Crossbow help...

[Proparoo]

My friend is purchaseing a new Crossbow 12m from an on-line dealer.

He wants to join me at the Delta for a down winder this weekend.

Here is the question / situation...

My friend (no really, he is a friend, I'm not talk in the 3rd) like me is new to this sport. We have both taken lessons and we are up and rideing but not up wind yet. I have taken 2 down winders and am getting really close to staying upwind.

As he has never flown this kite (and i don't think he has flown any bow kite) what help / suggestions can you give to me to pass on to him.
We will be on a 4 mile downwinder and I would hate for him to have problems so far from shore. Remember, this kite will be new / out of the box. Do they come rigged / ready to fly? Any tips?

I will be with him and I would hate for both of us to end up having a bad time.

As always, Thanks

Rich

[steve]

your friend should have purchased locally...I'm pretty sure one of the local shops would have met the "on line deal" or come close. then your friend could have had all his questions answered in person.
yes....the kite comes ready to fly; just hook up the lines. suggest your friend fly the kite without the red overide ball snapped in place. also, if he crashes the kite, try and prevent slack in the back lines...do not let the kite roll onto its back.

steve

[elli]

Watch the CD that comes with it. At least old Cabrinhas did.

[moblvet]

I just sold my 9/12/16 crossbows. When I got them, no one else locally had them, so being a C kite person,
I read all forum info I could about their pecularities, studied the DVD they came with, then on a wide sandy beach, I made sure I knew how to depower, depower through the ball stop, activate quick release, relaunch straight downwind, relaunch to the side, self launch the bow way, learned the safety leash needs to attached to the red ball, learned to keep tension on the lines to stop inversions when kite down, psi 8.3 struts-9.5 LE to stop inversions in the air.
Then I actually went out in the water with it.
I've kited since 1998, and kind of know what I'm doing, so it worked for my first outing after the above preparation. If the above is not semiautomatic/practiced beforehand, and with "being new to the sport" a downwinder might be a frustrating time to learn those things.
Having a watercraft would facilitate the XB first downwinder.
Consider conversion of the 12 to save your elbows from the tractor like pull and unmodified XB gives you.

[windhorny]

Pump them 7-8psi. Make sure your donkey dick is in. And most of all, and this comes with experience, learn to always keep arms weight on the bar. This way the kite wont luff too much which is the start of an inversion if you get it in the right spot. Its not saying if you let the bar fly out you are in trouble but it is good practice to keep just enough pressure on the bar that the kite isnt luffing around. If a gust hits there will be enough lifty on the kite to pull your bar up to where it needs to be to depower. At least thats how I think about it. If your friend is a beginner I would also reccomend putting the leash on the flagging ring such that if the safety is pulled on the chicken loop, you still have a kite.

And your friend should have bought local!!!

[Wildting]

I dunno RB. 4 miles is a long way to swim, drift or get tea bagged.

Can you get back out of the water and tune the kite if needed? Maybe a shorter river run first?

Chances are it will work straight out of the bag especially if rigged correctly.

But...

Personally, I wouldn't take an untested kite out on a 4 mile downwinder. Especially if I was a beginner.

Maybe you should have one of your experienced buds take it for a spin first and make sure it's tuned correctly.

Or bribe Nat to get wet before he takes off in his boat? :mrgreen:

et