Anyone got a easy trick for getting the sail flying again, ready to water start when the sail clew is pointing down at the seabed.
I was in this position in breaking zone using my usual methods and thinking there must be a easier way.

Nope....suck it up.

Quickly climb on board and pull start .

I havent sailed for 20 years ,but i used to in deepwater while treading water point nose away holding pod of board while resting boom attached to mast on top pod end of board.The board is in the direction of wind. Be on upwind side of pod start grab boom with both hands apart. As you pull boom across pod slowly push pod downwind.Keep mast low horizontal so you dont catch wind till your ready. The mast is slightly upwind of wind direction..laying down in water put feet on board and slowly raise boom ..feel wind power in sail ..stand up when power is strong enough to lift you...there is no quick launch in wave zone unless in waist height water or less..Resting the boom on pod nearest wind simplifies it all.

There is a good video on this by Peter Hart from the UK. I'll try and dig it up.

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peguin said..
Anyone got a easy trick for getting the sail flying again, ready to water start when the sail clew is pointing down at the seabed.
I was in this position in breaking zone using my usual methods and thinking there must be a easier way.

I know this is not the answer that you expect, but didn't they have an 'ezy'waterstarter' thing a while back, which was a bit of foam stuck to the clew to float it?

Either that or picture a shark circling. It always makes me waterstart quicker (or chicken out and uphaul ).

I've never been able to uphaul any of my wave boards, that's not an option for me.
In that situation, I'd make sure the mast is pointing into the waves, hold it down and let the surf wash you in to a clear zone. If there's a reef in front of you, just pray!

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peguin said..
Anyone got a easy trick for getting the sail flying again, ready to water start when the sail clew is pointing down at the seabed.
I was in this position in breaking zone using my usual methods and thinking there must be a easier way.

www.easyuphaul.com/waterstarter

Or tie a pool noodle to the clew.

This could help.

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towradgi said..
I havent sailed for 20 years ,but i used to in deepwater while treading water point nose away holding pod of board while resting boom attached to mast on top pod end of board.The board is in the direction of wind. Be on upwind side of pod start grab boom with both hands apart. As you pull boom across pod slowly push pod downwind.Keep mast low horizontal so you dont catch wind till your ready. The mast is slightly upwind of wind direction..laying down in water put feet on board and slowly raise boom ..feel wind power in sail ..stand up when power is strong enough to lift you...there is no quick launch in wave zone unless in waist height water or less..Resting the boom on pod nearest wind simplifies it all.

UH... what is a pod?

Some of the above not applicable if the clew is straight down.

Sometimes its best to hold the back footstrap hard and take another wave on the head, as the wave action will almost always leave the rig flat on top of the water afterwards.

Else, hold the back strap and sidestroke hard downwind, the rig will rotate to being flat on the surface again. Clew will then be dead upwind, but all you have to do is grab the mast in your other hand and drag the rear of board towards it.


I also want to know what a pod is.

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gorgesailor said..

towradgi said..
I havent sailed for 20 years ,but i used to in deepwater while treading water point nose away holding pod of board while resting boom attached to mast on top pod end of board.The board is in the direction of wind. Be on upwind side of pod start grab boom with both hands apart. As you pull boom across pod slowly push pod downwind.Keep mast low horizontal so you dont catch wind till your ready. The mast is slightly upwind of wind direction..laying down in water put feet on board and slowly raise boom ..feel wind power in sail ..stand up when power is strong enough to lift you...there is no quick launch in wave zone unless in waist height water or less..Resting the boom on pod nearest wind simplifies it all.

UH... what is a pod?

Sorry guys ,i thought pod was a term for tail or fin end of board.

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towradgi said..

gorgesailor said..

towradgi said..
I havent sailed for 20 years ,but i used to in deepwater while treading water point nose away holding pod of board while resting boom attached to mast on top pod end of board.The board is in the direction of wind. Be on upwind side of pod start grab boom with both hands apart. As you pull boom across pod slowly push pod downwind.Keep mast low horizontal so you dont catch wind till your ready. The mast is slightly upwind of wind direction..laying down in water put feet on board and slowly raise boom ..feel wind power in sail ..stand up when power is strong enough to lift you...there is no quick launch in wave zone unless in waist height water or less..Resting the boom on pod nearest wind simplifies it all.

UH... what is a pod?

Sorry guys ,i thought pod was a term for tail or fin end of board.

Aha, that make some sense.... However, 20yrs ago you could do that... Now, if you have gear from the last 10 or 15 years, you can't. Boards are shorter & mast tracks have move back dramatically.

Maybe this should be in the wave sailing section?

If the clew is down and waves breaking over you, then orient mast tip towards the waves and hang onto the boom. When waves are gone, swim with both legs together and pull sail out. Once it's close to the water, push rear of the board under the foot of the sail. This prevents clew from catching.

It may be necessary to swim towards the tip to lift the sail. Breathe in to get more push. Lock your elbow on your hips to get more leverage.

