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Punching the air

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Created by Trousers > 9 months ago, 7 Feb 2009
Trousers
SA, 565 posts
7 Feb 2009 9:00PM
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I know this is small stuff for you hard units doing push loops, but my girlfriend is unfortunately pretty much unimpressed and i gotta celebrate a little with people who might just understand what it meant to me.

I made it my mission to get a duck gybe out this summer and today, I nailed it. I had been giving them a go here and there through the summer, and just faltering on the exit. I knew that I hadn't been getting the sail back to upright aggressively enough, so I'd been thinking hard about it, and determined to pull hard on my next one.

A pretty ordinary nor-wester today and not a lot of planing gybes, but at one moment i found myself quite off the the wind and powered up. Banking hard into the turn I fed the sail forward, got my leading hand on the last part of the boom and hauled it hard. The sail came right back to me and I grabbed it in the sailing position, still leaning hard into the turn. I can't even recall the foot change, but somewhere it happened and there I was, planing out with the biggest grin imaginable on my dial.

That grin will be on my face for days.

Richiefish
QLD, 5612 posts
7 Feb 2009 8:40PM
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Qwack !!! good one !!!

NotWal
QLD, 7436 posts
7 Feb 2009 8:59PM
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Woo hoo. Trousers are not pants.

Haircut
QLD, 6491 posts
7 Feb 2009 9:10PM
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yeahmannn!! i remember being more excited to pull off my first duck gybe than any other trick i've learn since...true

i think it's because oldschool windsurfers from the early 1980s like my dad were always so impressed by them (or just gybing in general), so i think it's embedded in the brain from the early days

sharkbiscuit
820 posts
7 Feb 2009 8:37PM
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Congrats :).. that will be in a few years time for me I think :)

lalalamort
NSW, 160 posts
8 Feb 2009 12:57PM
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Haircut said...

yeahmannn!! i remember being more excited to pull off my first duck gybe than any other trick i've learn since...true

i think it's because oldschool windsurfers from the early 1980s like my dad were always so impressed by them (or just gybing in general), so i think it's embedded in the brain from the early days



Really? Its easy to duck gybe on an old school board, i could do it within a few weejs of sailing....obviously this is not a planing duck gybe

Trousers
SA, 565 posts
8 Feb 2009 1:00PM
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Thanks for the kind words peoples! I will now work on consistency, but next stop, heli-tack...

by the way, the duck seemed to be a very powerful way to exit the gybe - I came out at great speed. I'm guessing this comes down to two factors;

1. You throw the sail forward which weights the nose, maintaining board speed
2. Early rig flip gets you a powered up sail on a broad reach exit

I guess slalom sailors don't use it on account of this move becoming increasingly difficult with large and heavy sails, but it seems a very efficient way to turn and come out screaming.

Wet Willy
TAS, 2317 posts
8 Feb 2009 2:36PM
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Trousers said...

...
I guess slalom sailors don't use it on account of this move becoming increasingly difficult with large and heavy sails, but it seems a very efficient way to turn and come out screaming.



Hey, well done!!

There's a local guy who regularly does them (planing) with a 10.5m sail and formula board...the b@$t@rd. Looks awkward though - he has to lean right back to avoid getting swiped off by the sail.



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