Starting on Long mast vs Short mast

[Big Wally]

Thanks in advance.

I can ride a short Mast all over the place. Never been any difficulty doing that.

When I try a longer mast I seem to stall as soon as the Kite dives and I fall. What is the correct technique to get up and going on a long mast?

Thanks

BW

[Hugh2]

Specifically what do you mean by short and long masts? Most start on 15 inch mast, move to 24, then 36, and those transitions are generally pretty fluid if you are comfortable at each stage.

[Big Wally]

Sorry. 24 in mast no, probs. 36 inches seems to be the challenge for me anyway.

BW

[bkkite]

What size wing and kite were you on? Are you saying it’s the water start that’s tricky or rising up on the foil?

My experience is that the longer mast was a bit less stable and thus harder to steer, but since it was higher up it was a bit more forgiving in terms of hitting the water with your board.

I didn’t find the water start all that different between the two

[joekitetime]

I had the same problem years ago with a longer mast. It seemed "tippier" and less stable.

A lot of it is psychological. Slowly but surely you will get better and it will be less of an issue.

It also takes some adjustment. The longer the mast, the further you are from the fulcrum. It just takes some time for your muscle memory to adapt. Also, the longer the mast the more you can vary the altitude of the board while riding which is disconcerting. One thing maybe to remember is with the longer mast just ride the foil deeper in the water as opposed to higher in the air. It will just take some time and the same commitment to riding the foil in the first place. The foil is very sensitive and the longer the mast the more sensitive.

[Flyboy]

Thanks in advance.

I can ride a short Mast all over the place. Never been any difficulty doing that.

When I try a longer mast I seem to stall as soon as the Kite dives and I fall. What is the correct technique to get up and going on a long mast?

Thanks

BW

Wish I could offer some helpful advice ... but I never used a "short mast" when learning, so I never had the experience of switching from short to longer. Are you having difficult water starting? Are you stalling as soon as you try to get up on foil? Is it because your weight is too far back & the foil rises up? If you can manage on the shorter mast I can only assume this is psychological - commit to getting on the foil, keep your weight forward as you start to lift up & you'll be fine.

[Big Wally]

Yes. It’s the water start. Dive the kite I get up and go about 3 feet then it feels like I hit a wall and it stops than I fall off.

The Foil doesn’t rise up. I can’t seem to get enough forward momentum to ride the board flat on the water.

Thanks BW

[Matty V]

Going by the replies it’s a wonder anyone learned to foil before the stupid multi mast extravaganza.

In all seriousness
Be in deep water and dont rush up to full height

You can foil low down and build up

Short mast means a surface breach happens with less angle on the wings and the crash is more forgiving, so foil low and build up until you are confident to get more mast out of the water

[Flyboy]

Yes. It’s the water start. Dive the kite I get up and go about 3 feet then it feels like I hit a wall and it stops than I fall off.

The Foil doesn’t rise up. I can’t seem to get enough forward momentum to ride the board flat on the water.

Thanks BW

If you're not porpoising, then it sounds like you're just underpowered ... or not using the kite correctly. You've got to keep the kite moving, which is trickier when you don't have much power in the kite. There's a tendency to pull in on the bar when you're underpowered which ends up stalling the kite. I can't say why this is less likely to happen with a shorter mast though. Try going out more powered up.

[StellaBlu]

My guess is that you need to figure out the timing of when you move your weight from the back foot for lift, to the front foot to neutralize. This timing changes with different mast lengths and needs to correspond with how you are moving and powering the kite. You might also not be diving the kite hard enough.

As someone else said, break your launch up into two parts (1) a water start, then (2) bump up onto the foil. Once you dial that in, you can combine the movements.