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I had one purpose to my sailing today: Duck Jibe. I was going to try one no matter what. My goal was to get over my fear of trying them. I've tried a few in the past, but they all resulted in spectacular wipeouts that weren't, but could have been, painful.
In the fall of last year I set some goals for myself. By Fall 2002 (roughly November 1st), I wanted to be able to carve jibe, duck jibe, jump and fast tack a shortboard. If I got all that and more, great. My goal was that.
A couple of weeks ago, I realized that I might not make it. I have been half-heartedly trying to jump, and duckers have been unattempted since a few bad attempts made an impression on me. Fast tacks I can do pretty well, but not spectacularly. Carve jibes are pretty good, too, but not spectacular, especially in chop, where I pretty well stink still. My inventory of my goal shocked me and made me realize that I need to be more aggressive.
Thankfully, Mother Wind has cooperated lately, with plenty of wind the last few days (five in a row, in fact). Since I had all this wind, I was able to try a lot of jibes, a lot of jumps and a few tacks. If it's one of those stretches where it blows 20 one day, but nothing for a few days, or I miss a few days, then I tend to just keep trying what I was doing last time. It's not boring for me to go for a great ripping jibe still. After three or four days of them... yes, it started to get routine. I added flavor the last few days by trying more advanced spots like Oleander Point and by slashing and S turning a bunch, which is cool and fun. However, I was avoiding what I really wanted to do, a ducker. The Bay is too rough to expect that I could concentrate on first-time duckers and Grassy Point is so shallow that I feared a big wipeout might mean slamming the bottom and whatever happened to be at that part of the bottom... mud, seaweed, bricks, a gas head, etc. Not fun.
Bird was the only real option, and I headed there today with the purpose of getting over my fear of trying duck jibes. I didn't care if I didn't hit any, and I fully did not expect to hit any. It's okay, I just want to get over that fear. I launched and sailed upwind out of eye sight of the launch. I didn't want the few people on the beach to be critiquing my failure.
My first attempt went pretty much as planned. I was really tentative and by the time I got to the other side of the sail, I had bailed so far back (leaning), that I was out of reach of the sail. It's like stepping into the bucket when a fastball grazes your chin.
This was key, though. I noticed that though I really biffed the jibe, since I was on the other side of the sail, I just fell back and it did me no harm. This was much different from the big high speed tumbles I had done before when the mast hit the water when entering the jibe.
Much pre-credit should also go to Peter Hart. Harty, in a recent Windsurf Magazine (that's the Brit mag, not the US WindsurfING Magazine) article pointed out that you should start the duck jibe at just before downwind. I was doing it too soon before. I also think that all my carve jibe practice helped a lot, too, as I didn't have to worry about the carving or balance, it was almost second nature now. And, the flat water was important. No chop to mow down while trying to figure this new jibe out.
My second jibe attempt I was going for it, no matter what. Nothing, NOTHING!!!, was going to stop me from giving it my all. I didn't care if I broke my ankle and they had to pull carbon splinters from my eye socket, I was going for it. The next thing I knew, I had duck jibed! I had done it. I was sitting nearly still in the water, but I had duck jibed, and a couple of pumps and I was planing away. A thing of beauty to those watching? Likely, no. To me, it was the biggest jump I've ever made windsurfing. Yesterday I wasn't a duck jiber, today I am. I can do a move than many haven't tried or aren't willing to, or don't care about. But I do, and I set a goal, and I can do it.
I went on to hit about 20, both sides, and biffed about that number. The biffs were all "too late" so I didn't have any big wipeouts. I'm sure I'll have some big wipeouts in the future, but I also know that I can do this duck jibe thing and in a lot of ways it's easier than a normal jibe. The mechanics are simple. If you can just time the sail transition, you can do a ducker better than a normal jibe, or it seems that is the case. I know this: I pulled off two fully planing duck jibes within 45 minutes of hitting my first ever. The fully planing ones are such an amazing feeling. The whole thing is just so cool that I know by now that I'm rambling, but I'm just trying to figure out a way to describe it.
My goal is to be a good jumper, jiber, duck jiber and fast tacker. Right now I'm a decent jiber, but the other three need work. With the recent wind, my jumping has improved dramatically, too. Now that I know I can jump, and I know that I can duck, and I have fast tacked before, it's just a matter of repetitions, which I should have plenty of chances for over the next three months.
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