pointers for a simple jibe ??

All,

I am a beginning w/s and have made good progress on shore starts, getting onto a plane, and handling intermediate winds. I posted a previous issue here and with the help of many that was successful so this is a second question:

Now I am looking for pointers for a simple planning jibe.

What are the simplest techniques?

Where are they described?

I am in the gorge area and have plenty of good wind to practice.

Thanks in advance, Dan Sawyer

Dan wrote<< Now I am looking for pointers for a simple planning jibe.

What are the simplest techniques?

Where are they described? >>

Welcome to one of the great adventures in windsurfing...learning to jibe. A list of the basic technique won't get you jibing. You need instruction and lots of time on the water. Before you pursue jibing instruction, I recommend you first make sure that you can sail in both footstraps while going as fast or almost as fast as the people you see who are jibing, as sailing at blistering speed is the first 'simple' step to the planing jibe. I then recommend that you pick up an instructional videotape on jibing (Carve Clinic 1 by Peter Hart is an excellent place to start, or the jibing video by Alan Cadiz). A video will allow you to see a great deal, in addition to providing plenty to think about, and there is plenty to think about when learning the carve jibe.

Best luck to you!

Michael

I used to own a shop and people would come in and ask for advice to get their jibes. Hey, jibing is tough! They'd complain that they'd been at it for a 'whole season' and still weren't getting it! Hey! I've been at it for years and still don't get it some of the time. I've done lots of sports, generally sucessfully. I explained to them that the jibe is one of the most difficult moves in any sport. Not to discourage you, when a sport becomes less than challenging to me I usually quit. Once you nail your first jibe the satisfaction is unique.

I agree with NewsGuy. Those two videos he mentions are the best available. Anything by Peter Hart is just outstanding. And Alan Cadiz is the best instructor I ever met. A successful jibe is the result of MANY things all happening in the right order and at the right time. If any one of those go very wrong you get to practice your waterstart. (I estimate I make hundreds, if not thousands of waterstarts before I got a decent jibe.)

I would think there should be some very good instruction in the Gorge. I haven't been there in quite a while, maybe some of the Gorge sailors here could chip in with recommendations. Two hours of great instruction may cost you a hundred bucks but can save endless hours of frustration.

One bit of advice on the tape/instructor thing. If you find an instructor you trust, do what he tells you, don't attempt to override his advice by what you saw on a tape. He's there, Peter Hart isn't. A good instructor will see what you are doing right and what you need to work on. No two sailors or jibes are exactly alike.

Alan (Sandoval) Once again I have to say this message is not from Alan Cadiz! I wish I could be him, but I'm not.

Takes a while to get it ... years in fact. I used a Peter Hart video but I still didn't get it. Then I got a copy of Mike Ficks jibe tips and they worked for me. I'm sure if you ask him nicely he'll email you a copy.

Here's an old version:

Done ... but I still agree with the other posts here. Jibing is the Mount Everest of sports, IMO. It won't come quickly.

Mike m/

You lucky man, know this.... your waterstarting is going to get *very* good over the next few months.

I'll second the Peter Hart recommendation from others. Carve Clinic 1 is excellent.

You need to be absolutely comfortable with going very fast on the plane, and there needs to be enough wind that waterstarting is not the slightest effort.

Look where you are going, not at your feet or the mastfoot. Good for safety, and good for your gybing.

Regards

So, that makes me about purple belt in Jibing (#3)? Or, if it's Mount Everest, maybe I'm a Third Degree Black Belt? We need a federation to organize this and we need more bowing. Sparring probably wouldn't be a good idea, and board breaking takes on a whole new dimension.

Hans

On 28 Aug 2002, Juri Munkki wrote:

KISS...the 3 'B''s...

'B'oardspeed

'B'ear off

'B'end your knees

WARDOG

Wardog wrote<< because the board slows down or is not planing doesn't mean that the jibe required less skill to accomplish... >>

What jibe(s) in which the board slows down or isn't planing at all requires as much skill as a carved jibe with a full planing exit? That will be the next one I'll work on learning.

Michael

Jump jibe, snap, pivot, light air clew first on the wave face...etc...

WARDOG

Simplest technique bar none:

FEET FIRST, SAIL AFTER.

That means switch your feet first and then flip the sail whenever you want, but always do it after the foot change.

Works great for non planing jibes. *Almost foolproof*.

You can actually carve through a planing jibe switch your feet and exit the jibe without flipping the sail. It's called "clew first" sailing, practice it and you won't have many reasons to bail/ fail on a jibe.

Secondly: Be well powered. Don't go out with a sail size that makes you "work". Power will always help you jibe, better to have a little too much than too little. Even if that means your sail is too big to duck jibe,ect.

Really the jibe should be the easiest maneuver in windsurfing, easier than short board tacking ect, ect. There's just no standardized way of teaching it and there's a lot of stuff going on at the same time.

Just practice and you'll find that an early foot change followed by a timely sail flip will put the WIN in your windsurfing.

Look for the vids "Guy Crib Intuition" and "Beginner to Winner" on youtube.

ride on brotha

Excellent info, Canad.wsurf