LAY LINE
KK “That is usually a term used in course racing. It’s the line after you have turned where you can head straight to the next mark. If you can’t stick to your lay line then you will miss your mark.”
FM “It’s a bit more of a course racing term. It’s the place where you tack where you can make the upwind mark. It is the actual line to the mark, that is the lay line! The imaginary line between you and the buoy. In slalom you can say that the lay line is the line you are taking towards the mark.”
BVDS “It’s the line you take to go to the mark!”
WIND SHIFT
KK “The wind is rarely 100% stable, it often shifts a few degrees in either direction and it is something that needs to be taken into account when you are racing. It could make the first mark really downwind, so maybe it is better to start at the pin end. It is something you can use to your advantage or disadvantage.”
FM “That happens everywhere. In slalom it does not affect you nearly as much as it does in course racing. When you are going upwind and the wind shifts, you can lose an enormous amount of territory. With slalom we all go into the same wind shift and all exit the same wind shift since every rider is relatively close to each other.”
FR “That is when the wind is changing direction. It can give a rider benefit or not!”
SCOOP
KK “It is usually interlinked with scoop rocker line. It is the place where the board scoops from flat towards the nose.”
FM “The curve on the bottom of the board that dictates how the board rides. A lot of brands have different scoops. Even if you have the same scoop as everybody else, if you make the outline and the cut-outs different then your board will perform differently. There are so many factors!”
BVDS “That is the rocker at the front of the board! It is very important, it stops you from digging into waves.”