My gybes in chop suck..
One problem I was having was grabbing a rail as I enter..
I try and choose a flatter section or a place where a wave has gone though but I then outrun it as I turn and end up in the chop mess anyway..
Sorry- what causes the rail to dig in & is it avoidable? What could I be doing wrong?
5m sail -95ltre board 18 - 23kts Ne with c 2 1/2 ft chop..
..it doesn't matter what the question was, but the answer should be to load up your weight on the rail more as you carve.
More commitment to the carve.
What was the question?
Bummer that's scary.It's been happening now I'm trying to commit more and let the sail pull me forward etc.. 
I'm obviously not getting it..Thats was how I smashed my front tooth last season so that's probably in the back of my mind and having me hang back a bit.
I was starting to get it in the flat water but now I'm trying the same thing in chop it's not happening.
So it shouldn't matter about the radius of the turn -just commit & carve? I'm trying to do longer radius turns to keep the speed up..
Would it be safer to do small radius turns in chop & just lose speed?
BEND ZE KNEEZ!
and then bend them some more for gybing in chop.
Doing too small a radius and then stalling kind of defeats the purpose, stick with trying to keep your speed up.
I'm finding I get a lot less gybes in in a sail where I sail in the chop. In flatwater I was doing shorter runs & got heaps of practise. I find falling in at each end exhausting & end up doing longer runs.I'll just have to get fitter & do shorter runs so I get more practise.
It was shallow where I was sailing in the flat and you could stop & adjust settings or get started without wasting energy. Deep water is so much more tiring.
I'll stick my bum out more as I enter & try & stay under boom height like Cribby says.. & try & bend ze knees more..I know I stand up when I switch feet which isn't good. I now wish I had practised the step gybe more over winter..I thought Id save practise till summer. Bad move.
I dunno about the sticking the bum out more!
Are you making the change to kiting?
You want your weight over your feet, not hanging out the back coz you're bent over double. How will you balance?
If you aim to gybe across and down the face of a wave you then get to surf down the wave to keep the speed up, with less pressure on the sail. So start your turn when you are close to the crest and (hopefully) carve down the face.
Hmm, that sounds like a very big arc. Sounds like you might not be committing to the carve hard enough. Get aggressive girl, and aim to come out of the gybe heading downwind a bit. So rather than trying to gybe through 180degrees, bear off downwind before the gybe, then drive though the gybe bending the knees and absorbing the bumps with your knees, then come out having turned through an arc of say 135. That way you execute tthe gybe quicker are out of the "unstable zone' quicker.
Now, can you teach me how to paint.
It helps to have your front hand overhand grip on the boom as you go into the gybe, tends to make you pull down more on the boom and keeps the rail engaged.
Particularly good in rough water.
I'm obviously not getting it..Thats was how I smashed my front tooth last season so that's probably in the back of my mind and having me hang back a bit.
What helped me most in chop was focusing on my windward foot - its almost like standing up on your toes, which pushes the top of your foot into the strap and helps keep the inside rail really engaged through the turn while keeping weight forward. For me it's one of those small movements you can focus on that "unlocks" the move.
I wish I found gybing as easy as painting..,.2nd thoughts I'm not finding my current portrait of a great dane in a grass setting very easy either..
Ill see what grip I have next time I enter..I think its overhamnd. i do need to pull down into the boom more..I got slack in flat water.
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Commit, bend z knees, look where you are going. I bet when you do prefect gybes on flat water you dont look at the water below you or the sail or feet? Let your knees aborsb the chop, release the sail earlier than what you think and commint to looking at where you want to go.
When learning use a wave fin or something with a bit of a curve makes it all the more forgiving.
trying to get enthused about going out the 20-30kts that is blowing at the moment knowing I'm sleep deprived & going to crash heaps .. & it will be choppy..
Well I got out ..gusty 5 -20+kts with 125 + 6.6m. A bit more success but no brilliant ones..I wasn't as powered up going into the gybes as the wind waqs gusty.
Verdict - The main problems areI leave the foot change too late..weight goes onto the toes at times after the footchange + look at my hands as I gybe..
I've been sailing small boards in strong winds the last few months and with those I change my feet after I flip ( works well if really powered up). Now I have to change before a lot and ..Oh well later this weekend I'll practise the rig flip & footchange on land until I don't have to think..
The chop wasn't as bad today as I saled at Budgewoi - Coal Pt gets some nasty chop..
Had a few exhilarating scary runs with over 20kts & the 6.6m...
you need to do one or the other
-gybe rig flip THEN foot change
-gybe foot change THEN rig flip
not at the same time
I always go a little downwind at the start of the gybe just as if I am going for a speed run. The board settles, the sail doesn't pull as hard and I get a couple of seconds to get set. If you have had some bad crashes, you are not pulling back on the boom are you? You have to keep the weight forward on your toes. From a previous comment, don't just stomp on the rail, you have to feel the turn and ride the bumps. It is a zen thing.
