Hey, I am keen to give a sinker board a go. I don't jump or do tricks and have crossed over from surfing rather than from other wind sports and I really don't like straps. I want to give a sinker board a go but will it be double hard without straps or are there good techniques meaning you don't need them for waterstarts?

I've been watching my son sink start only over past 6 months and up at Exmouth, Nathan (sunova). Talking to them they are adamant foot straps do help. To balance board more easily (and feet in the right/same spot but also to lift that front foot more easily up and out of the water.


I had my second crack at it and whilst I got going four times I failed several. The times I was successful was when I could get the front foot (front of board) out of the water - then it was easy as shelling peas to get going (as you are pumping such a small board).


the failures were purely not being able to get that damn front foot up and out - I was literally going along under water . which was highly annoying.

nathan and Antman say they can literally lift their front foot up and out. Nathan did say to keep your legs as ent as possible and give the wing sharp sudden cracks rather than the long scooping stuff we do on the knee starts. (Note he is 75kg and was riding a tiny 27 litre sunova prone)

what I suspect is the foot strap allows you to start in more marginal conditions. When the wind was good I was up and going. As soon as it dropped to a point I was aqua planing like a clown under water. Grrrrrrrrr



.. Paul J any tips when not using foot straps to get that damn nose up and out of the water more easily??

Yeh I'm in the same camp. Hate straps. I've got no intention of jumping. And yeh once the wind was right was not an issue, but I had both enough and not enough in the same session.


I suppose in the back of my mind I'd like to get efficient enough with good technique to get going in more marginal conditions - because once I was up and riding on my smaller prone board, man it was good!! totally worth it

oh and this has been mentioned again and again but if you do prone - the best training when proning is to sink stand your board waiting for the next set. When you get on the wing the muscle memory kicks in.

Man 55L is a lot of volume to sink ? I sink a 40l and I wouldnt want much more at 75kg dry.

Good topic and info here, thanks!

A bit off-topic; but would it be possible or put it this way, how hard would it be to have foot straps on a very sinkable board (say for 80kg person a 25-30 liter board), and
1st) rider lying on back on the water, then
2) put feet on straps,
3) push the board underwater to straight beneath the rider, and then
4) raise the wing and get the pull from the wind to get up?

Any thoughts?

Alan Cadiz has a little video showing this..

IanInca said..
Alan Cadiz has a little video showing this..

What's the title of the vid ?

Main my board about 40 ish litres until I get my new one which will only be 34. I wouldn't say I'm "riding it". Only tried a few sessions with some success but also failure. Work in progress right now. Won't take me long though.

Thanks but I don't think he is covering what omg suggested. But still some great ideas.

ah I see it

.be


Interesting trying to keep your wing away from your foil. I suspect having a boom here helps. Not sure it will work with handles closer to the main strut.

but if it can be done makes more sense to me. You are already in position with wing ready to go, no need for the tight rope balancing act. I also think you could get going in less wind than trying to lift your entire board and body out of the wind. Also would conceivably allow shallower water starts

anyone experimented with this ?

ps the traditional method starts at 2.40 ish in the clip.


the sitting then leg up method looks . difficult if on a really low volume board.

I just had my first real Sink start session. Success!! Can't wait to get straps now.

Just the squat method which seems to be what most I've seen used on the actual water. Don't have foot straps so couldn't try the side on aka kite foil start. In summer, with new board and straps and when I'm not freezing my nuts off and there isn't so much swell running I will try others.

A funny humbling story though. so I'm up and going - flying super conservatively - like a lame duck just happy I was up - as I'm not sure if I can actually pull off the sink start twice in a session . and some dude from nowhere starts tweaking huge jumps, rotations, carving up waves aggressively and and and.

I was like "who is gods name is this!" .

When I got to shore it was Bastien (winner of the cut race last year, been a French national windsurf champion bla bla bla you get it - he's as good as it gets).

it then Made sense lol. Nice guy by the way and a reminder of the depths of crap my skills are at. Lol.

juandesooka said..
this sink starting is still on my list ... but just never the right day to give up a fun session to go back to mega frustration

Anyone tried foot hooks instead of straps? For kite foiling I found them to be a nice happy medium. You have something to press against to get 75% "hold" but you can still move your feet around (inward from stance) and you are not locked in for wipeouts. I think it is particularly beneficial for the one-strap folks, as we've all heard the tales of blown knees from doing this....that risk is real. The longer foot hooks give just barely enough grab that you can keep the board in place on water starts kiting.

I've just taken delivery of the Slingshot ones. I have to wait until August 20th for my semi sinker board and then I'm trying in without any straps and with 1 front strap and back hook.

Foot hooks hey. Yeh right might be worth exploring that. Only thing is I am hoping to keep straps on and prone as well with same board (like my son does).

yeh I'm thinking just front strap to start with as well. I know when the swell was really big I used to use a front strap on my kite surfboard. Well in the end I never used straps at all even in big swell but it did help a lot in the early days. Never liked a back strap. I tend to move my back foot around more than the front.

one thing I've noticed from my limited time sink starting is getting that front nose up and out of the water is the critical and most frustrating thing. Having a front strap must help lifting that front nose up. once nose is up doesn't matter much about where you are at with power (or say a slight drop in wind) you can then work it for as long as you want to eventually get going.


anyhow hopefully a session today we will see what transpires lol.

kitenow said..

IanInca said..

juandesooka said..
this sink starting is still on my list ... but just never the right day to give up a fun session to go back to mega frustration

Anyone tried foot hooks instead of straps? For kite foiling I found them to be a nice happy medium. You have something to press against to get 75% "hold" but you can still move your feet around (inward from stance) and you are not locked in for wipeouts. I think it is particularly beneficial for the one-strap folks, as we've all heard the tales of blown knees from doing this....that risk is real. The longer foot hooks give just barely enough grab that you can keep the board in place on water starts kiting.

I've just taken delivery of the Slingshot ones. I have to wait until August 20th for my semi sinker board and then I'm trying in without any straps and with 1 front strap and back hook.

semi sinker board . I assume its the Gong Matata, may I ask the freight costs and carrier. Thanks

Yeah, it's the 4'11 55L version. I went for the non pro version which has no inserts, is very light 4kg and is only 399 euros!! I'm keeping my bigger 85L board for light wind and trying various strap/hook options to perhaps try a few jumps. Atm I hate straps and therefore don't jump. I'd like to use the semi sinker in all but the 8 to 12 knots range.

if you are going to try a sinker start i.e standing on the board - is it beneficial to have less litres/volume(float). ?

it is harder to stand/balance on board close to body weight ?

My tip regarding wing handling while doing sinker start (strapless or not): rather than holding on the wing leading edge, grip the leash about a foot from the attachement point and pull down on it under water AT ALL TIME. When ready to do your water start, grab the board rails with both hands (with one still holding the leash) and place your feet on the board. Doing so allows you to both hold the wing and the board rail, which stabilizes a lot! Once done keep pulling down while waiting for a gust.

tried with out front straps, zero chance with my 50 yr old sense of balance hhh ... so been trying with a set of North V front straps .. still work in progress ... managed one run on each tack so far

4'6" x 20" 36L with 66kg rider 'wetted'