I've been spending most of my time foiling, but with higher wind lately I've been going over basics a lot with my large freeride board (Blast 145), which is floaty, easy to jibe, and has a really good sail range.
I learned to foil on it, and at one point I moved the straps to the outboard, furthest aft position.
Looking at my jibe videos, I've been trying to improve my fin jibes. I look consistently to get a bunch of things wrong, but one of them is having my weight too far back on the board, slowing me down. I tried correcting this recently by bringing my back foot out of the strap and a lot more forward than I do on foil jibes, and I feel a much better carve, where I can actually lift up some with the front foot strap.
But I also think my weight is still too far back. I'm still getting some other things wrong, like not having the front arm as straight as I can, and sheeting in harder, but I do try to prep earlier and gather more speed a bit broader before entry.
Anyway, will moving the footstraps forward help keep speed during the jibe? I'm thinking 2nd from front on the fronts, and 3rd from the front (2nd from back) on the rear, giving me a wider stance like on my other boards which seems to feel good. I'm sure technique is 80% of the problem but I want every bit of help I can get with tuning to help come out of the jibes faster. I've noticed that I've also had the mast base too far back, which was causing too much bounce in the jibes, and moving it forward seemed to help smooth out the carves.
Windsurfing is a game of millimetres in a lot of aspects, but I don't think moving foot straps solely to benefit gybing prowess is one of those situations. Better to just practice landing your gybe foot generally further forward and sheeting in on the gybe more. Looking behind you through the gybe will help with the sheeting in bit.
The foot straps should be set-up for good straight-line speed and control, and not for the jibes of a freeride board. Personally I didn't like the Blast for jibing when I rented one in Garda, the gecko is a much nicer all-round board, in my opinion.
For the carving entry, the placement of the leeward foot makes a big difference, as does the ability of maintaining mast pressure during the carve, so that is something to work on. Try putting the leeward foot on the pad just behind the leeward front strap, that can make wonders for the jibe. If you keep the speed up during the carve you can then also very easily simply slip the new front foot straight into the strap and come out of the jibe planning in the foot straps, very efficient in competitions like e.g. Formula. :)
I agree with Subsonic, foot strap position is largely irrelevant to gybing.
Spend your time and effort on the things that do matter.
The more powered, the more you can go back.
The more glide you seek the more forward.
The front strap position shouldn't hurt it so long as you don't feel the need to place your back foot over the strap!
Try and place it right behind it and see how it feels.
Practice duck jibes, it'll make you understand different aspects of your footing.
Leave the straps towards the back, its better for speed on large boards and you do more straight line sailing than gybes.
The faster you go into a gybe, the more speed you can afford to lose without coming off the plane.
With 4 plugs, for the rear strap I think Fanatic recommend the 2nd hole from the back as a starting point on freeride/freerace/slalom boards. Then for the front, a narrower stance, 2nd plug from the rear, for large boards as you want more power, and wider stance for smaller boards where you need more control.
To keep speed in the gybe, bend the knees, lean forward and keep the rig forward to keep the nose down and the board flatter.
I bend my front arm gybing overpowered in chop . This causes the sail to open on entry which means I can't control the power. Fear also makes me lean back to try and control it everything and I lose all speed.
On the plus side my subplaning gybes were going well last time I sailed. 
Select to expand quotesboardcrazy said..
I bend my front arm gybing overpowered in chop . This causes the sail to open on entry which means I can't control the power. Fear also makes me lean back to try and control it everything and I lose all speed.
On the plus side my subplaning gybes were going well last time I sailed.
Early release can help that, often there is so little apparent wind you have to push the sail to get it to rotate.
Here is what I do. After setting up for the turn, I soften the front leg and front arm and try to look around the front of the mast. You should have a clear view of where you are heading. This makes sure your weight is forward. To initiate the carve I sheet in hard and drop the sail to the inside of the turn which pulls your weight onto the carving rail. The idea is to carve on the rail and not the fin or the back of the board. There should be very little weight on the back foot. When you then transition the sail to the other side of the board, the mast should be upright or leaning forward towards the nose of the board, definitely not leaning back!!!! Try to keep your weight forward at all times to avoid sinking the tail.
