Hi guys!
i recently got my new Slingshot Wizard 114 and now i am having a hard time training foiling jibes in light winds; my weight is 76 kgs, my biggest sail is 5,8m2.
popping up in the foil and riding back and forth is a delight with this board, but jibing.....
Is this board broad and big enough for me or should i check out an additional Wizard 125/130?

Thanks for your advice
Juergen

Board size doesn't matter until you go way down.
You are talking about foil jibes, so foil size and stability DOES matter.
But skill is easily 95% of the equation.

Juergen, are you using a low aspect foil, like Infinity 76? If so, the only thing I disagree w/ on the video is, for sub 6.0 sails I find it easier to flip first and step after. This is especially true on foils like the i76. The are so loose and have such low stall speeds that you can carry momentum easily thru your carve. Just plant your back foot in the middle and rock your weight. Flip first and be v careful not to disrupt the carve while you flip. When you start feeling pressure in the sail, then switch your feet.

I also find it helpful to sheet out with both hands as I carve. This puts you in position to give the sail a quick pump to stay flying in case you start to lose altitude or lose your balance a bit. Remember, speed is your friend.

I forgot to mention, I also have both the 114 and 130 V3 Wizards. I am 90 kgs and find the 130 much easier to complete jibes. It just offers a bigger dance floor.

thanks a lot! I am using the infinity 76 and 84, just wondered if the additional width of the 125/130 is better for learning the jibe?
But of course, i would prefer using the 114 because ist has a very lively feeling up on the foil and it is less money to spend on with just one Board

yes the additional width of a larger board definitely makes a big difference. Also, the i76 is significantly easier to jibe than the 84. I had both.

At 73 kgs, I find foiling jibes no easier on Formula 167, R-91, or my Hover 122. Same foil.
Wider allows touchdowns with less falling, but that is not foiling jibes.
To foil jibe, you are riding the foil. A miss step with any board brings a rail down..or a fall off yes, but that is not a foiling jibe.

if you want to stay on the board, and foiling jibes not mastered, try riding lower, but on foil as you enter. Lower allows touchdowns without upsetting balance.
Flat water a a gusts helps too.

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Juergen said..
Hi guys!
i recently got my new Slingshot Wizard 114 and now i am having a hard time training foiling jibes in light winds; my weight is 76 kgs, my biggest sail is 5,8m2.
popping up in the foil and riding back and forth is a delight with this board, but jibing.....
Is this board broad and big enough for me or should i check out an additional Wizard 125/130?

Thanks for your advice
Juergen

Juergen
Stick with the 114, you don't need bigger.
Try and get your back foot right out on the leeward rail, it helps drive the board through the turn.

If you wear grippy booties when foiling, it can make it hard to have your foot slip around to face forward when doing the sail flip. This is a nuance of foot position that took me forever to figure out (and kept me crashing on jibes because my body couldn't rotate correctly during sail flip because my foot was stuck to the board pointed the wrong direction). Old windsurfing habits had me placing my rear foot almost perpendicular to the length of the board when initiating the turn (and I never wear booties when windsurfing).

Finally the light bulb went on and I started putting my rear foot on the leeward rail facing more towards the front of the board when initiating the jibe It has made the difference from rarely making a flying jibe to usually making them now on flat water.

My feet slip around pretty easily on the Slingshot decks when barefoot, they are pretty much stuck to the board with the booties (which are great foot protection where I launch).

Thanks a lot guys for the answers and pics! It is nice to have some nice buddies out there to talk to!juergen

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2keen said..

Juergen said..
Hi guys!
i recently got my new Slingshot Wizard 114 and now i am having a hard time training foiling jibes in light winds; my weight is 76 kgs, my biggest sail is 5,8m2.
popping up in the foil and riding back and forth is a delight with this board, but jibing.....
Is this board broad and big enough for me or should i check out an additional Wizard 125/130?

Thanks for your advice
Juergen

Juergen
Stick with the 114, you don't need bigger.
Try and get your back foot right out on the leeward rail, it helps drive the board through the turn.

While this aggressive technique will certainly work, you shouldn't need to go anywhere past the midline esp. using the 114 w/ i76. That is a V. responsive setup and should only require foot pressure from the middle of the deck. This assumes that you have the mast foil and sail mast in some reasonable distance together rather than far apart. If you feel the board diving as you go into the turn, its prob too far apart. If you feel unstable esp. in gusts they may be too close together.

While the double track on the 114 gives you lots of flexibility, getting those positions dialed in for your weight, sails, etc takes some time. Took me about 10 sessions to get it just right.

And as an owner of both the 114 and 130, my flying jibe completion is about 90% on the 130 and maybe 60% on the 114 using an F4 all carbon Freeride foil which is similar to the SS i76 but more predictable and stable due to extra stiffness of the mast.

