PLANING TACKS

Following on from the planing duck gybe tips from June, we examine how to unlock the polar opposite the planing tack.

- Jem Hall

Firstly, let's discuss why you even need the planing tack to begin with because on paper it probably fee ls less important, and less fun, than learning to gybe. However, the planing tack will assist you greatly on your pathway to nailing a planing carve gybe, which will be the last feature in this series.

The skills you will build while learning planing tacks will massively help you to plane out of your gybes. Yet I hear you say, "planing out of a tack is impossible!". In reality, we are looking to plane into the tack, rather than all the way through it, by carving smoothly towards the wind, but once we are at the exit we are looking to get back on the plane as quickly as possible. For simplicity I will breakdown the planing tack into a who, what, why, where, when and how format:

WHO?

This move is for anyone who is already pulling off a few tacks, but also looking to take their tacking game to the next level, primarily by entering tacks with more speed! Ideally, you are also progressing, or already competent, at getting planing from the footstraps. As opposed the old school way of planing in the harness and then getting into the straps. The better you are at quickly planing out of a tack, the quicker you will be at cracking the planing carve gybe.. ah, now I properly have your attention!

You can get more info on the basics of the tack in a previous piece from July '23, and my light wind transitions piece. You should also recap from the June '21, "Tack Attack," which will give you a great overview on the move.

WHAT?

The planing tack is an upwind transition, during which you unhook and crucially aim to keep your speed upon entry, (think about gybes here), then carve towards the wind smoothly, move those feet fast, steer out quickly and then get straight into the front strap after steering and look to get planing as quickly as possible from here.

WHY?