Carry your full rig
From CSCWiki
Now remember, the Operating Rules say that you have to carry your board down first, so when attempting the advanced carry be sure to go down the dock with the board in front of you and your ass behind you, not the other way around. Seriously, though, we should probably revise this along with a lot of other picky details of the rules. It is better just to use good sense.
If you are ready to carry everything together then you are probably sure of that fact. If you are not ready to carry everything together and you screw it up and break something then shame on you and you had better fix that and more. I'll bring it up again, but you should stick to small gear if you want to carry like this.
There's not a lot to it. Just lay the board across the wind, lift the mast and pull it into the wind. Stand to windward of the tail of the board and luff the sail from the mast with the front hand. Grab the windward front footstrap with the back and forcefully lift everything up, straight up. Keep the mast and board across the wind, but expose the bottom of the board to the wind a bit, mainly to keep the wind from getting on top of the board.
There is a position over your head and angle to the wind where everything is balanced. Find that position and walk forward with confidence, but make sure that you don't drag the top of the sail over the posts near the top of the ramp. You'll need to lift the mast some as you go from the ramp to the pavement. It's really just like water starting. It's probably best to first practice on the green behind the clubhouse or better yet on the grass in front of the nature center.
Check out Short Take-off and Landing
It's a bit sparse with the details, but the technique is really not that hard. The stuff about taking off in the waves does not apply in Berkeley, and neither does the drag, since we don't have sand. I use the "Standard Deluxe" technique exclusively in Berkeley, although a 100L board is already super huge for that. With bigger boards you need "Super Standard Deluxe," ably demonstrated by Mitsu, Roberto, and Ming. In contrast to what you see in the PDF, some people tuck the fin into the harness lines, and "Super Standard Deluxe" looks like super silly deluxe or super overkill deluxe with the 74L board he's using in the pictures.
My main point is that tensile strength of the sail is tested a lot more by the technique with the board in front (the one I use) than the technique with the board on top, so if the board is heavy (like more than 100L) then you must have it on top.
Some people are very proud of carrying their huge formula gear all at once. When I have taken big gear I have always taken it separately. Sails bigger than 6.0 need lots of attention to whether they are about to be dragged over something sharp or hit someone in the head with the mast. Boards bigger than 100L put a lot of stress on the sail if they are carried "standard deluxe," which is the only technique I care to use other than just holding the balance point on the mast with one hand and letting the board dangle because the gear is THAT small.
Give it a try, but put safety first, safety last, and safety in between, and never disrespect the wind.
Matt Harvey, 9/24/2007
