Switch Stance

In the sport of windsurfing, sailing Switch-Stance means you are sailing with your feet in the footstraps but on the leeward side of the board.  In other words, your feet are on the wrong side of the board.   The functional significance of this technique is the ability turn rail to rail in swell or waves without getting out of the footstraps.   Besides this, Switch-Stance is a method used by advanced sailor to tweek a standard move much like maneuvers that are performed Clew-First.   Switch Stance variations have become very popular since about 2000.

Since almost all maneuvers can be performed in Switch-Stance I have included them in their respective categories.  However, I also created a category exclusively named Switch-Stance to illustrate some fundamental Switch sailing.   Firstly, getting into Switch can be accomplished in two ways.   Jibing into Switch Stance, called Transition #1, and performing the feet switch while sailing, called Transition #2.

The fundamental Switch maneuvers are the Cut Back, Jump Jibe, Jump Slide, and Duck Jibe.