I am a slow learner when it comes to gybing but I haven't given up hope. I can complete 80% of them now, but I am yet to come out planing as I always turn into the wind too much when flipping/catching the rig. I plane around nicely until I flip the rig.
I have done a couple of gybing courses this summer and I have improved my consistency but haven't nailed the planing exit yet.

Question 1. If I keep practicing gybes the same way will I slowly improve and the planing exits will happen? (I feel I am slowly improving but it's taking a lot longer than I had hoped to get a planing exit)

Question 2. Do I need to actively try to change what I am doing? When I do think about what I am doing and consciously try to change something I stuff up and fall in.

Question 3. How do I keep the front hand forward and keep the sail sheeted in hard at the same time? I seem to be able to do one or the other but not both at the same time? If I sheet in hard my weight is too far back. If I really get forward I can't sheet in fully. I feel if I could do both I would be in the right position to flip the rig at the right time and still have plenty of speed.

I start to change my feet and flip the rig around about when I am pointing down wind in strong wind and a little later for light wind. (step gybe) By the time I have finished catching the rig and have both hands on the boom I am usually pointing slightly upwind and have stalled.

Any suggestions welcome

I'm not a pro, far from it. But here's what works for me...
1. Enter with max speed, as broad as possible. Hit peak speed before initiating the gybe.
2. Carve gently to wash off minimal speed, keep the carve short, exit early, come out broad.
3. Rig the biggest sail you can just hold to help with acceleration on exit.
4. If all of the above are checked, I find technique for the flip is not so critical.

I found gybing a humungous sail helped me no end (9.5+)

The timing has to be spot on otherwise you wear the sail in the face, made gybiing with sall sails much easier.

Hardies and Decreps advice from years back from wave sailing still helps as well as others.

A gopro or someone filming you can help show whats going on as well.

***Question 3. How do I keep the front hand forward and keep the sail sheeted in hard at the same time? I seem to be able to do one or the other but not both at the same time? If I sheet in hard my weight is too far back. If I really get forward I can't sheet in fully. I feel if I could do both I would be in the right position to flip the rig at the right time and still have plenty of speed.

When you are ready to initiate the gybe,
(1). Move your front-hand a bit further away from the boom wishbone or boom head, ie. closer to your harness line.
(2). Move your back-hand as far as you can comfortably doing so toward the back of the boom.
(3). As you begin to carve, you sheet in with your back-hand closer towards your body, and keep your front-hand as straight as possible.
(4). As you do so, the front of the sail will be forced away from you, and also lean towards the front of the board. This is because as you sheet in hard, the only option for the boom, hence the sail, is to move forward along the axis of the board.

You will find that such an exaggerated movement will also force your board to carve, and your body weight will have to lean towards the inside rail.

(5). As you come out of the gybe, try not to change your foot position for as long as you are comfortable to do so. I fact, I find that by not switching foot position, I am forced to stay carving while flipping the sail. Mind you, you can sail "wrong-footed" for as long as you can.

Once you have the sail taken care of, and you are now sailing in the new direction you wanted, then change foot position, when you are ready.

A few things you must follow before a gybe...
(a). Go as fast as you can before initiating a gybe
(b). Sail on a "broad-reach" to gain even more speed
(c). Don't force or fight a gybe. Let the sail, your hands, and your body weight to follow through the gybe
(d). Don't ever panic and lean back. (Imagine riding a bicycle around the corner...You don't lean in the opposite direction). The moment you lean back either towards the end of the board, or towards the outside rail, you will lose it. This is because you stall the board by sinking the tail, or turning it away from the semi-circle.
(e). A long, sweeping gybe is good because you don't lose too much speed.

* Go through each one of those steps, incrementally. Remember what you have or have not done right, and learn through failures
* When you can string all those steps together, you have a good gybe.

I think Safety Bay is the ideal place to learn gybing, at least in Summer anyway.

One tip that finally clicked with me this year is that instead of trying hard to sheet in with the back hand, push the front arm out while sheeting in with the rear. By pushing the front out, you need far less distance to sheet in with the back hand. I think this answers your question 3.

For me, by starting to gybe and not completing the turn actually helped. I would turn, point down the sandbar, still planing, which would give me time to think about how far I would turn. The amount to turn is always less than you think. Once you are planing and turned slightly, you can then exaggerate the turn, and you are done.

I find I can do planing gybes easier with changing the feet after the flip with small gear - 5m sails and smaller + 95ltre boards and smaller e.g - 20kts + wind..You have to be well powered up.That way there is one less step to unsettle the board as you carve. It's probably better to learn the step gybe though as it puts you in a more stable position to handle the power exiting
I found once I started learning the step gybe my gybes took a big step backwards for a while. I'm slowly coming out the other side but it's taken a while and I can now plane out on my previously bad side in flat water in ideal conditions.
Move both your hands back as you enter as you go to oversheet - us weaklings especially need as much help as we can get!
I find I still don't get forward enough in chop- I did a few times last year and it certainly feels right but it goes against all instincts!
I used to do a post mortem after every crash- mm didn't look at the exit, flipped too late etc.. look at the exit!! - If I stuff up you be sure I was watching my hands rather than where I wanted to go- it seems to put your body in the right spot and forward.
I used to hook in straight away after the gybe fearing catapults but I find if my arms are strong enough its better to do the missing link for a while and get things sorted before hooking in as it helps keep the speed up. This is easier in flatwater- in chop I'd probably still want to be hooked in early especially if overpowered.
Get a video or multishots of you gybing to see errors..best to practise good habits not bad.. I need this too..
Oh to have enough wind to practise planing gybes..

