hi guys,
I know your sick of answering dumb questions but,I found a Windrush twin with 2 masts,2 sails and booms on gumtree for $150.I needed a challenge so I brought it.Its not it the best of condition,Im 64 ,95 kgs (after xmas maybe 100) surf and sup.Almost everytime I pull up the mast I seem to over balance and fall of on the opposite side.Its like I pull the mast over on top of me and i fall on my back with the sail and mast hitting me on the head.I watched you tube tried beach starts they work but I still over balance.Is there a trick,is the board to narrow or am I just useless.Thanks for reading this and any help is greatly appreciated.(im using a 4.5m sail)
cheers Ron.

A wider narrower board will certainly give you more balance, but it should still be possible on an older narrower board, especially if you can find some flat water.

While you're pulling the sail up, the sail, the sail gives you something to balance against. But once it's up, the weight disappears, you have to anticipate this, and reduce your pull on the sail as it nears upright. This is just a balancing act, slow and steady helps. Once you have the boom in your hand and start to pull the sail on and get a bit of forward movement every thing is much more stable.

^^^^ +1
you are not doing anything wrong it just takes time to get your balance. As the sail leaves the water it gets easier to pull up so remember to start pulling hard then back off as it comes up.

Also, centreboard down will help a lot with lateral stability of the board so then you can concentrate more on this issue.

Once you get this and stop falling off backwards, you will fall forwards.
Its hard.

Most people here learned to sail on old boards. The new learner boards are easier to learn on, but the old ones are OK too.

To complement Decrepit's comment. ...

Try, as you get over balanced, to grab the boom with both hands and get some wind into your sail. This should provide something to hold onto - as a counter balance to your weight so you can pull yourself back.

Also , just as the sail is almost out of the water, as the boom end is one foot under water still , relax , breath , get balance , before bringing the mast up to you.

thanks guys I appreciate the time and effort to help,today I was going to burn the bloody thing.imax1 your right relax breathe.Anyway back tomorrow with the 2 S's ,swear and sail.I thought it would be easy,wrong again.thanks again for the advice,have a great New Year

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Fitzsup said..
hi guys,
I know your sick of answering dumb questions but,I found a Windrush twin with 2 masts,2 sails and booms on gumtree for $150.I needed a challenge so I brought it.Its not it the best of condition,Im 64 ,95 kgs (after xmas maybe 100) surf and sup.Almost everytime I pull up the mast I seem to over balance and fall of on the opposite side.Its like I pull the mast over on top of me and i fall on my back with the sail and mast hitting me on the head.I watched you tube tried beach starts they work but I still over balance.Is there a trick,is the board to narrow or am I just useless.Thanks for reading this and any help is greatly appreciated.(im using a 4.5m sail)
cheers Ron.

There seems to be a lot to remember, however I am reminded of a piece of advice I heard when I was learning (and still am). The advice was to be aware of the centre line of the board. When our feet stray to the edges of the board we often get wet, falling in on that side. During the up haul, a smaller guy is going to initially get his feet more towards the side of the board that is away from the sail. This helps with leverage, but once the sail becomes upright, it is harder to maintain balance if the feet are not in the middle of the board. This especially so if you are not really moving. Footwork and stance are really important at all stages. Success with the up haul starts with the positioning of your feet before lifting the sail. The balance thing will rapidly improve in proportion to the amount of time you have on the water.

Ditto that it's time on the water, actually on the board and not IN the water.
a wider board makes learning much easier.
its not easy

I saw something about 100 after Christmas in your post. I don't know what that means? Is that the liters of your board? If not, how many liters is your board?

hi Magicride,i was meaning after xmas and all the food Im 100kgs trying to be funny as for the board litres unknown its an old windrush.I would assume its greater than 200 litres.My Naish 14' glide sup is about 230litres,I think the windrush is heavier and about 28 inches wide.Its great fun when I can get it moving,the board flys.I wanted to try sailing as,Im sick of the howling Nor easters and no surf.

Also to keep your balance it's useful to drop your body low: grab the boom with both hands pull down and stay low while you sheet in, it will help you not to fall in the water, then once you get going you can settle down, but always go back to squatting if you feel you are losing balance..

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Fitzsup said..
hi Magicride,i was meaning after xmas and all the food Im 100kgs trying to be funny as for the board litres unknown its an old windrush.I would assume its greater than 200 litres.My Naish 14' glide sup is about 230litres,I think the windrush is heavier and about 28 inches wide.Its great fun when I can get it moving,the board flys.I wanted to try sailing as,Im sick of the howling Nor easters and no surf.

Right on! 200 or so liters is plenty to uphaul. TOW= time on water. Keep practicing, you'll get it. I fell over constantly when I learned. It's part of the learning curve we all face. Good luck!

Keep at it mate, remember how hard surfing was when you first tried? The feeling you get as you start to propel across water under the power of wind will make all the frustration and swearing worthwhile.

Also maintain arms length distance between yourself and the rig (maintain a "V"). If you are learning in light winds this means don't pull the rig all the way to vertical or you will indeed pull the rig "on top of you"

Lock your front arm and control power in the sail with your back arm. Just when you think you have it sussed, change direction and everything is reversed. So practice the same amount in each direction.

At 95kgs You're not a light weight so a 4.5m sail isn't going to give a lot of balance. I'd go up a metre at least and remember to bend ze knees.

pull the sail up slowly until it releases from the water and then the balancing act starts until you pull sail up across the board and sheet in to regain your balance.

hey guys, thanks for all the tips(special thanks to waitingforwind reminding me about being a fat old bastard) so much to remember.Your tips worked only fell 50% of the time,the feet on the centre line helped a lot,keeping low and the v thing was helpful.Also not being in a rush.One good thing I wore my garmin in 1 1/2 hrs you burn nearly 900 calories sailing (ok I mean swimming) thanks again really appreciate the help.

Yes its an awesome sport, you get fit while having fun, when I started I was 55, it made me a lot healthier. Keep trying and the reward will come. Enjoy the journey, there is no final destination !

It can also be good to go out early in the morning when there is barely any wind.....just enough for the sail to push you along and let you learn how to sail steer without being pulled in. When the wind is this light, feet on the center line as you have learned, you can pull the sail up very slowly up and maintain your balance.

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Fitzsup said..
thanks guys I appreciate the time and effort to help,today I was going to burn the bloody thing.imax1 your right relax breathe.Anyway back tomorrow with the 2 S's ,swear and sail.I thought it would be easy,wrong again.thanks again for the advice,have a great New Year

Well you've got the right attitude..swear at it and go again....That was my motto whrn I was learning..