Do you think a different board would help with carve jibes?

scargo · Joined: 19 May 2007 Posts: 394

As you say, it's hard to know whether the smaller board will help or not. It won't bounce as much, which might encourage you to keep the hammer down as you bear off and initiate the carve. On the other hand, I'll never forget the day I nailed 10 planing jibes in a row on my Kona (in flat water on an 8.5). It felt great, but still took a while till I could do the same thing on my 95l board.

You're on the right track with Dasher. In addition to watching it ad infinitim, take notes, and also do the muscle-memory tricks he suggests. I remember doing them between sets at the gym, using an empty barbell as my boom prop, with people wondering what the h kind of tai chi I was practicing.

Another breakthrough happened (before the Kona day) when I forced myself, in way overpowered conditions, to bear off and try to go as fast as possible before crashing. Made myself do it 24 times, and it completely cured me of any anxiety about accelerating into the turn.

rangerider · Joined: 19 Jul 2009 Posts: 206

I have been doing gps runs downwind - I am at 24 - 27kts, can't say I'm going quite that fast into the jibe but it is close. I tend to bounce as I get straight downwind - keeping knees bent and hips forward is really helping there. I need to work on pulling down on the boom.

johnl · Joined: 05 Jun 1994 Posts: 1330 Location: Hood River OR

d0uglass · Posted: Mon Jul 28, 2014 12:43 pm Post subject:

A new board won't necessarily help you jibe better, but it could be fun.

Also, that "TMI" stuff is totally true. If you start thinking about what all the different parts of your body are supposed to be doing in the middle of a jibe you're bound to blow it.

As I recall, my first fully-planing jibes were not associated with any big change in gear or technique, but rather with a gradually growing confidence and smoothness that let me "see" and "feel" the whole turn

I make some good ones in this clew-mount video from 2012, though my duck jibes clearly still need some work.

https://vimeo.com/45974407

NOVAAN · Joined: 28 Sep 1994 Posts: 1551

Check out utube. Tony at lake lopez. Its a very lite day with very little wind on the inside. The first turn after the crashed duck gybe is the only one that has enough wind to keep speed. That said, the entry on each turn is good and with some speed. Weight forward and sail sheeted in.

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

All this "pull down on the boom" stuff concerns/puzzles me. It must be correct, as almost every jiber and tutorial mentions it. However, I never bother with it, and doubt I mention it in my tutorial. My successful solution was to get the frigging jibe over with and be on the fully powered new reach before I ever start bouncing/porpoising to begin with. That's more challenging on 140 liters and big sails, but with lower displacement, more speed, tighter arc, more forward and lateral hip thrust, and less coasting time and angle, pulling down on the boom becomes less necessary. My "rebound" comment above was accurate; done right, whether on the flats or off a little piece of chop, it is literally a rebound, much like a pool ball bouncing off a rail. Ya hit it on the incoming broad reach and leave it on the outgoing broad reach, sheeted in and accelerating on the other side of the sail. It's a carve, not a pivot, but its arc and duration are probably 90% shorter than the long, drawn-out jibes shown in tutorial videos.

Should that be your first goal? Of course not, especially at 140L and 7.5m. But neither must we run downwind 'til the cows come home, the porpoises arrive, and the board stops, as a bud tried to convince me was necessary decades ago. I'm guessing he still loses 100 yards of ground in his jibes; my good ones cost me about 10% of that -- significantly less than that in the "rebound" jibes -- and recover it (i.e., cross my incoming path) within 2 or 3 seconds. That's doable on a turny board under maybe 110 liters with a sail under about 6.5 meters, and obviously easier yet under 90L and 5.5m.

PeconicPuffin · Joined: 07 Jun 2004 Posts: 1830

jingebritsen · Joined: 21 Aug 2002 Posts: 3371

PP has an avatar that helps illustrate the set up.

lotsa advice here. i learned to do flip jibes first. then ducks, and finally step jibes.

flip jibes force one to flip the sail prior to the kit pointing directly down wind. one should keep the sail ahead at all times. if the sail trails, dead meat.

dasher's videos bring to mind sailing in the 1990's. not so twisty sails being used on long and narrow boards in nuclear aruban winds. clinics teach step jibes first because they can get people thru a jibe dry by the end of the clinic?

andy brandt said to me on a light wind day that i was hurting those around me because i would show that flip jibes could work. why the frowns? because he saw me throwing the sail around early with authority from experience and muscle power. he claimed that not many could do that.

i have guided a few open minds to shelve the step jibe and try the duck jibe instead. nearly every one that actually stuck to it became planing jibers. look up how to do them. try a few each session.

duck jibes are far easier if one would just try them.

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

konajoe · Joined: 28 Feb 2010 Posts: 517

It's hard to get everyone to agree on anything on this forum, but I'll try with this statement: All else being equal, it's easier to plane through a jibe on flat water than it is in bumpy conditions.

Agree?

So anything that you can do equipment-wise or technique-wise to make things feel like you are on flatter water will help you plane through a jibe. All else being equal, wider boards bounce more through a turn than narrow boards. In similar style boards, the smaller board will be narrower and easier to jibe.

Another way to make things feel like you're on flatter water is the sharpness or roundness of the rails. Soft railed boards will make the water feel smoother than it actually is.

Now throw in bottom shape. Maybe a slight v in the tail.