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Board-Off Varial

See it in the Trick Tree

Board-Off Varial is a jump where the rider takes the board off with a tail grab, spins it a full 360 out front, then puts it back on before landing.

Prerequisites

Board-Off

Unlocks

Nothing in the tree needs this one yet — it stands on its own.

Schools teach this differently

Our sources do not agree on where to hold the board or how hard the variants are. IKSURFMAG teaches the tail grab near the fin and files that version under intermediate, then files the handle version under advanced while saying the handle is actually easier in strong winds because you keep the board under more control and it needs less wrist strength. Progression's board-off article teaches a third hold point, the back heelside edge with your fingers around the fin and rail.

Ideal conditions

Powered wind, and flat water if you can get it. IKSURFMAG is blunt about the power: you have to be fairly powered, because without it you end up over-sending the kite and getting swung around instead of lifted. On size, IKSURFMAG's handle page and MACkite agree — go bigger, because a larger kite will not rip you off the water and it buys the airtime the spin eats. Two numbers frame the window without defining it, and both are borrowed from adjacent contexts: Toby Braeuer, interviewed on Progression's airstyle blog, rides airstyle in 15 to 25 knots with around 20 as his sweet spot, and Progression's board-off write-up describes learning board-offs on a 30-knot flat-water session. Neither figure is given for the varial specifically.

How to do it

  1. 1. Rig and set up the elevator jump

    • Open your footstraps a notch before you launch. Slightly larger straps make it easier to get the board back on, but do not crank them right open or you will struggle to jump and lose the board on takeoff.
    • Go out powered. If you are underpowered you end up over-sending the kite, and that swings you around instead of lifting you.
    • Size up rather than down. A larger kite will not rip you off the water, so you get your knees and the board up sooner, and it buys you airtime.
    • Keep the sweet spot trimmed out comfortably so the bar still has extra lift in it.
    • Come in on a hard, straight edge with your weight through both legs, nose to tail, for maximum resistance against the water.

  2. 2. Send and pop

    • Start the kite low, below 11 or 1, so you have somewhere to send it from.
    • Give it a good but short send. The kite should go no further back than thirty minutes either side of 12.
    • Break at the waist to hold the bar at the sweet spot, and level the bar quickly, even during the send, so the kite does not stall.
    • Aim for a high, controlled jump rather than a fast one. Speed through the air is what makes the board unmanageable once it is off your feet.

  3. 3. Board off and spin

    • Snap your knees up as soon as you leave the water.
    • Drop your rear shoulder behind the bar and keep the board flat, bottom down.
    • Grab the tail close to the fin. The nearer the fin you hold, the more control you have over the board.
    • Lean back away from the bar and rock your weight back in the harness as you pull your feet out. If the board is still sitting underneath you, it will not come off.
    • Flip the board instead of throwing it, the way you would iron a shirt. Take your hand up, over and across in front of you, which carries it through the first half of the rotation, then release once the tail crosses your body and let it finish the 360.
    • Extend your legs down once the board is clear instead of staying crunched up, and give it a beat before you go for it.

  4. 4. Catch it and land

    • Go for the board early. It slows down in the air and you do not.
    • Catch the middle of the toeside rail, which makes getting back in easier.
    • Hold it out on an outstretched arm, as far forward as you can, then bring your knees up and aim your feet at the straps.
    • Front foot in first. With that foot and your hand holding the board, you can push the back one in.
    • Keep the bar in while you sort your feet out so the kite keeps you up there rather than letting you drop.
    • As soon as the back foot is in, dive the kite hard so it pulls you up over the board and out of the jump instead of letting you plop down.

Common mistakes and fixes

Mistake

The board will not come off your feet.

Fix

It is sitting underneath and behind you. Lift your legs and lean back away from the bar, rocking your weight back in the harness until the board is up in front of you with your toes pointing at the sky.

Mistake

You lose control of the board the moment it is off.

Fix

You are travelling too fast, and that comes from your takeoff. Go back to the elevator takeoff and put quality ahead of quantity until the board stays where you put it.

Mistake

The pop pulls you sideways instead of up.

