Carving Tack

Grabs

MOVE: The Carving Tack

RIDER: Sky Solbach

PHOTOS: Toby Bromwich

Sky Solbach demonstrating some fast feet in this delicate manoeuvre that sees him tacking his surfboard up through the wind rather than carving downwind and losing ground. If you want to get upwind as quickly as possible, this is the way to do it

Find a smooth patch of water to initiate your tack. Place your back foot just in front of the back foot strap and make sure your front foot is resting loosely in the front foot strap so it will be easy to take out.

Carve hard into the wind as you slowly swing your kite up towards the zenith.

Continue to carve into the wind and press hard on your back foot. The key at this point is to try and get the nose of the board pointed as far around on to your new tack as possible. Keep leaning backwards against the kite.

As the kite passes over your head, continue pulling it slowly towards your new tack. If you stop pulling the kite at this point you will lose momentum, and if you swing the kite too fast you will fly away from the board. The idea here is to time it so the kite gives you just enough lift to make your body momentarily weightless.

Now comes the point where you switch your feet. As your front foot leaves the foot strap and you become weightless, you can give your board one last little kick with the front foot to make sure it continues in the direction you are travelling.

Now all you have to do is make your old back foot your new front foot. Here, my front foot lands right in the front strap but as long as it lands in this general area you'll be OK.

Keep the kite moving to help maintain stability and stay light on your feet as you try to get them in the right position on your board. Notice how I keep my weight centred over the board until I'm ready to dive the kite for more drive.

Focus on your new direction and swing the kite forward hard to build good speed onto your new tack. This will give you more stability and let you move your feet to where they need to be.