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ccflyer said..
If you wear grippy booties when foiling, it can make it hard to have your foot slip around to face forward when doing the sail flip. This is a nuance of foot position that took me forever to figure out (and kept me crashing on jibes because my body couldn't rotate correctly during sail flip because my foot was stuck to the board pointed the wrong direction). Old windsurfing habits had me placing my rear foot almost perpendicular to the length of the board when initiating the turn (and I never wear booties when windsurfing).

Finally the light bulb went on and I started putting my rear foot on the leeward rail facing more towards the front of the board when initiating the jibe It has made the difference from rarely making a flying jibe to usually making them now on flat water.

My feet slip around pretty easily on the Slingshot decks when barefoot, they are pretty much stuck to the board with the booties (which are great foot protection where I launch).

CCflyer,
Have you shared with us that strap detail? It looks like a marker more than a strap. Do youi use it to carry the kit? If you have shared it what was the title on the post?
Thanks

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utcminusfour said..

ccflyer said..
If you wear grippy booties when foiling, it can make it hard to have your foot slip around to face forward when doing the sail flip. This is a nuance of foot position that took me forever to figure out (and kept me crashing on jibes because my body couldn't rotate correctly during sail flip because my foot was stuck to the board pointed the wrong direction). Old windsurfing habits had me placing my rear foot almost perpendicular to the length of the board when initiating the turn (and I never wear booties when windsurfing).

Finally the light bulb went on and I started putting my rear foot on the leeward rail facing more towards the front of the board when initiating the jibe It has made the difference from rarely making a flying jibe to usually making them now on flat water.

My feet slip around pretty easily on the Slingshot decks when barefoot, they are pretty much stuck to the board with the booties (which are great foot protection where I launch).

CCflyer,
Have you shared with us that strap detail? It looks like a marker more than a strap. Do youi use it to carry the kit? If you have shared it what was the title on the post?
Thanks

I attached the link for the post (Virtual Footstrap Position Markers) below.

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Foiling/Virtual-Footstrap-Position-Markers?page=1

I have put these on both the Wizard 125 and Wizard 114. The markers have been extremely helpful for reliable foot placement in the thick of battle. They also provide even more grip with booties and I feel completely comfortable going strapless (in front) now. I have used straps for literally 40 years of windsurfing and it was scary to go strapless on the foil board at first. But I have had no ankle or knee injuries since I start using these rather than the front footstraps. I do keep the rear straps on and use them as needed. I haven't perceived the same peril when using the rear straps alone.

I do not use the front markers as a carry point. I use the mast base and a rear footstrap to carry the board. I experimented with a carry strap also attached to the front marker and decided it wasn't worth the extra clutter there and took it off.

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dejavu said..

dejavu, thanks for the video, very well done.

OK I can't resist as this is my favourite topic. First of all we are discussing foiling through a learners first jibes, as I jibe differently now than I did when I learnt.

1. Equipment will make it easier, generally a bigger board is more forgiving and a bigger foil >1500cm2, longer fuselage, shorter mast all make the foil less sensitive. The nice thing about a bigger foil is it lets you use a smaller sail as well. As others have noted going without footstraps just makes for less thing to deal with. It made it much easier for me.

2. Steady wind and flat water also made it easier for me. A broad reach to broad reach arch also helped in the beginning.

3. My first jibes were "detuned" by placing my back foot just across the centre line and a bit forward of the level riding location. If its directly across from the level riding location the back foot pressure required for turning will bring the rider up on the foil. I found practicing the start of the turn and then carving back on heel side helped me get a feel for where to put my foot and the amount of pressure I needed to apply. And its fun.

4. During my first jibes I found my important reminders to be:
a. Steady Rear Foot pressure.
b. If getting back winded lean the mast more to the outside of the jibe.
c. Flip the sail first and stabilize your flight
d. Then when switching my feet I found my heels naturally came together near the centreline of the board in between the level riding foot positions. And when I finished switching my feet I sometimes took a few baby steps to find my balance point. As I learnt strapless.

I find now my the timing of when I flip the sail and move my feet varies a bit depending on conditions and what type of equipment I am riding. The bottom line is It will take you a fraction of the time to come out of a foiling jibe with speed (touch downs are ok) than it did learning to plan through a "fin" jibe.

Hope this helps.

www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Foiling/Foil-Racing-Windfoil-Gybe-Technique?page=1

I've got a few foiling videos that should help

It should be noted that flying jibes are really hard especially in light wind. I ride a Wizard 125 with the 84 wing and a 7.3 sail, I am 85kg. It took me like three seasons to get them somewhat consistently, though I don't get out much and wind is crap where I live.. Going from a 114 to a 125 won't help you at all, and why would it? After all you are flying the jibe, volume is moot. I started wingfoiling last year and in only a few sessions I was flying jibes because flipping the wing is so much less disruptive than a sail, and it actually helped my windfoiling jibes. Keeping weight forward to prevent wing stalling as well as keeping my c of g over the center of the board are the two things I needed to be most aware of when windfoil jibing to stay flying.

