Tacking Technique

[leepasty]

Hi all
Here is my first Technique Blog covering race board tacking http://www.leepasty.co.uk/2/post/2012/0 ... cking.html
next up is Downwind and Gybing in a couple of weeks.
Enjoy
Lee

[stefaans]

Try race tacking its way better than the old school tack.

[borist]

what is "race tacking"? Roll tack?

[Tone]

*snigger*

[swell]

Try race tacking its way better than the old school tack.

Why exactly is it better?

[stefaans]

faster is better! Board keeps upwind momentum.

old school tack in the link is stop. turn board. go on a reach, get feet in straps, point upwind.

roll tack is roll and keep going upwind.

[Outside]

Does anyone other than stefaans have a clue as to what "race tacking" is?

Could you please post a video or description?

[gmb13]

Does anyone other than stefaans have a clue as to what "race tacking" is?

Could you please post a video or description?

Race Tack at 0.45

And at various other points in the vid.



--
Gunnar

[ronnie]

[davesails7]

Thanks for writing the blog! Looking forward to reading the future posts.

I'm only a beginner at race board riding, but my 2 cents on tacking:
Race tack definitely seems faster when done correctly, but the jump tack seems easier to learn than the race tack. That's why I learned the jump tack. I will have to start on the race tack next time I'm out on the water. Jump tack is definitely a lot faster than the stop-sit-in-the-water-and-push-the-board-around tack

On the blog, it says step one for the jump tack is to take your back foot out of the strap. This seems weird to me and I can't do the jump tack with my back foot out of the strap. I need it in the strap to be able to push the board around. Seems like this guy keeps his foot in the strap too and keeps pushing the back around even after the front foot is out of the strap:

Also, the pictures in the blog show putting your new front foot down on the nose of the board at some point. I usually just put it right in to the front strap (as in video above), but maybe this is why I have so much trouble riding out of the tack in underpowered conditions. Jamming my foot into the front strap really pushes the nose of the board down wind and gets you some speed though.