Talk:Chinese gybe

Chinese gybe
The definition given does not match to what I am normally used to when a Chinese Gybe is mentioned. The following passage covers it better:

A "Chinese Gybe" (jibe) also known as a "death roll" is feared by many and we need to know how best to avoid them. The scenario: You're sailing dead downwind in windy conditions, and suddenly the boat starts rolling back and forth with increasing amplitude to the point where the boat actually broaches to windward. As the boat is broaching to windward it is also turning sharply to leeward causing it to gybe uncontrolled - "crash gybe". — Preceding unsigned comment added by 77.171.66.92 (talk) 19:32, 3 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Precisely. When I've heard the term used, the sequence is (1) running downwind (2) rolling begins (3) one roll to windward big enough to change course, bearing you off & causing a gybe. I've also heard "bearing away in a Chinese gybe or heading up in a broach," where the two sound like opposites depending on the direction of the uncontrolled roll. Here is a video from a pro sailor who has gone solo transoceanic, which is about the highest level of credibility in my opinion. I'm going to edit the article accordingly. Obviously needs references & I will try to find same. --Officiallyover (talk) 15:27, 30 July 2014 (UTC)


 * Older versions of the page also describe a sense in which the boom is trapped mid-gybe, resulting in a severely overtrimmed main, rounding up, and heeling. Messing about with Google Books, I can't find this sense anywhere. Also, seems like almost all the books use sense 1(head & foot of sail going opposite ways). Maybe sense 2 (death roll) is new, or new for certain regions. Finally, some books trace the origin of sense 1 to gaff rigged or lugsails on Chinese boats. It's at least plausible that the term started out non-judgmental but drifted toward other offensive phrases where Chinese means bad.


 * My main problems now are deciding which boating books are reliable sources and avoiding original research. --Officiallyover (talk) 16:28, 30 July 2014 (UTC)

Another comment on 'Chinese gybe'
I agree Officiallyover. A gybe involves the boom swinging across to the other side of the boat. See. I vote for making the "other sense" of the definition the main one. RDS 16:17, 30 September 2015 (UTC)