Foil Tack is an upwind turn where the foilboard carves through the wind with the kite held overhead, changing stance or edge to exit on the new tack.
Also called: kitefoil tack · heel-to-toe tack · push tack
Prerequisites
Unlocks
Schools teach this differently
The opened guides do not agree on what a tack even requires. Elite Watersports teaches a single move built around a stance change: kite to 12 on the back hand, flatten the board, penguin stance, then shift the front foot to the tail. Progression Sports splits it into four distinct tacks, and two of them (heelside-to-toeside and toeside-to-heelside) require no foot change at all. They also diverge on the bar: Progression insists on sheeting out fully so the kite luffs and flies forward overhead, while Elite's step-by-step sequence never mentions sheeting out. Timing of the switch is contested too. Elite has both feet come together as soon as you feel the lift, whereas When It's Windy reports that switching later in the tack improved success.
Ideal conditions
Progression Sports says tacking is easier to learn moderately powered up, on 8-10 metre kites, with foil kites helping because of the prolonged lift they offer. Flatter water makes a big difference: you can carve hard into the turn with less chance of a wingtip popping out, and there is less turbulence under the water, which gives more stability through the foot changes and body movements. The toeside-to-heelside tack is specifically called out as hardest when you are powered or overpowered. Elite Watersports goes lighter still for drilling, using light-wind days to work foot placement and kite timing separately rather than completing turns.
How to do it
1. Set up the approach
- Drill the foot switch on the beach against a visual marker — a line in the sand or your own kite lines — until the front foot lands precisely every time. Try it with your eyes closed to test how consistent you really are.
- Pick moderately powered conditions on flat water. Flatter water lets you carve hard with less chance of a wingtip popping out, and less turbulence under the board while you move your feet.
- Build moderate speed on a heading that already points slightly upwind.
- Keep the entry gentle and deliberate. Too little edge and you have no directional control; too much and you stall before you ever get around.
2. Kite to 12, then carve
- Steer the kite up to 12 with your back hand only, as close to the top of the wind window as you can get it and pointing into the wind.
- Hold your original heading while it climbs. Do not carve yet.
- Sheet the bar all the way out so the kite luffs and flies forward right over your head.
- Now carve hard upwind. Carving too soon with the kite still rising tensions the lines, and the kite then resists — it wants to pull you downwind while you are trying to go upwind.
3. Through the switch
- Flatten the board before you switch feet. Switching while the board is still edged is where the foil destabilises and the wind catches underneath it.
- Wait until you feel that lift from the kite overhead — that is the cue for both feet to come together.
- Bring the back foot forward into the front foot's old spot, into a penguin stance with both feet pointing slightly inward.
- Shift the old front foot back to the tail to complete the switch, board flat.
- When It's Windy's rider found that switching later in the tack improved success — rush it and you tend to fall off the back of the board.
4. Exit onto the new tack
- Once the new stance is stable, send the kite into the new direction of travel.
- Sheet in to bring your weight forward so you can rotate under the kite, and pull with the front hand only when the new front foot is in place.
- Treat it as roughly a 45-degree change of direction. You are not carving a full circle.
- Leave any kite loop until the stance change is done, the board is flat and your balance has settled.
Common mistakes and fixes
Mistake
Starting the carve while the kite is still on its way up to 12.
Fix
Hold your heading until the kite is overhead. Progression Sports calls the early carve the most common mistake: you tension the lines, and the kite then resists because it wants to pull you downwind while you want to go upwind.
Mistake
Leaving the bar sheeted in through the carve.
Fix
Sheet out fully so the kite luffs and flies forward above you. If the tack keeps failing, check whether you have sheeted out enough before you change anything else.
Mistake
Moving the feet while the board is still on edge.
Fix
Flatten the board first. Switching on an edge is where the foil goes unstable and the wind gets underneath the board.
Mistake
Over-turning the board and spinning past the new heading.
Fix
It is really just a 45-degree change, not a full circle. Get the board flat, feet switched, kite moving again.
Mistake
Snatching at the foot switch as soon as the board turns.
Fix
Delay it. When It's Windy reports better success switching later in the tack; going early puts you off the back of the board.
If it goes wrong
- Do not commit the feet until the kite is overhead and you feel that lift. Until the kite is there, hold your original heading rather than carving.
- Keep the kite loop out of the move until the stance change is finished, the board is flat and your balance has settled. Elite Watersports puts the loop last in the sequence for that reason.
- For a tack that is already going wrong mid-turn, The Foiling Collective's heel-to-toe tack tutorial has a section on saving an amateur tack with yaw steering — a recovery rather than an outright bail.
- When attempts keep failing, use light-wind days to practise parts rather than full tacks: foot placement and kite timing on their own, not completing the turn.
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 schoolEducational 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 hard is a foil tack, and what should I have dialled before trying one?+
Elite Watersports calls tacking more advanced than the jibe and one of the most technical skills on a kitefoil, and in its tack-vs-jibe guide says to start with the jibe — the jibe keeps you powered with the kite tensioned, while the tack momentarily depowers it. Progression Sports wants the basics of surfboard or foil riding, gybing, hard carving turns, toeside riding and comfortable foot changes in place first. The Foiling Collective's ladder runs bodydrag, taxi and first flights, then taxi footswaps, then foiling footswaps, then jibes and turning, before the heel-to-toe tack.
What wind and kite size should I learn in?+
Progression Sports says tacking is easier to learn moderately powered up, on 8-10 metre kites, which give a good compromise of lift and speed of flying. Foil kites help because of the prolonged lift they offer. Flat water helps on two counts: less chance of a wingtip popping out, and less turbulence under the water while you make your foot changes. Elite Watersports recommends a larger foil, larger board and larger kite early on for lift at slower speeds, and light-wind days for drilling the parts.
Which of the tacks should I learn first?+
Progression Sports puts the 360 first — most people find it the easiest first step. Then heel-to-toe, which you can effectively find by kicking out halfway through the 360 before you loop the kite. The push tack comes next, then the roll (duck) tack, with toeside-to-heelside last.
Do all foil tacks involve a foot change?+
No. In Progression Sports' breakdown, heelside-to-toeside and toeside-to-heelside need no foot change — you ride in on one edge and carve upwind. The roll (duck) tack changes feet mid-carve with a frontside rotation and requires ducking under the lines, and it goes strap to strap. The push tack also changes feet but turns your back on the direction of travel; it requires crossing your feet, which makes it near impossible to do smoothly with straps and better suited to strapless riders.
How long does it take to land one?+
Elite Watersports puts it at weeks or months, not days, and notes some people take years — its advice is to isolate the parts in light wind instead of repeating whole tacks. Progression Sports notes the push tack allows room for less finesse and therefore a higher success rate early on, especially on a medium or large foil of 800 sq cm or greater, where you can lose speed but keep the foil gliding.
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.
- Elite Watersports — How to Tack on a Kitefoil: Step-by-Step Guide
- Progression Sports — Learning the Kitefoil Tack Part 1
- Progression Sports — How to Tack: The Most Important Focus
- Elite Watersports — Kitefoil Tack vs Jibe: What's the Difference and Which One to Learn First?
- The Foiling Collective — How to Kite Foil (tutorials by Alex Buss, Kitesurf College)
- When It's Windy — The Foil Tack