Technique - Top Tips

Take your wave sailing to the next level with these taka top tips

If you are comfortable with your top and bottom turns and starting to wonder about what to learn next then the taka could be the perfect move for you. We caught up with a couple of the world’s best sailors to find out their top tips for rotating through your first takas. Find out how to crack the taka below:

Adam Lewis (Fanatic / North):

“It’s important to have your bottom turn sorted before starting to think about takas as you need to carry as much speed as possible round into the top turn part of the taka. The faster you go into it the easier it is to release the fins. Aim to come back as far as possible towards the wave, this loads the clew up with loads of power, which is what you want to send you into the rotation. As you for the top turn it’s really important that you bring slide your back hand up to the harness line, this allows the clew to unload and pull you into the rotation. Once you are sliding backwards, keep your backhand sheeted in and finish just like an upwind 360.”

Graham Ezzy (Quatro / Ezzy):

“I really love the taka as a move, and I’ve been doing them for a long time. Over that time, I’ve gone through many different styles of takas– from white water slides to full air takas. On my 16th birthday, I broke my leg trying to invent a new way of doing air takas. It obviously didn’t work! Shortly after, I came up with the carving taka which is a lot like a surfing reverse. I invented it at Hookipa on a twin fin. Before the carving taka, takas were limited to small waves and onshore conditions, and no one seemed able to do them consistently in down-the-line conditions or at all on big waves.”

“I’ve got one simple mental trick that I use to help make takas now. I try to forget about the sail and only focus on the board. The most common mistake I make– and I think most other people– is forcing the sail too much and getting backwinded. I just think of rotating the board and letting the sail follow. And to do that, I think about doing an extra hard off-the-lip while staying forward on the board. Oh, also, don’t think about the flaka because that only screws up the rotation for the wave!”

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