Thanks all for humoring my silly question. Hopefully I'll get some more higher wind time again and keep progressing my jibes. There's a great spot nearby but it's not foilable without the tides cooperating. When I went out today it was low tide and the wind had pushed a lot of water out and I had to sail out a bit to even be sure I was safe planing with a 44cm weed fin. On high tide I can run a 103cm foil mast...
Seems like my jibing is changing a lot by getting my rear foot moved up further, closer to the front strap than rear, before getting forward and sheeting in to the turn. At least I'm rarely falling in on this board now (had a dry boom on it for mostly an hour 
), and sometimes I carry some speed, but there are still some things I'm doing wrong. Disappointed as I had great shots today with a buddy but the GoPro has been giving me problems and the footage is probably lost.
I like the duck jibe suggestion, just need more wind. Was well powered on an 8.0 cheetah today but that sail foot isn't fun to hit. I can sometimes do it when slogging but smaller blades and freeks are so much easier. Given the wind here I'll likely end up doing a duck jibe on foil first because i can use freeks.
aeroegnr - you have noted the size of your board and fin and sail. That is pretty big gear - the ability to gybe-well, often depends on lots of factors, including the gear-size vs skill-level. How heavy and tall are you ?
Select to expand quoteremery said..sboardcrazy said..
I bend my front arm gybing overpowered in chop . This causes the sail to open on entry which means I can't control the power. Fear also makes me lean back to try and control it everything and I lose all speed.
On the plus side my subplaning gybes were going well last time I sailed.
Early release can help that, often there is so little apparent wind you have to push the sail to get it to rotate.
Thanks. I might try that..I notice in flatwater I sometimes have to push against the boom as I enter gybes..I always wondered why that was.
Select to expand quoteaeroegnr said..
Seems like my jibing is changing a lot by getting my rear foot moved up further, closer to the front strap than rear, before getting forward and sheeting in to the turn.
Thats what I do on larger boards, as it gives you extra leverage against the longer fins required and helps keep weight forward.
Select to expand quotemathew said..
aeroegnr - you have noted the size of your board and fin and sail. That is pretty big gear - the ability to gybe-well, often depends on lots of factors, including the gear-size vs skill-level. How heavy and tall are you ?
I'm 6'1 and 200lbs/91kg and was wearing a wetsuit. I've run a 9.5 with this same board and fin just fine. Was also powered up for a little bit yesterday with the 6.3 freek but there were long lulls and I switched back to 8.0.
Looks like my best alpha was 12.9kt, but that had a drop down to 2.9kts in it then back up to plane (pumping). Highest speed was almost 24kts in some light chop while bearing off. Think I rushed the setup to enter the jibe after those ones and wasn't very smooth. A lot of them had a 16-20kt entry, best alpha had 16kt entry. Think the bear offs would've come out better if I had slowed the prep.
I think I got in the habit of rushing the jibe setup where there was a lot less room, when you barely had time to plane before coming up to a sandbar or shore on low tide, and I was trying to squeeze more out before the jibe. Think I'll have to shake that habit. I was jibing in open spots with way more room and nothing to hit (other than crabpots littered around) once out of the shallow spots.
Had a few bear offs on the outside where there were some small swells and I tried timing it on a swell and kept moving, but not fully planing.
Was able to recover one of my better jibes by using an external card reader. It's at the end. My footswitch wasn't terrible but you can see me losing speed.
You can also see the goofiness at the beginning where I accidentally hooked the line adjuster. Where we jibed it was significantly choppier than where we started, and this is typically my "bad side" when jibing (starboard tack entry).
Based on that video, your foot position isn't too bad after your second movement, so i think you need to take your foot out of the back strap, feel for the rail and then lean forward into the gybe while sheeting in. The thing that a lot of people miss is to crouch down in the gybe and pull down on the boom, which keeps mast foot pressure on your board and stops it from stalling due to your weight being towards the back of the board. It also looks like you are shortening the radius of your turn at the end, so you may want to make a nice long carve at speed and as soon as you are downwind, flip the sail and sheet in a little on the other side to power out of the turn. If you are in WA I'd be happy to go for a sail with you to see if i can help more.
Select to expand quoteaeroegnr said..
Was able to recover one of my better jibes by using an external card reader. It's at the end. My footswitch wasn't terrible but you can see me losing speed.
