test of slalom kit brings to
the forefront of people’s minds various
suppressed dreams and desires…for
example going at mach-10 on your
windsurf kit head to head with Dave
White and beating him in front of an
adoring crowd…or more likely
hammering into gybes on slalom kit and
pulling off flawless lay down gybes
where you exit with flames coming out of
the back of your board! Whatever your
dream, Jim Collis will offer some simple
technical tips on how to achieve the
latter of these two hedonistic desires;
the slalom or ‘lay down’ gybe.
KIT
The best thing about using slalom kit is that it goes
fast. Combined with the well-known fact that to
produce a good carve gybe you must have plenty of
speed on the entry, things are already looking good
for anyone wanting to improve their gybes when
using slalom kit. The other thing about slalom kit,
which unfortunately puts this first plus point about
speed into your gybes rather in the shade, is that to
really get the most out of a slalom board you must
sail with a lot of power, and generally being ‘on the
edge’ and overpowered is pretty much a ‘must’.
When equated to gybing this can be viewed as a
slight drawback…desperately trying to keep
everything under control so as to produce a smooth
carving arc when it all feels like it wants to take off…
This is where the ‘lay down’ technique for a gybe
comes in useful, or more to the point, comes into its
own.
TECHNIQUE
As most people are aware, the essence to gybing
stems from 3 things - looking in the right place
throughout the turn (Look into the turn, or
downwind, as you go into it and then look out of the
turn, or at the clew of the sail, as you exit),
constantly counterbalancing against the rig with
your body at any given point in the turn (i.e.
wherever the rig is your are not!), and finally
keeping a low body position (knees bent!)
throughout.
Gybing a 100-130 litre freeride board comfortably
powered on a 6m rig can be achieved very easily
without the sailor having to dramatically and
energetically position the rig or themselves.
However, when gybing slalom kit overpowered (or
pretty much any kit overpowered for that matter!),
although the 3 foundation stones for gybing don’t
actually change, there is a bit more input,
commitment and ‘energy’ required from the sailor to
de-power the sail and bring everything under
control during the turn.
This slightly more committed and ‘energetic’
approach manifests itself in the form of pushing the
straight front arm down to the water on the inside of
the turn when the sailor has started carving, whilst
the back hand (which, as with any good gybing
technique, should be positioned well down the
boom) naturally ends up pulling the clew up so that
the boom is pretty much parallel with the water.
This action effectively causes the sail to be oversheeted
and results in the disappearance of the
immense surge of power that is felt as you first bear
away into the turn; a welcome respite from feeling
maxxed out and just what the doctor ordered to
enable the board to be controlled effortlessly in the
carve. As the board is carved through the downwind
position the sailor then opens up the sail as with
any normal gybe, changes where they are looking
to the exit of the turn (or clew of the sail) and starts
the foot change and rig rotation as per normal.
Some critics might argue that this style of gybe is
very different from any other gybe as it breaks with
one of the 3 foundation stones of gybing;
counterbalance. In theory, as the rig is ‘laid’ down
into the inside of the gybe then both sailor and rig
are on the same side of the board – i.e. committed
to the carve – whereas on a normal gybe the sailor
and the rig are constantly opposing each others’
position; as the sailor moves over onto his/her back
foot to increase the carve so the rig is moved across
to the outside of the turn so as to counterbalance
the movement of the sailor (see main pic.).
In actual fact counterbalance is still key for the lay
down gybe. As the sailor lays the rig down into the
inside of the turn and at the same time commits
their weight onto the inside rail for the carve, the rig
is actually fractionally behind the sailor, who in turn
is still looking forwards into the turn and so whose
body is fractionally forwards of the rig. The result is
counterbalance – rig back, body forwards. And then
when the sailor starts to open the rig up in
preparation for the foot change and the rig rotation
so the usual counterbalance kicks in; the rig is
moved to the outside of the turn as the sailor
continues to angulate into the inside of the turn with
their head looking for the exit.
All in all, the key to a lay down gybe is commitment.
Looking into and out of the gybe, counterbalancing
throughout, and keeping low are still absolutely
crucial, but remember…you’re driving a Ferrari now
rather than a Ford Mondeo and so you must tame the
beast’s power and bring the kit under control by over
sheeting the sail during the carve; drop your front
hand down to the water and allow the back hand to
naturally pull the clew up behind you.
All that remains is to get out there and get amongst it!
