BayAreaKiteboarding.com

I had lessons, got some good 2ndhand gear and now I'm in the Alameda "suck it up" stage of my training.

I need some advice.

1. Relaunching - My lesson was on a Cabrinha so relaunching was easy but now I have a 15m Fuel (not 5th line) and despite all the advice of the guy who sold me the kite I just can't relaunch the bloody thing when it goes in leading edge down. I tried pulling lines, swimming towards it but eventually I just have to self rescue and drift in.

2. Self rescue - When I pull my safety, I have held the bar so I can wind in the lines without getting in a mess. Unfortunately unless I totally release the bar the kite stays in shape and keeps dragging me downwind. So i have to release the bar and then end up with all my lines in a mess.

By the way, once I'm up everythings great!
Thanks.

Those are fairly common and easily solved problems.

Relaunching - Focus your efforts on swimming to the side of the wind window and you'll achieve much better results. Oftentimes, you can swim forever and ever just following the kite straight downwind, but when you can swim to the side of the wind window you'll be giving the kite a much better chance to flip over and especially to relaunch once flipped. Sometimes getting the kite to flip can be tough - try pulling in sharply on the front lines (be wary of the slack created in the lines) and swim quickly to the kite.

Self rescue - Wind your lines up asymmetrically. First wind up one side in an amount equal to or slightly greater than the length of the kite's leading edge. Then you can start winding all the lines onto the bar. If you wind them equally you will have the problems you described.

Good luck!

Tim,

You also need wind to be able to relaunch a kite! Alameda has had very light wind recently and on most days, even the most experienced would find it very difficult to relaunch a kite. If your kite fell into the water because the wind was very light, you aren't going to relaunch it.

Very common problems, don't get discouraged.
I have a 14m Fuel and when the wind is light it can be near impossible to relaunch by the swimming method. I attached a 5th line and that has made a huge difference, well worth the trouble of installing it and dealing with the increased line management.

I'm not brand-loyal at all, but I will add that my 14M WIndwing Rage II relaunches itself, even without the Jumpstart. You just push the bar all the way out, and the thing flips right over.

But if you're on a 15 and you really need an 18 or 20 to kite...

I would have to agree that a 5th line makes relaunching much much easier.. You just have to be somewhat careful about letting the kite roll and wrap. The fuel is a pretty forgiving kite though and will not hindenburg often unless the wind is very light.

Sander wrote:Very common problems, don't get discouraged.
I have a 14m Fuel and when the wind is light it can be near impossible to relaunch by the swimming method. I attached a 5th line and that has made a huge difference, well worth the trouble of installing it and dealing with the increased line management.