Duck jibe?

[motogon]

I try to learn duck jibe, but it seams to me I always have bad timing for sail switch. Can anybody explain me when I have to switch sail? In 2/4 or 3/4 of curve?

Thanks,

Andrew

[1aloop]

When your board is down wind you should be on the other side of your sail but keep your board turning to make it happen .

[andymagruder]

You have to be going fast enough so that your speed over the water when your board reaches dead downwind in the turn is faster than the blowing wind (true wind in sailing technical terminology). The apparent wind you will feel on the board is coming from the nose of your board, opposite the true wind, because you are moving downwind faster than the wind. What this does is blow the sail back at you after you duck under the foot, which allows you to get your hands on the boom on the new side. Bottom-line, you have to be sailing faster than the wind to duck jibe, and you have to finish the sail switch while you have speed.

[djohel]

In short, duck the sail about 1/3 into your carve.

[davidstackhouse]

It is important to duck the sail early in the turn, well before the board is downwind. On a regular jibe you will throw the sail after the board has turned downwind and you are on the other reach. This will not work on a ducky. In my experience, you duck the sail about 1/3 into the turn. Sail handling is important in the duck jibe and easiest to learn with a 5.5 or smaller: to initiate the sail switch - reach back on the boom as far as you can with your back hand and pass the back of the boom forward to your front hand. The mast will fall forward toward the inside of your turn. With one motion catch the rear of the boom with the (old front) other hand and IMMEDIATELY pull (or throw) the boom back over your outer shoulder. Keep your feet carving the board as you do this. As soon as you throw the boom back-end over your shoulder, reach forward with your (old back) hand (now your front hand)and grab the boom in front of the harness line on the new side of the sail. Reaching forward like this will pull your body forward and into the turn - feel free to take a step forward as you reach for the boom, as your weight forward will keep the board carving through the turn. Make your grab on the new side and sail away on the new reach. You never duck under the sail, the sail actually moves in front of you. If you have to duck, it means you didnt commit to the sail throw enough. I highly recommend the Pritchard brothers video Stepping UP for learning the duck jibe, and getting the mental imagery firmly ingrained.

[RSGIBSON]

Andys method is one way, but certainly not the only way. Duck Jibes seem to be one of those moves that can be done at any number of points thru the turn. The one thing I believe that he is absolutely correct about is: you should let the apparrent wind swing the sail around. For example, to do an early in the turn (1/4-1/3) DJ, bear off to initiate the board turn, sheet out, then release the front hand, move it to the boom end (while keeping the board turning), release the back hand, and the luff of the sail will swing around VERY quickly. You must be ready to grab the boom with the free hand, as you will only get one chance to grab it before the apparrent wind swings it back the other way. Done properly, you will get the sail repowered before the board even gets fully downwind, allowing you to use the sail to finish the turn under power. VERY dramatic to do it this way, but timing is critical. Another variation is to wait longer into the turn, say 1/3, then release the sail just before you get straight down wind. The idea is to release the sail when your boat speed matches, but not exceedes, the apparrent wind. Because at this point the sail is experiencing apparrent calm (no wind force at all), you can simply tip the sail towards the nose of the board, pass the sail foot over your head, then pull the clew STRAIGHT BACK, grab the booms with both hands, and sheet OUT (yes out)to power the sail and finish the second half of the turn. You have a lot more time while doing it this way, and you do not have to be going faster that the real wind to make it work. In fact, you can draw out the middle part of the turn while you wait for the board to slow down to match the apparrent wind, then jibe. It will feel absolutely calm when the board speed matches the wind speed.

[motogon]

Thanks, Guys! I gonna try it first on landsailor.

Andrew

[motogon]

Thanks everybody! This weekend I got duckjibe mastered on landsailor!
Will try it next windy day on water.

Andrew