back pain and up-hauling

drijff · Joined: 14 Jun 2000 Posts: 6

Hi Paul,

ABK head instructor here.

Paul do not give up on uphauling. Those that do, will always end up paying for it later. I uphaul at least 3x a session no matter how small my gear is. Why jump in the water, if the sail falls into the perfect place for an uphaul, and youve still got the hair dry? Heres some tips.

1. Dont bend towards the sail by arching your back. Instead squat low on your board with uphaul rope in hand. now lean back with your head and shoulders, driving your hips towards your sail. Imagine your pinching a quarter between your butt checks. Now without dropping the quarter, extend your legs. Use your leg muscles to get the difficult foot or so of the sail coming out of the water. AHH. No back pain!

Now that youve got your sail ready to go, and your not in pain. Lets make sure we get it all the way up into our hands. And maybe do so with a little style.

2. Make sure your heading upwind a little as you get the sail completely out of the water. To do this put your weight on your back foot, and have a little patience. If your sail is backwards when your pulling it up, then keep your weight on your front foot, until you can roll the sail over on the clew. Now get the weight on the back foot and wait until your pointed upwind.

3. Walk your hands up the uphaul rope, but not so far as the clew comes out of the water yet. It is your outrigger for balance. Here is the stylish part. To get the sail into our hands, we are going to yank the sail out of the water, and place our back hand on the boom first as close to the harness lines as possible. Yes, you are now sailing with your front hand on the uphaul, and your back hand on the boom. It may seem a little awkward at first, but its not really that hard. And it the fastest way to get some power in your sail, so that youll have something to lean against.

4. Never drop your quarter. If you relax those butt checks, the sail will overpower you and bend you at the waist. The sail will go back into the water, and you will use those painful back muscles again.