I've had second big 'off' in a month while gybing - both at the same large lake sailing location in waist deep water, with (occasionally very evil) steeply stacked close-period freshwater chop/lake swell, up to ~50-80cm in size.
The first crash temporarily dislocated my jaw when the nose of the board submarined into some steep chop at high speed during a very committed very powered up gybe resulting in a catapult that gave me concussion for two weeks, and I fear yesterday evening's crash, when the board went total yard-sale as it launched off chop mid-gybe very powered up at high speed, may now have resulted in a broken foot (waiting on x-ray!).
Clearly I must be doing something wrong - relative to the conditions.
I've done 1000s of successful gybes at this particular location, but in the last few months I've been working on a semi-laydown style gybe - straight front arm, sheet in, 'see' the nose of the board, carve, foot change, rig flip, exit. This kind of gybe is brilliant at maintaining mast foot pressure and driving the board through this nasty chop and maintaining speed BUT I suspect the power factor combined with the conditions, means that when it does go wrong, it goes massively wrong with a big bang. I actually thought the problem with the first crash was that I wasn't committing to the gybe enough, but I think I've nixed that idea now.
Previously I used a more 'open sail' gybe technique here, keeping the rig in front of me and bouncing over the evil chop, but was told sheeting in and laying it down was better 
It certainly looks cooler, haha...
Any tips or advice, or should I just lay off the committed semi-laydowns at this particular location. Boards are Tabou Rocket Plus 113 with GA Cosmic 8.3 in ~16-18 kts wind (foot damage) and Tabou 3s 107 with GA Hybrid 6.4 in ~22-25 kts wind (concussion).
You might be like the rest of us getting too old to do crazy sheet .slow down take your time .I've only broken my neck windsurfing .
I think I am wiser now .enjoy the ride, repair ...
and get back out there .
I haven't had any issues with windsurfing (tough wood), but with windfoiling I've had some massive crashes... I've since invested in one of these harness release hooks, it's helped send me away from the gear when crashing
What kit are you on? Gybe to the conditions. Ripping big lay down & spraying a wall of water can't be done everytime, choose you gybe style each time and live to flip & plane out fast.
Select to expand quoteRolz said..
I haven't had any issues with windsurfing (tough wood), but with windfoiling I've had some massive crashes... I've since invested in one of these harness release hooks, it's helped send me away from the gear when crashing
I suspect the person posting is already unclipped from the harness when gybing ;-) so this might not help in this situation.
Select to expand quoteAoetearoaSailor said..
I've had second big 'off' in a month while gybing - both at the same large lake sailing location in waist deep water, with (occasionally very evil) steeply stacked close-period freshwater chop/lake swell, up to ~50-80cm in size.
The first crash temporarily dislocated my jaw when the nose of the board submarined into some steep chop at high speed during a very committed very powered up gybe resulting in a catapult that gave me concussion for two weeks, and I fear yesterday evening's crash, when the board went total yard-sale as it launched off chop mid-gybe very powered up at high speed, may now have resulted in a broken foot (waiting on x-ray!).
Clearly I must be doing something wrong - relative to the conditions.
I've done 1000s of successful gybes at this particular location, but in the last few months I've been working on a semi-laydown style gybe - straight front arm, sheet in, 'see' the nose of the board, carve, foot change, rig flip, exit. This kind of gybe is brilliant at maintaining mast foot pressure and driving the board through this nasty chop and maintaining speed BUT I suspect the power factor combined with the conditions, means that when it does go wrong, it goes massively wrong with a big bang. I actually thought the problem with the first crash was that I wasn't committing to the gybe enough, but I think I've nixed that idea now.
Previously I used a more 'open sail' gybe technique here, keeping the rig in front of me and bouncing over the evil chop, but was told sheeting in and laying it down was better It certainly looks cooler, haha...
