Nailed some tacks today, feels great!

[lovethepirk]

Been working hard every session on this move for at least 6 months, some sessions I just freeride, but typically I spend some solid time on tacking attempts. I'm on a 12m inflatable 90% of the time and on a race foil so I'm learning with a challenging setup.

Today, I nailed 4 water touchdown tacks in a row...2 goofy and 2 regular, I'm doing the same amount of attempts on each stance. I was on so stoked when I was hitting them and even getting my back foot in the strap. I did one later completely airborne but it was wobbly as hell and had to loop it to keep going.

2 keys I've learned for myself recently are as follows and I'm interested if others agree....1) As I begin the carve and then place my back foot in the front strap, I need to have my weight as far forward on the board as possible, if I get lazy in this regard, I end up falling ass first into the the water windward. 2) As I begin the carve, I need to have a little toe down pressure to level the board out a little, not a lot, but enough to allow the foil to level itself as my body does the rest.

This is such a fked up move, the sensations I'm getting now, I don't see how you can get without a 1000 attempts, I'm at least on 1000 attempts, maybe 2000 more like it. What a freaking brutal move to learn, but I'm so happy to see some solid progress recently!

I'm falling a lot windward, I'm not sure if this is b/c of a too late redirect, or not getting my weight enough forward on the board as I mentioned in my tip #1. I rarely get worked downwind, I'm always falling backwards and typically when this happens and I go to place my back foot into the back strap my back foot is way too far windward from the board and I'm all fked. It's almost like my body has spun more than the board so my back foot has no where to go but into the water lol

[windmaker]

Went through the same process but strapless, attempting over 50 tacks per session but it was all worth it. I presently have a 90% success rate and what an amazing feeling flying through when you get it all right.
Agree on keeping the weight forward and levelling the board before the foot change ( = key strapless). I would also say one should concentrate on maintaining good speed after the foot change.
Well done on practicing both tacks!

[DukeSilver]

Good job - I'm envious. I'm 12 months into foiling now and can gybe on the fly with ease including flying stance changes. However, I've been procrastinating on learning to do tacks. I want to start with tacking to toe side and 360s, but I really don't know where to begin. The few I've attempted where pathetic really .

[opie]

Pathetic first attempts is exactly the place to start. That's how I got to where I am now, the pathetic 500th attempt.

[stevez]

It took me hundreds of attempts over months to even get around once. Now I complete most of them with touchdowns, and getting through more and more on the foil. For me I only do strapless freeride, so I just tack to toeside and switch feet after, which makes easier.
But still I rate tacks as the hardest thing I've tried to learn in this sport.
My tip: get a little trainer kite and practise on the beach flying the kite above and behind you as you rotate into the wind like you do for a tack, gaining an awareness of where the kite is and how to direct it in this awkward and unintuitive situation. Once you're comfortable doing this, you'll be able to focus more attention on the upwind carve with the board and your body and weight transfer, and the the timing needed to synchronize the movements.

[cglazier]

I am no expert but here are a few things that have helped me..
- be well powered
- go into the tack quite fast
- pull continuously and harder on your back hand than you might think
- absolutely look under your shoulder (to turn your board)
- try to end up balancing on top of your board rather than falling backwards
- you can do a downloop in lighter wind to help pull you through

This is probably the most difficult trick I have learned in kiteboarding, but if feels great to do. I am still struggling with staying up foiling all the way through.. maybe another thousand attempts..
CG

[foilonfoil]

Good job - I'm envious. I'm 12 months into foiling now and can gybe on the fly with ease including flying stance changes. However, I've been procrastinating on learning to do tacks. I want to start with tacking to toe side and 360s, but I really don't know where to begin. The few I've attempted where pathetic really .

You might be in luck... I started tacking a couple of years ago and can now pull off about 75% in both directions with 10% foiling. Buddy started gybing a year ago can can foil gybe in both directions. He just started tacking and seems to be close to where I am today within a month or two. IMO, speed and commitment definitely help in both maneuvers.

[DukeSilver]

Thanks for the advice and inspiration. I will start to work on my tacks tomorrow when I go out. I have a trainer kite so will practice on land with that as well.

[mcfly777]

Congrats, this is a huge accomplishment. Tacking is soooo hard. Everything has to click perfectly. Since I log all my sessions, I looked at how long it took me from starting to foil until the first tack. It took me 111 hours. Since then I have foiled for another 159 hours and still far from perfect, in fact I'm completing ~50% of tacks, and maybe 5-10% are foiling. My biggest difficulty is on exit, I am downlooping for now but it feels like a crutch. Will continue to practice!

[grigorib]

Here’s what I’d say...