This has happened twice now, and I’m wondering if there’s a good way to prevent/fix it. Basically, I aborted on a jump today and the kite hit the water and flipped a couple of times, not sure exactly how many times, etc, but basically it was leading edge down and facing back towards me and into the wind. I got the kite to relaunch, but the outside line was caught on the inside of the inside line.

The kite still flies, but I can really only turn one direction (which luckily was back towards shore) and there’s no real way to fix it.

So my question is, is there a way to keep this from happening before relaunching or is there a way to fix this once it happens without landing/relaunching the kite. I can’t see a way to fix it once it’s back in the air, but is there something I can do to prevent it to begin with.

Like I said, it’s only happened twice in over a year riding, and I’m not real sure how it happens, but….....it’s a pain especially in cold water and head high waves.

Ajones… are you saying that the outside line was actually through the inside lines or that it was caught on the line?

If it was through the lines, this unfortunately does happen if the kite inverts. More often than not it happens with both the outside lines going through the inside ones and results in a kite that flies somewhat normally but which I often head in to correct in an effort to avoid wearing the lines down on each other and potentially snapping one. I have seen it though where only one line goes through and was never able to figure out how that happened.

If you are saying the line actually got caught on the inside line, can you get me some more details - what was it caught on? What year is your control bar set?

John

johnz - 13 December 2010 02:51 PM

Ajones… are you saying that the outside line was actually through the inside lines or that it was caught on the line?

If it was through the lines, this unfortunately does happen if the kite inverts. More often than not it happens with both the outside lines going through the inside ones and results in a kite that flies somewhat normally but which I often head in to correct in an effort to avoid wearing the lines down on each other and potentially snapping one. I have seen it though where only one line goes through and was never able to figure out how that happened.

If you are saying the line actually got caught on the inside line, can you get me some more details - what was it caught on? What year is your control bar set?

John

Yeah, it was inside the line from the kite inverting, I’ve had it happen with both lines previously, and one line twice. I’ve fixed it both times and can still fly the kite, is there anything to help prevent this?

This happens most often when the kite luffs over and falls forward out of the sky. The most common way to cause that to happen is to over shoot the kite on a jump and swing under the kite, leaving it up wind of you as you land.

I’d suggest working to “sine” the kite more in the sky as you jump, keep it moving and - most importantly, as you are about to land cut it aggressively back and out in front of you to both a) generate power and ride away hot and not flop into the water and b) prevent the kite from collapsing on top of you when you land.

If this is not happening to you when you jump but is happening when you’re flying the kite it’s likely because you’re keeping the kite directly overhead. Try keeping it off at 45° and slightly powered as this will keep it from flying too far to the edge of the window and luffing over.

Last tip - and this is just me but I think it works - if I luff over on a jump and if I am concerned the kite will roll over on itself as soon as I land I start pulling on one of the outside lines to get the kite to turn around and face the wind again. You need to be sure that you keep this excessive line away from you though as the kite will power up again quickly once in the wind!

JZ

johnz - 14 December 2010 12:05 PM

This happens most often when the kite luffs over and falls forward out of the sky. The most common way to cause that to happen is to over shoot the kite on a jump and swing under the kite, leaving it up wind of you as you land.

I’d suggest working to “sine” the kite more in the sky as you jump, keep it moving and - most importantly, as you are about to land cut it aggressively back and out in front of you to both a) generate power and ride away hot and not flop into the water and b) prevent the kite from collapsing on top of you when you land.

If this is not happening to you when you jump but is happening when you’re flying the kite it’s likely because you’re keeping the kite directly overhead. Try keeping it off at 45° and slightly powered as this will keep it from flying too far to the edge of the window and luffing over.

Last tip - and this is just me but I think it works - if I luff over on a jump and if I am concerned the kite will roll over on itself as soon as I land I start pulling on one of the outside lines to get the kite to turn around and face the wind again. You need to be sure that you keep this excessive line away from you though as the kite will power up again quickly once in the wind!

JZ

Yeah, basically it’s been on a big jump where basically I get mixed up in the air, one was a diverted front roll, one was just coming off a wave wrong and messing up in the air. I think the last part about pulling the outside line will help.

Thanks