its never mentioned really and most user guides always say not to hold your lines etc in any circumstance

but

pulling on one line to get the kite to start moving across the window normally helps.

diff kites diff lines. Start with pulling the front lines a bit, and if this doesnt work, try a back line etc.

But before doing this, you did have the bar fully angled, as if turning hard right or left, to start the kite moving along the window.

try the angled bar as the starting point, then try the line pulling - but practice this somewhere safe and easy to recover first to work out what your kite likes before doing it in the ocean

had the bar pointing straight at the kite - started to move round as expected, but just wouldnt go more than ~30degress off straight downwind. Felt like there wasnt enough wind

hunglong - whats a good way to practice - just drop the kite somewhere shallow(eg in the river), and play with it? Any good spots (in perth?)

cheers
s

Dont have any idea, if the kite had flipped over propely and sitting on one wing tip, why it would not power its way across the window,

mine motors along all too fast once its flipped over and sitting on a wing tip,

maybe your not getting it to sit up right after its flipped over, so its still not powered up properly to move across the window ??

Some thoughts: (i) its much harder to get your kite out to the window when its on the water in light winds; (ii) you need more wind when you are in deeper water than when you can stand in shallow water as the drift takes some out of the wind speed; (iii) wind is usually more gentle close to the water. So, if you are out in fairly light winds and drop it where you cant stand, you have an uphill battle ahead of you.

If it was windy ... beats me what the problem is. Make sure you haven't unhooked yourself and let the bar out so the kite is on its front strings. Giggle it a bit and you should be in gravy!

To relaunch a kite perform the following steps.

Scenario 1. You've crashed and the kite is leading edge down and dragging you downwind.
1. Hook into your chicken loop.
2. Depower by pulling your trim strap in. (this reduces the tension on the back of the kite, allowing it to roll over easier)
3. Swim quickly towards the kite until it rolls onto its back.
4. As soon as the kite is on its back, grab 1 of the front lines and pull towards you approx 1 to 2 foot.
5. Hold the front line until the kite comes around to a point where you can let go and steer the kite off the water.

Scenario 2. You've crashed and the tips are crossed.
Perform steps 4 & 5 but if the leading edge is facing left, pull and hold the left front line. If leading edge is facing right, Pull and hold the right front line.

Some common mistakes are:

Once you have the kite on its back you must immediately apply tension to 1 front line. If you dont the kite can quite easily flip over and turn itself inside out which may damage the kite or keep going and cross your lines.

When pulling on the lines people get impatient and will only hold the line for a couple of seconds before switching to the opposite line. If the kite is facing left, pull left and vice versa.

Imagine your kite is crossed and facing left. If you pull on the right line you are pulling the top of the kite down into the water which is closing it up and not allowing it to act as a sail.

If you pull on the left line you are releasing the tension on the right or top side which will allow it open and act as a sail, pulling the rest of the kite around to the edge of the window.

If the kite wont open, dont switch lines, simply pull a bit more line towards you until it opens.

Some kites will relaunch easy if you pull on the outside lines but i have found that the middle ones are alot more effective and quicker.

Good luck!

Bo,
the board leash ? again.

if you are not confident of dragging back to your board and or relaunching skills then evaluate the area you kite in for worst case senarios and then kite accordingly.

something I have done and still do, but consider it dangerous and would never tell anyone to do, is to pull one front line and one back line together. making sure that I have bar in full depowered position.

This gives me a similiar reverse launch action to the airblast technique where the kite rolls over and launches almost instantly taking me for a fun drag.

Of course no one should try this at home even under parental supervision.

I certainly do not teach this to my students.

best winds
Tony Lorenz