Short Board
Tacks
Related links: Jibing,
Jumping, Spin-out,
Waterstarting
Tacking a short board is not only useful, but can be fun as
well. A lot of ground is lost in even the tightest of jibes, so
tacking will let you keep all the ground you made up while nursing
your board upwind. Can be especially useful in wave sailing or
sailing in a current. Relax when learning tacks, if you are too
stiff or in too much of a hurry it will only slow the learning
process. The trick to tacking is to do it before you stop dead in
the water and to synchronize the foot and hand movements into one
fluid move. This is easy to practice on land, and will be useful
experience when trying it on the water. 1. On a reach, look
ahead for a patch of smooth water to tack in.
2. Maintain your speed, unhook and put your back foot between the
front and rear footstrap as you round up into the wind. It is
important to keep your speed through the move as a planing board
is much more stable than a sinking one.
3. As the sail de-powers from pointing higher into the wind, move
your front foot just ahead of the mast foot and your front hand to
the mast just below the boom. Keep sheeted in and your weight
forward. It is not necessary to have the nose of the board
pointing directly into the wind, any angle less than about 30
degrees will do.
4. Before the board slows too much, pass the sail across your
chest and switch your feet to the new tack in one foot and one
hand movement. Try to tip the rig towards the nose of the board to
help you bear off the wind once on the new tack. Try to stay on
top of the board through the move since the high angle to the wind
won't let you hang off the rig.
5. Depending on your boards positioning you will need to either
sheet in or backwind the sail once on the new side.
6. Turn the nose off the wind, sheet in and go rip!
Tip: After moving to the new side, don't sheet in too quickly.
When you can sheet in is determined by the board's angle to the
wind. If you didn't turn into the wind enough, backwind your sail
for stability and tip it forward to push the nose of your board
off the wind.
Troubleshooting
1. Nose of board sinks when moving body around mast. - This means
that you are putting too much weight on the nose and/or are not
moving around the mast fast enough.
2. Falling when sheeting in on new tack. - This happens when the
board has not turned into the wind enough. Either turn more when
entering the tack, or backwind the sail. See Tip above.
3. Nose sinks after sheeting in on new side. - Sheet in slower,
rake the rig back a little and shift more body weight to the back
foot.
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