My friend just got a 2nd hand Fuel 13 splitstrut as his first kite. I've been teaching him on my old kites before this. He was getting up on the board today.. just.. and having a great time with his new kite. I have to say the one-pump rocks, I'm jealous! It seems to turn fast too for a 13, it's a nice kite for him. However:

The wind was light and in the lulls (6-8 kts?) the kite had a tendency to back into the powerzone, even curling the back tips up and flying backwards. Every time this happened I would yell at him to push the bar out, coz he was automatically pulling it in, and as soon as he pushed it out the kite would uncurl and start flying forwards again, dragging him a little. I tried putting full depower on for a while, but it was still doing it. Does anyone know if this is a normal SS thing to do? Is there any way to stop it? I don't think it will happen in slightly more wind, but it's still a bit odd, my old Naish's never got stuck in reverse gear like that.

The more important question is this: when you pull the red quick release loop on the chicken loop, sometimes the trim rope (that runs thru the bar) pulls out of the black foam cuff that covers the QR pin while riding normally. It's a thick rope and it's really hard to get it back thru the foam. Twisting like a corkscrew seems to work after about 10 mins of cursing at it.. but it's not exactly a 're-ride' system. Does anyone know any tips for this, or maybe how to stop it pulling thru in the first place? I'm trying to sort this out for him because I don't want him to ever hesitate to use his QR just coz it's hard to get back together.

Any help appreciated..
Dave.

Hey Dave I fly the same kites and have much the same problem with flying backwards in light wind when over sheeted for the conditions.. Only thing you can really do is keep the power off in the lulls.. Moving the bottom stopper ball up so that it can't be over sheeted is a good start.

As for the foam collar.. Definately a pain to put back together a short length of string that can be fed the collar first can help (and also helps when feeding back through the rope loop in the qr) but ussually I just pocket the collar and fix it up later.. It's just for show anyways

Have you checked the line lengths and settings. I fly my 13 and 9 on the middle knots, line lengths even. Sounds like the backlines are too short, or maybe just too much on the trim strap? In really light winds I somtimes go to the 3rd knot from the kite on the front lines.
An easy way I found to work out if I've got too much depower, is as soon as it fly's backwards starting easing out the depower. Only good for light winds though. But it really helped me figure out how the trim stap works while I was learning.