Too Short to Waterstart?

borklum · Joined: 25 Aug 2001 Posts: 1

I have a friend who claims that her legs are too short to properly mount the board when waterstarting. She tries to mount too far back on the board (& rounds up)as she claims she cannot reach a more forward position on the board with short legs.

Anyone have any advice and an opinion for shorter folks?

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

If her feet reach the bottom of the mast while shes standing up, they will reach the bottom of the mast while lying down. Its that simple, because mast length does not change when it is leaned over.

Mike \m/

rickp · Joined: 07 Aug 2000 Posts: 53

Have her try using her front leg instead of her back. Sounds unusual, perhaps, but I do it all the time. rick p

DonORiordan · Joined: 06 Feb 2001 Posts: 146

Hear Hear!
That made me laugh.
You could put Eric Sanford
(Windsurfing Mag) out of a job!

on a serious note, leg length
does not matter, it aint the size
that counts (in this case)

its technique. I see short legs as
an advantage...you dont have as far to go to stand up!

Make sure the board, mast and sail are in the correct orientation
(consult magazines or videos on this). Then, here is the most helpful tip. Do not try to pull yourself up, or have the wind drag you up. Instead, concentrate on dragging the tail of the board under your butt with your back foot, while your front foot remains in the water anchoring your postion. Keep downward mast base pressure to stop the board rounding up. Pulling the tail under your butt helps a lot too. Think of sinking the tail of the board under your butt. When you get in this position, then straighten your arms, and the mast should be pretty much vertical, even in very liittle wind.
Now, its easy to stand up on your back foot, burying the tail of the board even deeper (a smaller board helps here too). Then bring your front foot out of the water and place it on the board...note that you are already practically standing up at this point on your back leg.

The secret, if you havent guessed it already, is to drag the board under your butt so that you can stand up on it, rather than trying to use the sail to pull yourself up.

I taught a friend how to waterstart using this method. He got up on his first try, but fell back in. He got up again on his second try, and sailed away.

He had never even tried before, and so luckily had no bad habits.

So...push down on the boom to push the nose away downwind a little (to stop it rounding up), while pulling the board underneath you. Then stand up, using your back leg only.

Its actually easy once you get the hang of it (I know..where have you heard that before), but this technique works in very little wind, believe me.

Even for people with no legs (almost)

spyder · Joined: 24 Sep 1996 Posts: 2790 Location: oahu

yeah, maybe her boom is too high.

MikeLaRonde · Joined: 11 Jun 2001 Posts: 768

I was at a windsurfing clinic where they offered this simple test to determine if your proportions are suitable for waterstarting:

stand straight up against a wall. mark your height. now reach down and touch the ground with one hand, and reach up with your other. If your wingspan is as least as long as your body, you shouldnt have any problems waterstarting normally.

If not, you may need to lower your boom a bit. But maximize technique first, then lower the boom as a last resort.

But if your friend just has short legs, she should be okay. Maybe its her arms that are short?

good luck.

Mike

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

When I waterstart, my heels are up my rear end pulling the board under it. Two-foot legs would be plenty long enough, maybe even easier. OTOH, longer arms would help anyone because the higher we can PUSH (we PUSH the boom UP, not PULL DOWN on it), the more wind we can catch and the greater the sails leverage.

Mike \m/

gemoore · Joined: 14 May 2001 Posts: 494

I agree with Mike. If shes doing anything wrong, it has to be 1) boom height, and/or 2) not bearing off enough while setting up.

If #1, and shes so short the boom is at the bottom of the cut out and still needs to be lower, Id have a sailmaker alter the cut out.

Otherwise, this is problem is due to technique and not anatomy.
GEM

laudermouth · Joined: 25 Oct 2000 Posts: 55

oh yea my kid is 42 short and waterstarts fine, Iguess that ends that!

galeforce79 · Joined: 05 Apr 2001 Posts: 89

someone once showed me an exercize on land that got me straitened out with everything
have one person stand with their arm out, put your feet on theirs and hold their arm, with your legs stait, try and pull yourself up with your arm. yeah you weigh a ton! now try the same thing, with your knees bent totaly, yeah, easy as pie, so stay compact when trying to be lifted out of the water by mother nature, the only one that can lift you up if you dont bend your knees is Mr Hurricane.