Toe side Tack basics

[windmaker]

A basic explanation on how to complete a toe side tack while kite foiling.

[dkazhdan]

makes it look so easy, i've been struggling with this move for a while
the topic title is fair though, very basic set of instructions, thanks for posting.

[Peter_Frank]

Nice, I can not do this, no matter how basic, as my old body is not made for this.

I see many having their bar high over their head, and leaning up against the lines (in line with the lines so to speak).

Looks right, just not my thing, I prefer to lean back (wrongly i know) as it is intuitive for me

So sticking to the core soul moves instead, in every discipline

Peter

[rnelias]

A basic explanation on how to complete a toe side tack while kite foiling.
[...]

It seems so simple for those that already know

I can do gybes and foot switches (all 4 possible switches) but still have to unlock my brain for backwards rotations on foil.

I'm assuming it would be good some kite drills on the beach first...

[leeuwen]

Progression.me has a nice video about this move as well.
It really helps if you “twist” the bar around in the beginning as he describes.

Oddly enough I was able to consistently do this one before my regular heel side tacks.
I think it is because you simply cannot get into the tack until the kite is in the right position.

[windmaker]

Nice, I can not do this, no matter how basic, as my old body is not made for this.

I just turned 60 so no excuses

I see many having their bar high over their head, and leaning up against the lines (in line with the lines so to speak).

Exactly. In this video the wind was light, never above 12 knots with 7m kite , it cant be seen but it was necessary to loop the kite to keep momentum. With stronger wind (or bigger kite...) you need to depower all the way and lean hard on to the lines and no kite loop required.

Looks right, just not my thing, I prefer to lean back (wrongly i know) as it is intuitive for me

So sticking to the core soul moves instead, in every discipline

Peter

[Herman]

Wish I had seen this video a few years back. The words are as wonderful as the video. Took me ages to realise that if you are going in toeside you don’t want to look at the kite. As already said a critical key is that you can’t really start carving until the kite is at Z. Once you use this as a timing datum things might fall into place?

Just drift the kite up to Z, then once the LINES POINT STRAIGHT UP (you can feel this and see your center line): turn the wrist and pull progressively a little harder while carving through the wind. (Look for the kite after getting through the wind!)

If you don’t pull a little harder after Z the kite will tend to drift down the edge of the window without power, pull too hard and the kite will go into a loop and you are off down wind. But in any case, may be better with a loop in light wind. Also pulling harder too soon will kill the speed for the carve.

This is really me just coaching me, but it might gel with somebody else struggling with this. Look at your lines to know where the kite is, and using the straight up point as the cue to start the rest of the process, having this dictate the timing might just free the mind to concentrate on the rest of the difficult board control skills needed and made to look so easy in the vid………..imho

[Kamikuza]

I've had about 50 attempts at this, so far averaging 1 in 12 perfect transition on the foil, about a dozen splashing down or sinking but getting around... still a bit of a mystery as to why it works and why it doesn't.

Going to focus on the zenith point next time we get some wind...

[leeuwen]

Yeah, doing it without any touching down is a bit harder.
You are probably losing speed/power?

I *guess* you are doing the move to slowly.
In the ideal situation you keep movement in the kite when going over 12 and you “follow” the kite closely with the board.
Of course the timing/steering all changes based on the conditions and in lower kite power situations you will need to loop the kite (once you passed upwind with the board) to get enough power.
Usually it will be easier to do when you are plenty powered with a kite that provides some lift.

[rnelias]

Let us talk about the crashes. How are they?

Watching Rob's video it seems crashes are usually close to the foil and chances to hit mast and wings are high.

I remember, when was learning hydrofoil, that I've developed a safer way to crash and keep the board far from me.