Can anyone offer some advice on how best to tack on a surfboard or strapped directional? Gybing requires that you lose ground down wind. If you can tack the board (basically just spin it under you), you dont lose any ground. ARe you doing it and if so, what's your technique!?!

edited:

you are describing a gybe, he asked about tacking (turning upwind rather than downwind)..

the next kiteworld mag is going to have sky solbach explain it.

I do it regularly on my wave directional or any other directional for that matter.
It involves some fancy fast footwork and is really quite fun when pulled off cleanly.
As you pull you wing up to change sides, you have to jam a quick load of pressure om your back foot to bring the nose of your board into the wind.
When your wing swings overhead you become weightless for a few instants and this is when you tip toe to the front of the board to push it down wind once it has passed the direction where it points into the wind.
Try with a big board at first as the flotation will help you if your wing is not at the right place on the right moment.
I am sure mr Solbach will explain it better than me, but has as much fun doing it.
Nico

1..take your back fin off to start with - makes it easier to learn
2..place your back foot right at back and front foot half way
3..slow down kite going towards 90 degrees then turn very sharp upwind and really push it/slide it the rest of the way - push REAL hard - so board ends up 180 degrees around (it's like a skateboard push shovit if that means anything to you
4..quicky pivot your body around and you have made the move

it it not too hard and when you do it slow to start with , with the kite high it is kind of like having handle bar if you know what i mean. then do it lightening fast with kite low and using a wave to pop a frontside 180 into it...

Check how the master does it in this photo sequence:

Robby Naish directional jibe

Thats a jybe not a tack.

Thats how we recognize people coming out of the surf&sailsport rather than people that jumped right into kitesurfing


Tbh I never even really thought of tacking at all while kitesurfing, there are so much other fun transitions. but I definitely gotta learn this on my surfboard this summer, would like to see the looks on my buddies face that surfs on a waveboard for so much longer already!

I did not translate accordingly. And I would never thought somebody would ask this, ever with kiteboarding!

But you are wrong: I did windsurfing and sailing catamarans before I started to do kiteboarding. With a catamaran a jibe is suicide in strong wind, with windsurfing I liked jibes more than tacks

U think you can only do that on a big surfboard with a lot of float. I do not think the board will glide long enough to give you the opportunity to change your foot position.

I ride a 5'8" surfboard with straps, I am still practicing the jibes. I do loose a lot of height at the moment.

Thanks for the tips. I saw a guy tack several times on the inside at Shacks PR. He does it fast which enables him to stay higher up wind and get right back out to the main break. I was kiting too so I did not get a chance to really watch how he did it. He was riding a wave directional less than 6 feet. It looked to me like he would move his front foot above the strap, sink the board, and then pivot. But I did not see what he was doing with the kite at the same time.

Someone suggested that you could reverse your kite, begin to ride backwards and shove the tail out commencing the board to pivot. Anybody do it this way?

Havent been out lately but hope to get practicing soon.