TD relaunching tips / tricks? HELP!

[shaymus]

I had 2 things happen to me while at SI yesterday and was looking to see if anyone has the same experiences or any tricks to avoid them. Wind was 25 or so, gusting to 30. I was on a TD 10. Kite is very new - less than 5 sessions.

1st thing - My chicken loop came off unexpectedly and the kite came down in the water. No problem, just get the bar back and relaunch. The problem was that the yellow stopper ball that keeps the bar from sliding too far up one of the center lines slid all the way up to the kite, and so did the bar. Next thing I knew, all the lines were tangled, no way to re-launch safely AND keep all my fingers. It was windy, and when my chicken loop came off, I guess there was a lot of power that yanked the bar against the stopper ball, and it just went all the way up the line.

For those not familiar with this ball, it is a yellow stopper ball that is cut in half. The line is sandwiched between two halves, held together by two screws, one on each side of the line. The line inside the ball is forced between some male and female moldings to apply more friction.

Has anyone experienced this? If so, what have you done about it? I think the design of the stopper ball to rely on compression / friction on the line to keep it from sliding may need to be looked at. I also checked another buddy's SS kite (SS Fuel) with the same ball setup, and his ball was able to slide up the line as well. This can't be good. The screws are TIGHT on the ball. I suggest anyone with these types of stopper balls to inspect them. Anyone have this happen?

2nd thing - my rear lines seem to wrap around the tips of the kite a lot when I am trying to relaunch. This keeps the kite from launching correctly and can be pretty friggen scary when the wind starts to get under the kite. The kite is in some half recovered situation, pulling you downwind into what ever is there. And if it does launch, it is a spirlaling, looping mess. So, no problem, pull the front leash line... let the kite settle back in the water, try again. But, my board may be gone by now (i don't use a leash), and I make pretty good progress down wind during this process.

What are some techniques that work for getting the lines off the tips when they get wrapped? Pull only on the back line that is wrapped? Just keep trying to reset everything with the leash line, hoping that it comes off the tip next time?

I'm all ears if anyone has any suggestions.

[windhorny]

1st. if your chicken loop doesnt have a screw holding the 1/2" length of tube in place, put one in or pay attention to it as that has caused some peoples loops to come undone unknowingly. Not common though.

2nd. I find that ball causes more headache winding and unwinding the lines than anything lese. Mine actually never slipped but I only use it rarely to flag the kite and in that case it is day over and i could care less about the bar drifting a few feet further. Also-AND I dont reccomend this, but I have sorta learned to crash the kite on the water and stay hooked in while reeling in the flagging ring by hand. This way the the bar is right there to start winding. This is hard in really windy situations though. The bow kites seem to land very easily if you know how to do it.

3rd. Only time I ever had the lines go over the wingtips is when the kite inverts. Was your kite inverted? Is the klite landing LE down orTE down? That kite has a tendency to stall, but not on windy days. Of course all you have to do is sheet out a bit but some people just dont understand this concept. Anyways, when my kite has inverted where the lines wrap over the tips, the only way I was able to get it undone was to flag the kite a bit. This should be a last resort though as doing this often leads to a tangled line.

I will never be a windsurfer but man they sure have us beat when it comes to being self reliant on the water.