G'day. Let me preface by saying that I recently switched back to windsurfing after kiting for the last decade.
Looking for some guidance on light wind waterstarts for float n' ride conditions. I'm 70kg and riding the new Naish Choppers (mk2) on an 86L freeware board. Thing is, these sails all rig on a 370 mast..

Could the shorter mast lack the leverage that I need to water start in less than 15-16 knots? I find that I can only waterstart in winds that are strong enough to plane. Any tips, tricks or YouTube links would be most appreciated!

Bring the board under your bum. Crouch down, make yourself small and roll up. More tips in the video.

EDIT: The more you rely on your legs to get up, the more rig adjustment is left available to balance. Center your body over the board.

Grab mast below boom.
Grab sail below clew.
Throw sail up into wind, then grab as above.
Uphaul, you have plenty of volume.
Keep booms low in light or holey wind.

As LeeD said, you have enough volume to uphaul.

If you have shallow waters, an "Easy beach start" is great, basically position end of boom so it touches bottom of lake with sail/boom at a right angle to the board, from the back end of the board put one hand on mast below boom and the other hand on back end of board between foot straps, then use arms to push up onto board, then pivot to face sail and use uphaul to pull sail straight up out of the water.

Thanks for all the feedback! Glad there are no negative reactions to the short mast length as a contributor.

Uphauling is tough despite the float - just gets very choppy where I sail, but it's clear that I need to work on my waterstart technique. Appreciate these tips!

It may be a case of setting the sails fuller for the conditions.

They have a shorter luff but a slightly longer boom and those sails are surprisingly powerful for their size.

You can tune them to the conditions. The board you are riding for your size will also sit out of the water slightly higher as you are so light which will make it a bit more of a climb to get on in light winds too.

When uphauling in wind, position the sail so clew is downwind, mast toward wind, so wind assists you to lift the sail. Quickly pull up, regardless of board's position, sheet in and feel what you need to bear off.

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LeeD said..
Grab mast below boom.
Grab sail below clew.
Throw sail up into wind, then grab as above.
Uphaul, you have plenty of volume.
Keep booms low in light or holey wind.

Lee's advice is spot on. Grabbing the sail below the clew can be tricky to balance, but just moving the hand onto the mast makes a very big difference. The further down the mast you move, the more leverage you develop. Then it's a case of curling up. Good luck with it. Cheers Jens

Well... I remember reading on one of the defunct forums the Witchcraft founder complaining that the Choppers were gutless and "I struggled to waterstart". His own brand sails are the complete opposite - long mast, short boom.

I do feel especially in the waves that a tall sail will go grab more wind up top, faster waterstarts.

I see some people waterstarting with both feet on the board. You need a lot of wind for that to work. Use one leg, pull the tail of the board under your bum while thrashing around with the other leg.

I'll say that light wind waterstarts are amazingly easier when the boom is lower. It puts you closer to the board than a high boom, and it's way easier to crouch low and get on the board centerline with a low boom.

With a high boom you really have to get your head and bodyweight tight and close to the board, which can be difficult in wavy low wind situations. It's worth trying to lower your boom a bit just to see how much it helps.

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remery said..
I see some people waterstarting with both feet on the board. You need a lot of wind for that to work. Use one leg, pull the tail of the board under your bum while thrashing around with the other leg.

Not when you're holding the sail foot and mast. Then you have to get your heels either side of the mast foot before tipping the rig leeward and standing up. It can be a bit of a struggle to be honest.

In Manu's video the two techniques demonstrated in no 8 are my goto for light wind water start. The trick for me with the no boom water start is to stay low and sail along for a bit before standing up.

This shows what happens if you stand up too early
www.instagram.com/p/CBJ9M5bgVA3/

To answer your statement regarding the required windstrength for waterstarting.
You absolutely don't need planing strength to get lifted on the board, just practise and take the advisory the guys gave you above.
And welcome back to windsurfing.

For me it's 8 knots 5.0, 10 for 4.5. now I'm on 4.2 and 4.7. So it's probably 11 for 4.2 and 9 for 4.7. My 4.2 is tall and grabs wind high up, but there's usually at least 15 knots if I'm using it!

I find that baggy sails have way more pull :) I'm started to like baggy undersized sails :)

Basic but not mentioned: placing your hands close to each other, next to harness lines, helps you extend your arms more, keeping sail more upright for more power, similar to lowering the boom.

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Sea Lotus said..
Basic but not mentioned: placing your hands close to each other, next to harness lines, helps you extend your arms more, keeping sail more upright for more power, similar to lowering the boom.

Holding the boom in your fingers not with a balled fist also is worth quite a bit for efficiency, I think in a similar way to keeping hands together near the harness lines it prevents you from stalling the sail.