Yeah its a challenge but that is why I love windsurfing. I guess the main thing I do is to try no matter what not to fall in. However that sort of leads to these very conservative gybes where there is a fair chance of not falling i but there is little chance of not planing out the other side. This especially happens on my smaller board. On the bigger one I'll sometimes give a go and be more aggressive but then will more often than not fall in.

Oh well its summer and the water isn't freezing cold. Perhaps the go is to learn to gybe the board in a place where you fall into water around waist deep. So if you stuff it up its not such a big deal to get going again. Plus practicing till its perfect on flatter water before trying the chop and swell.

I once read in a pommy mag what seemed to be reasonable advice on a planing carve gybe. If you are barely planing into the gybe, you won't be planing out of the gybe. The fastest point of sail is usually the broad reach so the author suggested getting onto a broad reach before the gybe then doing the gybe and sailing out on a broad reach. He also wrote because the angle is lower on going from broad reach to broad reach the gybe is easier to do too.

The main problem we have is we can't get out every day and if we did get out to windsurf every day we'd be worn out. The other thing we could do is book into one of those gybe clinics in Egypt or Greece.

as a suggestion try heading over to somewhere like Coronation Beach for a few weeks in the summer. Plenty of breeze and people to watch, and motivation.
You would probably pick it up a lot quicker than trogging around trying to learn.

keef said...

Mobydisc said...

I guess the main thing I do is to try no matter what not to fall in.

I used to get around on a fair amount of my gybes because I was cautious.Then I got the videos & realised all my bad habits and how I wouldnt be able to progress to planing gybes etc so I deceide to start again..
Its giving me the s..ts now My percentage is about 30%..grr.The only thing that keeps me trying is the occasional flash of brilliance with a good planing gybe..
I'd love a windsurfing hol to a good wind spot.At the moment I cant sit long enough to travel because of my dodgy upper back..Its gradually improving so maybe in a year or so Ill be able to.
But..if you learn to gybe somewhere like that does it last when you come back over here where the wind is crap & you don't get to go out very often?
the way i see it is if your not falling in your not learning, just go for it and forget about falling in
Thats what Ive been doing but its very tiring! I went out on the big Mon last week & the place was great as when you fell off it was only waist deep & you could beachstart etc.. It only works in a W & then when the tide is up or water is deep which is rare.There isnt really many places here that get good wind but are flat either although generally the onshore gybes will be in flatter water than out in the middle.( I remember in the old days I could do lovely duck gybes on port tack only as that was where the flat areas always were..also one sided jumping....oh for the good old days & a younger body..)

Crazy, the trick is to gybe pretty much teh same on all your boards.
The basics stay the same.
Be a good passenger, meaning, set your self up and unhook without disturbing the trim of your board or sail.
Lean forward into the carve with constant rail pressure.
The arc might change with different board sizes, but that's all.
As Gestalt said, your front hand must slide down to teh boom for the rig to rotate around the axis of the mast and wind up in the right place.
Get that right, and the rig will flip itself.
Voila !!

Things that I stuffed up most last time ( I do a post mortem after each crash) was forgetting the boom shaka ( hand slip to mast before flip), forgetting to keep mast foot pressure going and being rugged on the footchange ( too close to the edge when in underpowered consitions). So many things to think of! I know I should but I'm not game to really let the rig pull me forward as I enter..I had no mast foot pressure which is prob why I was having trouble with the board getting out of control as I changed feet .It would just start to tail walk & round up.
The main bad habits Ive had to try & change is from over to underhand rig reach + to do the twist when I change feet..
I should concentrate on the good bits ..its just that in subplaning conditions I generally go well & never fall in so it @## me off when I deteriorate so much in changed conditions.At the rate Im improving Ill be dead before I get it..[}:)]

Peter I sorta disagree with number 2. I know what you mean but I can see that is not how people will take it.
The rig flip starts before the 90deg point. If you are going reach to reach you let the back hand go before that point.
The oversheeting does not extend to the downwind point. All that will do is if you lose a bit of speed and are travelling slower than the wind you will get badly backwinded every single time.

Most important for planing out is (as somebody said above) going from broad reach to broad reach - like a K where you are following the bent bit.

Mark _australia said...

Peter I sorta disagree with number 2. I know what you mean but I can see that is not how people will take it.
The rig flip starts before the 90deg point. If you are going reach to reach you let the back hand go before that point.
The oversheeting does not extend to the downwind point. All that will do is if you lose a bit of speed and are travelling slower than the wind you will get badly backwinded every single time.

Most important for planing out is (as somebody said above) going from broad reach to broad reach - like a K where you are following the bent bit.

Went out yesterday and had a few success's + a few survival succes ones..I flipped the rig earlier than normal on one gybe & it seemed to help but i cant remember the conditions ( it was a bit gusty).
This oversheeting thingy..I can see if you are really powered up it helps but if you do that when you are planing but the wind isnt strong enough to keep on the plane when you gybe does it kill your power/gybe ?
Yesterday I decided to concentrate on keeping downforce on the boom during the gybe & bending the knees and it seemed to help.I noticed often when I went to do the rig flip, just as I slid my front hand to the mast ready to go, Id lose downforce and the board would do nasty things & Id lose the gybe...?

Sounds like you are releasing the rail pressure.
A friend once gave me the piece of advice to try and dip my knees in teh water.
Of course, you can't, but that constant rail pressure really is critical. Get that and everything follows, lose it, and you are screwed.

sboardcrazy said...

Mark _australia said...

Peter I sorta disagree with number 2. I know what you mean but I can see that is not how people will take it.
The rig flip starts before the 90deg point. If you are going reach to reach you let the back hand go before that point.
The oversheeting does not extend to the downwind point. All that will do is if you lose a bit of speed and are travelling slower than the wind you will get badly backwinded every single time.

Most important for planing out is (as somebody said above) going from broad reach to broad reach - like a K where you are following the bent bit.

Went out yesterday and had a few success's + a few survival succes ones..I flipped the rig earlier than normal on one gybe & it seemed to help but i cant remember the conditions ( it was a bit gusty).
This oversheeting thingy..I can see if you are really powered up it helps but if you do that when you are planing but the wind isnt strong enough to keep on the plane when you gybe does it kill your power/gybe ?
Yesterday I decided to concentrate on keeping downforce on the boom during the gybe & bending the knees and it seemed to help.I noticed often when I went to do the rig flip, just as I slid my front hand to the mast ready to go, Id lose downforce and the board would do nasty things & Id lose the gybe...?

As Gestalt said, your front hand must slide down to teh boom for the rig to rotate around the axis of the mast and wind up in the right place.

at what point in the sequence should you move your hand forward?

Windxtasy said...

As Gestalt said, your front hand must slide down to teh boom for the rig to rotate around the axis of the mast and wind up in the right place.

at what point in the sequence should you move your hand forward?

Just before you flip the rig.Guy cribbs video on carve gybes is great.It shows people falling in & tells where about in the gybe theyve stuffed up. I can really relate to that!
Top video Nebs ..I'd love to be able to sail like that it must be so much fun!