I can waterstart decently now but I waste all my energy trying to get the rig facing the right way to waterstart, does anyone have some suggestions.
I've tried lifting the clew to flip the sail but it just sinks the rig and I've tried swimming the rig through the wind but then the sail just depowers and I end up underneath it.
Most of the time I end up uphauling the sail abit so it flips over the other way but by the time I get it right I'm a fair way downwind :P

Fly the sail facing whichever way it's facing, then do an almost waterstart but let go your back hand just after the mast tip goes through the eye of the wind. Remember to have your front hand right next to the mast. This should gybe the sail around so that it's still flying, the right way up.

I'm not very good at this yet but it's worked a couple of times for me.

Have you tried sliding the boom over the back of the board? This gets the sail out of the water, if it's 180 degrees wrong, you can do the clew flip trick, with a bit of control, if you're quick enough you can lean over the board and grab the mast before it sinks. If it's only 90 degrees wrong you can swim the whole rig around easier, because it's not in the water, do it the right way so that the wind is helping you.

Oldie:

Every time the clew gets even a little bit down into the water it wants to go further. Last Sunday I was out at the train and this happened, it's a royal B*TCH to get the sail back out of the water. I think what happens is that the wind blows the top surface of the water downwind, while the water underneath stays still... this means that you're trying to twist the sail against the current. Unless you're Hercules this is difficult.

So every time the sail was the wrong way around I flew it facing whichever way it was facing, then did the almost waterstart trick, flipping it over when it passed the eye of the wind. Then it would end up in the right position, ready for a waterstart. The whole operation, once it gets out of the water, took me about 5-10 seconds, and I did this about 10 times, it worked really well, and didn't require incredible strength.

Sure, try the Boards method but whenever I've tried it it's taken forever and sapped strength I'd rather use when upright

Hmm..Just like you say. Them Boards blighters must be using a litle light sail in a still Pomme lake. A better rule might be NEVER SINK THE SAIL.
My problem is that I have got too good at uphauling my 6.5, in spite of a very sensitive lower back.