Gybing

When will we see you back Sue?

Having struggled with gybes for years I can say that having that front arm straight and the rig way forward is the key to better gybes, but it does take courage to do it, because you feel like you are going to get pulled over the front, especially when overpowered.
1. it pulls you into the turn with more speed
2. it engages the rail and stops the board bouncing in chop
3. gets your weight forward so the tail doesn't sink & stall

Moving the Centre Of Effort of your sail forward, and into the inside of a turn, is a bit like turning on a motorbike. With a motorbike, you turn with the handle-bar, and your body follows and lean into the turn. However, if you ever saw motorbikes on speedways, the riders actually turn by using their body weight.

And the close analogy between a speedway motorbike race and a high speed gybe is leaning into the turn. Pushing your sail forward also helps with the rotation of the sail when you do a normal carve gybe. When the sail is released and rotated around, you will find the mast will miraculously fall into your waiting hand. Imagine an inverted cone formed by the mast, and the uni-joint being the tip of the cone.

Based on my own countless failures in the past, it is interesting to note that if your harboured some "dark thought" of a failure, you will fail ! It is about confidence. Learn to prepare yourself for some drastic catapult by curling your body and protect your face. I can't really explain how, but I believe instinctively, we all know how when the crunch comes...Thank goodness !

You've got a few of the better gybers around where you sail Sue, we all know who they are.
Watch, ask and listen

Its like riding a bike Sue .it will come back.
I sail in deep water and I know chop is a problem ,best to find a swell and gybe on it.

When you know theres sharks down there ,you don't blow many .

There is good advice above but... if you do that without dropping your weight by bending your knees you will get pulled over and lose confidence. It's a balancing act - the more you can drop your weight low and balanced over well anchored feet, the more you can handle the power of the rig as you sheet in and move the mast forward, which will lead to better board engagement. I'm no expert but I have learnt this the hard way - when I'm tired at the end of a good session I'm far more likely to either not bend the knees or not sheet in enough and push forward.

It's the same in the foot transition, if you can't balance on one leg (you need to bend your knee for that), you are not going to have a balanced foot transition. Get your weight low.

Another tip to remember is - Eyes, feet, body - look where you want to go first, then move your feet keeping your body balanced, then move your body to the new direction. I don't think this is unique to a windsurfing move, watch ballet, martial arts, gymnastics - it's pretty common but for gumbies like me it does not come naturally. I'm more likely to move my body while watching my feet

Look at Peter Hart here - eyes looking out of the turn, front arm extended pushing the rig forward and away, weight really low and body balanced over the feet that are securely in the straps.





Then have a look at a classic karate stance - it's called the Cat Stance, and it's all about being balanced on one leg so the other can 'do stuff'. This is a great one for the foot transition, the knee is very bent and supports nearly the whole body weight on one foot. This allows you to look to the new body direction, move your front foot, then move the rest of the body by keeping the hips moving in the same plane (not rising, just rotating).





Have a look at Jem Hall to see what I mean, knees really bent to balance the sail forces and the power managed through the 'core'





and the Cat Stance for the transition keeping the weight low and eyes looking out of the turn which leads to the correct head and torso position for balance

Sailing other day on the river in 20-35 knots with gusts to 43 knots,I had to wait till I found a big lull on the outside to gybe.

Never pulled off one gybe off all day above 25 knots.

Gybing on the inside next to the car park in 25-35 knots - well I just backed off and stopped.

Thats why I love the river so much

Only a select few are good enough to gybe consistently in winds as crazy as we had on Saturday.

I only sail the Swan River mostly at Lucky Bay. According to Slowboat its one of the best places to sail and rig up in the world,and I agree.

Has a sandbank around 400-500 metres out that comes in handy if you are unsure of your gybes.

3kms wide so can offer long reaches. Flat water to the sandbank then reasonably choppy in the middle.

Aus 1111 prefers the crystal clear waters of the Indian Ocean but the numerous shark sightings have me running scared.

Thanks everyone there are some good tips.
I usually just sail off by myself but I can see once I get confident with the ankle I should chase a few people + ask for tips..A video of me gybing would be good too but that's a bit hard to organise.

Aus 808,

This is now the second time I have to correct you about what I say. I said that I gybe out of the straps, never said that I windsurf out of the straps. This thread title is about gybing, so that's what everyone who comments here is talking about. I would recommend reading our posts carefully before responding. Not trying to be rude, but you tend to assum I said something when in fact it has never been said.

Oh and another thing, you are adding words that I never said when you respond, and that ain't cool my friend. I wrote, " I rip out gybes pretty well that way". You said I wrote, "I rip out catipults pretty well that way". When you quote someone, make sure you quote them, don't add words that someone never said. And you are someone who used to make booms? Glad I purchase my gear elsewhere. My god!!

For the last few years I've been concentrating on flipping the sail over much earlier.

Most,around 95 percent wait way too long.

Most of the PWA level guys flip it over without grabbing the mast - that feels foreign to me.

Grabbing the mast is safer but slower!

In 10-15 knots the water is usually pretty calm - make nearly a 100 per cent of them,come out planing mostly.

15-20 knots - water a bit less calm - I'm a lot less aggressive in the turn,rarely fall off,come out sub planing mostly.

20-25 knots - another level less aggressive,make most of them but rarely come out planing.

25-35 knots - key here is to use a small sail. Must pull the back hand in 'hard as' to kill the power in the sail.

Make around 50 percent of them max. Not looking for speed here just completion.