I am new to speedboards and found starting is really energy consuming in shallow water. Any good tips apart from dieting?

Thanks !!

Get a run up Le Mans style and pump the sail like a bastard. Might be entertaining to watch in the Budgy mud

The key to starting is to gain speed quickly by heading down wind. This is usually quite easy from a above the knee beach start. However, this can be difficult in below the knee, weedy and or muddy bottomed conditions where you can drag the fin or drag weed if the tail sinks to low when you first step onto the board. Sometimes its easier, in shallow, weedy or muddy bottomed water, to start from a water start. The trick I find is to hang from your arms off the boom as you come out of the water, staying low with bent knees, directing the board down wind and not standing up until your are properly on the plane.

Try to avoid stopping in the real shallow parts of Budgy.
Wait for a good gust, get your weight well forward and pump the sail to get on the plane as quickly as possible.
If it is really shallow I sometimes dig in the windward rail to stop the fin catching on the bottom.

What board did you get George!

This one, I know it's among the smallest, but I already got the jp69 that for me is like an easy speedboard....

That looks like it might be from Geoff Ringe. If that's the case it should be in "as new" condition. Nice buy.
Cheers
Marty

I take a couple of quick steps to get moving and jump on. I weigh 85kg and the board is a Carbon Art sp 40 (need a big gust though)

Everything said above, but mostly, you just need more wind at the right moment.

Any wind you can waterstart with, you can step on and slog.
You might need to swim out to the windline.
60 liter's for a 70 kg rider is easy and normal for high winds.

Also when you step on the board, do it with your front foot first instead of the back foot (standard practice), place it near the mast base and try and keep more weight on the front to try and ski the board onto the place and do all of the above. Move back and strap up when ready.

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Adriano said...
Also when you step on the board, do it with your front foot first instead of the back foot (standard practice), place it near the mast base and try and keep more weight on the front to try and ski the board onto the place and do all of the above. Move back and strap up when ready.

A great way to do it when shallow or weedy
Esp when I'm 100kg with weight on a 60 lt board

When it's really shallow, I jump on and try to hang off the boom with as little weight on my feet as possible until the board gets moving. Think monkey-bars... The stronger the wind, the quicker you can load up your feet

I find actually doing a waterstart in the shallows ( even 23cms deep) helps me. I just lie in the water and by the time I get up the board is moving.Only problem is I sometimes end up a weed monster at Budgy...

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sboardcrazy said..
I find actually doing a waterstart in the shallows ( even 23cms deep) helps me. I just lie in the water and by the time I get up the board is moving.Only problem is I sometimes end up a weed monster at Budgy...

that's consistent with my comment. The waterstart forces you to commit to the boom for the first few metres; I do the same, but I don't actually lie in the water

Also going to be using a speedboard for the first time this year so this thread has been a useful read, thanks all

At the other end of the run do you have any tips on stopping without going splat? So I don't end up looking like the complete gumby that I am & being the source of great amusement for every one else.

Unhook!

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morts said..
Also going to be using a speedboard for the first time this year so this thread has been a useful read, thanks all

At the other end of the run do you have any tips on stopping without going splat? So I don't end up looking like the complete gumby that I am & being the source of great amusement for every one else.

The best thing to do, is to use all that speed and carve a sweet planning gybe and then listen to the appreciative ohs and ahs from your mates. When you do it, post back how it feels so I'll know what it's like.

Seriously, if you have to stop, just turn up into the wind and as you slow down step of the board. If the bank is too close to do this then turn down wind first to make space then turn up wind to slow down.

Good stop:



Bad stop:

Mats stop was more entertaining... ..
That's my 95 tabou rocket in the first video..going faster than it ever had before.. It needed counselling after that ride by Daffy..
My board looks SO different with him on it..

Wow Mr sloshin, we're expecting big things from you you're not doing too bad without a speed board. (I just checked the legends rankings for this year)
Had an outing on my 43cm board today, only managed 20kms, and my arms were giving out, not so much from the distance but from getting going. (lots of very short runs). There's a lot more resistance water starting, when most of a sinker is underwater, and you're not yet in the harness

I know I said that sometimes you just need more wind to waterstart, but sometimes you can also just have too much!

