Beachstart, Book 6 of The Windsurfing Bible

There are two prerequisites: enough wind for the sail to lift you onto the board and water no higher than your knees. You can certainly mount the board in thigh- or waist-deep water, but these techniques require more wind and are more like the waterstart described in Part III. So for now, confine yourself to knee-deep water.

The beachstart requires that you analyze several things before even touching your equipment. You must first find 12 o’clock, identify your sailing direction, and determine how the rig and board are positioned in relation to the wind and to each other. This analysis might take less than a second for someone who is proficient, or more than a minute for someone who isn’t. But however long it takes, take the time to do it.

Because you beachstart in shallow water, set the centerboard halfway up. However, if the wind is strong enough to sail with the centerboard all the way up, beachstart with it up, too.

The Book starts the six steps of the beachstart with the rig on the back-windward side of the board and the bow pointing generally toward 3 o’clock. After discussing the mistakes made in each step, we return to the beginning with you and the rig in the water and describe what to do when the bow points toward 3 o’clock, but you really want to sail toward 9 o’clock. We also cover what to do when the rig is not conveniently on the back-windward side of the board. What happens when it’s back-leeward, front-leeward or front-windward?

The Beachstart

The six steps are grouped into two parts: the Setup and Getting onboard. The Setup (steps 1 and 2) drains the rig of water and positions the bow correctly to the wind. Getting onboard (steps 3, 4, 5, and 6) covers the procedure for mounting the board and starting to sail.

The six steps are:

End of Excerpt

Table of Contents Book 6

The Beachstart

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3

Step 4

Step 5

Step 6

Mistakes Step 1

Mistakes Step 2

Mistakes Step 3

Mistakes Step 4

Mistakes Step 5

Mistakes Step 6

Turning around

The Beachstop

What's next?

Sample Illustrations

Figure 6.7- (Step 2) To turn the bow downwind, push down on the mast toward the mast-base with your front (left) hand. But . . .

Figure 6.8- (Step 2) . . . To turn the bow upwind, pull up on the mast toward the mast-tip.

The Beachstart, Book 6 of The Windurfering Bible, contains 34 illustrations, 1Megabite, costs $7.97(US) and is available in .PDF format.

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Part 2

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