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General Gear Reviews Newbies The Hookup Foiling Lost & Found WA NSW QLD SA VIC TAS

pirrad

850 posts

pirrad

SA, 850 posts

22 Oct 2011 8:41pm

For those who dont know Wallaroo north beach SA its a 2 km stretch of 2wd access beach about half km wide when tide is out. There was prob about 30 cars on the beach today ,majority on the southern end as normal so i went up the north end and put a distance of 100 -150 meters between me and the closest car. The wind was almost directly onshore but i was hoping it would pick up a bit more or it wouldnt be worth going onto the water.I set the kite up any way as i wanted to do my first self launch from the towbar and convert my bar to the 1:1 setting and see how different it flew. Along came a car so i took my kite up to 12 as it drove past 20 mtrs downwind, went 50 meters past did u turn,i had dropped the kite to 9 and thought 1 would leave it there and see if they gave me a wider berth,

NO ,,,,,STRAIGHT BACK PAST

LESS THAN 10 METERS AWAY (AS I TOOK THE KITE BACK TO 12)
(driver was female)

lotofwind

NSW

6451 posts

lotofwind

NSW, 6451 posts

22 Oct 2011 9:22pm

General public that dont kite dont know or understand.
We have always gotta give them right of way even if it seems that they should have more common scense.

You see it all the time.
Someone stands on the edge of the water watching you turning/jumping in the same deep beach gutter for half an hour, then , they jump in the same spot and have a swim when you are on a deserted beach with kilometers of emptyness.

But, we have to give them(no commen scensers) right of way.

Its like when you park your 4x4 on the beach in the middle of no where with miles of empty beach, and
some city slicker parks 5 meters beside you??????
They must be from the city and are not use too being more than 3 meters of other people.

GreenGriff

137 posts

GreenGriff

SA, 137 posts

22 Oct 2011 9:21pm

You humans are a a social animal you tend to group together for no apparent reason other then to be close to each other

Joe Cron

NSW

450 posts

Joe Cron

NSW, 450 posts

22 Oct 2011 10:44pm

lotofwind said...

General public that dont kite dont know or understand.
We have always gotta give them right of way even if it seems that they should have more common scense.

You see it all the time.
Someone stands on the edge of the water watching you turning/jumping in the same deep beach gutter for half an hour, then , they jump in the same spot and have a swim when you are on a deserted beach with kilometers of emptyness.

But, we have to give them(no commen scensers) right of way.

Its like when you park your 4x4 on the beach in the middle of no where with miles of empty beach, and
some city slicker parks 5 meters beside you??????
They must be from the city and are not use too being more than 3 meters of other people.

Lemming behaviour is so f@#king annoying.

Surfing a desolate nude beach one time, same thing, miles of beach, some rock spider has to swim on the shore right where we are surfing, f@#king gumby. No good if no ones looking. Me and my mate decided to try to run him over. Fortunately we didn't get the chance.

lotofwind

NSW

6451 posts

lotofwind

NSW, 6451 posts

22 Oct 2011 10:57pm

The only problem I have surfing at a nude beach is,
getting the wax out of my pubes.

theDoctor

NSW

5786 posts

theDoctor

NSW, 5786 posts

22 Oct 2011 11:31pm

What the hell is a self launch from the tow ball...?

TurtleHunter

1675 posts

TurtleHunter

WA, 1675 posts

22 Oct 2011 8:43pm

theDoctor said...

What the hell is a self launch from the tow ball...?

an automotive self launch

lotofwind

NSW

6451 posts

lotofwind

NSW, 6451 posts

22 Oct 2011 11:59pm

Attach chicken loop to tow ball via D shackle.
Walk to kite, hold it up like you are helping someone launch and lines are tight.
Let go of kite and it will sit there on its wing tip. Walk back to bar.
Hook in and launch.
Really safe easy way to self launch.
Unless you own a waveslave launch pad that is

TurtleHunter

1675 posts

TurtleHunter

WA, 1675 posts

22 Oct 2011 9:23pm

^^^ there you go doc

lotofwind

NSW

6451 posts

lotofwind

NSW, 6451 posts

23 Oct 2011 8:38am

See,
You can teach an old doc, new tricks.

deanrobi

VIC

641 posts

deanrobi

VIC, 641 posts

23 Oct 2011 10:02am

I have some Kiwi friends that do a similar launch from a fence post at one of their local beaches.

They have a similar method for self landing in stronger winds where they use the tow bar or fence post and basically reverse the steps mention by Lotofwind.

