Two new firsts....

Great. Don't rush the waterstart, foil is sharp. I've waterstarted with my foil at least 100 times; because I was in a rush I smacked my foot against the wing (I'm bare foot for the summer). Sailed for another 1 hour and realized I had a 2cm cut length wise; deep enough to draw blood.

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IndecentExposur said..
Well, two firsts happened this morning...
1. I managed to carve hard enough in a jibe that my front wing came out of the water. Held it together and complete it!
2. Water start. yup, I can't even water start a normal windsurfer, but I managed to water start my foil board this morning... wtf?

I'm going with it. happy. got 2 hours and 20 miles on the water this morning on the Hydra 8.2 prototype.

Congrats IndecentExposur,
Always great feeling when personal 'first time' milestones are achieved !

I used to only do waterstarts on standard sinker windsurf boards for last 35 years. So the windfoil uphauling is a nightmare for me to get used to. So frequently cheating and doing a waterstart instead, as I am still a windfoil newbie, so probably also still using bigger sails than really needed for windfoiling, when knowing the technique better to get up and flying.

But I feel actually that the waterstart on a windfoil board is much easier versus on the standard windsurf sinker boards. Probably due to a few critical factors:
1. My windfoil board is the the Levitator 150. So I have 150 liters there compared to my 70-80 liters in my windsurf sinker.
2. The windfoil board has a massive butt, so the trick in waterstarting is to simply lift your boom head up on the tail end of your foil board. With mast side facing the wind direction. The wind and the board will simply then do all the work for you, and lift the sail fully free of the water. Then swim in under and grab the boom with both hands, as you normally would hold it when up and windsurfing. Take 2-3 leg strokes and psuh your arms towards the mast base, so to turn it more rectangular with the mast top towards the wind and mast foot downwind position. Place your two feet on the board edge. Now stretching your arms up and you will be waterstarting right then and there!
3. I feel that the massive foil mast and foil wing arrangements gives a dramatic resistance against the water. So the pull you get from your top sail is so much stronger, versus on the windsurfer, where you tend to drift much more downwind with the wind and have less power in the lift when you try to get up.

This may all become slightly more challenging as I may start to use a smaller sail for the windfoiling, when my technique to get flying gets better. (as a newbie I still easily overpower, have limited flight height control, and front wing comes up and I crash out).
As CYVRWoody wrote above, that windfoil fin is a nasty device when bumping your flesh against it, so waterstarting does carry its risks. Can post a few images after my first 30 minutes in the water with a windfoiler...

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Cyber said..
So watch your leg work if trying to do waterstarts with your windfoil gear.

And wear neoprene on your legs. I hit the foil with my legs almost every session during water starts, despite trying hard not to. I'm always glad the Slingshot foils do not have very sharp edges, but they can still cut. SUP pants are great to minimize damage. They are cold enough even on hot days once they are wet.

Another tip is to use the front wing as a step to give you a boost up when waterstart when the winds are light. Helps to have a shorter mast.

Smaller boards are easier to waterstart by far.
The tail sinks 2' under, the sail is much more upright, leverage favors the sail over your fatbutt.
To say otherwise just tells us you have NO windsurf skills.

My shins look like that, but I also managed to kick the foil and gashed my instep. It took many weeks to get better. These things are fantastic and allow continued sailing. Don't take them off until int gets manky and what the doctor told me.

www.chemistwarehouse.com.au/buy/86805/band-aid-advanced-healing-hydro-seal-jumbo-3-pack