Hi all,
This is my first season windsurfing and I am completely hooked.
Love the sport and how challenging it is :P

I am at the stage where I really need to learn waterstarts as im getting sick of wasting my energy uphauling all the time in deep water.

The principles of waterstarting I understand, however it seems like my legs are too short too reach the board in deep water.

For example I begin the waterstart, face the board across the wind, holding the boom (the boom is set a shoulder height), then I reach for the board with my back leg and all I can manage is to just barely touch the rail with my big toe. It always seems like I need my leg needs to be 30cm longer to get a grip on the board.

Obviously its my technique, but im not sure what I am doing wrong. The actual waterstart part of it I feel I can do, but I just cant ever reach the back of the board with my feet to ever begin the waterstart.

I have been trying in decent winds (15-20) with a 5.7m Gaastra sail, 145L Fanatic Shark and lifejacket.

Any advice is much appreciated :P

You just need to use the sail to blow the nose of the board a little downwind. The fin will stop the tail drifting, and the board will be pointing off the wind, which you need anyway, as when you are getting up onto the board, it will tend to want to turn upwind.

Make sure you do not have your hands too close to the mast, they should be in your normal sailing position.

When you're "flying the sail", direct that energy with downwards but forwards pressure on the rig, this will push the nose of the board away from you and hence bring the footstraps closer. Whack your back foot on the board, and use it to adjust the angle of the board to the wind that you need to complete the waterstart - ie/ strong wind you can start off with the board slightly pointing into the wind, light wind you need the board pointing slightly downwind.

So basically I need to angle the rear of the board more towards me to lessen the distance my foot has to go right?

I have been trying to do the waterstart with my body/leg basically at 90 degrees to the board which is probably wrong.

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Darkplague said...

So basically I need to angle the rear of the board more towards me to lessen the distance my foot has to go right

Yes. Just as you do with a beach start.

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Darkplague said...

So basically I need to angle the rear of the board more towards me to lessen the distance my foot has to go right?

I have been trying to do the waterstart with my body/leg basically at 90 degrees to the board which is probably wrong.

Yes - the board should be on a broad reach

It is more liek 45deg for rear leg to board - your hip (on the back leg) should be about a foot away from the board

I have that trouble at times but I either grab the back footstrap of the board with my back hand & pull it closer so the nose goes downwind more or use my back leg to get the downwind side of the fin & pull the back of the board up closer so I can reach it..not a great idea as I'd have bruises afterwards..but in the heat of the moment..
Not sure if this is good advise but it's just a habit I have.I'm impatient & don't want to waste any more energy than I have to.I don't know how feasable it would be if you are learning.. maybe it would teach you bad habits.?.

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Darkplague said...

So basically I need to angle the rear of the board more towards me to lessen the distance my foot has to go right?

I have been trying to do the waterstart with my body/leg basically at 90 degrees to the board which is probably wrong.

yep, spot on. it sounds as if you are too far away from the board, that will also mean that you need more wind to get up. when you angle the board more downwind, not only will you find the tail easier to get your rear foot on, you'll find yourself being pulled up easier because your body will naturally be much closer to the board's centre line.

where do you sail Darkplague?

This video covers a lot of useful points.

Most usefull advice that was shouted to me by someone sailing past as I struggled was to: " set yourself up properly before trying to start" ie this applies to uphaul starts as well. Swim your sail and board into the correct position before trying to fly the sail and waterstart. Once you get the hang of it you can then move things around as part of your waterstart but at first get yourself set up correctly as it makes things much easier. The correct position can be gleaned from some of those videos.

In deep water, you'll be swimming a lot with your feet in circular motion, so watch for the fin ! I have sliced my ankle on it while trying to turn the board.

In low wind, it might not be strong enough to pull you out. You then can put the back foot on the board and keep kicking the water with your front foot to push you out of the water - dolphin style.

A buoyancy vest makes it less tiring as you don't have to spend time keeping your head above water or treading water.. its great if your an oldie or not real fit..save your energy for more interesting things..

Hey Darkplague,

I went through a lot of pain last season (cutting myself on the fin included) to get my waterstart going. In the end - too stingy to get a lesson - I got myself the DVD ABC of waterstarting by Dasher.
For me (disclaimer that it is for me) it worked very well. The step by step explanation really helped. Common mistakes were shown in black and white and I have to admit that I had made all those mistakes. In the end though it did help me waterstarting. So I reckon that was 50 odd dollars well spent.

This entice me to invest last week in the 12 step jibe from Dasher in the hope that this will help too in the jibing department. I am sure that there are other really good dvd's out there that would help you achieve the same

Back to the waterstart, not getting to your board was also something I struggled with. But as Frant mentioned , if you set yourself up properly, all pieces will fall in place and you will reach your board.

I do remember the feeling though after a few succesful waterstarts, pure joy.
Good luck.

Michael

I spent much of last Wednesday f'ing and bliming trying to waterstart in a gusty mud pit.

Hardest part for me is when the sail needs to be "flipped'...which from the video above seems easy! Its seems like it should be intuitive, but at the moment, i just get frustrated.

The weather here isnt helping...when its 5m weather...its too gusty to learn...when its 8m weather, the mast seems too heavy or just not enough wind to fly for any time. Not seen much in between for months..

just to add to LeStefs tips - in marginal winds, once you get the sail flying, try putting your back foot into the back strap. i find this helps give me more leverage to pull myself up when the wind is light. As already mentioned, by kicking/treading water with your front foot, this helps lift you up out of the water and helps anchor the sideways drift of the board somewhat

Learn it in shoulder deep water, where you can get more tries in per minute, but can still do a proper waterstart. Its best to have plenty of wind.

