Spacemonkey! said...
You can actually launch similar to this- that's how they do it off boats keeping one line wrapped up more than the others to keep the kite flagged. It's also how you self rescue in reverse by wrapping one line up until it flags and then winding all the lines in.
Problem is the kiter was clearly a noob, see board leash, and messed it up. A launch like this is difficult and should not be attempted with other kiters around to lend a hand if your a beginner. In fact as a rule try not to self launch/land as much as possible as there is a much larger risk of things going wrong.
Lucky he didn't get hurt considering that the wind was onshore relative to where he was standing!
Agree.
I've done it a few times when kiting on lakes where there is no space to launch.
As mentioned above, the kite needs to be drifted on the flaging line, therefore, before you attempt that you need to wind up your lines accordingly.
....and make sure the lines are not twisted.
However, I don't see the reason why you would have to do it next to a large grass area.