theres still a few people around flying with chicken loops that have no quick release

is this safe?

wouldnt using a quick release on a chicken loop amount to negligence and then void any AKSA public indemnity insurance a kiter might have if anything did go wrong?

Pretty sure all the new stuff has QR chicken loops now so it wont be long before everyone has them anyway. Need to be pretty switched on to be able to release in a hurry anyway ask Andy Raw he he..

ian,

whilst i agree with what you say 100%, *and* have quick releases for both my chicken loop and main loop, *and* practice releasing often (including often when solo landing)...

however, i still see a number of people riding without releases on their kites and have been told by some of them on more than one occasion that they don't need one.

how do you explain to someone that a quick release is a good idea when they don't want to listen? just heard from a mate that previously didnt think quick releases were necessary and just managed to drag himself head first down a beach, changed his mind after that but is this the only way to educate?!

re-reading my first post, made a typo... i meant to ask would NOT having a quick release on your kite potentially null and void any AKSA public indemnity insurance?

my thoughts are that any reasonable person would be expected to have suitable safety equipment (read quick releases and leashes), and in not having the equipment fitted could be considered negligent?

Incident 1: beginner kiter launches kite and kite flies backwards and loops pulling kiter off feet and causes him to unhook (just in time) and throw the bar......

Next thing...kite,bar.lines tumbling down the beach and collects me, another kiter and a Joe Public who has his back to everything gazing out to sea. I realised as the kite went tumbling past me and the bar skidded past my feet that he didn't have a leash at all.

I confronted him and I may have come across a little heavy but I think his ego was a bit bruised by the incident and he basically was ready to talk with his fists. I warned him "do not kite here again without a leash" and walked away from his bruised ego.

The next day, same guy, same kite....no leash.

I approached him yet again....this time with some expert advice from my girfriend who is a business coach and knows the gifts of talking to bruised ego's. Still didn'treally get anywhere....he still went out.

So.....the big guy stepped in, he dropped his kite...couldn't get it back up and it was promptly consumed by Hells Gates and spat out to sea with him swimming back in.

Luckily, in some instances powers beyond our control take control to the benefit of everyone.

But a lesson learned the hard way....but as you all MUST understand...what has the Joe Public taken away from the incident? has our sport had a positive effect in the eye of the general public? on this occassion....sadly no.

Incident #2: Coronation Beach

Euro's havin' a fat time come in for a breather (1hr) and leave lines strewn out along the beach while they grab a bite to eat and a sip of water and a smoke and generally work on looking as cool as possible and smirking at the 30-40 windsurfers working hard out there. Meanwhile Ma and Pa "trip around Australia" are walking their dogs and throwing the tennis ball for the little blighters when at full speed the first dog trips in the lines and the second cops it across the throat. This pulls the kites sufficiently enough to launch one of them and send it tumbling with a euro fast in chase. Ma and Pa "trip around Australia are standing there dumbfounded as they cop an earful from a kiter blaming their dogs for the incident.

So what has "Joe Public and Ma and Pa trip around Australia" got in common?. They are voters they have rights and they complain to council.....

Can we all please!!!! please!!! LEARN from other mistakes, take responsibility for OTHERS at our local spots by stopping things before they happen by simply, and nicely, telling the ignorant that "we do it here like this". and if you don't want to do that...then go elsewhere.......it's either that, or "ma and Pa, and Joe Public" will simply have too many bad stories for council to ignore them.

Join WAKSA/AKSA now!!! if you don't follow the basic guidelines that are putin place you are doing nothing but creating the possibility of your favourite spot being closed to you and your mates.

Gavin Hirschausen

Ok all points noted...

Now what do you guys recommend as a good QR for a chicken loop? Witchard, Airush/Naish/Cabrinha systems, etc. etc. I'm after something that I can release way out deep if necessary but be able to re-attach whilst in the water so I can get back to shore. The systems like the Airush that rely on pins and velcro look like a total hassle to re-attach while you're bobbing up and down especially when the kite will be pulling hard. I'm favouring the Witchard since you can simply hook back into the loop if you can't "reshackle" using the Witchard device itself, although that does mean flying with no QR until you get back to shore.

I also want to setup a spinning lease. Any good designs out there???

PS. are Witchard's foolproof. i've heard of a case where it didn't release possibly when there is little load as would be the case when the kite is luffing...