A common mistake is to have your hands too close to the mast. This makes it harder to push the nose away, and tends to make the board turn up into the wind and you fall back in.
If you have slightly more pull on your front hand, its easier to manouvre the board and you will tend to come up more onto the middle of the board than the tail.

I find in really light winds get the mast really upright so the sail can catch more wind and then I kick with my front foot to help get up & lay my rear leg over the back of the board in front of the rear straps .I sort of get half on crouched over the midline of the board & even sail off a bit like that until there is a gust big enough to get pulled up properly or scramble up.. It is tiring but it does the job. Mind you now I have a nice floaty uphaulable board I don't get to use this method much..

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terminal said...

Learn it in shoulder deep water, where you can get more tries in per minute, but can still do a proper waterstart. Its best to have plenty of wind.

I've just learnt it this year so it's all fresh.

Terminal's advice is very good. I practised in the shallows just overe the knee height, then moved deeper to shoulder height.

And as Terminal said, if you need some reasonable wind.
If you don't have sufficient wind, you'll just fluff around thinking it's your technique.

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sboardcrazy said...

I find in really light winds get the mast really upright so the sail can catch more wind

How?

Just to put my 2 cents worth in. The best advice I got from another rider was just to forget about where the board was altogether. If you get the sail flying, holding on to the boom with your hands in your normal riding positions, it will pull you slowly through the water and the board will naturally spin around the mastfoot and end up in the right position alongside you. This works no matter how the board is positioned before starting.
I learnt by starting in shallow water and just kept getting deeper until it all came together.

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Windxtasy said...

sboardcrazy said...

I find in really light winds get the mast really upright so the sail can catch more wind

How?

Instead of holding the boom you have one hand on the mast about a foot above the mast foot and the other hand on the bottom part of the sail, well below the clew.

You keep lifting the mast and shuffling your hand down the mast.

Hard to explain if you cant imagine it. Also it only works on really floaty boards.

Wow, heaps of great advice.
Thanks for all the input guys, I know what I have to do now.
The seabreezes have kicked in down here in SA so should have plenty of chances to practice. :P

Hi Iceman

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Iceman said...

just to forget about where the board was altogether. If you get the sail flying, holding on to the boom with your hands in your normal riding positions, it will pull you slowly through the water and the board will naturally spin around the mastfoot and end up in the right position alongside you.

This is just my opinion, but this method could be harmful in gusty conditions and with fragile boards. From my experience, it's very easy to catapult if it's gusty and/or in chop. My recommendation is to have their feet securely on the board before flying the sail. If the sail wants to catapult, they can make the mast miss the nose by using their feet.

J

Whilst this doesn't improve your water starting technique it does save a fair bit of energy when your learning. If your board's big enough set it up so that the boom will rest on the tail of the board, you can then use the boards flotation to help get the sail out of the water instead of treading water and hanging on to the mast. No matter where the sail is just sink the tail of the board and push it under the boom, the rig will fairly effortlessly pop out of the water.Even if the boom just misses the end of the board you can grab the back footsrap and push the boom up onto your forearm. You can then swim the whole lot around to face the direction you want to go.

Even though it doesn't help with the skills for getting up on the board it does make you more confident that you can easily get the sail out of the water and make another attempt to waterstart, also a nice way to just lay in the water and have a rest for a minute if your unfit like me.

One of the best pieces of advice I ever got when I was learning. I can still remember every aspect of my first successful waterstart even after 15 years. Once you've got it nailed your confidence gets a huge boost.

I once read in a windsurfing magazine that once you've cracked the waterstart you will be hooked on windsurfing.

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jermaldan said...

Windxtasy said...

sboardcrazy said...

I find in really light winds get the mast really upright so the sail can catch more wind

How?

Instead of holding the boom you have one hand on the mast about a foot above the mast foot and the other hand on the bottom part of the sail, well below the clew.

You keep lifting the mast and shuffling your hand down the mast.

Hard to explain if you cant imagine it. Also it only works on really floaty boards.

You can see the light wind waterstart in this video. He makes everything look too easy though - that shaking the sail loose only works when the sail is already lying on the surface in flat water.

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waynos said...

Whilst this doesn't improve your water starting technique it does save a fair bit of energy when your learning. If your board's big enough set it up so that the boom will rest on the tail of the board, you can then use the boards flotation to help get the sail out of the water instead of treading water and hanging on to the mast. No matter where the sail is just sink the tail of the board and push it under the boom, the rig will fairly effortlessly pop out of the water.Even if the boom just misses the end of the board you can grab the back footsrap and push the boom up onto your forearm. You can then swim the whole lot around to face the direction you want to go.

Even though it doesn't help with the skills for getting up on the board it does make you more confident that you can easily get the sail out of the water and make another attempt to waterstart, also a nice way to just lay in the water and have a rest for a minute if your unfit like me.

One of the best pieces of advice I ever got when I was learning. I can still remember every aspect of my first successful waterstart even after 15 years. Once you've got it nailed your confidence gets a huge boost.

If you cant learn in shoulder deep water, that can save effort. Just remember after you learn to waterstart to switch back to putting the mastfoot in the right position for sailing and learn how to get the sail flying by other means.

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Mobydisc said...

I once read in a windsurfing magazine that once you've cracked the waterstart you will be hooked on windsurfing.

I think the addiction set in well before then, but I do remember the joy of the day I managed my first waterstart ,even if I did have to turn up to the Perth Cup in my wetsuit!