Waterstart

[<Not So Newbie>]

Hi,

I been sailing for some time can use harness and footstrap but waterstart is hard to do. Can anybody give me some tips? When it is a windy day I can pengsan from uphauling. The people I ask so far make me totally blur.

[<b_mouz>]

I'm sure you know how to beach start right? It's the same except that when i first started learning, the difficult part is clearing the sail outta the water. just move the sail and board to beach start position, position your boom on the tail of the board to help you clear a part of the sail, if the boom is too high to reach the board, be prepared to tread some water. Grab the mast and pull it over your head. Once the clew end clears, grab the boom, tread some water, helps if you push the sail further up at the same time, back leg on the board, bear off if you are heading upwind and point if you are too far downwind otherwise you'll get pulled over to the other side. Get the other leg up on the board and there you have it. Oh yah, squat down if the wind is not strong enuff to pull you up, helps the sail to pull you up, just think levers and you'll understand what i mean

[Meng]

Try to get the mast facing the against the wind 1st.
Then lift up the sail (the mast part) hard and the wind will help u to lift the rest.
It's easier this way.

 

[sukhdev]

some good advice in there...

basically mouz is right, the waterstart is a beach start without the beach.

Assuming you get your beach start wired, one easy way to learn is to start somewhere windy and sideshore (changi, kuantan de rhu, manamana).Wade out till waist deep and start back to the shore. Then wade out chest deep. Next to where you just have to swim. The get a life jacket and sail out a short way and try it again, Don't ditch using the lifejacket till you have it wired.

Other tips:
- modern sails correctly rigged with the right boom height can very rarely be rested on the tail of the board. The way around this is to swim the sail and board so that mast is right angles to the wind (as per Mengs tip). push down on the tail of the board with one hand, this will raise the mast foot, while using the other hand to fly the sail, this is the easiest way to clear the sail.
- once the sail is flying, swimming towards the mast foot will make the board point downwind, swimming away from the mast foot will make it point upwind.
- don't pull down on the boom to get up, instead imagine you are slightly pushing up against the boom.
- back leg first, then sneak your hips up on to the board.

Lots of magazines have picture sequences of this, there is also an excellent Peter Hart video (I'll try to dig up the title).

[cboud]

Water starting is easy if you get the basics right.

First start practicing on the beach on a windy day force 4 and a light RAF rig to make it easy. The stronger the wind the easier it is to water start. (Actually you are able to water start in under Force 3 once you have gained proficiency.)

First Place the board on the beach perpendicular to the wind or in a broad reach position. Best to be in a broad reach. Wind should be about Force 4 or higher.  (Oh yes remove the fin please).

Then in a sitting position, move to the tip of the rig and slowly lift it.

You will now feel the wind starting to lift the rig up. Now slowly move along the mast towards the boom using the hand over hand (like when you play with the monkey bars in the playground) but at the same time push the rig to make the board point down wind a bit (I know it does not make sense on the beach but you will need to do this in the water so practice doing this). By moving slowly to the boom, you will notice that the rig has raised quite a bit and that there is a pull from the rig.

Once you have reached the boom, hold the boom and slowly (must emphasize slowly) sheet in and feel the pull of the rig.  Once there is sufficient pull in the rig, gently transfer your weight to the rig and pull yourself up to the board.

Rig control is important and you must not over-sheet.
Try this several times on the beach till you can do this without thinking. I know this looks stupid but trust me, it’s much better than trying to muck around in deep water.

Once that is mastered, it is time to try it in the water.

In the water there are 2 techniques to use. If you are lazy or tired, then place the boom on the tail of the board. If not, then have the rig positioned in the windward side. Pull or swim the rig to windward. Remember to have the board in a beam to broad reach position.

Try to swim the board to attain the broad reach position first. Next swim to the rig tip and then grab the mast tip and begin raising the rig. You may have to thread water at this point. A buoyancy vest helps a lot. Use one if you have.

As the mast tip raises above your head, move along the mast using the hand over hand method towards the boom. Also push the sail upwards to ensure your battens or cambers flip to make the sail catch more wind. Do this by firmly pushing on the sail panel as you move towards the boom.

Always ensure that the board points towards broad reach. If not just swim the board down wind by pushing on the mast as you swim. Once at the boom, gently grab the boom and begin to slowly sheet in while threading water hard. (be careful of cramps).

Once there is sufficient pull in the rig, put one foot on the board (front foot) and slowly transfer your body weight from the rig to your front foot. At this point the rig will start to pull your body up. As this is happening, put your back foot on the board. Remember to place your feet close to the centerline of the board near the mast base to ensure you do not sink the board (especially small boards). The board should be starting to move downwind at this point. Now begin sheeting in and slowly move your feet to the straps beginning with the front foot and then the back. The board should be planing by now. Now hook in and blast away!

Most water start failures attribute to sailors being too anxious to get on to the board or putting too much weight on to the rig or board.

Some fail because they do not keep the nose of the board pointed down wind.

So to ensure a 100% water start success, remember the following points:-

Point the board down wind.
SLOWLY put your weight on to the rig.
SLOWLY put your weight on to the board.
Control the board to always point down wind.

Good Luck…..

White Caps.
When it isn’t blowing….. It sucks….

[<Phong>]

For beginners, it may be easy to start with the mast leg getting on the board first.

This way, there is less of a tendency to put pressure on the fin thereby drawing the board into the wind.

Once you get the hang of the basics and learn how the board, rig, wind and saior work together for a successful waterstart, you can use either leg, both legs or as aLOHa would say.. even the 3rd leg also can.

Also when lifting the sail to get wind underneath it, try one hand on the mast and the other on the boom - instead of both on the boom.

By holding unto the mast and lifting it first, it is easier to clear the boom and clew out of the water to let the wind help lift the sail. You can then follow up by lifting the boom hand to expose more sail to the wind.

Hopes this helps. Go for it .....

[<Not So Newbie>]

wah guys thanks man, so many good reply, now I got some good ideas to try. If don't work I will ask again. Thanks to bluefinz for the forum, cos its a good place for paiseh people like me to ask things.

[<aLOHA>]

WOW, sounds very "chim"  

[cboud]

Not too "chim"-lah.

Reading all about it seems very "chim". Actually doing it is very simple. Just remember to do it in strong wind. Force 5 and above is a lot easier.

Also dont be "Kia-soo" and use such a big sail. Start with 5.5 RAF in about Force 5 to make it simple. You can even waterstart with soft sails.

Once you have mastered, then progress to use cambered and larger sails-lah.