I use the board, with my 11M its quite easy that way, but you need to be carefull, as you can easily damage your board. If the sails on the right side, and there is enough wind I waterstart it, otherwise I uphaul.

Get on the otherside of the board, use the uphaul as normal, but use the board as a lever to lift it just enough to get it out of the water, and use the wind to help with the rest. I have seen people use a easy uphaul thing which is easy to make.

But I find using the board as a lever works, to assist, but my formula board has a carbon deck and is one of the tougher ones and I am still pulling hard on the rope, and try and use the wind as much as possible.

blackattack said...

Has anyone got any tips on how to uphaul a 9m race sail? I was surprised just how hard it was, pretty sure my left testicle is floating in the bay after the effort I put in on Sunday.

It easy, just lift 4.5m at a time

I use the easy uphaul with my gastra vapour 9.5m sail. I have three of them on my various booms. You can do your own modification to a standard uphaul but on a cost benefit its the cheapest bit of safety equipment considering your risk of back injury not to mention your left testicle. It makes uphauling very easy and saves a ton of energy which allows you to stay out sailing longer.

It rates up there with the North Powerx base in my favorite items of kit.

Mate if your using that you really need to be waterstarting, if the luff fills with water its very difficut.
1) When if you fall in get the sail "floating" on the water asap so it doesnt fill with water
2)climb on board and grab uphaul, just lean back, slowly no rush now, the sail will come out and eventually "realease" from the water.
3) dont fall off again
4) quickly learn to waterstart conserves energy and faster

have fun

Swim or paddle the sail around so you can get the wind under the sail and then lift the leading edge up so the wind can flow under the sail. It will almost lift its self out of the water. Busting a gut to pull the sail out of the water is too hard and will suck the strength out of your arms. Good luck.

Hey Bart, I now use an Easy Up-haul too. Water-starting is preferred, but if I have to swim the 11.0 into position to do so (not flying or will take a bit to fly it), then it's just quicker to use the EU, and at the end of a session it's a lot easier too.

The only thing I don't like about the EU is it's too short for me when using the 11 on the F162, so I'm standing too far inboard to really get the most out of it. I could solve this by adding an extension, but I only drop the sail maybe once a session when it's under 15 knots. I doubt this would be a problem for you with a 9.0 though.

H

black 50% attack??

easy up haul! pure genius, will get myself one of those! I forgot to mention that it was only about 5 knots so waterstarting was not an option. I dont think I would ever contemplate uphauling a 9m once you had enough wind to waterstart.

My left testicle thanks you all for the above advice!