Water starting, PFD's and buoyancy vest

Hi All. I am a user of those gayh yellow PFD's.

I have real difficulties flying a sail when water starting in choppy water, as my head is under the water when I am shaking the mast of the sail to get air under it. This becomes impossible when the chop gets to a certain size. I think my PFD is hindering my ability to water start. The water level when wearing my PFD comes to my neck. I was wondering if another product could do a bit better than this ? (water wings ?? hehe)

Ja

Elmo's spot on.NP also has a pocket on the front which is great for a key(loop inside pocket to secure key)and room for a spare downhaul / rescue rope.
I thread the base line / clip through the harness hook to lock the jacket down.
Gotta thank mineral for that one,it works.
They are a really good fairly compact PFD.

i too wear a "flotation device"*. it's a "rip curl kitesurfing (hiss!!!) series" jacket that is cut high to get above the hook. sort of like a fat neoprene waistcoat. i think i wore something similar to my school formal.

it doesn't have any straps to tighten it, just a zip down the front. so sometimes in the water it rides up, but I find the buoyancy helps me clear my bigger sails at the beginning of a water start. yeah, i'm a lazy kind of guy.

*in big bold letters on the inside it tells me it's not a life jacket, inferring; "there. we told you. so don't bother suing us if you drown in one."

My wife gave me a Neil Pryde impact vest for Christmas. Three pluses for me. Firstly it has a quick release system similar to the binding on ski boots. I've had a couple of scares where I was tangled in the harness line under the sail.

Secondly it keeps my torso tight so hopefully there is less chance of injury in a crash. It doesn't rise up like a boyancy vest does as the velcro straps and other strapping keep it in place around the body.

Thirdly it provides a fair bit of flotation but doesn't get in the way.

The model I have doesn't have a pocket, which is a bit of a let down. However I'm sure a sailmaker could stitch something together without too much fuss or cost.

Thanks all for the tips. Just a quick one to everybody: when you are floating in the water, where is the water level on your body ?

Busterwa: I started off using a similar technique to the one you suggested (pulling boom on stern of board to lift sail above water), but then I brought a training DVD and started using the technique on the DVD (ie: going to the top of mast/sail, shaking it, flying it, then shimming down mast - works a treat when I can touch the bottom). Might go back to your suggested method.

Ja

Around neck level. If you keep one hand on a back footstrap then you can push up much harder on the boom without sinking yourself -- the back of the board provides lots of flotation.

Going to the head of the sail wastes a lot of time and energy imo. Once you figure out how to fly the sail by using the back of the board as flotation, as well as getting it in the right position relative to the wind, your waterstart times will drop down to a fraction of what they are now.

be more inclined to say that is a beech start "how not to waterstart"
videos he aint even kicking his legs and has pumped the sail he is touching the bottom

the rescue at the end reminds me of me lol not much chop in the water and i guess there is so many differentials in sails and setups .
if u are out far pumping the mask will make u tired u want to reserve as much energy as possiable
i also believe that some of these video`s tend to say a "water start is one where u can still touch the bottom" and that is not correct in my opinyon

i have never in chop been able to pump the sail into a start and have got tired tryn which has potentially left me in a dangerous situation lucky i have a board rated over my weight so i can still up haul

the boys said to me if u are having difficulty, uphaul i can do this on my board but a full sinker board u cant

id have to dissagree with the water level that depends on the amount of air in your body..like scuba diving if u have no air in your lungs u will sink take a breath and u will start rising

i will have to invest in a vest aswel at some stage and ill drop the best one into notepad for future reference

i guess if u do pump the sail the flotation device will provide u with a levered pressure direct percussion advantage to assist you

that brings me to the next topic saftey gear for the windsurfer i wont post anymore topics think i have annoyed people enough lol

other thing has anyone had to ditch there sail and paddle there board into shore like a surfboard!!!

i have placed a set of flippers on my mast pole just incase

busterwa: You are right. The new method I am learning wears me out so quickly. The instructor (on my DVD) makes it look so easy and he isn't using a vest !. Can't view video (browser and bandwidth reasons), so I can't comment on it. However, I get the drift of what you describe and will try this this arv :)

All: There are situations where it is damn impossible to fly the sail (when the sail is submerged in the waves with the clew either facing down or facing into a waves). When it's like this, no amount of rotating, swiming, shaking will help. What do people who when they can't uphaul ?

Ja

Sorry sb, missed the bit about impossible to swim it...

If you reckon you can't swim it, go to the top of the mast, lift it, get air under it (if the sail's facing the wrong way, it should naturally flip) and work your way, hand-over-hand down to the boom. This is how a guy who used to sail around here did it everytime. I've used this method a few times and it's pretty easy to do.

Let us know how you go?