Wet Willy said...

OK, I've taken all your advice on board, no pun intended...let's see what happens today!!!!

BTW my main prob seems to be with the rig flip. And as for planing out, that would be nice, but I'd settle for sailing out, as opposed to waterstarting or uphauling out of every gybe...

I'm with you on that one, it is the rig flip that is the issue!

I think that my problem is that during the flip my weight is too far back so that when I try to flip it behind me we both go off the back of the board. Looking at the Nov/Dec Boards mag Si Bornhoft highlights one of the biggest problems with most maneourvers is that you don't counterbalance the rig with you own weight i.e. if you flip the rig towards the tail you have to oppose it by having your weight forward; Hopefully I just need to get my front foot further forward after the feet change and put all my weight on that foot. ....easy, I don't know what all the fuss is about

FormulaNova said...


One of the things that I love doing is not flipping the rig and coming out of the gybe with the sail facing the wrong way. After all this time worrying about when to flip it, it takes care of itself. All you have to do is let it go and it flips around nicely all by itself.

Exiting clew first is useful when learning, it's how I did it anyway. Once you can gybe in light winds (it's not really that difficult, just sink the tail/outside edge, lean the sail to the outside of the turn and round you go) and have figured out how to flip the rig once you're going the other way, then you can try going quicker.

However this method teaches you bad habits with regard to where you put the sail... so you then have to 'unlearn' those bad habits once you start carving. The biggest bad habit relates to the flip:

Flipping in light winds involves angling the mast to the outside of the turn, letting the weight of the clew pull the sail around, and then grabbing the new side. Flipping in stronger winds involves just letting the sail pivot around the unijoint, with the mast angled to the centre of the turn, not the outside.

How many times have you fallen off with one hand on the boom, mast almost touching the water on the outside of the turn, going dead downwind trying to get the damn sail to flip around? Lots I'll guess, I've been there too

If you only practice rig flips when you're in the middle of a gybe, then you're going to get very very frustrated. So on a light day when you can't sail, rig up a small sail (5m or so) and practice your rig flips. Do them so that you can do it with your eyes closed. Do them so that there's no shuffling of your hands. Do duck gybe to clew-first to normal flip to duck gybe to clew-first to normal flip again and again until you've drilled a hole in the sand. Do it on both tacks. Make sure when you flip that one hand is overhand, and one hand is underhand when you're transferring to the new side (this stops your elbows knocking together).

And read these sites:
www.codemaker.co.uk/ww/jibe3.htm
http://www.boards.co.uk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=4547&TPN=1

Good luck

For gybing, waterstarting etc etc
try this site
www.guycribb.com/windsurfing_technique_holiday_DVD_0076v01.htm

lots of pdf's which are excellent explanation of the visual

The two best tips I have picked up from the links above.

1. The boom shaka. (Cribb video)
2. The Throw, Throw, Grab and Go! (www.codemaker.co.uk/ww/jibe3.htm)

Both of these deal with making the rig flip light and effortless. The rig should pivot on the UJ with the mast slightly leaning into the center of the gybe radius. It should be possible in nice conditions to simply 'throw' the rig, let go with both hands and catch it on the other side. You want the mast up in front of your face just pivoting around, not falling back towards the back of the board.

and my tips which has already been covered by others:

3. Flat water and speed are your friends
4. Point the back foot towards the front of the board, even parallel to the rail which enables you to face the way you are going and flip the rig before the foot swap (Strap to strap gybe), but it helps with the step gybe as well.


see below: Foot pointing forward allows you to face the rig and flip it 'light' so it does not upset the smooth balance of the carve

Well, I got one gybe today, but I'm damned if I know what went right!!

I only made a few decent attempts. It was just too windy. I was overpowered on 5.0 again (fat chance I've got of practicing in light wind around here) and it was pretty choppy; I just had to ride the board thru all the bounces. I'll try that foot-turned-forward thing tomorrow; sounds like a winner! Weight forward, too! And try to get the rig around! Yeah! And keep smiling!


And maybe I'll try flipping the rig on the beach, in 30 knots...

WARNING: if you see me, stay upwind!!!

Wet Willy said...

Well, I got one gybe today, but I'm damned if I know what went right!!

I only made a few decent attempts. It was just too windy. I was overpowered on 5.0 again (fat chance I've got of practicing in light wind around here) and it was pretty choppy; I just had to ride the board thru all the bounces. I'll try that foot-turned-forward thing tomorrow; sounds like a winner! Weight forward, too! And try to get the rig around! Yeah! And keep smiling!


And maybe I'll try flipping the rig on the beach, in 30 knots...

WARNING: if you see me, stay upwind!!!

One better than me, did 40 k's and zero dry just buggering up the rig flip part.
Watched that many DVD's and info, on sail flip its got to sink in some time
Yes foot down board works better
Must be getting better, looking at GPX track, its a nice round curve til I fall in at about the 75-80% mark

Early rig flip.

Ok. Got it.

Too often, I wait til the board has stopped dead, wobble a bit, and then say "NOW!!"

I can nail over half of my gybes on my big board....
about 1-2 per session on my 'smaller' board.

Just can't work-out the sail transition either, manage to turn the board 80% of the way, then my 'Frank Spencer' rig-flip technique takes over, the best one I've done (and you'll have to excuse the lack of correct terminology), was fast, and ended up with me pushing down on the sail, that was facing upwind, and as I let the sail push me back, flipped rig, hopped around the other side, and away I went!

No idea how I did it, but it felt natural, and easy.....and haven't been able to do it since...(could've been the 2 beers I had pre-sail, but not keen to do that again!)

*sigh* I wasted most of today floating about with a 5m sail in 7m conditions. Finally wised up at the end of the day, re-rigged and had a few well powered runs. Don't you just hate that?

Again, 1 or 2 gybes, slowish and impossible to compare with anything you'd ever see in a technique video...how did all that well-intentioned advice and careful planning culminate in such dodgy, uncoordinated movements???

I'll try again tomorrow...

Just learn to duck and carve jybes are easy then


Video proof i can do em lol

How about forgetting about the rig flip and just concentrating on turning past downwind and then back again without coming out of the straps. Lots of clew firsting, but this is necessary for wave riding?

Mobydisc, I am sure that the best entry is from even an upwind reach. Lots of acceleration from there.

Wave people have the knack of keeping power in the sail to stay on the plane, while blasters seem to concentrate on either a pivot gybe where they slow the board during the rig flip by backwinding the sail and then accelerate back onto the plane (very tight turn which avoids losing upwind position), or they do a lovely slow motion carve which needs an entry at about twice the wind speed in order to rotate the sail and plane out.
The "stay in the straps" turn exercise is supposed to make one remain on the front foot, thus using all the rail instead of skidding the back around.
(says he importantly, while not having actually done it (tomorrow maybe)

nice one.. agead of me now, my best was 4 in a row,

Wet Willy said...

FIVE GYBES IN A ROW TODAY!!!!

Followed by a lot more failed gybes, but who cares??

Well done mate, (bugger, no wind here for a week or so)
You ask Kev Pritchard for some tips on your style/technique ? if not ask him, he's supposed to be accommodating sort of bloke

That was well done then!!!! I find gybes get harder the more overpowered I am and the bigger the sail.
Just mid range on a 4.7 on flat water, is about the best for me.