You can also see the goofiness at the beginning where I accidentally hooked the line adjuster. Where we jibed it was significantly choppier than where we started, and this is typically my "bad side" when jibing (starboard tack entry).
I'm no expert but look at the exit rather than at the sail. I can often save a gybe when I'm looking at the exit as I gybe. I can guarantee if I stuff one that I'm not.
Select to expand quoteMaddlad said..
Based on that video, your foot position isn't too bad after your second movement, so i think you need to take your foot out of the back strap, feel for the rail and then lean forward into the gybe while sheeting in. The thing that a lot of people miss is to crouch down in the gybe and pull down on the boom, which keeps mast foot pressure on your board and stops it from stalling due to your weight being towards the back of the board. It also looks like you are shortening the radius of your turn at the end, so you may want to make a nice long carve at speed and as soon as you are downwind, flip the sail and sheet in a little on the other side to power out of the turn. If you are in WA I'd be happy to go for a sail with you to see if i can help more.
Thanks Maddlad. Unfortunately not in Aus otherwise I'd take you up on that.
Sounds like I still have more to work on sheeting in more and getting even further forward? I'll try to broaden the turn a bit as well. Am I waiting too long to step or flip do you think? Select to expand quotesboardcrazy said..aeroegnr said..
Was able to recover one of my better jibes by using an external card reader. It's at the end. My footswitch wasn't terrible but you can see me losing speed.
You can also see the goofiness at the beginning where I accidentally hooked the line adjuster. Where we jibed it was significantly choppier than where we started, and this is typically my "bad side" when jibing (starboard tack entry).
I'm no expert but look at the exit rather than at the sail. I can often save a gybe when I'm looking at the exit as I gybe. I can guarantee if I stuff one that I'm not.
You're correct. And you're right, I was not looking at the exit. I do it almost all the time when on a foil but I think I got fascinated a bit by the waves and everything else. Some of my jibes I was looking through and the others were like this where I was not. I'll have to keep pushing that cue into my head as it falls out apparently.
Select to expand quoteaeroegnr said..
Was able to recover one of my better jibes by using an external card reader. It's at the end. My footswitch wasn't terrible but you can see me losing speed.
You can also see the goofiness at the beginning where I accidentally hooked the line adjuster. Where we jibed it was significantly choppier than where we started, and this is typically my "bad side" when jibing (starboard tack entry).
What's wrong with your sail ?. Are you sailing near a black hole ?
I agree, foot positions look good.
The water looks flat, but I bet it isn't ?
If I'm under done (which you appear to be ??), I make sure I never go up hill when I gybe (so to speak). So, I weave through the chop to make sure I'm going down hill all of the time. If I do happen to hump over a wave/chop, I pump the sail over it to keep on the plane. Once I'm over, I gybe as normal so I get a nice planing exit.
As somebody mentioned above, I think the duck gybing tip is a good one (assuming sail size isn't too big). You might find you duck better, plus give you another angle on things and improve your normal gybes.
Select to expand quotejn1 said..aeroegnr said..
Was able to recover one of my better jibes by using an external card reader. It's at the end. My footswitch wasn't terrible but you can see me losing speed.
You can also see the goofiness at the beginning where I accidentally hooked the line adjuster. Where we jibed it was significantly choppier than where we started, and this is typically my "bad side" when jibing (starboard tack entry).
What's wrong with your sail ?. Are you sailing near a black hole ?
I agree, foot positions look good.
The water looks flat, but I bet it isn't ?
If I'm under done (which you appear to be ??), I make sure I never go up hill when I gybe (so to speak). So, I weave through the chop to make sure I'm going down hill all of the time. If I do happen to hump over a wave/chop, I pump the sail over it to keep on the plane. Once I'm over, I gybe as normal so I get a nice planing exit.
As somebody mentioned above, I think the duck gybing tip is a good one (assuming sail size isn't too big). You might find you duck better, plus give you another angle on things and improve your normal gybes.
