My first ever planing jibe today!

[rangerider]

I nailed my first planing jibe today in year 3 of trying and year 6 or 7 of windsurfing. Many of you are understandably unimpressed as you've done it maybe a hundred-thousand times but at 42 and after trying unsuccessfully for 2 whole seasons I was starting to wonder if it would just be out of the reach of my ability or athleticism.

I need to thank many of you for helping me maintain my windsurfing stoke including in the winter when it can be -30 where I sailed today. This forum helped me learn a lot of little tidbits of technique and allowed me to think about the physics and mechanics of windsurfing while off the water.

Conditions today are 12-20 knots and I was on the ultrasonic with a 48cm makani weed fun and using the lion 9.5M. These are good conditions for around here honestly. My wife and her friend witnessed it so it wasn't my imagination. Hopefully my posting this will be an encouragement to someone else who is almost, but not quite there.

[whitevan01]

good for you, rangerider!! I have a couple more years in than you do, and have completed a few full planing jibes this year. One more thing, you are very young relative to me, I started when I was 10 years older than you are now, so you have a lot of time to get even better.

[rangerider]

Thanks whitevan. I wanted to mention - I watched a few YouTube videos by Stephane Krause - French team gybes training etc. They show a ton of jibes by different (good) sailors from various angles. I found it very helpful and they are only a few minutes long - highly recommended.

[boardsurfr]

Congrats rangerider! Impressive that you did this with a 9.5. It's usually a bit easier with a smaller sail. Good find on the jibe training movie, too. Very good perspectives for watching the foot work and the coordination between the sail movement and the foot switch.

[johnl]

I may plane through a lot of my jibes, but I don't think I ever got one with my 7.5 sail (my biggest sail a few years ago) much less a 9.5. So I AM impressed Well done!

[mogunn]

Planing jibes feel great no matter what the sail size or sailing vehicle. Congrats!

[justall]

Always thrilled to hear someone nail it!

[rangerider]

The 9.5 and the ultrasonic comprises most of my planing windsurfing so it makes sense that it would be the first combo I would plane out on despite the size. I am very accustomed to the swing weight of the rig such that I have a harder time with the timing and balance with my 6.5, for example, which is super light. Also, when using smaller boards in higher winds the chop has been a problem for me - with the wind direction today I could do jibes in an area slightly protected from chop

I read a lot of board reviews prior to purchasing my gekko 120 which I assumed would be the ticket to planing jibes - there was nothing wrong with any of my equipment, just me and my technique. As it turns out there is no such thing as a board that "jibes like it is on autopilot" or any such journalistic nonsense. Today is a nice milestone for me but I still have a long way to go. I hope there are some planing jibes in my future on the gekko with the 7.5 or 6.5

[cgoudie1]

A ripp'n jibe is a thing of beauty and joy. I am pleased for you, and you'll be ripping more now that you've gotten a taste and a feel for it. I find
it takes me a couple of jibes to remember the rotational speed when I
switch either up or down a long way (like going from 9.5 to 3.7) so grab a
few more on that 9.5 before you switch down to trying it on the 6.5.


-Craig

p.s. I own a board of journalistic nonsense, and I've had several people jump on it cold and say so. ;*)

[jingebritsen]

cheers

all the right things one does are amplified on big gear. all the wrong things too.