Have old rigs but upgrading cant water start & cant caving gybe lessions cost half of what i spent already well not withn the carbon fibre mast & the 2yr old neil pride 7.4 have 5.7 speed wing in good condition 2 have 4 boards package deal but most of them are sinkers olny have been riding the bombora concept 182. I carry the board on my ute & have only really taken it up for the past 6mths but evbery time i work near the water im in it even if is to practise light water stuff or a 25kn wind i got in the straps i manage about 15 hrs a week after work am i impatcient or should i get lessions
Depends on your budget and how much you want to improve.
If money's tight then go down to where there are some other windsurfers and ask them for some tips...
But I think the best value for money is a technique DVD. For $60 or so you get a lesson that you can watch again and again, go out and try some things then watch it again to figure out what you're doing wrong.
Or you could try searching this forum, waterstarting has been discussed several times.
Use the Net. There are several Web sites that do frame-by-frame for them's things -carved, waterstarts. Usually they are good too.
Asking locals? Not sure, most give wrong instructions regardless of their skills. Imparting knowledge is a proclivity unrelated to W/S skills.
Watching locals? That I believe in. Pick a good guy that's willing to do it 10 times in a row in front of you, slowly if possible. You'll catch small details that way. Preferably on your board too, rather than his.
Lessons? Never took one. But I know from having observed schools and Club Med types that they weren't always doing a good job. Depends on the teacher - blind date me reckon.
Above all, persevere, introspect, try a few times only, then go out and do other stuff. Then come back. No point in frustrating after one hour and 75 failures. Small chunks at a time. I find I learn new moves best when I try less, believe it or not. I teach freestyle moves the same way, and have observed gains in doing less.
I also find often newbies rig their booms too high, which can make waterstarts and even gybes more difficult to learn at first.
Hope this helps at least a bit. Persevere - well worth it.
P.
Hi,
the best tip with water starts in to not fight the lift of the sail. You have to flow with the sail.
As Pierre said, rigging the boom low helps. I find its much easier to waterstart if you can have the boom resting on the back of the board. Its then easier to fly the sail by lifting the last and swinging it over your head. Though this is more difficult with modern boards and their mast track further back.
Its best to learn how to waterstart where you can still touch the bottom, preferrably somewhere where it is warm, the water is clear and the bottom is sandy. Also not having any strong currents or waves makes learning easier.
The other thing is to concentrate on learning different aspects of waterstarting and nailing them. Like getting the board in the right position, flying the sail
15 hours per week? Lucky guy!!! You will be better than half of us pretty quick.
Water starting?? Keep at it. This is the one skill that you really want!!! And the good thing is that it can be learnt in a few sessions. (Unlike a carving gybe which seems a lifetime project to perfect.)
I put it off for ages, and just wore myself out uphauling all the time. But then I decided I had to learn, and dedicated three sessions to it and got it right.
Good luck!
I think you should get a instructional DVD but don't just get one on water starts because once you learn them you'll never watch it again. There are some that will go from beach starts, water starts, carve jybes, etc all the way through to basic freestyle. Thy cost about $50.00 which is great value considering you'll be using it for lessons for a long time. Just do some research into them on the net.
With all that sailing you should expect a few lessions.Betadine and a water proof plaster should keep you going. 
Learn to beach start. Then beach start in progressively deeper water. Eventually, when it's chest deep or something, you're pretty much doing a water start, and you won't have noticed the change!
Also try sailing along, then lowering yourself backwards into the water, keeping the rig flying. This saves you the initial hassle of getting the sail flying, you can find the balance point, sheet in, and lift yourself back up onto the board.
Two big tips:
1) Keep the rig as far away from you as possible - straighten the arms. This presents more of the sail to the wind, giving it more power, and also gives you more time/room to respond to the power when it comes on.
2) Come in over your board really low. Roll "In", and then stand "Up". Not the other way around. This allows you to maximise the leverage that the sail can provide. The movement (exaggerated a bit...) is like attempting to headbutt the mast foot while hanging low off the boom.
Remember to sheet out a bit as you find yourself over the board.. although fun to watch, getting yourself flung straight off the other side isn't that enjoyable!
An unusually low boom does help with this part, but stuffs up many other aspects, so only use a low boom as a training aid, and put it back up as soon as you get the hang of the waterstart.
> An unusually low boom does help with this part
> only use a low boom as a training aid, and put it back up
> as soon as you get the hang of the waterstart.
Amen, a common mistake indeed to learn when too high.
Gradually take it back up.
Get one of those Neil Pryde or similar buoyancy vest's as well. When i first learned to waterstart i would get totally knackered just trying to keep afloat, fly the sail plus line up the board. that little bit of extra flotation really helps conserve energy while you are in the water (which i am alot
)
keep at it, you will get it!
A lower boom can also help fly the sail, since you can then get the boom on the tail of the board. Not how you want to do it eventually, but can helpful when you're learning.
Also - remeber that as in tip 1)- once flying the rig - The front hand on the boom will control the power in the sail to lift you out. Closer to the mast for stronger winds, moving it down towards you harness lines (more power) for lighter conditions.
