PHIL SOLTYSIAK
The most important ingredients for ‘pop’ are speed and power in your sail. On flat water make sure you are really lit up. If everybody is using 4.0m, then take a 4.5m! Then sail as fast as you can. For freestyle tricks, if you are doing the ducking ones, it is a matter of angle too. If you are going across the wind or a bit upwind then you get more power in your sail versus going downwind. Push the board hard into the water and lift it up as high as you can with your legs. You have to be explosive. If you can time the ‘pop’ with your legs, front leg pushing the board down, back leg pushing the board down then front leg lifting the board up and back leg lifting the board up, and also use your sail, then you are ready to be explosive. If you can time this, all the forces will be going your way and you will fly. Just for a chop hop it’s speed and power, once you have taken off then you expose the bottom of the board to the wind to get more lift from that air you have under your feet!
“ Make sure you are really lit up. ”