This is THE DRILL to nail your gybes, improve your clew first rig control and enhance rotating the sail. When you master these skills the fluidity and consistency of your gybes, both planing and non-planing, will instantly increase. Since you will be standing next to the board you can’t, in theory, fall in. So many times in my coaching have I seen people master this skill and then go onto to get their first gybes or vastly improve their gybes. So I’ve got your attention now!
KEY STAGES
Bearing the board away
Opening the sail and changing sides
Clew first control
Rotating the rig
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FUNDAMENTALS
Rig Away – The rig is always kept at arms length so as to have leverage in steering. It continues to be kept away in the controlled clew first position. This will enable us to control its power in the unstable position whilst CF.
Look Where You Want To Go – To turn the board we look downwind. To open the sail whilst mid gybe we look out of the turn.
KEY STAGES
Waist – chest depth water
Side off / side /side on wind
Light wind – force 1-3, below 10 knots
BEARING THE BOARD AWAY
From an upwind position slide your backhand way down the boom. Push down through the front arm and twist the rig to bear away. Look downwind where you want the board to go.
Keep bearing the board away and begin to walk around the back of the board. Start to look out of the turn at the clew and walk around the back of the board.
OPENING THE SAIL AND CHANGING SIDES
Stay upwind and towards the tail. Keep looking out the turn and get in a low position. Bend your back leg and straighten your front leg to assist in power control.
CLEW FIRST CONTROL
CF control comes from keeping the backhand towards the clew, check out how far! You will be looking forwards and balancing the rigs power by keeping the rig away and sinking down.
ROTATING THE RIG
Slide the front hand (mast hand) to the mast and keep the back hand down the boom. Look forwards. The weight is very much over the back foot.
Let go with the backhand and guide the rig towards the back of the board. Your hips move forward slightly to balance this movement. That’s right still looking forwards.
The old backhand reaches under and finds the new side of the boom. The rig is then brought forward as you move your weight onto the back foot. Note the subtle slide of the new front hand down the boom. This powers the rig up and positions it ready for bearing away and REPEATING THE DRILL!
Never flip your rig unless your front hand is either at the very front of your boom or the mast.
CLEW FIRST ISSUES
With the sail in its normal guise the mast is quite happy being the leading edge, flip her round and the leech does not offer quite the same compliance. Therefore it is necessary to operate in a more downwind position; here the wind hits the mast first thereby giving us an easier time.
The rig is less powerful as we shift our hands forward i.e. towards the mast, when in its normal position. When CF this movement forwards is now towards the clew, and therefore down the boom. So for CF power control our backhand is well down the boom.
SUMMARY
Backhand moves to clew for control
Bear the board away
Look towards the clew and walk around the back of the board
Get down low and maintain CF control
Look forwards and keep rig away
Slide mast hand to mast
Release backhand and guide rig to back of the board
New front hand reaches under to grab boom
Bring rig forward and get hands back down the boom
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