Hazzelbanger said...

I have real trouble gybing out to sea when over powered in 25+ kts and rough choppy water. I find as soon as I bear away the board picks up heaps of speed and starts bouncing around on the chop feeling unstable, and struggle to initiate the turn.

Sure I could change down sails and life is much easier, but the gust may only last for 30mins so I prefer to ride it thru.

What can I do to improve?

For starters Those conditions are hard for everone: You could try killing some speed, as you dont need extra speed in those conditions. You can try sailing up wind a bit, slowing down, then initiating the gybe. With the sail, you position it so it depowers, bend ze kneez, ankles and knees as shock absorbers..........

don't bear away before starting the turn, start from a reach and just do it - maintain the carve from the very start

sheet in hard (oversheet), wieght forward, laydown style - if you keep the rail engaged it won't bounce

Straight from Guy Cribb school of gybe.
"you will know if the knees are bent enough, you will be below boom eye level. If you can see at, or over boom, its not enough knee bend"

IMO, when the wind is strong and the conditions are bumpy/choppy, the tighter the turn must be.

You must aggressively carve the board with extra foot pressure on the downwind side so that you are turning in a much smaller arc than a usual gybe.

The rig flip is also much quicker and therefore timing the release is important.

The process is made a bit easier by using either swell or a piece of chop as a ramp.

Cheers

Guy Crib covers this topic in the latest Windsurfing magazine,I think he said it is also on his web site.

I'll usually wait for a slight lull in the wind, and with our crappy conditions they are often plentifull and or find a smoother pocket of water and gybe tight.

If your sailing offshore,ie a wave board- aim to bare off on a swell or wave.
Believe it or not the added speed,if you can control the board,makes it easier to flip the rig
As the apparent wind swings forward and in doing so the rig feels weightless.
If gybing in choppy conditions i find the easiest way for me to control the board in a turn,is too reach my backhand as far down the boom as i can...past the outhaul cleat.
This has the effect of adding the full weight of the rig and rider to the leeward rail forcing
More of the rail into the water thus giving more bite...at the same time the front hand is grip over and pulling down Wards this and bending the knees and leaning forward are imo the keys to control in chop.
This technique should work for slalom and wave alike.
Try reaching further back on the boom (with the back hand)next time you gybe and see if it works
My 2 rupiah worth.

Best advice I was given was;
1) move your rear hand back as far as you can
2) go into the gybe full speed, that way the sail effectively ends up going faster than the wind and feels light.

Use the swell to help turn the board.

Good luck.

+1 for mast foot pressure. I used to always bounce out of my jybes. Then started using heaps of down force through the boom well before initiating jybe and all the way through it. Really enguages the rail

Jimmy b said...

Bend your knees, keep your arse down, get the board on the rail brace yourself and fully commit. Most important to be full commited !!!

b scary though! ( even on a choppy lake in overpowered conditions.) Sometimes I'm blasting along and think Oh s..I've got to take my rear foot out of the strap..

The ever present challenge in cranking hard into the turn is our natural tendency to resist the forces acting upon us. ie. fighting the pull of the sail.

I've see some photos of my gybe when I thought I was really cranking, ie knees really bent, down low and leaning hard into the turn. Well it turns out that the photo proves me wrong! . I was just pretending!

Sometimes trying to think too much about the set up makes it worse, for me any way. I'll often try some mind tricks, like looking through the sail to where I need to turn. Or the 'bow & arrow' arm position, ie. front arm straight, back arm pulled back.

I think this photo is a reasonable example of a fast/tight gybe in the surf in strong winds. It highlights knees bent, extra mast foot pressure by pulling down on the boom and an aggressive carve of the downwind rail.



Cheers

CJW said...

^^ If by reasonable example you mean what not to do, then yes. Posts 3 and 4 are the most relevant in this thread, good advice.

Ha ha yeah that sail position is going to end in FAIL when overpowered.

When it's really windy I tend to snap the board round quickly, oversheeting at the same time. Rather than a longer, carve you might do with a traditional gybe. Also using a wave/chop helps get the board around more smoothly.