WA
85 posts
So I was at Melville, wind died a bit, my kite fell into the drink and ended up with the leading edge on the surface and the rest of the kite underwater. Spent ages trying to get it aloft, to no avail.
I saw myself drifting right past the beach and into the jetty at the end, so thought I'd pull the quick release and self rescue. My lessons were a couple of years ago and I hadn't done it since then, so basically I buggered it up. I swam in with the kite semi-powered, pulled in by my lines.
In a nutshell, once back on the shore, my kite wouldn't self land. The 2 middle lines were wrapped around a tangle on my safety leash, and it flapped around, semi-powered. Not strong enough to pull me down the beach, but strong enough that if I pulled the safety, it would have blown away.
I spent 20min confounded about how best to safely manage my kite, when a stray kiter happened to walk past (I was way downwind, there weren't many around!) and landed my kite. Situation resolved.
In the interests of becoming more self reliant - and putting aside for the moment the obvious fact I need more self rescue practice - what is the best way to self-land a kite when you can't fully depower it?
Cheers!
WA
637 posts
1. If you are 100(!!!)% sure that there is no one downwind from you who your kite can hurt you can release the safety leash and in light wind the kite will be on her nose in a few seconds waiting for you.....but I believe you rather die than hurt any bystander....
2. you can walk up to a tree or hard object, wrap your safety leash around it and get your kite.
3. I would like to say "you should kite with a mate", but I often kite on my own...
SA
1390 posts
It doesnt mater how self reliant you are. The fact is in this sport that **** does happen and unless you have some one there with you, you could find yourself in a lot of trouble. You cant rely on safetys to allways work, ive seen some hooked up wrong, ive seen lines twisted up that many times that they cant work, inverted kites still flying hanging off the safety line, bridles tangled around wing tips looping the kite still while flagged out, the wind pick up that even when fully depowered you cant hold the kite and need to land ASAP. just to name a few. But seriously there isnt really such a thing as being self reliant when kite boarding get a mate in to it and kite with them so if something happens there is a chance some one else can help.
ACT
1258 posts
In your situation, if you were able to sit on the beach with your kite still semi powered but not pulling you, you could have tried to bury part of your board with your leash tied on to it, then walk up and land your kite, you could also have tried pulling in a meter or two of your middle lines to depower your kite more, and hopefully land it that way
WA
773 posts
Land your kiteby your front lines !!unless like the above post says ' your lines are wrapped
around your wing tips' pull your middle
lines in to flag it out and walk up them to grab it
WA
592 posts
I always carry a hook knife too, you always want the option of cutting a line if you REALLY need it. haven't had to use it yet, but if you cut one of the front lines or that and both back lines, no quesitons asked flag-out system for DIRE emergencies.
Or if the kite isn't 100% depowered, you can wrap one line only around your bar until it shortens enough to flag out the kite. If this screws up you have the hook-knife.
D
WA
1675 posts
This seems to follow the single line flagging v the typical leash on the 2 front lines argument
WA
85 posts
Thanks for all the tips guys. I could have tried the board in the sand anchor trick, but in hindsight, I prolly should have just walked myself forward on my leash, got to where the middle lines were wrapped around it, and just pulled one towards me until my kite settled. Maybe wrapped it around my bar as D Meredith suggested.
When I first got into this sport I thought the 2 releases would work in all circumstances. Its not until you realise how many different ways you can screw up, as per waxmans comments, that you learn maybe a knife isn;t a bad idea.
I spoke to a guy who had his lines once caught around his chicken loop. Releases do bugger all in that circumstance! With a looping kite dragging him towards a rock wall, he was pretty glad to have a knife.
