Sport Today

Looking for technique/tips for learning to waterstart properly.  I
can uphaul in just about anything, but there's just no glory in it.
I'd appreciate any info, tips.  I've given it various attempts, with
little or no success.  What I'm looking for is : how you orient the
board & sail, getting the sail to lift out of the water,
and how to get going (without turning into the wind, etc.)  I know
that you need high wind, etc., but how much?
I've go the beach start down, but next is the waterstart...  I appreciate
any ideas or insight.
Thanks,
Patrick.
(Sail Iowa)
(O'brien elite, NP)

What you want to do is get the board pointed downwind and a neat trick for
getting the sail out of the water is to rest the boom on the tail of the board.
The trick is to get any water sitting on top of the sail off - this can be
tough if there is not much wind.  Usually what I do is rotate the cams and
push the underside of the sail up with my head.  The main idea here is to get
some air underneath the sail to power it up.

I find that just getting the sail out of the water and powered up the
toughest part of water-starting.  Hope this ramble helps.... 8^)

-Bill

+-------------------------------------------------+
|* * * * * *|%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%|
| * * * * * |            Bill Monhemius           |
|* * * * * *|%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%|

+-----------+%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%|
|                        University of Toronto    |
|%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%|
|                        Turing Language Group    |
|%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%|
+-------------------------------------------------+

I'm no expert having just learned myself, but the most usefull tip I got
(from this net - thanks folks!) is to pull the board under you with whatever
foot you have on the board (I prefer the back one).  This makes lifting off
a whole lot easier than expecting the wind to just drag you up.  Hope this
helps.

Robert
(brand new Seatrend 9'6" :-) with mostly Gaastra sails)

The board should point slightly downwind. 30 degrees should be about ok.

Rest it on the tail of the board. As you get better at the actual waterstart,
you'll learn other techniques. While learning, save your strength and let the
board do the hard work.

You have to have total control of the rig and board by moving the sail.
Try to imagine that you have little or no control of your legs and then
turn the nose of the board up and downwind without actually touching the
board. Try doing body drags and see how far and fast you can go.

You don't need what I would call high wind. If you can get a slalom board
planing, then you have enough wind for a waterstart. I recommend that you
practice in 7-8 m/s (14-16 knots) of wind. 5-6 m/s are enough for a low
wind waterstart, but then the technique is slightly different.

The important thing to remember is that the sail will not pull you onto
the board. Most of the time the sail will barely be floating in the air
and you'll have to pull yourself on the board or pull the board under you.

--
  Juri Munkki                                          Windsurf: fast sailing

Here are a few:

1) Find a place with plenty of wind. You'll learn quicker if you are being
catapulted than if you are struggling to even get the wind to pick you up.

2) With practice you will be able to clear the sail by pulling the mast
toward the wind. If you have difficulty, go to the end of the mast to get it
out of the water, and then work your way down. THis is mostly useful in big
chop.

3) Another good way is to push the tail of your board under the boom. The floatation
of the board will then make getting the sail out much easier.

4) For all conditions, keep your front hand straight and control the sail with
your back hand.

5) Control the sail by sheeting in/out with your back hand. Steer the board
by exerting pressure down the mast with your front hand. Always keep your front
arm straight.

6) Point the board well downwind. There will be a tendency for the board to
round up as you come up, so start with teh board well off the wind.

7) Use whatever foot i most comfortable, but place it over the centerline of the board.

8) The closer you can get to the board, the easier your waterstart. In light
winds, you need to bring your knee right up to your chest so that your arm is
almost vertical to the boom. Kick with the other leg and step up on to the board
just like going up a big stair.

9) In heavier winds, you will be able to start with both feet on the board and
without bending your knees too much. The straighter your legs, the more the board
will round up.

10) AS you come up, aggressively pull the board under you with your back foot
to counteract the rounding up tendency and if necessary sheet out a little to avoid
being catapulted.

11) As the baord starts moving, step back, sheet in, hook in, and get in the straps.

12) With practice, you will probably find that back foot first is the best way to go.

13) With practice you will be able to waterstart in real light winds, even if
you are old and overweight like I am!

14) With practice it will become one fluid movement which looks easy.

15) I find waterstarting easier than beach starting for some reason, especially
with a small board.

Practice, practice, practice,......

Jim Munro

PS: Now if someone would just tell me how to jibe with no practice......

Beg, borrow, or steal a copy of Shortboard Sailing Technique from Gorge
Productions and watch the section on waterstarting about ten times till you can
absolutely visualize it. Then go to a place with plenty of wind and shallow
water.

It worked for me. I'd been screwing around for two years trying to waterstart
before trying the above. WEithin two weeks I was waterstarting with confidence
and went out and bought a short board and started sailing on the ocean.

Jim Munro