Hi guys,
today suddely a light went on and i started flying my Jibes with the Wizard 114.... it is awesome...
Thank you all for your help and nice pics
juergen

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Juergen said..
Hi guys,
today suddely a light went on and i started flying my Jibes with the Wizard 114.... it is awesome...
Thank you all for your help and nice pics
juergen

sick bro, anything in particular that turned the light on?

Hi,
the light went on for me with the pic ccflyer above posted; positioning the foot like in the pic worked for me. I start with foot switch and then flip the sail afterwards; i have tried Vice versa but it was too hard for my brain to get rid of the old windsurfing habits ??

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Juergen said..
Hi,
the light went on for me with the pic ccflyer above posted; positioning the foot like in the pic worked for me. I start with foot switch and then flip the sail afterwards; i have tried Vice versa but it was too hard for my brain to get rid of the old windsurfing habits ??

Nice. I still struggle to jibe with foot switch first, Iprob should try practicing that in flat water

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Juergen said..
Hi,
the light went on for me with the pic ccflyer above posted; positioning the foot like in the pic worked for me. I start with foot switch and then flip the sail afterwards; i have tried Vice versa but it was too hard for my brain to get rid of the old windsurfing habits ??

Nice! I would not worry too much about when you flip the sail. Both ways work. The step jibe that you are doing works better than the sail-first jibe with big sails, and when you're foiling faster than the wind, so it's the only jibe you see racers do. The sail-first jibe works best with small sails and in stronger winds. If you're going faster than the wind, the sail can't flag over the front. If the sail is big, the higher swing weight of larger sails makes it difficult to put the sail in the right spot, and to carve smoothly.

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ccflyer said..
Finally the light bulb went on and I started putting my rear foot on the leeward rail facing more towards the front of the board when initiating the jibe It has made the difference from rarely making a flying jibe to usually making them now on flat water.

There's a couple of good things about the foot positions in the picture. The back foot is pretty far forward, which allows for smaller steps when switching feet. When I watch others fly through step jibes, the one thing that I always notice is minimal foot work with small steps.

The other good thing about ccflyer's foot position in the video is that there is plenty of space to place the old front foot when stepping back, and still be on the inward side of he turn. Even stepping heel-to-heel, the board will continue carving. If the old back foot is closer to the center line, then the new back foot has to step behind the old back foot, otherwise the board will stop turning in the middle of the foot switch, or even turn back.

ccflyer, thanks again for posting the foot position picture. I was getting frustrated with my jibes again. After foiling through on a somewhat regular basis (albeit with very brief water contact) after the Andy Brandt lesson in Corpus Christi, I had reverted back to crashing most of the time. When I remembered your post today and pointed the toes more forward, things immediately got better again, with most jibes dry and a few (almost) foiled through. Looking at GoPro footage afterwards, I discovered that my feet were not nearly as forward oriented as I thought - closer to a 45 degree angle, similar to 2keen's picture above. That already helped, but I'll have to try pointing the foot even more forward to see what that does.

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boardsurfr said..
ccflyer, thanks again for posting the foot position picture. I was getting frustrated with my jibes again. After foiling through on a somewhat regular basis (albeit with very brief water contact) after the Andy Brandt lesson in Corpus Christi, I had reverted back to crashing most of the time. When I remembered your post today and pointed the toes more forward, things immediately got better again, with most jibes dry and a few (almost) foiled through. Looking at GoPro footage afterwards, I discovered that my feet were not nearly as forward oriented as I thought - closer to a 45 degree angle, similar to 2keen's picture above. That already helped, but I'll have to try pointing the foot even more forward to see what that does.

boardsurfer, I'm glad the picture helped out. Yes, I recall seeing you making your jibes at Bird Island last December (I was still not making any of mine at that time). There are so many good suggestions on how to be consistent on making flying jibes. It seems that making jibes on foil is a delicate dance of consistent balance. I find that fewer body movements during the process leads to more successful flying jibes and experimenting with rear foot orientation made the difference for me. Also watching the "2keen/azymuth instructional series" is always inspiring for me to try to mimic Simon's overall body position during a flying jibe.....

Like someone else said the lightbulb went on this week for me. I am in my second season. I only foil in ocean swell and chop so was having lots of problems with hitting the chop. This week I worked on entering the jibes higher, going less than 180 degrees, and maintaining speed. Amazingly it all came together on both port and starboard tacks. If feels so cool to finish a jibe dry and planing.