I don't gybe my surfboard.. coming from a surfing background i find it a lot easier to ride toe side than riding goofy.. I am yet to find any problems with it because it suits most the breaks where i am from.. But come winter and the winds change direction i will be heading out through the breaks of much larger swells on my toe side.. is this unusual or going to be a problem.. anyone else out there never gybe??

gybeing is a must and the hard yards is not that hard

Most guys I know who are long time surfers rarely gybe, and don't seem to have any trouble getting out through big swell on their toeside. However they all seem to have grown one leg bigger than the other, so most other mortals have to learn to gybe.

Enough of that, what's this about winter coming and kiting in bigger swells? You have my intererst! Do you mean Birubi, or do you have another special westerly surf place in mind?

Used to gybe "back in the day windsurfing" plan to get reaquainted with the mystical art of gybing. Mostly to limit the time in the water looking like shark bait! So Milko I would do the time to gybe otherwise "Bruce" our resident pointer might not be able to resist having a nibble.

Thanks brucex.. that's just what i wanted to hear.. and yes nerk i do mean birubi.. i was out there on Thursday in that westerly and had no problems at all getting through the swell but did have a bit of trouble loading to jump the closeouts so i would just reef the kite and get out of there but staying natural footed the whole time.. its not that i cant ride goofy(i have done my time on a twin tip) i just feel much more comfortable toe side.. so what happens for example when you chasing a wave in on your unnatural stance and the wave peaks up to the point where you can depower the kite and just ride the wave .. do you have to shuffle around quickly to be back on your natural stance.. i guess ONLY A SURFER KNOWS THE FEELING..you spend your whole life facing one way on a board and then try to reprogram yourself to go the other way..its just good to know there's others out there who feel the same..

Gybe,A allround sailing term for a 180 turn. A bit out dated when you think about it.

I think the tackers win

and the way the wind is going it's about time for a decent argument

loco4olas said...

Voted most likely topic to start an argument about the pros and cons of riding toeside, or switching stance!

Where's Waveslave?

A gybe is a downwind turn.
A turn where the wind is blowing on your back as you change your direction of travel.
So even if you never shuffle your feet when turning (straps or no straps).....
you will still be doing gybes,
unless you are doing tacks.
lol.
The crew who ride twisted-bowel stance have one thigh more developed than the other.....
like the muscles on a pro-tennis player's service arm.
For a sport like kitesurfing that offers the rider perfect equilibrium,
the biased crew choose the lop-sided approach,
where balance of body and mind and balance in technique is ignored,
due to a crutch-like preference for one-stance only.
But that's cool, there are no rules.
Of course, you don't need to be locked into this bias.
It's only a mental trap, you just need to find the key.

And keep practising Loco, one day you'll be able to ride frontside bearaway on any wave....
regardless of whether it's a righthander or a lefty.

I only switch stance if strapless, and rarely even then, like Gorgo if I need to get past a reef or something to get out. Go the "twisted-bowel stance".