Bottom Turn

Wave riding involves having an intuitive sense of the wind and waves, accompanied by the necessary skills and timing to ride the wave well. One of those skills is learning to turn in front of the wave -- called the BOTTOM-TURN -- so you can seamlessly ride back up the wave to it's peak (the lip) where a great deal of the fun happens. The BOTTOM turn, although resembles a Lay-Down-Jibe, is not. The sail is brought more forward and your weight is more over the front rails of the board with your arms extended. Do not underestimate the importance of this skill in wave riding. Like the stroke to a golfer or swimmer, you will be spending a lifetime improving it and never quite feel the skill is complete.height="188" width="250" src="pix/wave/bturn/wavebturn.jpg" vspace="1" hspace="20" alt="Aerial Off the Lip" align="left">You may initially be afraid of the wave while looking up at a wall of water that is about to crash. Even a head high wave may be intimidating to the newbie. Mentally, you may need to adopt a sense of timing and summon some courage to charge the wave. Your dimensionality of up, down, speed, and movement will change as you become connected to waves. Remember you are moving as the wave is moving. Speed is your friend for if you are traveling very fast relative to the speed of the wave, the wave, relatively, begins to slow down and you have more options and better movement. Otherwise the wave will be smacking you instead of you smacking the wave. Knowing how far to go out in front of the wave, at what angle to go back at the wave, and where to ride up the wave comes with experience and making mistakes. So start on the small stuff to learn the skills. Take some risks and extend yourself so you become better. When the wave is steep the chance of pearling the board increases so head down the wave at an angle to keep your speed up and reduce the apparent angle of the wave. Also, this will keep you from getting too far in front of the wave, slowing down, and being crunched by the wave. When the wind is light it is harder to catch the wave so you will need to adopt a more surfer style of wave sailing and catch the wave when it is steep and closer to shore. When the wind is strong you can catch it further out. The key is to start off with shallow turns and develop a sense of rhythm in your sailing. Your moves will fall into synchronization with the movements of the wave and over time your personal style will evolve. Really focus on being loose and relaxed but quick and aggressive. Many sailors over look the white water and consider not worthy of being sailed. But take notice, because this too, can be a source of fun. Be ready for some punches though as your hit the white water. Remember to see the entire environment as you play ground and not just certain parts... the inside, the white water... the transitions...I am amazed at how many professional sailors will be out on small days slicing it up on small waves -- milking every once of fun. I see the ocean and waves as a living thing. A gift!