VIDEO: Tack and Sail upwind by Sinking the Rail

30knotwind · Joined: 30 Aug 2005 Posts: 239 Location: White Salmon, WA

It's a light wind day in the Gorge today so I created a video explaining tacking and sailing upwind by Sinking the Rail. It works on big and small boards. Get out and practice so you can sail upwind the next time the wind shuts down and you have to get back to the launch without planing!

Links:
Tack and Sail upwind by Sinking the Rail

Sinking the rail only, no tack

Facebook video

Darbonne · Posted: Fri Sep 05, 2014 12:38 pm Post subject:

Nice lesson. This is the first thing I learned to do. It is an essential skill to learn to be able to make it back to the launch. I learned from watching Jem Hall vids. According to Jem the rail acts as a daggerboard.

30knotwind · Joined: 30 Aug 2005 Posts: 239 Location: White Salmon, WA

Video:
This is how it looks on a short board in planing wind.

Same steps, just do it faster and don't weight the front or sides of the board.

beaglebuddy · Joined: 10 Feb 2012 Posts: 1120

Regarding tacking, what works for me is when the foot of the sail makes contact with the shin of my back leg, this is my signal to jump on the other side of the board.