Beginner kite flying question

[Chris]

I am new to kiteboarding, but a long time windsurfer. I went out by myself for the first time at Alameda last weekend . The wind was fairly light, but it did look like other people on 12m kites were doing OK.

I was using a 2007 12m RRD hypertype.

The problem I had is that whenever I tried to park the kite at 12 o'clock it had a tendency to collapse. Once it collapsed a bit the lines would go slack and at that point I was screwed. The kite would either drop straight into the water, or catch the wind halfway down and pull me off my feet. A couple of times when this happened the kite turned inside out, so the front and back lines got a twist and the only solution seemed to be to return to the beach and re-rig.

If I kept the kite at 11 or 1 o'clock there didn't seem to be a problem.

So my question is, was I just suffering from not enough wind? Or is there something I should be doing when the kite is at 12 o'clock? I was watching other people and they didn't seem to have any problem just parking their kites.

Any advice gladly accepted.

Chris.

[super_monkey]

If the wind is light and flooky this can happen to anyone, so try not to keep the kite over head in those situations. If it does begin to happen, what I usually do is tug on the top line, relative to the direction of the fall, to allow the kite to get some wind in the canopy and come back up.

[Unimog Bob]

The 2007 Hyper is a great kite but did have a tendency to do what you are describing in fluky or gusty wind. It shoots to the edge of the window so fast on a gust or puff that at 12:00 it will go right over. Keep it lower when getting your board organized or keep it moving 11 to 1 and back.

Bob

[average_male]

Keep the kite moving from about 10 o'clock to 2 o'clock. the kite doesn't have enough wind velocity/flux threw its profile, if you had more wind, this would not be an issue, unless your lines are out of tolerance...

[Chris]

Thanks. At least there isn't something I am missing.

Pity the wind never came up this afternoon at Alameda. Was stuck with the trainer kite on the beach.

Chris.

[average_male]

That's how it usually goes most of the time in Alameda.. Good luck.

[jono]

OK, here's the "jono theory of 12 o'clock overfly and hindenbergs"

When learning, don't ever park your kite at 12. It's bad.

Sitting at 12, your kite has nowhere to go but down. If it's at 11 or 1 it will "fall off" if it hits a lull and start heading toward 10 or 2. If it's at 12, it will start heading for you.

This used to happen to me, "What's wrong with this kite" I would say. Then you learn, and you find that sheeting in and letting it all out when the kite is at 12 will send it over your head, no tension in the lines and it will fall outta the sky. So, if you see the kite in a situation where it's going to overfly you, sheet in to backstall it and turn it off to one side. If you don't, it will come up to 12, use the forward momentum and keep going -- ending in a crash.

And, that trick Chris mentioned about pulling the *top* line when it's hindenberging (he taught me this when I was learning to jump) -- totally works, yank on a the high side line when it's falling and it will hook back up on the wind and save the crash. Just don't get your hand wrapped or something stupid....

[elli]

When learning, don't ever park your kite at 12. It's bad.

True. If the kite is right above you, when it overflies it sometimes nose down and Hindenburg straight down. If its on the side, it will sometimes nose down more like turning downwards and drift back So if you do a couple of steps backwards and turn up you will get it out. So donít do the 12 o'clock so much.

But it is also kite dependant, some kites are more resilient to overflying than others.

[Sonny]

Thanks. At least there isn't something I am missing.

Pity the wind never came up this afternoon at Alameda. Was stuck with the trainer kite on the beach.

Chris.

Alameda is a great place to learn if there is wind, 3rd is a better place because we get wind almost everyday. If you are learning at 3rd, don't go out if the wind is WSW or you see most of the locals sitting on the carpet watching.

[adamrod]

if no one went out when all the locals are sitting on the carpet watching, who would we watch?