Fix

The kite is flying too far forward while you are hanging on with just your front hand. Send it a bit further behind you before takeoff.

Mistake

You are already dropping and the board is still in your hands.

Fix

Trim out, keep the bar in, and be ready to redirect and dive for the landing even if your feet never make it into the straps.

Mistake

You fumble the reattach every time.

Fix

That is muscle memory, so fix it on dry land. Have a seat, put the board on, take it off, put it on again, repeat. Then run some reps pretending the breeze caught the board and blew it into a weird angle. One Progression rider drilled the same thing in front of the TV, flicking the board on and off his feet with his wrist.

If it goes wrong

  • Practise throwing the board away on purpose before you ever need to. Take it off, hold it out for a couple of seconds, then toss it safely clear at about 45 degrees off your back foot.
  • If you are coming down with the board still in your hand and no time to get it back on, let go of it. MACkite's warning is that your instinct will be to hold on, and holding a floating board while your body sinks is how riders wreck a shoulder.
  • If you are dropping and running out of time, IKSURFMAG's fallback is to trim out, keep the bar in, and be ready to redirect and dive for the landing even if your feet are not in the straps.
  • Accept that adding the spin raises the odds of a swim. North Action Sports notes that flipping and spinning the board increases the risk of losing it during the trick.

Learn this with a coach, not from a page

This guide explains what the move is and what riders get wrong, so you arrive at the session knowing what you are trying to do. It cannot watch your kite, read the gust coming, or stop you committing to something you are not ready for — a coach or instructor can.

Find a certified school

Educational reference, not instruction. Kitesurfing is a risk sport: the steps here describe what named schools, instructors and technique libraries teach, and the page lists exactly which ones, but real conditions involve wind, gusts, water state, traffic and equipment behaviour that no written guide accounts for. Schools also teach justified variations — where our sources disagree, the page says so instead of picking one. Judge your own readiness, use the safety systems on your kite, and do not attempt a move because a page made it sound achievable. KitesurfingOfficial accepts no liability for the use of this information on the water.

Questions riders ask

How much wind do I need?+

Powered. IKSURFMAG puts it plainly: being fairly powered is what makes the trick work, because otherwise you over-send the kite and it swings you around instead of lifting you. Nobody I could open gives a wind range for the varial itself. The nearest markers are Toby Braeuer, who tells Progression he has fun in 15 to 25 knots with around 20 giving him power without a fight, and Progression's board-off article, where the writer learned his on a 30-knot flat-water session.

What do I need to be able to do before I try it?+

Jump with control and be able to get your feet off the board. IKSURFMAG rates the varial intermediate and says previous board-off experience helps but is not required. Its tail grab board-off page is the gentler entry point, since that version requires the least flexibility, and its line is that if you cannot touch your toes but can do a one-foot, you are ready. MACkite puts comfortable jumping and one-footers ahead of board-offs, and Progression's take is that if you can jump and grab the tail of your board, you can try these with ease.

Should I grab the tail or use the board handle?+

Both are taught. IKSURFMAG files the tail-flip varial under intermediate and the handle varial under advanced, but the advanced page says the handle version is easier in strong winds because you keep the board under more control and it needs less wrist strength. The trade is suppleness, since handle tricks ask a bit more of your body.

What kite size works best?+

Go bigger rather than smaller. IKSURFMAG says a larger kite will not rip you off the water, so you get your knees and the board up sooner. MACkite makes the same point about buying longer airtime, and Progression's board-off article wants a larger kite for hang time and stability rather than a 7m you spend the jump worrying about. For scale, the rider in Progression's airstyle interview flies one size only, an 18m.

What is the scary part, and how do I take the fear out of it?+

Being airborne with your board in your hand and the water coming up at you. MACkite handles that with a drill rather than a pep talk: practise ditching the board on purpose, tossed safely away at about 45 degrees off your back foot, so letting go is already a reflex by the time you need it. The injury it protects against is a shoulder wrecked by holding a floating board while your body sinks.

Keep reading

Sources

Every step on this page traces to the sources below. Where they disagree or stay silent, the page says so instead of guessing.