To jibe in the light wind you need to adopt a technique that will prevent you from being slowed down by the wing in front of you. Indeed, jibes in light wind are quite complex because the wing is no longer carried by the wind. The wing does not fly in front of you, you will catch up with it and it will interfere with your maneuver. Let’s see in this “how to” how to avoid this problem.
First, you need to master the basic jibe on both sides before incorporating technical intricacies such as those needed for jibing in light winds.
Starting your curve
As shown in the video below, let go of your back hand after starting your curve. Once this hand is released, instead of leaving the wing in front of you, you will lower your front hand by pulling it behind you. Leaving the wing behind will not interfere with your turn.
Bringing the wing
To complete your turn, bring your front hand back in front of you. Bringing the wing back in front of you will throw it back into the wind and therefore give it a little more power which will make you accelerate slightly. When the wing is back to be positioned in front of you, all you have to do is change your hands like a classic jibe.
This mouvement of the wing from rear to front is a key point to recharge it.
Tighten the curve
Do not forget to tighten the curve, especially the second portion, to use the gain in lift of the foil during the stress of the curve. Be careful not to overdo it to the point of ventilating it. Ideally help yourself with a bump 😉
Prepare to relaunch by energetic pumping of the legs on the foil in case of too much loss of speed, then pumping on the wing if needed.
First, you need to master the basic jibe on both sides before incorporating technical intricacies such as those needed for jibing in light winds.
