The cowboy is one of those little tricks that you may have seen in an old surf video but have long since forgotten. What Robby Naish, Jason Polakow and Pete Cabrinha celebrated decades ago has fallen out of favour in the face of other moves, but has lost none of its fascination. What's more, you don't need Hawaiian-sized waves or strong winds for the Cowboy - half a metre of Baltic swell and 15 knots are all you need.
Compared to the Board-360, the Cowboy is much more difficult. But this move is also best practised in lighter winds, i.e. when you can no longer glide fully powered up. Sideshore wind to slightly onshore sideonshore wind is ideal for the Cowboy. A few more litres of volume can't hurt for this trick - the smaller the board, the more difficult it is to switch around the front of the mast.
The cowboy explained step by step
- 1) On the way towards the shore, look for a swell wave that is building up and adapt to its speed. Drop slightly on the wave face to reduce the pull in the sail and make the following side change easier. Place your front foot in front of the mast foot and release your back hand from the boom to grab the new boom side.
- 2-4) Now comes the most difficult moment - changing sides with your back to the sail. To do this, step onto the leeward side with your back foot in front of the mast and quickly shift your weight back again, you are now surfing backwards with your back to the sail. As with every backstroke, don't push too hard into the clew, as this is like a tight hauling motion, which causes the sail to load up and throw you off the board to leeward like a wild horse.
- 5-6) You can also influence the back pressure in the sail via the course. If you surf the wave more to windward, the back pressure increases. If you steer your board more downwind, the pressure in the sail decreases.
- 7-9) To finally be able to shift, the pressure must first be released from the sail. You can do this by visibly dropping the sail - now you can push the clew through the wind with your back hand and the wind will do the rest of the shifting for you.
Maybe this tutorial will inspire you to try something new the next time the wind dies down - even if the trick is decades old.
Crucial point: changing sides
The side change is the absolute crux of this move, and it can be practised in light (!) winds on the beach - five knots is absolutely sufficient. Set up your board on a light upwind course. Pay particular attention to keeping the sail open (third picture)
Manuel Vogel
Editor surf
