- Ideal conditions: 5-7 Beaufort, smooth water
- Ideal material: small & light freeride, freemove or wave sails without camber
- Learning requirements: Glide, Power neck
The main difference to the power jibe is that with the duck jibe, the jibe is already made before the apex and under the outhaul. Due to the early shifting, it is even easier to glide through the manoeuvre than with a power jibe.
Variant: Duck Jibe Handwash
It could hardly be more stylish: the moment of shifting - when the sail is neutral and without pull - can be used to let the new front hand drag casually in the water before reaching for the boom. The basic technique is completely identical to the normal duck jibe, only the curve radius should be a little tighter to allow the body to be even more inboard. As not everyone has arms like an orangutan, this variant works best with small sails (short boom) and freestyle wave or wave boards that are easy to turn. Give it a try!
The most common mistakes with the duck jibe
The mast hits the water
Heads under water, tails in the air". So that your duck jibes don't end up like in the song "All my ducklings", the mast must not hit the water.
If you only hold the outhaul when changing the handle of the duck jibe, don't be surprised if the mast hits the water and you go over the bow (see pictures above). Instead, try to actively and energetically pull the sail upwind by the outhaul. In this way, you increase the distance between the mast and the water and move further forwards with the new back hand on the boom. But even the best technique has its limits: With large freeride sails, which often have a long boom and a widely flared lower leech, duck jibes become increasingly difficult, even for experts. A small, camberless sail (<5.5 square metres) with a short boom is therefore best for practising.
The handle does not go far enough forwards
The centre of the harness lines marks the centre of effort around which the sail rotates during manoeuvres. If you don't manage to reach onto or in front of the centre of effort (right-hand picture), the mast will quickly come off.
The further forwards towards the mast you get when reaching round, the better. Therefore, try to actively pull the outhaul to windward, in the example with your left hand. (left picture).
The right timing for the duck jibe
Even with enough speed and the right grip technique, you may not be able to get back to the front of the boom after skiing.
Focus on physics: the floating sail
Do you regularly tear the sail out of your hand when skiing? Then you most likely have too little speed, because: If the speed of the duck jibe is sufficiently high, the atmospheric (actually blowing) wind (a) and the airstream (b) neutralise each other, so the relative wind in the sail is virtually zero. The result is utilised for skilful shifting - the sail floats neutrally for a short time and appears as light as possible.
At (too) low speed, one of the most common mistakes when learning the duck jibe, the airstream and atmospheric wind are no longer in balance: the airstream is now lower, the atmospheric wind remains high. The result: the sail is torn out of your hand towards the bow.
surf tip: If you tear the sail out of your hand when changing sides, try to enter the turn with more speed to neutralise the sail pull better!
