Landing your kite in strong winds - 5 Tips for all kiters

"Run through a few scenarios in your mind to determine how you'll be landing your kite later in the day. If there's only a couple of people around, or it's late in the day, will you have to self land"
This week in Queensland, a strong south easterly was pumping at one of Brisbane's most popular kiteboarding locations. With winds in the 30knot + range, a high tide and narrow beach, landing kites was a risky situation, proving dangerous for one kiter, who was taken to hospital after a landing incident.

Days like these are some of the most enjoyable for experienced kiteboarders, but unlike the days where the wind is too light, mother nature doesn't prevent you from launching when it's to windy for you, or your setup. Here's some simple tricks that might just save you from spending the night in hospital after your next windy kiteboarding session.

Plan your landing, before you launch. Before you ask a friendly local kiter for a launch, quickly run through a few scenarios in your mind to determine how you'll be landing your kite later in the day. If there's only a couple of people around, or it's late in the day, will you have to self land? Will the tide be too high for a safe beach landing? Will the beach fill up with people and kites? Asking these questions, and then making appropriate equipment choices as a result might save some embarrassment.

Ask for help. Avoid self landing your kite on windy days at all costs. Self Landing in anything over 20 knots, is getting dangerous for any style of kite! Time the end of your session so you're coming in when there's someone on the beach. When it's that windy, they'll always be happy to help! Remember the international hand signal for 'Can you catch my kite?' is to tap the top of your head, with an open hand. You can do this while riding in towards the beach, or once you've stopped.

Rehearse your quick release procedure. On your last run, make a mental note of what you would do in an emergency. Would you push, or pull your safety release? Are you still connected by suicide leash? Could you disconnect your leash if you needed to? Rehearsing the sequence, means you'll most likely get it right the first time, and that's important because sometimes, you won't get a second try.

Leave your board, get it later. One of the most common causes for losing control of your kite while on land, is bending down to pick up a board. As you bend down, the tendency is to pull on the bar with your free hand, possibly into a kite loop. When you ride in to the beach, jump off your board, land your kite, and then return to the waters edge to pick up your board. A few seconds washing up on the sand isn't going to hurt it!

Don't stand around on the beach. The beach is the sharpest, most pointy, ouchey thing in the vicinity of most kite spots. So don't stand around on it! Chat to your friends on the water, or when you've landed, and to avoid making board swaps in strong winds. Besides the chance of being lofted by turbulence and updrafts, you standing on the beach is blocking others from landing safely!

Try these tips out next time you're kiting on a really windy day, and if you have a boring landing, that's great! All the excitement should be on the water while kiteboarding, never on land..