sorry nebian not quite sure what you mean, I think you mean, every things facing the wrong way, you want to go in the opposite direction. I approach this 2 different ways,
1 just waterstart and gybe, (isn't that your next goal, learning to gybe? a good oppotunity to practise)
2 gybe the rig then waterstart, fly the sail, and guide the board around downwind hang on to the mast as it goes thru the wind, then grab the boom on the otherside, this is hard if there's lots of wind, it's easy for the sail to get too much power and get ripped out of your hands.

Yes leave the fancy waterstarts until you're more confident.