learning it

Tacking is hard to learn, but it's easier if you have certain conditions. Since the manover relies on momentum, a good rolling surface is the main requirement (tarmac if you dare). On a beach you often find smooth hard sections on sandbars that slope towards the sea. With an onshore wind these are ideal because the slope helps the tack. Use a kite that is big enough to get good speed, but not so big that it skids you sideways. Short lines make tacking much easier.

1. Pick a landmark that you can use to get your bearings when you exit the tack.
2. Get up a good speed on a beam reach. You need momentum.
3. Start steering upwind, and start lifting your kite. The buggy should not skid. To prevent skidding, turn and raise your kite gently. As you loose speed you can steer more and more upwind, keeping as much momentum as possible, but not quite skidding.
4. Eventually you should reach a point where you can actually tack without skidding. By now your kite should be nearly overhead. Now is the time to steer the buggy hard upwind. Keep full lock on, and don't be tempted to straighten up. As you enter the tack, lean back and watch your kite, so that you don't loose control of it (you don't want it powering up behind you). Let the kite pass through the top of the wind.

   If you don't have enough speed, the buggy will stop and then start to reverse. Don't panic, just reverse your steering and do a three point turn.

5. You should now have steered through the centre of the wind. You will probably be a bit disorientated, so start looking for your landmark. As soon as you have seen it, starighten up in your new direction and dive the kite to accelerate away.

   You may have lost too much speed to exit on a beat. If so keep steering intil you are pointing in a direction where you can regain your momentum, then turn back onto the beat.

6. You will have 1 twist in your lines. You can remove this on your next turn by down turning or tacking again.

when to use it

A good tack is probably the most efficient way of chaging direction when beating upwind, but, unless the tack is perfect you are probably better off jibing.

In a race other pilots will 'shadow' you by sailing just behind and a bit down wind, making impossible for you to jibe. Tacking is the best way to shake off a shadow.

Just after the start of a race you will often be in a big bunch of buggies all beating. If you manage to get on the upwind side of the bunch and can tack without hindering other buggies, this is an ideal way of getting away into some free air.

In a race, when there is a turning mark before a beat, a tack is often gets you clear of other pilots who are jibing across each other.

perfecting it

To use a tack in a race it has to be a good tack. You must be confident that it's not going to be a three point turn. The only way to be sure is to practice. After a while you be able to feel what's going to work.

Practice tacking round a fixed mark (e.g. a bit of seaweed).

Once you are confident, stop looking at the kite. Instead look round for your exit landmark. This helps you exit your turn more accurately.

Try to get good exit speed without having to turn downwind. The key is to time the kite dive well. Too early and the pull gets wasted by being too sideways. Too late and you have already lost your momentum.

Practice in adverse conditions; on a soft surface, with long lines or when overpowered.