Racing jibe

The racing jibe is a variation of the basic normal to toeside jibe. The advantages of racing jibes are that it is easy to learn, smooth and above all very efficient. You come out with more speed than when entering the turn and in light wind conditions it allows you not to have the wing slowing you down because the racing jibe keeps you from catching the wing up.

 

 

 

First of all, if you want to start racing jibes you must already master basic jibes and toeside flight. Once you are comfortable with these two points, you can start to tackle racing jibes.

Start your turn

First, you will have to start your turn by bearing off like a normal jibe. However, you will need to let the tip of the lower ear of the wing slightly touch the water. Letting the wing touch the water will act as a pivot point.

Be careful, don’t let the whole wing sink into the water either, otherwise you risk losing speed and failing the maneuver. Also pay attention to the speed you are flying to. You could accelerate very quickly and get ripped off.

This is why I advise you to start with a long curve. The acceleration will be less violent and you will have more time to maneuver. As you progress, you will tighten the curve and take less time to jibe.

   

The wing

Once your wing has touched the water and you have started your curve, you will need to lower your front hand and pull the back hand up a bit. At this point your wing will tilt down slightly but don’t worry, that’s normal. The central strut should be vertical.

Next you’re going to go backwind. At this point, you will let go of your back hand and at the same time push in the front hand. Pushing in this hand will move the wing to the other side of your body and return it to the normal position. Now all you have to do is take the front handle back with the hand you let go of earlier. And let go of the front hand to get the rear handle. So you end up in the toeside position.   That’s it, you’ve done your first racing jibe! Now you just have to do lots of them in a row for the movement to be fully automatic.     Malo Guénolé