Last week I had the connection ring break that holds the swivel to the pulley on the end of the trim line. Needless to say its not good, especially where I was when it happened. Then the next day my buddies also broke! He had bought the kite and bar from me recently. It was purchased at the same time that I bought the one I was using, same batch I assume. They were purchased in the fall of 2010 and are the first 2011 bar and kites delivered to Windance. So check your ring for any cracks. I suspect it was a faulty weld on the ring. Hopefully this is an isolated incident although having 2 break in 2 days is concerning! Anyone else have any issues like this?

I have had one of those rings break apart and one of the swivel end open up as well.  However, this is recently but on a 2007 bar with many hours of use.  Inspecting the swivel opening, I suspect sessions with some sand between the ring and swivel eye slowly grinding away at the metal.  In my case it took many years, but at a location with more sand it could happen faster.

I have now added some small SS ‘U’ shakles to my repair kit which got my bar back on the water.  I was able to get it through the webbing and into the upper ring bypassing the swivel.  I thought this might end up causing an increased twist issue, but it turned out to not be the case.  I do tend to keep my rotations relatively equal in both directions.  The small decrease in center line length has not caused any problems either.

http://schaeferhardware.com/detail.aspx?ID=1038 Considering using this or similar. Shackle could be removed & pigtails attached to pin ... This looks interesting: http://www.mutinykites.com/content/mutiny-swivel-0  U.S. supplier: http://www.mutinykites.com/dealer/troll-avionics