Personal preferance is to use a chickenloop that is fitted with a QR and use it with a witchard . Getting the loop back into the witchard is to hard to do safely , easier just using the hook .
The best QR is the one you can FIND and that YOU have tested and feel comfortable with .
The most important thing with QR's is that you must make the decision to use them in time .

damo, i just got a naish sss (had a wipika throttle bar before)

the quick release on the chicken loop is great, much more "natural" feeling method of releasing rather than groping for the loop on a sliding pin setup like you say

but!

second time out on it and i accidentally unhooked from the chicken loop and by accident "slowly" sheeted all the way out before dropping the bar. one of the rear lines somehow hooked itself on the leash line and the damn thing didnt release, just put the kite into a power spiral

anyone had this prob with the naish setup? still trying to figure out exactly how this happened!

Like cars,
Doesnt matter what car it is, old ones are dangerous.
New cars have seatbelts and airbags
You probably never use them but one day it will save your life.

Most safteys will work,
Some safteys work better,depends how much performance you require.

Spotted PKRA are doing sliders in there main event.The only safe,quick relaunch system for this style of comp is 5th line.
For repetitive crashes-relaunch, the quick smooth action,low friction, robust Wipika CLS kills it.

NJ
you obviously have not seen the NEW windwings with SAFE system.

Four lines near 100% depower. No tangles
Only release when you really need to.
Relaunch with 4 lines or just traditionally using SAFE.

Either way only 4 lines

My money is on the North QR. I put one on my old Wipika with great results. Liked it so much I've now got the new Toro 05 as it is the most simple uncomplicated IE. least likely to break down on you in the water. Dead simple dead easy to install and keeps you alive for under $50.
Looked at the new recon2 on Cabrinha, too much to go wrong
Launch unhooked, tell me about it. I launched from a prang last sunday and my loop had unhooked without my knowing. I am 3metres up and not coming down any time soon. YOU NEED TO DEPOWER when you launch, launch out of the loop and you are not chicken you are a TURKEY.

imho
get the slingshot surefire spreader bar

quick unload when needed
saved my on two occasions when self launching, weed snagged lines, kite falling back in the zone and the oh **** here we go thoughts racing, waiting for the kite to fill with air and power up
hit the button release all happy vegemites
have used with 5th line and standard 4 line set

wont go out with out it

Hi Hurrah,
Dont want to sound like a know it all...but...
Say your advancing your kiting and lose it,
falling on your face just up wind of a slider or a car park or family of people,
With the kite looping out of control.(As it does sometimes!)

*And you throw your WW kite will it drag you all over the car park/slider or not?
*Then can you relaunch it 70% depowered (downwind) with steering control or not?
*Can you swim home (up wind) with the kite fully depowered ragging in the wind or even walk away from danger with the kite following you like a dog on a leash,ready to relaunch again at will-(dude only launch this way in the water if you havent had enough practice)

If WW doesnt
Im sticking to 200(5) lines of kites.Going to buy a new Wipika INDY.

Another Magic Tip,
-Open and close your saftey sometimes to be sure its not seized and correctly assembled.
Thank you for your attention, if you have read this far.

Hi Hurrah
Dowanna start blueing and all that,
But once you have worked out the benifits of that one extra line,How much performance it adds to your kite and confidence it gives you on the water,There is no looking back to 4 lines.
Its like 2 line kites!
Didnt want a 4 line kite because it was twice as much tangles

I learnt to sort out 4 lines and went wow this is great.All round it was better.
So now imagine my reaction to 5 lines.
For real performance and saftey mate


Try to focus on for real stuff and not american hype.

Im sorry H,
Your absolutely right,

ww complicated 4 lined kites Keeping It Simple for Stupid people.

Look after your self and be sure your saftey actually works when you need it.....

I saw those ocean rodeo punch out systems they look like the way to go if a sudden 50 knt gust hits

Just made a safety system where if you let go of the bar it pops the chicken loop. You can adjust it so that if you dont want it to work it won't. It uses a Naish QR loop and a standard sheeting set up. I can imagine why it hasn't been thought of before? Best of all it works on four and five line kites and costs **** all to make. I'm going to get a few other guys to check it out and find any problems that I can't. Anyone alse got any other ideas?