So gybing is easiest in good solid wind. The basic techniques work well and are pretty reliable as long as you have a nice stiff breeze behind you. But what about tips and techniques for light winds? You know, those 11-12 knot days where your big board and sail have you planing along but all power disapears the moment you turn off the wind. The drag of the board takes over and the whole shooting match falls of the plane before you get round. What are the techniques that help get planing gybes in light winds?

sail out clew first, flip the sail when everything else is sorted

Don't bear away, get the gybe done quickly and find a bit of swell/chop to do it on.

recently we had discussion at the beach about when to switch the feet
either before or after sail flip ??
one preferable in light wind or for both the same ??

In light wind I aim for a broad arc, finishing with an angle further off the wind. Keeping the board flatter by stepping early and hanging on boom more. Also keep the clew opened up, ie the opposite of oversheeting to depower. When the sail is flipped the challenge is handling the power when pointed deeper off the wind.

Do it like Phil does it and you will never fall and you keep your speed.

After he had a few words in my ear, I changed and he is right.

I offer no advice- sorry, only learning myself. But I'm noticing different views on what's considered "light winds". The gybe in the clip above is sweet, but it's certainly not what I'd consider light winds.

This clip has light winds- 8-14 knots max, and a few of my light wind gybes. Non-planning exits but at least shows rig flip timing and footwork- even if all horribly wrong...lol For me I guess a big board and big sail is the key to planning off again. Though I'm keen to try Elmo's tip about clew first exit.

PS- You may wanna turn the music down in the vid...

When you are planing in 12 knot winds on a beam reach, your speed is often 18-20 knots, and your apparent wind is above 20 knots. As you turn off the wind, your apparent wind will quickly drop to 0. If you went in with a lot of speed and keep the speed while carving downwind, you'll actually be sailing into a headwind. Opening the sail up will slow you down, or even throw you off the back of the board.

This actually is quite similar to jibing slalom gear at full speed. You want to take as much speed as possible into the jibe, and you should oversheet. Carve hard enough to turn somewhat quickly, but not so hard that you loose a lot of speed. The trick then is the sail flip, where you have to work around the head wind: slice the sail forward towards the nose of the board, luffing it against the apparent wind. Once the sail is forward enough, push out a bit with your back hand to get the front of the sail backwinded so that the headwind flips it around to clew first. Then sail away clew first, or complete the sail rotation.

If done well, this will let you plane through a jibe even in light winds. It's not easy, though. I have somewhat better success in intermediate wind on slalom gear (e.g. 16 knot winds and 22-24 knot board speed), but I have seen better sailors do this in light wind.

The alternative and somewhat easier approach in light wind is to slow the carving down. That will let your board speed drop down to the wind speed about when you are dead downwind, so your apparent wind will be zero. Flipping a large sail then will be a bit more active then if you have a nice headwind, and will slow you down more. Or you can just wait a bit longer and switch to non-planing pivot jibe mode, sailing out clew first. Either way, you won't plane out, but you may have a decent and controlled jibe.

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PhilSWR said..
I offer no advice- sorry, only learning myself. But I'm noticing different views on what's considered "light winds". The gybe in the clip above is sweet, but it's certainly not what I'd consider light winds.

This clip has light winds- 8-14 knots max, and a few of my light wind gybes. Non-planning exits but at least shows rig flip timing and footwork- even if all horribly wrong...lol For me I guess a big board and big sail is the key to planning off again. Though I'm keen to try Elmo's tip about clew first exit.

PS- You may wanna turn the music down in the vid...

You're getting along well for 12kts of wind!Doubt I'd be planing although I don't have a large slalom board ( freemove).

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boardsurfr said..

Excellent explanation. This is something gybing training videos like Gem Hall's Beginner to Winner don't explain, and can hold you back if you start out on big freeride gear in moderate/light winds.

Great tips!

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boardsurfr said..
.....The trick then is the sail flip, where you have to work around the head wind: slice the sail forward towards the nose of the board, luffing it against the apparent wind. Once the sail is forward enough, push out a bit with your back hand to get the front of the sail backwinded so that the headwind flips it around to clew first. Then sail away clew first, or complete the sail rotation.

This is the best tip.
I've never read this one before and it perfectly explains the issues I often have, pushing the sail against the wind mid turn, which acts like a break. So now I see the importance of slicing it through the apparent wind instead just pushing/rotating it over the front of the board.
Great stuff, thanks BOARDSURF.

Interesting that point as yesterday when gybing in light winds on my 8.4m I noticed that motion. It was sort of diagonal and forward and natural to do.

The only thing is, all the above tips turn to poo in chop in my experience (which is why I don't bother using big sails in the ocean any more). Unless somebody has some tips on that one ?

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jn1 said..
The only thing is, all the above tips turn to poo in chop in my experience (which is why I don't bother using big sails in the ocean any more). Unless somebody has some tips on that one ?

That is exactly what am doing (using big sails in the ocean)!

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ikw777 said..
That is exactly what am doing (using big sails in the ocean)!

Very difficult. I normally get 2 planing exits out the entire session in these conditions. They aren't that good and it's luck. A big sail is so susceptible to depowering when getting bumped around over ocean chop. A little bump just before the turn or during it and it's all over.