Mat with 4m Koncept and my 55 KG Japanese friend Hajime, also with 4m Koncept on the same day Mat did his entertaining get-off above.

As I remember, Ado and Craig were on 2012, 4.4m Koncepts that day and I was on the new 2013, 4.2m Koncept. It was one of those days where it was just to wild and windy (a genuine 40 knots plus) to get the speeds we thought we should have. Video take on Micks Kodak Playsport by Craig and I.





Ado on 4.4m:



Me on 4.2m:



Mat on an earlier run, pre-crash:

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decrepit said..
Wow Mr sloshin, we're expecting big things from you you're not doing too bad without a speed board. (I just checked the legends rankings for this year)
Had an outing on my 43cm board today, only managed 20kms, and my arms were giving out, not so much from the distance but from getting going. (lots of very short runs). There's a lot more resistance water starting, when most of a sinker is underwater, and you're not yet in the harness

The first time I used my isonic 50 was traumatic.. ..You have to get across a deep choppy channel and the wind can be gusty. I had decided to wear an extra camelback worth of weight for the experience as well.
I had a hell of a time getting going . The nose would dive and then it would flip me off sideways. I finally got the sail up and body dragged a km or so across to the other side..I wasn't going to stop!
My arms were stuffed..I then realised the mast foot was too far forward and fixed that and starting was much better but my arms were so dead I could hardly sail. There wasn't really enough wind either ..( gusty 20-25kts)
mutter mutter sell the b thing etc... bad choice .. people warned me..
Next sail more wind ,no extra weight , mast foot in the right spot and I loved it!

The window of opportunity and ease gets narrower with small speed boards. That is; you need more things to line up just right.But the advantages are significant when you can use them.

This is why the larger speed boards around 50-53cm wide are so popular in places where conditions are less ideal. less often. But unless you are a larger than average person, there are big gains to be had if you can get a 40-43cm board going. The fastest runs at Luderitz, even for the bigger guys, were still done on sub 40cm wide boards.

Of course if I could gybe in chop in strong winds, I wouldn't have to do so many waterstarts, that would be a big help.

Just counted and there were just under 50 starts in 20km yesterday.

Nothing jibes better than a 16" wide x 8' speedtrials board in flat water well powered up. The G force is amazing, and you come out feeling like it's going faster than the entry.

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LeeD said..
Nothing jibes better than a 16" wide x 8' speedtrials board in flat water well powered up. The G force is amazing, and you come out feeling like it's going faster than the entry.

Except for a 15" wide x 7 3/4" speedtrials board in flat water well powered up!

My preference is the Le Mann style start...
stand with your hands on the boom in your sailing position
Sheet in so the sail is loaded up then
with your inside leg take a running step pushing the board down a broad reach
Jump on with front foot against the mast or touching front of front strap depending on amount of float / sink
Land the feet fairly close to centre line so you don't ride sideways on the rail
Use your toes to push the board forward and keep sheeting in or pump up onto the plane.
Hopefully your little run-up hop gets you to about 8 knots so you don't sink straight away and having a loaded sail helps keep the nose flat as you stay sheeted in.
Hang off the boom and accelerate over your wake and onto the plane.
Feels a bit like starting a wakeboard.

^^ +1

Im also just learning to beachstart with a copello 257 80L (im a lightweight tho). Best trick I was given is, until you get the gestures right, place the board at 45° downwind (look at the waves).. generally when you start, the board will turn facing the wind. If you start parallel, then you get catapulted on a big gust... if you start at 90° (like you would when uphauling) you don't have enough momentum to build up speed, and sink (unless you can pull a gibe)... I usually jump on with the back foot, I'm not sure what difference it makes really, but always on the middle line. And front foot must be right on the mast... once I got the hang of it (took me about half a day practice) then I could jump on more towards the back. ^^^^monkeybars^^^ yes indeed. Wait for a good gust and let the wind do all the work.