Yeah jibing on this side wasn't that flat. You can kind of see the other guy near me bouncing on the chop some. It's even steeper further out but not more than a couple of feet. On the other tack, towards the launch, it is much much flatter but the wind is cleaner the further out you go. A slight shadow where the water is flat. Also I do not have my front leg super straight, but I'm not sure if that's just a bad posture cue from me or if I have something setup off in my gear preventing me from getting in a better state? It was helping absorb some of the chop. The other guy is probably 20lbs lighter than me, on a 7.5, and on an older 111 carve and he was planing through most of his jibes.
Yep, I really want to try duck jibing.
You're right about getting another angle on things. My jibes were really, really bad on fin and my foil jibes were getting better. Now I'm carrying a lot more speed on my foil jibes but falling apart a bit at the end. In higher winds I'm flying out of them switch stance and getting back to regular stance. I would like to be consistent with equipment more but it's not easy with tide and wind direction changing.
But, feeling the apparent wind shift on the foil and also the really easy sail flip when coming back on the new broad reach made me realize something about my fin jibes. For a while I had to focus purely on just carving as hard as I could to get that sorted. Now, I've been working on more forward weight. I think I'm starting to feel more of the rail? I'm not sure, on the foil I don't feel a lot more than the sail so the sail pressure is really obvious. On the fin it's quite a bit more noisy with everything going on.
This is an example of where I was. There are at least two big things wrong with this one, including my rear foot being way to far back and my mast foot also probably too far back. I think I need to keep it forward until I have better control of sheeting in and getting more on my front foot during entry. I hadn't felt the strong lift of the board on my front foot until recently, and after studying a lot of videos. The lesson I took helped sort my preparation for entry a lot but I could use another one. We're coming up on the end of the windy season and it may only be foilable soon.
I think your biggest problem with that gybe is you arent going fast enough to start with. (edit - 1st video)
It might be the wide angle lens distortion, but it looks like you might be hanging down off the boom with bent knees rather than outwards and driving the board with a straighter front leg. Also, in light winds, once you have unhooked, you need to start turning ASAP otherwise you slow down too much. In the gybe, bend the knees and keep your upper body and the mast forward. It looks like you have your body too upright here.
Select to expand quotePhilUK said..
I think your biggest problem with that gybe is you arent going fast enough to start with. (edit - 1st video)
It might be the wide angle lens distortion, but it looks like you might be hanging down off the boom with bent knees rather than outwards and driving the board with a straighter front leg. Also, in light winds, once you have unhooked, you need to start turning ASAP otherwise you slow down too much. In the gybe, bend the knees and keep your upper body and the mast forward. It looks like you have your body too upright here.
I think you're right about not entering fast enough. Wish I had videos of later jibes, as I did some longer broad reaches in flat water and entered sometimes 5-7kts faster. I'll also have to work on my stance as you said. I don't know if I have something setup off in my kit that's keeping me from getting my front leg straight or if it's just bad habit?
Select to expand quoteaeroegnr said..PhilUK said..
I think your biggest problem with that gybe is you arent going fast enough to start with. (edit - 1st video)
It might be the wide angle lens distortion, but it looks like you might be hanging down off the boom with bent knees rather than outwards and driving the board with a straighter front leg. Also, in light winds, once you have unhooked, you need to start turning ASAP otherwise you slow down too much. In the gybe, bend the knees and keep your upper body and the mast forward. It looks like you have your body too upright here.
I think you're right about not entering fast enough. Wish I had videos of later jibes, as I did some longer broad reaches in flat water and entered sometimes 5-7kts faster. I'll also have to work on my stance as you said. I don't know if I have something setup off in my kit that's keeping me from getting my front leg straight or if it's just bad habit?
Think Phil meant that straight front leg is for sailing fast - not the gybe. For me, as mentioned entering with good speed & initiate quickly - right after unhooking & taking your back foot out... don't dally & lose speed. The key to getting your weight forward is not your footstrap or mast foot position but sheeting in & allowing the the sail to pull you into the turn. As you sheet in & straighten your front hand you bend your front knee & drive it forward & into the turn. Also try to keep the rig at arms length out in front of you through the flip to keep the weight forward even during the non powered phase... The forward weighting helps both in over powered turns to keep the rail set, but also when less powered to keep the board flat er & plane through...
Select to expand quotegorgesailor said..
For me, as mentioned entering with good speed & initiate quickly - right after unhooking & taking your back foot out... don't dally & lose speed.
