The Waterstart is your ticket to the real world of windsurfing – getting back on the board, without uphauling the sail is the key to using smaller boards.

Join Andy ‘Bubble’ Chambers in a technique photo series, taking you step by step through how to waterstart.

To learn this move you shouldn‘t spend too much time swimming around in deep water, instead look for an area of waist to chest deep water.

• Ideal conditions: 14-20 knots, hip to chest-deep water.
• Ideal equipment: light no-cam (!) sails and a board with a lot of volume.
• Required skill level: beach start, steering (upwind and downwind sailing).

Getting prepared

No matter in which position his last crash has left him in the water, Bubble is trying to position his kit in a way, that the mast is positioned at 90 degrees to the wind. It’s much easier to move the board in the water rather than the sail.

Swim the nose of the board into the wind and it will help get everything positioned correctly. Make sure that the end of the boom is not stuck under water before trying to lift the sail.

Pull – and lift you up…

The front arm does not push the mast straight upward but pulls the sail dynamically up and upwind. This is how you prevent the board from turning into the wind and the end of the boom from getting stuck in the water.

Push – and drown…

One of the most frequent errors while waterstarting: All is set well but Bubble pushes the sail straight upward with his front arm. This causes the end of the boom to get stuck in the water, the sail to flip over and the board to turn windward. Game over!