heli-tack anyone?

[funalways]

I have been trying to get
to complete a heli-tack.
But I always end up in the water??!!

Anybody have any tips?

Thanks.

[gemoore]

I suspect youre swinging the sail around you. Swinging the sail can work, but usually ends up with a wet finish. Try this:

In the setup, widen your grip

Head up, and put front foot in just front of the mast base, back foot just behind the mast base.

Do not try to swing the sail around. Instead, at the normal moment when you would tack the sail (i.e., after you go through the eye of the wind), start the sail rotation.

With your mast hand, pull the mast toward the water (upwind), i.e., forward. The fixed length of the mast will make your hand go forward and down. Itll feel like youre throwing the sail mastfirst onto the water.

When the mast is at about 30 degrees from vertical, more like 45 if youre overpowered, stop pulling with the mast hand completely, ZERO effort in the mast hand, even let go with the mast hand, and PUSH straight out against the boom with the back hand. When you do this, the backwinded sail will stop diving toward the water and start coming back to you. It does this because your hold on the rig goes from being in front of the CoE to behind the CoE.

When you feel the sail coming back to you, all you do is pivot on your back foot to get out of the way. So, weight on your back foot, pick up your front foot and pivot away from the sail. The sail will rotate with you since you still have a hold of it behind the CoE. Your former front foot will come back 180 degrees to the centerline as your new back foot (get the pivot on your own head to foot axis and you wont have to hunt for the centerline, your foot will simply land there). When your foot lands on the board, block at the hips to stop the rotation.

You can resume hanging from the boom with the mast hand during the pivot or after the pivot. The most stable ending is to stop in the clew-first position and regain your control/composure, and then sailing away clew-first until you decide to rotate the rig.

After you get the helitack, youll find this move is a LOT easier than it looks. The sail work and footwork are independent. The secret is using your hands to control the rotation of the sail, and using your feet/body to rotate in time with the sail rotation. The sail transition happens because of your hold on the rig relative to the CoE; the body transition happens because of your elegantly simple footwork. It LOOKS like youre swinging the sail around you, but in reality you time them so the sail transition and the body transition happen together. You can practice this on the beach too.

Bon chance

GEM

[kencarp]

Also what might help is to keep yor feet behind the mast before sail flip and bear a little downwind in the backwind position,then when the sail/feet transition happen yor feet will end up in proper position with your new front foot in front of mast foot. This also gets your body out of the way of the sail and the move is much smoother. Good luck, K.P.

[hobie2772]

Figure out how to sail backwinded first. Once sailing backwinded, try heading the board downwind more than you think before going for the flip. Otherwise the mast/sail will tend to knock you into the water.

Good luck.
Chris

[funalways]

Excellent responses!!!!
Thanks everyone!

[rickp]

Take a look at WindSurfing Magazine - they have a great flash sequence.

http://www.windsurfingmag.com/WR_Main/1,2230,8-1-1-1294-1-0,00.html

[cmoy]

I agree with a lot of the previous responses. A lot depends on what stage you are falling. If you can sail back winded, it definitely helps. Once you are in the backwind position, you have passed the eye of the wind..Backwind sail your rig a little further...almost into a reach. This will take sail balance since the sail will want to power up. When you decide to flip the sail, the back hand should be further down the boom. As you are flipping, pull the mast towards you with the front hand while pushing away with the back hand. This will keep the sail upright. If you dont do this, you will end up on the front of your board because the sail will pull you there..you get wet. As you are flipping, pulling your mast upright, switch your feet with a quick hop, front foot going back, back foot going forward. In general, your new front foot should not land past the mast base. Stay low, there is going to be a big yank. If it is overpowering, let the backhand go... If the sail is upright, it will swing right around for you to catch assuming your front hand has move forward towards the mast. It also helps to learn in lighter wind. Try to visualize the motions of your hands and feet as the sail is being flipped and after you flip it. In many cases, it is a combination of bad timing and not knowing what to do with your hands and feet.

Good Luck!