The previous day was a real eye-opener into how difficult the transition to a sinker really was, so I made sure to scour the internet for any guides which could help me in my waterstarting quest.
I found that there were a lot of guides for very low volume sinkers, but a real lack of content for the more marginal sinkers, so my research was a little underwhelming; still I'd done everything I could and was keen to try again.
The forecast was a little stronger today; gusty as usual on the lake, but a bit more wind to make it a little easier.
My initial attempts were trying to duplicate what i'd seen on the internet, and had little success; I tried mounting the board from the rear, which was easy and stable, but making progress from there took me back to square one.
After several attempts of trying different things, I returned to what I had success with previously.
The technique was basically having the board and wing downwind of me, reaching over the board to the wing carry handle and then to the nearest strut handle under the water, and using this to pull me onto the board in a sideways kneeling position.
From here I progressed to move my both hands onto the strut handles, pulling them down into the water to give stability. From here, with a bit of luck and and balance I could pull the wing out of the waterand get it airborne, and once the board started moving stability was resumed.
The knees positioned sideways didnt work well once the was moving so I progressively rotated them to face along the length of the board, from here with power in the wing, standing up on the board and foiling was trivial.
The big difference from the previous day, was once I was up I stayed there, performing several runs across the wind with gybes in between before it was bathtime again.
My longer runs on the board meant I didnt get to practice waterstarting as much, but I felt I was progressing a little with every try.
After a few more attempts, with some of my attempts seeming easier than others I wondered if there was a simpler solution again, after a bit of experimentation, I altered my technique, so that instead of reaching over the board and pulling the wing into the water; I lifted the wing up with the front hand to get wind under it and pulling it down into the water with the rear for stability.
This stability allowed me to get my knees onto the board, but this time the wing was already half-flying, and all that was needed to get it fully airborne was to raise the front hand and to balance the board with my knees.
This technique proved to be super effective; with a reasonable with i could be on the board anf flying in less than a minute (if all went well).
This meant I comfortably ride the 65L provided the wind was reasonable and was a real breakthrough; I spent the rest of the day foiling and practicing my new waterstart technique.
I'll hopefully put together a video brining detail on how to do this, as its a method I've not seen described before :)
I found that there were a lot of guides for very low volume sinkers, but a real lack of content for the more marginal sinkers, so my research was a little underwhelming; still I'd done everything I could and was keen to try again.
The forecast was a little stronger today; gusty as usual on the lake, but a bit more wind to make it a little easier.
My initial attempts were trying to duplicate what i'd seen on the internet, and had little success; I tried mounting the board from the rear, which was easy and stable, but making progress from there took me back to square one.
After several attempts of trying different things, I returned to what I had success with previously.
The technique was basically having the board and wing downwind of me, reaching over the board to the wing carry handle and then to the nearest strut handle under the water, and using this to pull me onto the board in a sideways kneeling position.
From here I progressed to move my both hands onto the strut handles, pulling them down into the water to give stability. From here, with a bit of luck and and balance I could pull the wing out of the waterand get it airborne, and once the board started moving stability was resumed.
The knees positioned sideways didnt work well once the was moving so I progressively rotated them to face along the length of the board, from here with power in the wing, standing up on the board and foiling was trivial.
The big difference from the previous day, was once I was up I stayed there, performing several runs across the wind with gybes in between before it was bathtime again.
My longer runs on the board meant I didnt get to practice waterstarting as much, but I felt I was progressing a little with every try.
After a few more attempts, with some of my attempts seeming easier than others I wondered if there was a simpler solution again, after a bit of experimentation, I altered my technique, so that instead of reaching over the board and pulling the wing into the water; I lifted the wing up with the front hand to get wind under it and pulling it down into the water with the rear for stability.
This stability allowed me to get my knees onto the board, but this time the wing was already half-flying, and all that was needed to get it fully airborne was to raise the front hand and to balance the board with my knees.
This technique proved to be super effective; with a reasonable with i could be on the board anf flying in less than a minute (if all went well).
This meant I comfortably ride the 65L provided the wind was reasonable and was a real breakthrough; I spent the rest of the day foiling and practicing my new waterstart technique.
I'll hopefully put together a video brining detail on how to do this, as its a method I've not seen described before :)
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