tacks are a million times better than gybes, why does nobody do them?? easier, faster, u get upwind?? u can do them in chop?? if u fall in your in the waterstart position.. a good tack can be just as satisfying as a planing gybe..
to many good sessions have been spoilt buy the quest for the gybe, it must stop!!
I agree that tacks are just as fun, I do half-half on shorties. I also think gybes are overdone, and I get bored after a while.
But let's face it: tacking is more difficult than gybing on smaller boards, almost freestyle for most people, and most people don't do freestyle.
Yeah tacks are sweet. No need to keep pinching upwind to make up ground lost on a gybe. However they are pretty hard to do on a low volume board aren't they?
Well realistically in slalom you're forced into doing a gybe because of the predominantly downwind aspect of the course. If the slalom was upwind then i'm sure tacking would be more common as you're trying to gain ground to windward rather than leward.
I usually tack unless i'm specifically gybing onto a wave as it helps keeping upwind and in a good wave position.
Personally I think tacking a wave board is more technical than gybing one, you have to get more things right to pull it off.
I sail in a narrow river with a decent tide, so I have no choice but to tack sometimes
The feeling of a good clean fast tack is great, just watch Nic Baker do them after a trick run, if they feel like your equivalent of that (just on a much larger volume board noramlly!), then you feel pretty stoked
As i've sailed dingys/skiffs before, you gotta be able to go both ways
i met royn last year in WA hes an awesome sailor, he started at 32 now older and was tryin doubles!! runs an online company and goes nonstop between, maui, gorge, mexico!! he decided to come to aus so he could learn stuff on the other tack?? insane! the most motivated windsurfer ive ever met..
i meant a tack gets u on the new direction faster than a gybe, a tack is easier than a gybe, its just nobody puts the time into learning them, there are less steps, more margin for error.. perhaps gybes are the default transition is cause there is a tech article in every mag about gybes, perhaps the mags know this and promote the gybe so we all buy more tech mags cause they are so hard!
1 - carve HARD upwind, rake sail back as far as u can, then rake it further!!!,
2 - once almost into the wind, step front foot to the mastbase (get a toe protector if u dont have one) bent front leg, straight back leg....and move front hand to the front of the boom.
3 - when ya goin straight into wind (if u still have speed buy now your laughing) take ONE step to the front of the board, cross your back hand to the new side, and ... get your feet into the 3rd postion around the mastbase, (bare with me here) and hold this for zero seconds
4- take new back foot and step to the front of the back strap, move hands into a wide grip!! straighten front leg and arm, (leave front foot @ the mast) bend back leg and pull, push with front leg.. straighten front arm and sheet in all the way... and never look at your feet or hands, always look in the direction your goin. if u jump to new side to quickly then u will have to do some backwind sailing, which some find better and more stable...
wrap front foot around mastbase, and there will be room for next foot to rest its heel in the arch...
just read what i wrote, sounds long and complicated, but not enough to fill 25 years on windsurf mags
I'm not real good at tacks but I occasionally have good days.
I have a nagging fault that I am in the process of addressing and that is that I simply don't step far enough with my second step, ie when stepping my back foot up as i rotate through the first 90 deg. So I do little step practice whenever the mood strikes me. The practice involves stepping carefully and slowly and exaggerating the step, sort of like tai chi, lifting the foot high and very deliberately pointing the toes of the back foot into the outside of the instep of my front foot. If do practice it I get my tacks.
