Shitty launch in light wind
Posted: Tue Aug 06, 2013 11:21 pm
Hey all,
I went out at Alameda today. I'm not sure what the wind speed was, but thinking probably around 10 knots. My 12m Naish Park was feeling pretty underpowered out there, turning real slow and hard to get up on plane.
I thought of a couple questions I'm hoping some of the more experienced riders out there have some insight into. This is only my third time out, I've taken lessons and still practice with the trainer kite religiously.
So, the launch didn't go great, not horrible either, but I consider myself lucky that it was light wind and I was able to recover. In hindsight, might have been a better idea to just punch out. Had an experienced kiter helping me launch, got in the correct position, tension on the back lines, no luffing in the canopy.
Post "thumbs up" kite made it about 30 feet into the air before stalling and floating back into the window. I heard someone yell "sheet out", so I did, but at that point the kite was getting ready to power up. Luckily the ground was clear in front of me and I was able to run forward while sheeting out to absorb the power-up and stabilize the kite. I've read about things going very bad in similar situations, so it freaked me out a little.
Any advice on how to prevent this type of thing from happening? What is going on when the kite stalls like that? Should I step backwards, sheet out sooner, turn the kite more skyward? I feel pretty lucky that nothing bad happened and I'm not keen on having it happen again, especially not when it's really blowing. Of course, punch out is your safety net, but what do you do to keep from getting there in the first place?
So far that has been my only bad launch experience, but it is pretty F-in scary nonetheless.
Second, is it just because I'm a beginner, or is it really hard to steer a big kite in light wind? I feel like the kite is super slow and unresponsive. Sheeting helps some. Maybe I just need to be patient and get better kite control?
Other than that, really enjoying the sport, and super stoked to keep improving. I'm riding on both tacks and getting on plane pretty consistently. No hard wipeouts today! LOL Still haven't figured out how to transition though. Oh well, another day!
Any thoughts you guys have will be a big help!
Thanks,
Charlie
I went out at Alameda today. I'm not sure what the wind speed was, but thinking probably around 10 knots. My 12m Naish Park was feeling pretty underpowered out there, turning real slow and hard to get up on plane.
I thought of a couple questions I'm hoping some of the more experienced riders out there have some insight into. This is only my third time out, I've taken lessons and still practice with the trainer kite religiously.
So, the launch didn't go great, not horrible either, but I consider myself lucky that it was light wind and I was able to recover. In hindsight, might have been a better idea to just punch out. Had an experienced kiter helping me launch, got in the correct position, tension on the back lines, no luffing in the canopy.
Post "thumbs up" kite made it about 30 feet into the air before stalling and floating back into the window. I heard someone yell "sheet out", so I did, but at that point the kite was getting ready to power up. Luckily the ground was clear in front of me and I was able to run forward while sheeting out to absorb the power-up and stabilize the kite. I've read about things going very bad in similar situations, so it freaked me out a little.
Any advice on how to prevent this type of thing from happening? What is going on when the kite stalls like that? Should I step backwards, sheet out sooner, turn the kite more skyward? I feel pretty lucky that nothing bad happened and I'm not keen on having it happen again, especially not when it's really blowing. Of course, punch out is your safety net, but what do you do to keep from getting there in the first place?
So far that has been my only bad launch experience, but it is pretty F-in scary nonetheless.
Second, is it just because I'm a beginner, or is it really hard to steer a big kite in light wind? I feel like the kite is super slow and unresponsive. Sheeting helps some. Maybe I just need to be patient and get better kite control?
Other than that, really enjoying the sport, and super stoked to keep improving. I'm riding on both tacks and getting on plane pretty consistently. No hard wipeouts today! LOL Still haven't figured out how to transition though. Oh well, another day!
Any thoughts you guys have will be a big help!
Thanks,
Charlie