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I'm noticing that the trailing edge of my 12m Ride (60 sessions or so logged) is aging quite quicker than the rest of my kite.

Anyone have any experience or suggestions in reinforcing the trailing edge? Its not torn or crazy damaged yet but I'd like to see what I can do to slow down the process.

The only thing I can think of is if you let it flutter in the wind parked on the beach. Trailing edge flutter will prematurely damage the edge due to snapping the fabric. Look what the flags at 3rd or other place look like after just few weeks... they're being eroded by that flutter-snap.

Spinnaker repair tape on both sides
Prepare with alcohol and apply on warm dry fabric

Pictures will help assess your problem. I recently fixed a kite similar to what you described. Kiter kept it parked on the beach all the time. Luckily the damage was minimal and what I did was tape the whole trailing edge one inch both sides and run the sewing machine on it as a permanent fix.

reyrivera wrote:Pictures will help assess your problem. I recently fixed a kite similar to what you described. Kiter kept it parked on the beach all the time. Luckily the damage was minimal and what I did was tape the whole trailing edge one inch both sides and run the sewing machine on it as a permanent fix.

That sounds like what would help my kite.

I'm not one to leave my kite unused/parked for an extended period of time, but I suspect those long walks back up the beach last year wasn't doing any favors to the TE. I thought about taking some pics last night after a quick light wind session but figured 'eh'. I'm not stressed about whats happening to my kite, I kind of figured it'd happen some way or another.

I've decided to keep some weight (just a harness, and only while on the grass) on the TE when I do need to park my kite, that should help decrease some of the flutter.

I feel also that having only 2 struts on my Ride, it's susceptible to a little more wear and tear on the TE than a kite with 3 or more. And upon further research, Naish didn't add any additional TE reinforcement on my 1st gen Ride like they do with the rest of their kites.

Thanks guys, I'll get some pics up soon

Pics of the issue

That actually does not look that bad, not sure if it'w worth spending money to re-enforce it at this stage.

Sonny wrote:That actually does not look that bad, not sure if it'w worth spending money to re-enforce it at this stage.

Outside of not parking it and let it flap in the wind, got anything I can do to prevent further deterioration?

Nothing else can be done, just your basic preventive maintenance:

Keep the kite clean and dry, don't leave it exposed to prolonged heat.

I think I recognize your kite, weren't you riding a couple of days ago late Tuesday afternoon in Alameda? You were walking past Shellgate, while I was packing up my green and orange kite.

Also consider the KGB KiteLife product (Royce sells it). It's amazing. I bought a set for my kites, treat them twice a year, brings up all that dirt off the fabric etc. I don't wash my kites after sessions but mid season and end of season i give them a wash and a kitelife treatment.

Also make sure you dry the kite after each sess... salt water acts as fabric softener and will prematurely age your kite including loosening the fabric if you let it wet for several days. Leave the zipper open in the storage so the kite can also vent. If it was wet when you packed it, pull it out in the garage and let it dry.