A tack is where you turn the nose of your board upwind, and around in the new direction.
The tack looks pretty simple, but there are many subtleties to this trick.
So we’ll start with an overview of the tack, and then look at some aspects in more detail.
First, steer the kite back slowly.
Next, carve the board hard upwind.
As the kite reaches 12, you flick the board around.
Then lift your feet and place them in the new position.
Finally, dive the kite in the new direction, while pointing the board downwind.
Let’s review those steps with a right to left transition
Steer back slowly.
Carve.
Flick the board.
Swap your feet.
Dive the kite in the new direction.
Let’s look in more detail at the footwork used during the tack.
The initial carve upwind must be sharp and it should cause you to loose crosswind speed.
So you need to lean your weight back significantly.
When you’ve lost your crosswind speed, it’s time to flick the board and swap your feet.
This happens just after the kite crosses 12 where it will support your weight.
First, you kick away hard with your back leg. This firm kick pushes the tail away.
Then, you tuck in the front leg to drag the nose over using your toes.
While dragging the board around, you then lift the old back foot, and move it to the
front of the board.
You then place the new back foot.
The board flick must be done with some force.
This makes sure that the board rotates fully, and it forces your body to turn to face new
direction.
If you don’t flick the board firmly, either the board won’t rotate, or your body won’t
turn to face the new direction.
You press down hard with the back foot and pull across quickly with the front.
Be careful to not press down with the front foot, as this will sink the nose, and make
it harder to rotate the board.
Keep practising until you can flick the board around quickly – even if you’re failing
in some other aspect.
Each stage of the tack has a corresponding to kite position.
The carve upwind must happen before the kite reaches 12.
As the kite crosses 12, that’s when you must flick the board and lift your feet.
Then the kite should have just passed 12 as you replace your feet on the board.
It is essential that the kite is crossing 12 during the flick and swap.
Here, for example, the kiter attempts the flick before the kite reaches 12.
So the kite drags them away from the board in original direction.
Here the kiter tries the flick after the kite passes 12.
So the kite drags them away from the board in the new direction.
In this next example, the kite is simply steered up too quickly, lofting the kiter.
During the tack, you must also manage the power from the kite using your bar position.
While carving the board sharply upwind, you need to depower to fully apply your weight
on the board.
Then, when the kite hits 12 and you slow down, the bar needs to be pulled in enough to support
your weight, during the flick and footswap.
As you replace your feet on the board, you need to depower a bit to drop on the board
and get your feet planted.
You then pull in the bar again, to dive the kite quickly and regain speed.
It’s very easy to make mistakes with bar pressure.
Here, for example, the kiter pulls in the bar too much during the initial carve.
This means they are unable to lean back and edge, so they keep too much crosswind speed.
Let’s finish with a run through of the whole trick in slow motion.
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