The 12 Step Jibe by Dasher

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

I almost always spin the sail before -- sometimes as -- I switch my feet. Either way, I strive to spin the sail before my board points downwind, because I want to exit the jibe sheeted in and powered up on the new broad reach before my board comes back up to the new beam reach. When I do it right, I lose no speed from entry to exit. When I screw up and spin the sail too late (when pointed downwind) -- a bad new habit I'm trying to break -- my smaller wave boards want to drop off a plane and my timing goes to hell.

boardsurfr · Joined: 23 Aug 2001 Posts: 1266

dllee · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 5329 Location: East Bay

Yeah, good points on the entry, initiation, and exit speeds.
For sure, you can't initiate at full planing speeds.
Full planing speeds can be 24-28 mph for normal conditions, lowest possible planing speed maybe 11 mph, so during the carve, the board speed drops from around 25 down to 16 just before the sail flip, goes down a bit farther near the threshold, then accelerates back up to speed.
Flat waters do allow a much faster initiation phase, but the sail flip reduces speed by at least 3 mph.

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

While I can't argue with GPS data, I'm guessing (based on all the jibe instructions and discussions I've seen) that most of the jibes on those logs are the usual five-step jibes:
1. Slow down a bit (maybe that explains the 15-kt entry speed) to maximize control.
2. Bear off into a deep broad reach still powered up.
3. Carve/coast past downwind before jibing the sail.
3. Let the wind jibe the sail when back-hand pressure says it's time.
4. Downshift and build up speed again.

When powered up, I skip all five of those steps. Certainly my board slows while way up on its rail at mid-carve, as evidenced and caused by the sheet of water it throws up, but any speed lost at that very brief moment is regained very quickly by sheeting in -- often including hooking in and nearly closing the gap -- just as my carve reaches the new broad reach exit line. I.e., my entry and exit speeds are both full tilt even if I lost some speed during the second or so it takes to jibe a small turny board from beam reach entry to broad reach exit.

For several reasons I blow a lot more of those than I used to, but I still prefer to jibe hard and tight despite its higher failure rate and bigger splash, and that usually entails spinning the sail before or while switching my feet.

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

[quote="zirtaeb"]For sure, you can't initiate at full planing speeds./quote]
I sure can TRY, though, and it's a giant HOOT - worth all the flubs -- when it works.

dllee · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 5329 Location: East Bay

One good reason to ride FSW and wave style boards.
Takes cajones to initiate a jibe at full on slalom board speeds, in the higher 25's, with thick blocky rails and a blade fin. Flat water is fine, but in confused chop it's suicide for even the very best slalom sailors at the highest levels. They all look for a flatter spot to jibe into.
I always look for flatter water's to jibe into when using slalom gear. Fortunately, Berkeley has a smooth water jibing section on the inside, so riding slalom kit is workable.
The outside jibe always coincides with exiting the jibe on a swell, riding it broad reach for a second, then pinch back up to beam.
Been riding a '16 Tabou Speedster with a '17 Gaastra Cosmic 6.7 this weekend.

isobars · Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935

konajoe · Joined: 28 Feb 2010 Posts: 517

I was also very surprised when I saw gps data from what appeared to be perfect full planing jibes. Minimum speed would be 11 - 14 kts.

dllee · Joined: 03 Jul 2009 Posts: 5329 Location: East Bay

If you can stay behind the front straps all the way thru your jibe, sail flip, and exit, you might maintain close to 16 mph just after the flip. The need to step forwards mean's you slowed down.

scargo · Joined: 19 May 2007 Posts: 394

I was just looking over the GPS data from my last session, fast conditions over relatively flat water. I have my machine set to auto-lap every mile, and my best mile (which included three jibes) was 27.3 mph. My best top speed was 29.1 mph.

As for jibes, of the first ten, I planed out of 8. Of the planing ones, in my best one I slowed to 18.5, and my worst one I slowed to 14.5. Of the other two, I slowed to 10.5 in one, barely falling off a plane, and in the other one I slowed way down to 2.3, obviously falling off a plane. (Interestingly, although it's the first time I've drilled down on this, the laydowns seemed to share metrics with the normal jibes.)

Anyway, those number seem roughly in line with boardsurfr's data.