My local area has a great wave on a reef in slightly offshore conditions. The problem is if something goes wrong on a kite you can be up the ****. I recently had to tow someone in to the nearest downwind beach at least 3 kilometres away. It was very difficult when his kite was full of water and in very gusty and marginal offshore conditions.
A rescuer in perfect conditions, could possibly hook inflated kite to their harness leash, and sail it upwind to rocks, while the stranded kiter paddles their board in. There are issues with this technique and a safer, more fool proof system is to wrap up kite as shown below and paddle in.
The trick is to do a neat job wrapping kite up, making sure it's not full of water. Also carry a couple of short lengths of rope with you.
Deflate leading edge but leave struts inflated.
Leave lines attached but wrap lines up properly, then throw bar on top of kite.
Throw wing tip in, then start rolling kite from outer stut to centre one TIGHTLY.
Tie two struts together, then do the same thing from the other wing tip.
Lash the bundle to the top of your board.
Start paddling.
I've tried it below, and it seems easier to paddle than board alone. Especially if you just have a twin tip. It also give you a little bit of protection from the marine life.

AUS126 said..
My local area has a great wave on a reef in slightly offshore conditions. The problem is if something goes wrong on a kite you can be up the ****. I recently had to tow someone in to the nearest downwind beach at least 3 kilometres away. It was very difficult when his kite was full of water and in very gusty and marginal offshore conditions.
A rescuer in perfect conditions, could possibly hook inflated kite to their harness leash, and sail it upwind to rocks, while the stranded kiter paddles their board in. There are issues with this technique and a safer, more fool proof system is to wrap up kite as shown below and paddle in.
The trick is to do a neat job wrapping kite up, making sure it's not full of water. Also carry a couple of short lengths of rope with you.
Deflate leading edge but leave struts inflated.
Leave lines attached but wrap lines up properly, then throw bar on top of kite.
Throw wing tip in, then start rolling kite from outer stut to centre one TIGHTLY.
Tie two struts together, then do the same thing from the other wing tip.
Lash the bundle to the top of your board.
Start paddling.
I've tried it below, and it seems easier to paddle than board alone. Especially if you just have a twin tip. It also give you a little bit of protection from the marine life.

did you do that in your pool or in the 3km offshore scenario?

Always thought about this option as being pretty good but unsure about how it would work in practical terms? Ie how easy is it to roll everything up with no water inside in the stress of the situation? also what do you do if you get water inside the leading edge bladder?

Billygreen. I appreciate it would be a lot harder in the real world. Just trying to stress that packing tight with minimal water inside is important. Good point about water in the bladder. It's probably a good idea to close valve when finished packing down.
Snalbershki. Your in for a 800m paddle upwind. Some of us are drawn to these special places, so have to think it through if someting goes wrong.

Gnaraloo lends to that scenario, good reefy
slightly off shore , seen plenty of kites disappear into the yonder

early on in my kite career did the roll up thingy you photoed and paddled down to fence lines

another time did get water in the bladder due to a few rinsings after deflating LE bladder to roll up. lines a mess and relaunch not feasible, stuck in no mans land down the end of the wave.
lucky a mate dragged me in.....

I m prepared to lose my kit if need be. cheese grater and the bombie not experiences I would look forward to

stay safe

Depends on what you value more. Your gear or your life. Ditch the gear and swim in to the closest point of land.

Spending 5-10mins flagging and wrapping I up ya gear while you drift out to sea seems foolhardy.

You roll the dice when you hunt cross off surf breaks. Save yourself first, worry about your gear second. Don't put someone else at risk to save your gear.

Side note. You can track broad reach self rescuing with an inflated lei holding the wing tips.

The time it would take to do packdown like that, you'd be much further offshore.
I agree with Gorgo, it's much better to use the kite as a sail and you should still be able to 'tack' upwind in slight offshore conditions.

I've self rescued more than a few times, I consider the board more of a liability than the kite and I've ditched it a couple of times. (thankfully it washed up on shore eventually)

I do remember a case in the US where a kiteboarder died because he stuck with his kite in offshore conditions for too long, and then ditched it when he was too far out and he drowned trying to swim in. I think the temperature of the water was a major contributing factor, but basically the moral was ditch the kite early, or don't ditch it at all. If you're packing it up for too long, you're going to end up miles offshore. If you are miles offshore, rescuers will be looking for the easily seen kite, not you.

It's good that you consider the consequences well before heading out

Plummet said..
Depends on what you value more. Your gear or your life. Ditch the gear and swim in to the closest point of land.

why would you ditch your board? unless you twintip in surf and use a hook harness which you probably still need to take off as it weighs you down

Years ago a few of us were out on a sizable day and it was cross shore and really good. An hour into the session the wind turned offshore and dropped. I was the furthest out trying to get back up wind to the take off zone. I turned and saw all the kites drop out of the sky. I knew that THIS is when a packdown is necessary. It didn't take but a few minutes to package it up wrapped in my harness and then began the paddle in. By now the surf was packed as the lineup filled up quickly in the offshore conditions. The hardest part was getting off the reef with all my gear. I got in before most of the others despite being the furthest out. One guy was rescued by the navy, which was almost funny as he is a very accomplished navy pilot. (He copped **** from just about everyone for panicking. He didn't pack down because he didn't want to get hammered in the the impact zone.) Moral of the story, as been mentioned, know your situation, and what can happen if the weather changes. Make your decision about rescue quickly, then act. Most people who kite never ever have to do something like this. But everyone SHOULD know how to do it.

Try this for cross offshore conditions....
Kite with a mate or two. Bring along a sup and leave it on the roof rack. If one of of the party gets in trouble your mates come in get the sup and save your arse. Then you buy everyone beers.
But...
Don't go a long distance out.
Don't kite in offshore conditions without support. Otherwise you could quickly understand the meaning of natural selection.