I have trouble waterstarting in rough water. Water gets dumped/washed onto the sail faster than I can lift it. What are the tricks?

being able to support the boom on the tail of the board is a great help, but with modern gear that usually means a less than optimum sailing geometry, but my wife won't go sailing any other way.
If the boom isn't too far away you can rest one arm on the back of the board and use that to support the boom, but with big heavy sails that isn't easy.

The other alternative is to have the head of the sail upwind. start there and work your way back, a floatation vest helps here, once the wind is under the sail, that should stop it filling with water.

When using big cammed sails I try to pick shallow water to gybe in, uses much less energy if your feet touch the bottom!

terminal said...


Other possibility - start at the tip of the mast, get it clear and work your way down to the boom. Especially useful in light winds.

This technique works well, fly the tip & bounce it as you swim down toward the boom. Keep your arm straight and kick. Once you've reached the boom, and have the sail at an optimum angle, keep your front arm as high as you can until you're in the position to waterstart & with both arms, rotate the sail toward the wind...works for me when needed (normally after getting thrown or landing away from my board & having to swim for it.)

Generally, I just grab the mast above the boom (the sail in the right position to the wind), hold my breath & push my arm straight whilst kicking. Sometimes I'm under for a few seconds longer than I expect, but mostly only a couple of seconds.

Thanks for the ideas.
I guess I only have a problem at this time of year when I'm using big sails in light wind.
I do try to gybe in shallow water where possible and I wear an impact vest which is floaty but maybe not as much as a true flotation vest.
Lifting the sail from the tip doesn't work in chop for me, but good in flat water.
The boom is too high to sit on the tail of the board.
Terminal's ideas using a combination of board bouyancy and arms sound useful.
Is 4' above the boom four feet?
I find Steve's idea that old booms fill with water and tend to lock the clew into the water makes a lot of sense. I used to have that problem a lot, but rarely now that I have a new foam cored boom. And I thought I was just getting better at waterstarting.

Windxtasy said...



Is 4' above the boom four feet?

Yes. Normally it would be maybe 3' for me but bigger for bigger sails and arm length. No higher than you can reach to the boom from with the other hand.

mineral1 said...
It is like this on this web page.
www.easyuphaul.com/

It looks as though you make one in a few minutes with a pool noodle. I think I'll try it.

terminal said...

Windxtasy said...



Is 4' above the boom four feet?


I'm just old enough to be able to remember some things from the old imperial system.

Yes. Normally it would be maybe 3' for me but bigger for bigger sails and arm length. No higher than you can reach to the boom from with the other hand.

Windxtasy said...

I have trouble waterstarting in rough water. Water gets dumped/washed onto the sail faster than I can lift it. What are the tricks?

I've always set my boom low enough on the mast so that when I fall in and need to get the rig in the right position to waterstart, I can use the flotation of the board to get the rig into the correct position.

You can either drag the rig over the tail end of the board, or push the tail end of the board under the rig to make it lift.

Be careful in extreme winds, at this method will sometimes lift the rig so quickly that it will flip over into the wrong position.

Cheers

"Lifting the sail from the tip doesn't work in chop for me, but good in flat water."
I almost always end up doing it this way in big chop, especially as
something about the motion of big chop seems to sink the clew deep
and even if you clear the clew you get less airflow under than on flatwater to help fly the sail.

I think if you get over why it doesn't work for you this is the way forward.

I find you have to judge when to push up so that the waves aren't blocking the wind from getting under sail. push up on the peak of the chop.
And what angle to the wind? I find it easiest with masttip facing almost directly into the wind.

(I tried a pool noodle on the clew but it didnt work well, can't remember why)

sboardcrazy said...

Are the conditions marginal?
I just walk my way up from the mast tip if the clew has dropped to face the bottom of the lake..and I think I pull the mast forward first so that the clew is along the top of the water.However thats when there is enough wind to waterstart.

If it's marginal I'm on a board I can uphaul anyway as I HATE sitting in the water waiting on wind![}:)]

It was marginal at the time. The clew hadn't sunk, but chop (boat wake) kept sloshing over the sail. I can uphaul on that board but it's hard on the back. In the end I pushed the nose of the board under the mast to lift the sail. The nose rocker plus board bouyancy was sufficient to lift it.

Windxtasy said...

sboardcrazy said...

Are the conditions marginal?
I just walk my way up from the mast tip if the clew has dropped to face the bottom of the lake..and I think I pull the mast forward first so that the clew is along the top of the water.However thats when there is enough wind to waterstart.

If it's marginal I'm on a board I can uphaul anyway as I HATE sitting in the water waiting on wind![}:)]

It was marginal at the time. The clew hadn't sunk, but chop (boat wake) kept sloshing over the sail. I can uphaul on that board but it's hard on the back. In the end I pushed the nose of the board under the mast to lift the sail. The nose rocker plus board bouyancy was sufficient to lift it.

Are you using your body weight rather than your back? Bend zee knees & 'fall' backwards..or make an easy uphauler from a bit of string.

Buoyancy vest is a good bet. I think smaller people struggle with this more. I'm 68kg and find it much easier in my winter wetsuit than in my shorty. It got a lot easier with technique but initially I did find it really hard work.

The pumping the sail up and down slowly from the tip and angle are the thing. The lighter the wind the more you need to be pointing the mast into it I find. I'ts the down stroke pushing the air out that clears the clew. Don't try to get it too high too soon, you just leave the clew behind to catch in the chop.

Another thing that made a real difference for me in waves and chop was to focus on keeping the rig flying if you possibly can i.e. fall on the windward side and stretch your arms upward - avoids the whole flying the rig step and gets you out of trouble in waves.
A clew first water start is an asset here too (I can only get them on the bigger board at the mo and often so I just end up being pulled up on to the board - grab the uphaul and let the sail drop to leeward for an uphaul without the hard start)

Mike105 said...

Buoyancy vest is a good bet. I think smaller people struggle with this more. I'm 68kg and find it much easier in my winter wetsuit than in my shorty. It got a lot easier with technique but initially I did find it really hard work.

The pumping the sail up and down slowly from the tip and angle are the thing. The lighter the wind the more you need to be pointing the mast into it I find. I'ts the down stroke pushing the air out that clears the clew. Don't try to get it too high too soon, you just leave the clew behind to catch in the chop.

Another thing that made a real difference for me in waves and chop was to focus on keeping the rig flying if you possibly can i.e. fall on the windward side and stretch your arms upward - avoids the whole flying the rig step and gets you out of trouble in waves.
A clew first water start is an asset here too (I can only get them on the bigger board at the mo and often so I just end up being pulled up on to the board - grab the uphaul and let the sail drop to leeward for an uphaul without the hard start)

Bummer I used to do this all the time..I'd forgotten..Another skill I don't use much these days.. I know why ..I don't fall in as much..
Second thoughts as a lake sailor these days there isn't as much incentive.. nothing like thinking you are going to be munched by a wave to teach you quick waterstarts!

Windxtasy said...

sboardcrazy said...
Second thoughts as a lake sailor these days there isn't as much incentive.. nothing like thinking you are going to be munched by a wave to teach you quick waterstarts!

There was some incentive. If I'd taken much longer I would have been washed into the concrete piers of the yacht club from whence came the power boat which knocked me off.

@##@@#!!Power boat..[}:)]