I'm finding water starts with a large cammed sails can be energy sapping and frustrating. I've found that if you flick the cams down when the sail is in the water (ie cams rotated towards the water) it helps fly the sail as you pull the mast into the wind. Can you offer any more tips that makes life easier?
Thanks!
Gustee,
I learnt to waterstart with a 7.5 cammed sail...what you've described is pretty much the only easier way other than a floatation device on the boom or you wearing a pfd. Basically it's a big sail & needs strength & technique, or if lacking in one, a lot of the other.
i find that strange too. i have a 7.0metre cammed sail and after getting the mast across the wind, the next thing i do is make sure the cams are the right way, so the foil works properly and then the wind takes over. i like to wear a pdf to help me clear the sail as the luff tube is massive, and very heavy when filled with water.
Its a bugger water starting big cammed sails. A pfd helps. Half the time when I'm using my biggest sail which is a North Warp 7.8m I use the uphaul to at least get the sail into the right position. However I do my damndest not to fall in with a big sail.
Were you sailing yesterday at Kyeemagh Gustee? It would have been good to catch up with you. I was sailing from about 3pm to 5pm with a Loft 02 7.4m and my big blue Tabou Rocket. It was a lot of fun.
I've tried the waterstarter device, didn't find it a lot of help, it's just too small to float the clew on big sails, worked fine on my smaller sails. I've got a pfd - definately helps, except in low wind, back of it catches in the water and drags you down.
Big sails suck when you are tired and been in the water for a while and starting to feel like shark bait, inviting them to the party with all the distress and struggle with the f*%king cammed sail.
(I confess, the latest shark attack docos on the discovery channel been messing with my mind...)
Mobydisc - no, I was away, but will hopefully be there tomorrow if the forecast is anything to go by. Hope to see you there.
Hello, Gus Tee,
Hope that there is enough wind for a water start, otherwise do an uphaul (possibly using an Easy Uphaul).
Agree with others that the cams should be facing up, not down. If they are down, hit/kick them to make them go up.
Manoeuvre board so that the tip of the sail faces into the wind.
Swim to the end of the mast and then lift the tip so that the wind can begin to get under the sail.
Holding the mast tip above your head, swim towards the boom, repositioning your upper hand each time on the mast.
When at the boom, lift it with both hands to present the whole sail to the wind.
Complete normal water start.
Hope this helps.
last week i rigged my severne code red 2 5.6m + 6.7m.
wind was 15/18 knots,sailed the 5.6m with average amount of downhaul + outhaul,
the sail felt very light and fast in the gusts.
i then put the 6.7m on the same 110litre board[with lots of downhaul] and straight
away i was shocked at the weight + feel difference. it felt shocking!
i only sailed it for one reach and back,then put the 5.6m back on.
later when the wind dropped i switched back to the 6.7m,i did notice i had alot
more speed in the lulls with the bigger sail. big sails suck.
using a big a sail in strong wind i have noticed when i get home i am shattered.
big,cammed sails will always feel heavy to waterstart and to a lesser degree to
gybe.
if you fall in during a gybe try to make sure the sail is facing the right way up and
headbutt the sail near the luff if the cams won't rotate.
Windman, Trousers and Sboardcrazy- I must have misread what was being said about the cams. This is the way it currently works for me and I'm trying to improve it.
Originally, I was rotating the cams up prior to the waterstart, ie you push from the underside (the side that's in the water). In theory this made sense as it shapes the sail like a wing with flat side down to generate lift. However done this way, the sail wants to stick to the water, like a suction cup, very difficult to release. The wind also wants to blow over the sail, not under, forcing it onto the surface of the water. If I try to lift the mast in this position, sail usually wins, as I won't have enough buoyancy to lift it out of the water.
If I rotate the cams down (from above into the water), as I lift the mast up, wind is guided under the mast by the shape formed with cams and this in turn helps lift the clew out out of the water. Once I make my way to the boom and grab it, the cams rotate and face the right way for sailing. At this point, most of the hard work is done.
No help here, just venting my frustration.
My 8.1m with 2 cams is heavy and wide.