I disagree with the "initiate quickly". My first impression was exactly the opposite - slow things down at the start of the jibe. You want to pick up a few knots as you initiate the carve, and that requires a bit of time. Here is an example:
Speed increased almost 5 knots at the jibe entry when going from a slight upwind angle to about 25 degrees off the wind. That took 6 seconds - typical accelerations are about 1 knot per second, anything more requires a very strong gust.
"Move slow to go fast". You might have heard that from Andy Brandt.
Select to expand quoteboardsurfr said..gorgesailor said..
For me, as mentioned entering with good speed & initiate quickly - right after unhooking & taking your back foot out... don't dally & lose speed.
I disagree with the "initiate quickly". My first impression was exactly the opposite - slow things down at the start of the jibe. You want to pick up a few knots as you initiate the carve, and that requires a bit of time. Here is an example:
.....
"Move slow to go fast". You might have heard that from Andy Brandt.
Not with large sails and boards in light winds. Aeroegnr has an 8m & Blast 145 and isnt doing 30 knots on a reach.
I agree with Sboardcrazy, looking inside the turn makes big difference.
I don't have much experience with big gear (and i am a bad jiber) but looks like you are depowering the sail from the start. If you slide your back hand further back at the boom before unhooking, it will be easier to transfer sails power to board (from back hand to back foot), so you keep more speed mid turn. It may olso solve the sinking tail problem you mentioned because you will keep mast foot pressure mid turn.
Maybe you can think upgrading your board and fin too, it may be time for smaller and lighter board.
Select to expand quoteboardsurfr said..gorgesailor said..
For me, as mentioned entering with good speed & initiate quickly - right after unhooking & taking your back foot out... don't dally & lose speed.
I disagree with the "initiate quickly". My first impression was exactly the opposite - slow things down at the start of the jibe. You want to pick up a few knots as you initiate the carve, and that requires a bit of time. Here is an example:
Speed increased almost 5 knots at the jibe entry when going from a slight upwind angle to about 25 degrees off the wind. That took 6 seconds - typical accelerations are about 1 knot per second, anything more requires a very strong gust.
"Move slow to go fast". You might have heard that from Andy Brandt.
This assumes you are going upwind... think our main point is same... I was pointing out a common mistake is to unhook & take your foot out of the back strap & get ready to turn ... all the while losing speed... If you are already going fast you don't need to gain a bunch of speed just to plane through your gybe....
Select to expand quoteaeroegnr said..Maddlad said..
Based on that video, your foot position isn't too bad after your second movement, so i think you need to take your foot out of the back strap, feel for the rail and then lean forward into the gybe while sheeting in. The thing that a lot of people miss is to crouch down in the gybe and pull down on the boom, which keeps mast foot pressure on your board and stops it from stalling due to your weight being towards the back of the board. It also looks like you are shortening the radius of your turn at the end, so you may want to make a nice long carve at speed and as soon as you are downwind, flip the sail and sheet in a little on the other side to power out of the turn. If you are in WA I'd be happy to go for a sail with you to see if i can help more.
Thanks Maddlad. Unfortunately not in Aus otherwise I'd take you up on that.
Sounds like I still have more to work on sheeting in more and getting even further forward? I'll try to broaden the turn a bit as well. Am I waiting too long to step or flip do you think?
No worries at all. By all means lean forward and sheet in but dont forget to lower your center of gravity and pull down on the boom hard as that will really keep you planing through the curve. Look to flip your sail and step as soon as you are pointing straight downwind so you can use the sail to power you out of the turn as well. Let us know how you go. :)
Select to expand quoteSea Lotus said..
I agree with Sboardcrazy, looking inside the turn makes big difference.
I don't have much experience with big gear (and i am a bad jiber) but looks like you are depowering the sail from the start. If you slide your back hand further back at the boom before unhooking, it will be easier to transfer sails power to board (from back hand to back foot), so you keep more speed mid turn. It may olso solve the sinking tail problem you mentioned because you will keep mast foot pressure mid turn.
Maybe you can think upgrading your board and fin too, it may be time for smaller and lighter board.
