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Backwinded Tack

The art of a maneuver is learning to add style, variability, tempo, and extensibility. A move is never truly mastered but a work in continuous progress. Ok! You can tack a short board on both sides pretty good. Now let's add some silkiness to the move by drawing the move out by positioning the body early and backwinding into a tack.

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Rider: Royn Bartholdi

Steps

1) Unhook, and bear very slightly off wind with lots of speed.

2) Move forward on the board while remaining sheeted in.

3) Now step the front foot in front of the mast and let go of the back hand while letting the mast tilt downwind a bit.

4) Grab the mast under the boom head with the free hand and transfer your weight to the front foot.

5) Let go of the boom and reach the boom on the other side of the sail.

6) Now step to the other side of the sail and backwind the sail. Grab both hands to the boom.

7) Lean the clew back toward to the tail of the board to keep the board planing.

8) Slowly carve into the wind controlling the rig.

9) As your speed stalls then push out with the clew hand and apply pressure to your front foot so the sail will become vertical.

10) Sheet in with the back hand as the nose of the board points into the eye of the wind.

11) Present the sail to the wind and power up the sail while keeping pressure to the front foot. This is the actual transition.

12) Adjust and sail away smooth rider.

Videos

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This is an example of a backwinded tack on the starboard reach. I am using a 5m sail and 100L freestyle board. The beauty of this tack variation is that you can bear slightly off wind and draw out this transition for a smooth and stylish tack. Kind of like those cool cats in the 1950's who slicked back their hair with Brilcreme. I guess this a tack the Fonz would perform.

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Tips

The beginning of this move, the part where you get to the leeward side of the sail, is an important and thematic skill used for all sorts of tricks. For example, the Cowboy. So, there is a foundational skill being acquired here which will become very beneficial and expedite other moves.