I use a lot of strength to handle it, and the far end of the sail is hard to pull out of the water.
Adding to your floatation helps a bit as you fight the water a bit less.
(a wet suit, a west?)
My wrist tendonotos suffers from it, and lately I'm getting a lot of pain in the shoulder side of my collarbone.
All from the waterstarting that sail, so I rather use it in the river shallows and avoid it on the sea.
I swear, I'll learn how to gybe and will never fall in again
i find my 11 just as easy as anything else, as long as you let the sail do all the work!!! I find that if swim to end of the mast or to top of the logo, and swim it around, so the mast is about between 0 and 45degrees to the direction of the wind, and lift the tip and let the wind get under it. Try and get the angle to the wind right and the clew will not sink, (if it sinks you got the angle wrong) I think the angle is between 0 and 45 degrees, but when you have the angle right the wind just, lift sails and the cams flip themselves (mostly :-) and you just swim down the boom and off you go. I have a feel for it now, so could tell you the exact angle but I find this much easier that say trying to fly the sail holding it at the leading edge above the boom at say 90 degrees to the wind like you might with a much smaller RAF sail.
It worth doing a bit of practice in the shallows a getting the angle right. My two cents...
Know the feeling..My biggest is a 6.6m & its a great sail but cetainly wears me out
.My aim for this season is to improve my gybes enough so I don't fall in ( like I did in the 90's [}:)][}:)]) & can use my precious energy for more interesting things like jumps etc..I was on schedule but after a month off with injuries & flukey winds dont know..
This quote sums it up nicely.
If your board's tail is long enough use it to pop the sail up or even to rest the sail whilst you get the board at the correct angle. Saves lots of muscle.
id think if u were useing a sail 7.5m or bigger that your bord will also be big enough to float u to rope start .. rig up ya self an easy uphaul on your uphaul rope and its easy as .. if i stack my 6.8 north ram i dont botter water starting unless the sail is still in the air and flying ..
Interesting. with an 8.5, 3 cams i only take out when the wind is low,
im having a nice dry sail then something goes wrong (but only slightly cos the wind is low) so I'm always left standing on the board groping for the uphaul.
Also (cos the wind is low and I'm maybe still dry) the last thing i want to do is jump in to waterstart
(especially if I gave up on a beachstart and uphauled to get going in the 1st place)
Now i think about it, i don't think I've ever even tried to waterstart it!
The angle of the sail to wind sinking the clew is news to me though, I'll look at that next time. I find its actually my smallest (4.7) sail that the clew sinks because its a crap old (porous) boom.
hey gus tee make a floation device out of a pool noodle u can then make it bigger than ur easy start & so it will float ur boom works for me & i water start a 7.5 cammed
I also find it helps to get the sail out of the water asap. I move it around to rest the mast on the footstraps (the boom goes past the end) just to limit the amount of water that gets into the sleeve.
Also if I fall in body first I'll hold onto the boom with my arms above my head trying to fly the sail. My heads will be submerged intially but then I'll kick up out of the water or use the wind to pull me up.
I think it is easier to unstick the sail with cams pointing down but you will get much more lift with cams the right wasy up.
Sboardcarzy, sounds to me that you may be falling off windward so that the sail is downwind and then the wind will push your board in that direction whereby the mast will be forced underwater ahead of it. Try falling in the other side.
I'm no expert waterstarter but as I can't gybe I get a lot of practice waterstarting. I find it best to lift the mast from about 1m short of the tip. I have the cams in the sailing position. It doesn't stick to the water, quite the opposite, the cams hold the sail off the water, except near the tip. The clew usually clears the water as I move toward the boom. If it doesn't, I find even when I get the sail flying there won't be enough wind to lift me on the board without a light wind waterstart or a stronger gust. It is often easier to just wait in the water until that gust comes rather than tire yourself by treading water whilst keeping the sail flying
I agree with the "flying it from the tip" comments.
This works a treat in waves too, where the water is moving a lot, and big swells tend to tip everything up and shove the clew in just as everything is nearly clear.
Another trick is to use your up-haul to get the sail clear of the water, then let it flop back in water-start position.