Any tips or advice, or should I just lay off the committed semi-laydowns at this particular location. Boards are Tabou Rocket Plus 113 with GA Cosmic 8.3 in ~16-18 kts wind (foot damage) and Tabou 3s 107 with GA Hybrid 6.4 in ~22-25 kts wind (concussion).
If you're crashing that heavily in waist-deep water I'd quit before you stuck your head into the sand and broke your neck. As others say, the lay down may simply not be the right choice for such conditions.
If you're doing it for racing then that's maybe that's the sort of conditions where the emphasis should be on just getting around fairly quickly even if it involves sheeting out, while maintaining mast foot pressure byt bringing the inside foot forward and sort of leading the upper body with the front shoulder. But I haven't done slalom racing ih a million years so take this all with a few pinches of salt.
Thanks guys for the replies. I think I will need to take this on board and at 48 years young moderate my approach for the future. Crashing hard in waist/chest deep water is definitely not such a great idea to repeat too often. I had assumed semi-laydown gybes were the one solution to fix all gybing problems particularly in technical conditions, but it seems not. Reviewing my gps track, it looks as though I suddenly got launched 90 degrees to the right, mid-gybe at around 40 kph, which would explain the impact and foot injury. It appears that my foot might not be broken, just very sprained and sore, which is a bonus!
Select to expand quoteAoetearoaSailor said..
I've had second big 'off' in a month while gybing - both at the same large lake sailing location in waist deep water, with (occasionally very evil) steeply stacked close-period freshwater chop/lake swell, up to ~50-80cm in size.
The first crash temporarily dislocated my jaw when the nose of the board submarined into some steep chop at high speed during a very committed very powered up gybe resulting in a catapult that gave me concussion for two weeks, and I fear yesterday evening's crash, when the board went total yard-sale as it launched off chop mid-gybe very powered up at high speed, may now have resulted in a broken foot (waiting on x-ray!).
Clearly I must be doing something wrong - relative to the conditions.
I've done 1000s of successful gybes at this particular location, but in the last few months I've been working on a semi-laydown style gybe - straight front arm, sheet in, 'see' the nose of the board, carve, foot change, rig flip, exit. This kind of gybe is brilliant at maintaining mast foot pressure and driving the board through this nasty chop and maintaining speed BUT I suspect the power factor combined with the conditions, means that when it does go wrong, it goes massively wrong with a big bang. I actually thought the problem with the first crash was that I wasn't committing to the gybe enough, but I think I've nixed that idea now.
Previously I used a more 'open sail' gybe technique here, keeping the rig in front of me and bouncing over the evil chop, but was told sheeting in and laying it down was better It certainly looks cooler, haha...
Any tips or advice, or should I just lay off the committed semi-laydowns at this particular location. Boards are Tabou Rocket Plus 113 with GA Cosmic 8.3 in ~16-18 kts wind (foot damage) and Tabou 3s 107 with GA Hybrid 6.4 in ~22-25 kts wind (concussion).
I used to try and do planing gybes in chop. Now I'm older I play it safe and do non planing ones.. I save my planing ones for flatwater.
If the old way worked , stick to it..
Select to expand quoteTardy said..
You might be like the rest of us getting too old to do crazy sheet .slow down take your time .I've only broken my neck windsurfing .
I think I am wiser now .enjoy the ride, repair ... and get back out there .
+1 ( not the broken neck though..
).
I usually rig for speed in chop . I like to try and get good speeds ( for me ) doing bear aways. Usually my gybes are average . I'm happy if they are dry.
I usually use a 7.2m twin cam on a 112ltre ( 64 wide) or 90 ltre ( 57 wide) in patchy 12-18kts wind in lake chop. ( weigh c 68gs with camelback etc)
Last sail I decided to take it easy and rigged the 6.5m twin cam on the 112 and a few runs with the 90 ltre.
Yes I wasn't as fast , I was off the plane more , but I got more of my gybes, and it was nice and cruisy in the gusts.
I'm usually hanging on for grim death.