^^^ Possible problem with that is then the clew is still straight down. It takes a long time to get the sail floated and flat again, by then you have another wave.
In anything up to say head hi I say grab the back strap only. The wave will turn the mast perpendicular to the hard, and as it passed it will turn the rig around the axis of the mast and most likely the sail will be flat on top of the water.
Then waterstart away.

Position board at right angles to the mast and hang your weight on the rail. Up she rises!

The way I avoid the clew from going underwater is to have the clew towards slightly towards the wave (towards the wind in side-on conditions).
That way the clew is rarely fully underwater (that would mean over 2m depth needed anyway!).

If it is, then we need to choose which way will be the easier to get the sail to rotate and lean it against the waves/current.
I grab the mast and pull hard towards the waves, it does take a couple of seconds. Once it's at a slight angle then our legs can go below and our "helicopter"-style becomes more effective, from there it's only a few seconds until it's fully out.

One tip, I only start lifting the sail up only once the boom clip is out of the water, this ensures the clew releases nicely once the wind gets under. For max leverage I try to set the mast really close to the wind maybe 20 degrees off.

If the mast is completely down (now needing over 4m depth!!!), then I grab the (upside down) board and pull on the rail, the mast will go horizontal and the clew quite down. So I use the waves as if they were wind to move the sail around.

You can see how I lean on the mast and swim with the sail under water here, although it's not fully dedicated to waterstarting:

Quick and easy doesn't really apply to a "clew stab", that's what we call it when the clew stabs straight down into the water.
All you can really do it to grab the mast at the boom and start swimming in the direction that's the easiest, until the clew reappears at the surface.
If hopelessly in the impact zone, and you have no time, I just let the incoming waves do it for me, it's very hard to reorient the rig if you have no time, and the board is between you and the tip of your mast, which is usually the case.
If you never let go with either hand, you won't ever get a clew stab, I know, easier said than done.
Clew stabs suck, that's all there is to it.

I always grab the mast a little above the boom and pull or push it across the water. That will bring the boom level to the top of the water. Then you can position yourself for water starting.

After a crazy nav today, I noticed that I pretty much always push the tail under the foot of the sail before clearing the mast.
This way, I can force lift the sail and the board prevents the clew from sinking.

I hate that in lake chop It would be even worse in the surf!

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MagicRide said..
I always grab the mast a little above the boom and pull or push it across the water. That will bring the boom level to the top of the water. Then you can position yourself for water starting.

Not the fastest way as the O.P asked for

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Mastbender said..
If hopelessly in the impact zone, and you have no time, I just let the incoming waves do it for me,

Yes.


I think the O.P is a very competent waterstarter he was asking for a tip on how to maybe get a straight down deep clew out real fast in waves. Not a lesson in intermediate waterstarting.

Imax's suggestion has a lot of merit too, if there is a big set coming and you have a 'clew stab' (loving that term) then standing on the board and uphauling on the mast / front of boom real hard, to just drag the rig up - even if you fall over - would get it in a better position. Any position is better than clew 90deg dead striaght down or mast 90deg dead straight down.

The key here is fast.

Thanks for all the comment but yeah it's a suck it up. I do most of the mentioned depending on time and conditions. Was just sailing a break where Reef, rocks and urchins were waiting and was ponding other methods.

Ate it after a low wave hit and mast went pointing down but didn't pole vault! Clew got sunk. Perfect opportunity to see what I'm doing then...

First thing I do, if I can, shove the back of the board under the foot of the sail. Let it do the work.

Second, grab the mast with my back to the current/waves and yank hard. Now if I pull too high the sail lifts up and flips to the other side reburying the clew in the process. So I go slow and low but firm!

Third just wiggling the sail playing with the current slowly raising the clew. As soon as the boom clip is above water then I can waterstart. It's only a matter of the seconds. Only when the wind is extremely light 0-8 knots, current strong and waves constantly breaking does it take minutes.

I often grab the mast to go so I don't need to wait for a strong gust.

For the first time ever I managed to crash leaving the board upside down with the mast point straight at the bottom of the sea. What a pain in the arse to get a 8.6m race sail airborne again.

It's for sure slower...

In your case, flip the board over and pull down on the rail down, this sets the mast horizontal.
Then grab the mast, swim as a helicopter with your legs together.
In 2-3 strokes the sail with be horizontal, then you can waterstart.

Ok happened to me a couple of times today. Two options. One, you can grab the boom and lift up, so the sail catches the wind and starts leaning sideways. Two, grab the rear footstrap and pull on the board to get the sail to tilt to one side.

If you ever get stuck with a race sail that is filled with water.....swim to the tip of the mast and lift the sail from there,

Hold it for 10 seconds till the water drains out and then make your way down the sail foot by foot still holding the mast.

It works every time.

Doesn't in waves Pete, I got stuck like this a few years ago, every time I hand walked down the mast a wave would swamp the tip and push me under

Hum the Jaws theme to yourself .
I believe I did a one handed clew first in three kts on the wrong side of the board water start once . All it took was something brushing against my foot .

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Imax1 said..
Hum the Jaws theme to yourself .
I believe I did a one handed clew first in three kts on the wrong side of the board water start once . All it took was something brushing against my foot .