I've got a few fins for this board, including the MUF weed slalom I was using and a carbon select pointer style. I just haven't used the pointer recently because of the weed issue. I may try when the wind comes back. My other boards are lighter and smaller but the Blast honestly is the easiest to jibe...Select to expand quoteMaddlad said..aeroegnr said..Maddlad said..
Based on that video, your foot position isn't too bad after your second movement, so i think you need to take your foot out of the back strap, feel for the rail and then lean forward into the gybe while sheeting in. The thing that a lot of people miss is to crouch down in the gybe and pull down on the boom, which keeps mast foot pressure on your board and stops it from stalling due to your weight being towards the back of the board. It also looks like you are shortening the radius of your turn at the end, so you may want to make a nice long carve at speed and as soon as you are downwind, flip the sail and sheet in a little on the other side to power out of the turn. If you are in WA I'd be happy to go for a sail with you to see if i can help more.
Thanks Maddlad. Unfortunately not in Aus otherwise I'd take you up on that.
Sounds like I still have more to work on sheeting in more and getting even further forward? I'll try to broaden the turn a bit as well. Am I waiting too long to step or flip do you think?
No worries at all. By all means lean forward and sheet in but dont forget to lower your center of gravity and pull down on the boom hard as that will really keep you planing through the curve. Look to flip your sail and step as soon as you are pointing straight downwind so you can use the sail to power you out of the turn as well. Let us know how you go. :)
Hopefully I'll get another chance soon. The wind may not cooperate for a bit. Used a 9.5 and a windsup today and went exploring the new spot because it was low tide and not really foilable, and wind waa only 6-8kts.
Planning gybes are like a golf swing. A ****load has to happen in quick succession in order to get a good one. It's too hard to concentrate on everything you have to do. Find the simple triggers that, if done correctly, help make everthing else happen automatically. For me these are:
- speed is you friend, look for a gust
- at the start of the gybe look where you want to go, i.e. look at the clew of your sail, this is where you want to go.
- sheet in hard with your back hand as you initiate the turn, straighten / push with your front arm
- initiate the turn by stepping across the board with your back foot
- move front hand to mast and let go back hand to flip the sail just before heading directly down wind
- switch feet with sail flip, steering the board on a 3/4 reach with your back foot
- hook in harness and feet in your preferred order and sail away on the plane
Some thoughts after a session today.
Was totally skunked yesterday (was prepared to foil but it dropped to 3kts, so just not possible), and today had a similar bump in the afternoon, so I expected to be disappointed otherwise I would've brought a smaller board.
Ended up on the Blast again with a 6.3 freek, had it pretty dialed and was overpowered pretty much the entire time. Unexpected by a lot here, so surprised just about everyone out today.
I did try a carbon upright select 43cm fin for about 2 miles of a 35 mile day. It was just grabbing every single weed it hit and I could not get past 17kts board speed because they would cling to it, so I just switched to the 44cm MUF weed slalom (g10 not carbon) and stayed on it.
I tried to focus hard on getting my hand further back and sheeting in to force my front arm forward. It was helping, but I still think I need to improve on it. I also tried to bear off to pick up speed more before each jibe if I wasn't going to hit a kiter/windsurfer/winger. Good habits regardless of fin or foil. I don't know why I wasn't trying to do this more...
My best alpha is right below. I was trying to bear off more to get some speed before jibing, but on this side it was a bit choppier with swells. It made my stance a bit awkward and when jibing here I was bouncing a lot more and I think a few things came apart, especially where I was stepping with my old front to the back of the board, which upset the carve. I was better than last time, but still some kinks to sort out. I think I could be sheeting in more too.
Here's an example of the other end. I was bearing off pretty deep to get speed before jibing. I think though, because it was shallow, that I was getting slowed up a bit in the weeds down there. It seemed like I was losing speed a lot more than I should. But, there were other guys that were able to pull off planing jibes in this same area. So, I could definitely improve.
Maybe if I was jibing more in the middle of the route I could have had a cleaner spot with less weeds to slow me down? I don't know. I was also working on my stance a bit by forcing my front leg more straight. It seemed to help a lot more and I could also tell when my boom needed to be lower as I couldn't quite get in the groove and felt like I was pulling the sail too far from vertical. Example below.
I don't feel like editing jibe footage tonight but I may end up doing it later.