Boy it looks easy when you do it!

Lot of good stuff here.
Bearing away lots before you start actual gybe is good
Once you set inside rail keep it there so keep weight over it
Look where you want to go
And try the feet after flip thing a few times, it may not end up as your favourite technique but as a drill it will help.
The more relaxed you are the easier planing out seems to be.

Windxtasy said..

Thanks for all those ideas friends! It seems most of you took the "suggestions welcome" option rather than answering the questions directly (you would have been marked down if this was an essay question!) but I get the impression that I do need to actively change a few things rather than continue on in the same way and hope that practice will cause things to come good eventually. Thank you Jupiter and Formula Nova for answering question 3.

Roar, yes, that's what I am aiming for!
S'board crazy - I think I may not have any more good planing gybe practice sessions this season. Monday was a bonus, and Formula Nova, it was at Safety Bay, 16 - 18 knots, really flat. There was just enough water to gybe over the bar but a few fin scrapes were making me nervous.
Going in with speed - I guess I tend to do speed sailing on the really windy days and keep my gybe practice for the more ordinary or marginal days, so on my practice days I am never going in really fast. Probably around 20 knots at best. I have to admit that if I am going really fast I get too scared to gybe . Most of my injuries and board injuries have come from overpowered gybe attempts, and often when it is really windy I am fatigued or arm weary and decide it would be risky to gybe and safer to just stop and catch my breath.

Patrick & Decrepit - I do tend to do 180 degree gybes rather than 90 degree gybes, so I don't lose too much ground downwind. As an exercise I shall concentrate on the 90 degree gybe for a bit, and work on keeping the board heading down wind after the rig flip, then tighten it up once I have that happening.

I don't think I need to concentrate on the carve - carving around too far is my problem if anything. My footwork isn't a problem. That is so automatic I don't have to think about it at all. It would take a great effort not to change my feet.

So things to work on next time there is some consistent wind - practice gybing in strong wind before I get tired, to really get some speed up.
On the less windy days go for the 90 degree gybe with a good broad reach to start with
Work on keeping the board pointing downwind during/after the flip
Don't hook in until I am planing again on the new tack.
I suspect I need to pull the sail forward more when I grab the new side of the boom, to keep my weight forward and on the front foot. Weightlin gthe back foot pushes the back of the board around too far.

More ideas welcome...

From what Guy says the turning up into the wind /going upwind after the gybe is usually caused from errors earlier in the gybe..entry etc
Having said that like Kazza says I tend to round up after most of my gybes in marginal winds..maybe I need to work on the arc more then although a lot are subplaning.

I read Peter Hart saying that what makes you jibe successfully in the beginning (staying dry), will hinder later when you want to do planing jibes. It is true that we hate falling in and tend to stay safe, but that risk is necessary to progress. I see the people that are really good take it aggressively and quickly. I don't offer any tips/answers because I am not good enough.

So Anita you have 2 months to nail your planning gybes so you'll be ready for Green Island this year

Kazza said..

So Anita you have 2 months to nail your planning gybes so you'll be ready for Green Island this year

Usually we are lucky if we get any wind during the next two months, let alone planing winds!

aaah Green Island...

Windxtasy said..

powersloshin said..

I read Peter Hart saying that what makes you jibe successfully in the beginning (staying dry), will hinder later when you want to do planing jibes. It is true that we hate falling in and tend to stay safe, but that risk is necessary to progress. I see the people that are really good take it aggressively and quickly. I don't offer any tips/answers because I am not good enough.

This is probably my basic problem - I am never aggressive, I do like to play it safe and stay dry and uninjured. When I do make changes I have to introduce them slowly and bit by bit, I can't make myself just go for it - partly because I am not co-ordinated enough to get it right. I can't do things fast and accurately. Careful and controlled is my natural style.

Anyway some very helpful advice here, just need some wind to practice (I should have asked this question a month ago when there was still some wind about) Condensing the ideas above -
My plan is if we get any strong wind, to practice gybing before I get tired, to really get some speed up.
On the less windy days go for the 90 degree gybe with a good broad reach to start with.
Work on increased mast foot pressure & keeping the sail forward
Don't worry so much about sheeting in
Work on keeping the board pointing downwind during/after the flip
Look downwind of the exit, not where I want to end up
pull the sail forward more when I grab the new side of the boom
Give a good pump after flipping the rig to stay on the plane
Footstraps before hooking in.
and then some small pumps before hooking in
Expect to fall in a lot

Does that sound about right?

Sounds good..have fun remembering it all! I can relate to not being aggressive enough .My gybes in chop aren't as good as they could be as I am a bit timid and don't get forward enough.After catching a rail a few times entering and having some painful stacks..
My riding instructor used to get me angry so I'd get more assertive with the horse - it worked!

Kazza said..

The thought of falling in and getting eaten rapidly improved my gybes So think of sharks, that will get you aggressive .......or terrified!

How about you put a video of you gybing on this post, then we can really see whats going on

I haven't even got a photo of me windsurfing, let alone a video.

Windxtasy said..

Kazza said..

The thought of falling in and getting eaten rapidly improved my gybes So think of sharks, that will get you aggressive .......or terrified!

How about you put a video of you gybing on this post, then we can really see whats going on

I haven't even got a photo of me windsurfing, let alone a video.

Get some! I got RSI at 44 and thought I'd never sail again.. I don't have any decent shots of me in the surf or XCD skiing..I really regret that. You don't know what's around the corner so if you want memories in your old age get some pics!