Matt Pritchard is a windsurfing legend who now spends much of his time inspiring and coaching more windsurfers in Maui. Now Matt has shared the best gybing advice he’s ever heard… from none other than Maui based Irishman Neil Turpin. This is gold! Check out more news and advice from the Pritchard brothers right here.
Another year gone bye…… what a great one it was! Now it is time for those resolutions, what’s it gonna be for you? A lot of people want to master their jibes, so start thinking about that now!!! Even if you are in the snow, you can visualize and walk yourself through them in the living room. Here is a video of Leo getting learning some tricks on Maui.
My buddy Neil who is an instructor down at Vela Baja has a great story that he tells to jibers….. It goes a little something like this-
“Imagine that you are approaching a small town (Jibeville) by car. You have been on a major highway going as fast as you wanted- In this town there is a rule that says you cannot leave your engine running. There are signs posted outside the city limits warning you of this rule- you have plenty of time to prepare for it. You are able to coast through the town as fast as you want but no engine noise is permitted. The road is on a slight uphill and the distance your engine has to be shut off for is about ½ a mile. If you do not make it through the town by coasting, you have to pay a fine of $10,000. You are not allowed to push your car or have it towed. As soon as you stop, you are instantly subject to pay the fine or spend life in prison! Ouch.”
The moral of the story is that in order to make a great jibe, you have to have speed. Speed is what gives you the freedom to “COAST” through the transition zone of the jibe (also know as the town Jibeville).
As you “COAST” through Jibeville, this is the time to make your move and transition your feet and flip your sail. If you have your speed, you have stability and can easily maneuver the sail to the new position to head on out of town. If you slow down and stop “COASTING” flipping that sail and changing your feet is going to be a lot more difficult- Chances are you are going to be subject to a $10,000 fine…..So keep your knees bent, your ankles bent and your arms LONG!!! Don’t pull in and back on your arms!!! This causes your legs to straighten up and the game will soon be over!
The time is now to start thinking about speed into your turns. Hopefully the little story above gives you a better understanding of our goals. Obviously the flatter and smoother the water, the easier it is going to be. The windier and choppier the water, the more you have to bend your knees and be ready for a bumpy road. Speed is still your friend in all cases, in fact it is more key the windier it gets. Stay low and look where you want to go!
See you on the water in 2015!!! Happy New Year
