Jan 28, 2008
Author: Andy Brandt
THE BEST JIBE ENTRY
by Andy Brandt / photos by Pete DeKay
Learning to plane out of a jibe takes time and practice. The next step is figuring out how to plane out of a jibe faster than anyone else at your local beach. The tricky part to the latter is, it requires the discovery of a certain "feeling.".
I can explain how to jibe, simulate the steps, and coach students how to learn a dry jibe, but full-speed exiting is something the student must attain on his or her own. It all starts with allowing your sail to pull you over the board during the jibe entry. The most natural reaction is to resist the pull and fight back. The secret is to resist this temptation and instead control the speed of the pull with the back hand as your body goes from riding over the fin to surfing into the board's carve. Let the sail do the work for you.
Once you've completed your jibe setup and are still hanging down off the boom, concentrate on feeling the power in the sail. Sheet in the back arm and allow the front arm to roll your body into the turn. It's an odd feeling to follow the front arm into the turn; this requires commitment and concentration.
Keep your head up while rolling through a normal jibe entry that starts at your ankles and moves gradually up your body. First, soften your ankles to start coming in over the board. Next, bend your knees to keep them in front of your nose at all times and look forward past the mast as your body continues to roll in over the board. Remember, take your time. Understand that the slower you move, the better chance your board has to maintain maximum speed.
The final piece is to turn the sail off at the right time by over-sheeting. This must be done before you reach straight downwind to keep from rolling too far over the board and into the water. Continue pushing with the front arm to complete the entry and resist the natural urge of pulling against the sail's power.
With practice, you should be able to accelerate into the turn while keeping the board's nose down in the water for a fast and smooth carve. With this last step, the rock-star jibe will appear a reality in your windsurfing.
GOOD = Follow a straight front arm into the turn BAD = Fighting against the pull of the sail slows you down
 
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