I am hoping to speed up my waterstarts when the mast falls on the side you want but clew is facing into wind. I am swimming my mast around 180 degrees, lifting it out of the water, continue to swim to about 270 degrees where the rig flips over the right way and then waterstarting.Usually takes a couple of minutes if all goes well. Is there a quicker way without getting into clew first starts?.

Yeah. A few times when the foot hits something solid I have reverted back to uphauling real quick. Less time in the water with the Altona Noah, the better. I will try moving the board, makes sense.

oh yeah and also

if the mast is across the wind, and the clew pointing directly into the wind, you can just lift the clew and let the wind flip it.
The down side is the mast tip will sink a bit but for small sails and good wind it is of little consequence as you can fly the rig pretty quickly even with the mast tip 1ft under

waggles56 said...

I am hoping to speed up my waterstarts when the mast falls on the side you want but clew is facing into wind. I am swimming my mast around 180 degrees, lifting it out of the water, continue to swim to about 270 degrees where the rig flips over the right way and then waterstarting.Usually takes a couple of minutes if all goes well. Is there a quicker way without getting into clew first starts?.

There is a secret cheat to get a water start in 1 second...

1. Dont let go of the rig when you fall in!! If you hang on and keep the rig above you, you should be up again in seconds.
2. And why not learn clew first water starts?? They are really easy!
3. Fall off more often!! That way you get more practise and will get faster

As kiwibones said...What's wrong with clew-first starts? They're easy & once you get moving, the rig flips & you're away. Taught myself in about an hour a couple of years ago. Honestly though, if you have the clew floated (to do a clew-first start), the rig should flip whilst in the water anyway.

KiwiBones said...

1. Dont let go of the rig when you fall in!! If you hang on and keep the rig above you, you should be up again in seconds.
2. And why not learn clew first water starts?? They are really easy!
3. Fall off more often!! That way you get more practise and will get faster

Yes, as you fall think of water starting and keep the mast out of the water

And I'm sure you already know this, but it's worth trying to set up your waterstart while you're falling. If you're falling to the inside of a jibe you can still flip the sail and hold the rig over your head when you drop in...if you time it right you can pop right back up onto the board.

If I was good enough to do that I wouldn't be falling off my gybes!

Windxstasy:

The bigger the sail, the more this technique helps:

Pull yourself to the tip of the mast and then SLIDE (not lift) the sail out of the water.

Once the wind is under it, keep it flying and head down the mast until you get to the boom.

Even the smallest person can fly the largest rig using this technique. I use it all the time. No effort required.

Isnt anyone going to ask what happens if you have a wide sleeved race sail that has 20kgs of water in it?????
Oh, I just did

Sharks help but the quickest water start I have ever done was at shark bay when I fell while gybing on top of a sea snake (was busy looking at him and muffed it). One toe on the bottom and back onto the board !

But seriously the technique of getting the sail up and flying (even if its the wrong way round) and then flipping it in the air is the one I use the most.

My biggest cammed sail had a broken roller and wasnt rotating properly so I was falling in and deliberately "popping" it as I fell so it would be ready to water start. Then I pulled it apart and fixed the roller, a much better idea.