Sailed today in the full cyclone at Trial Bay (s-w 18-25 knts) and was on a mission to try and handle the gail (still on my L plates) plus hopefully try and do my first water start. The old back is seriously hating up-hauling! Anyway, played around in chest deep water and tryed to figure out how to fug it's possible for the wind to lift me out off the drink. But after mucking around with a few ideas, finally one worked, and low and behold up goes the sail, and up goes Phil! Stunned, and what a releif on the back! Done a heap of short planing runs, then tried water starting after each one. They proved no where near as hard as I thought (thank God!), and I pulled off around a dozen before the urge to go flat chat on the stutter bumps was too strong
So anyway, if there's any other new comers slugging away with up-hauling, and drilling their backs in the process, best idea ever is to spend 30 minutes or so in chest deep water trying to water start. I have seen the light, and my back will be eternally greatful!
Next will be try and pull off a high speed gybe!
This windsurfing caper is tooooo good!!
grats!
it's one of the foundation moves that paves your way to better sailing (mostly through conservation of energy) - the second being a gybe. keep pushing yourself, and the sport will keep on rewarding you.
Whoo hoo! Congratulations! That is the first big breakthrough.
I still remember my first waterstart (especially since it caused me to stay out sailing longer than intended and I had to go to the Perth Cup in my wetsuit...)
I hope the high speed gybe doen't take you as long as it is taking me (I'm still not there yet 
), but again the key is to make yourself do them over and over and don't take the easy way out.
Cheers guys
I'm still buzzing, and it was 3 hours ago...lol Funny, when I felt the sail lift me up, then I'm verticle and ready to sail, I was like, "Yeah!!!!" Even let out my old surfing hoot. It's a small step, but the flow on effects (smaller wave board, far more energy, no-aching back) was the real reason for the celebrations.
As for fully planing gybes. Hmmmm, pretty sure they will take longer than 20 minutes...
So far I'm up to going flat chat, step rear foot on the inside rail, full carving arc- over 20 meters or so- and on opposite tack and spinning the sail. At this point the my success ends. More practice coming up!
Again I have to say sailboarding rocks!
Good one Phil. I too remember my first waterstart. I think cracking the waterstart is when windsurfing changes from being something you are try out to becoming an activity you come to love.
Gybing will come. As I said to you the other day, learn to gybe onto the wave faces at Trial Bay. Its the place I first planed out of a gybe, probably the only place when I think about it.
Well done Phil, I was similar when starting out....just kept putting it off. One day I decided to just learn to waterstart and within no-time I was getting them almost everytime, but I still got smashed and thrown over so many times it hurt but it was worth it in the end.
It's funny now when I'm in marginal conditions and I'm forced to uphaul on my 120L, it's like I've forgotten all about balance and uphaul technique....I'm sure I look like a nooby all over again but it's something you can't forget about. Even now there are days where I have to uphaul a wave board 20L below my weight in bugger all wind.
Well done again, Yes uphauling sucks a$$ but you will continue to use the technique right the way through.
Cheers and top effort, it took me a year to waterstart.
goodonyaphil,
I gotta get onto waterstarts myself.My back hates my guts.Just wonder if it will be possible on my megalog cause you need to sink the tail a bit to get ya hoof on there hey?
My current board is 116 ltr, so up-hauling is fine- bar the grinding back. But the next board will probably be around 85 litres, so I think I'll be doing some interesting up-hauls in those marginaly wind / wave days... I'll worry about that later. One battle at a time
i too did my first deep water start. ive been able to do chest deep water starts but doing one in deep water where you cant touch the bottom and then being successful is a great feeling. well done by the way