RPM

1549 posts

RPM

WA, 1549 posts

23 Oct 2011 8:04am

self land and launch is a core skill. You have to think that if you can't do it, are you an individual competent kiter?

As for the towball trick I have seen someone do this with awesome results. The chicken loop fired and the kite flew away. I asked him afterwards where he learned the technique and he said you tube! He was like 'that's never happened before and I have done it 10 times or more'. Yeah but that 1 time it does happen what about people you take out on the beach with your runaway kite and bar/lines.

but each to their own.

pirrad

850 posts

pirrad

SA, 850 posts

23 Oct 2011 11:55am

simple ,easy and safe
even safer if you hook up second line to your safety
not that hard to hold a line as you walk back to kite and if something goes wrong you've got the chance to flag the kite

eppo

9793 posts

eppo

WA, 9793 posts

23 Oct 2011 10:22am

Been shackling to toe bar or post for a few years now. Easy and safe but I'm not a fan of landing them this way..

However you get lazy and when the kite trip somewhere happens with no where to hook you will find yourself ( as I did) trying to self launch correctly again in foreign conditions on a foreign beach, this is where your self launch has to spot on.

Trust me on this, it is a safe and gentle on your kite, but every second or third time self launch, don't get dependent on it.

Wisha

255 posts

Wisha

SA, 255 posts

23 Oct 2011 2:32pm

Pretty good system, but when it's gusty the kite tends to surge forward then just flip over and self land. Sand on the bottom tip tends to help a bit.

daggy

528 posts

daggy

WA, 528 posts

23 Oct 2011 12:50pm

tied to a post securely there's no way the kite could free itself.
if there's no post / tow ball you can bury your board under a pile of sand and hook to your handle.
if self landing in overpowered and gusty conditions (winter) this can be lowest risk
just make sure there's plenty of weight on the board before you walk up

chronic

NSW

318 posts

chronic

NSW, 318 posts

23 Oct 2011 6:59pm

theDoctor said...

What the hell is a self launch from the tow ball...?

hello anyone? we need to know

pirrad

850 posts

pirrad

SA, 850 posts

23 Oct 2011 7:42pm

^^look at the video ^^tow ball(the thing your trailer hooks onto)
fence post or anything else as described in comments.

Plummet

4862 posts

Plummet

4862 posts

23 Oct 2011 5:26pm

yeah. teathered launch is the safest solo launch/land in my opinion.

GreenGriff

137 posts

GreenGriff

SA, 137 posts

23 Oct 2011 11:39pm

as a beginner first thing i wanted to learn is self launch/land cant really go past this one easy as works a treat

dont think i would bother with any thing else unless it was really high winds

eppo

9793 posts

eppo

WA, 9793 posts

23 Oct 2011 9:12pm

daggy said...

tied to a post securely there's no way the kite could free itself.
if there's no post / tow ball you can bury your board under a pile of sand and hook to your handle.
if self landing in overpowered and gusty conditions (winter) this can be lowest risk
just make sure there's plenty of weight on the board before you walk up

Good idea man.

lostinlondon

VIC

1159 posts

lostinlondon

VIC, 1159 posts

24 Oct 2011 10:24am

eppo said...

Good idea man.

Hmmmn, so I've got to put my board on the ground, cover it in 20kg of sand whilst keeping the handle exposed, then unhook and somehow hook my kite to the handle, all whilst flying my kite in gusty/overpowered conditions?

Unless you have a carabiner attached to your board handle, how do you do it?

Skid

QLD

1499 posts

Skid

QLD, 1499 posts

24 Oct 2011 11:48pm

pirrad said...

simple ,easy and safe
even safer if you hook up second line to your safety
not that hard to hold a line as you walk back to kite and if something goes wrong you've got the chance to flag the kite

Was anyone (other than me) waiting for a cyclist to come wizzing along the path... straight into the lines...

Burls

209 posts

Burls

209 posts

26 Oct 2011 2:59am

I use a similar setup for drift launching from a boat, using an oversize stainless clip and a rope just over one metre long which is tied off to a cleat at the back of the boat. When the kite gets to the end of its drift, starts to power up, and then move to the edge of the window, there's no danger moments, or unplanned departures from the boat

. When the kite is good to go, disconnect the clip from the chicken loop, connect the chicken loop to your harness, and off you go.

MrKite

NSW

27 posts

MrKite

NSW, 27 posts

26 Oct 2011 8:36am

Burls said...

I use a similar setup for drift launching from a boat, using an oversize stainless clip and a rope just over one metre long which is tied off to a cleat at the back of the boat. When the kite gets to the end of its drift, starts to power up, and then move to the edge of the window, there's no danger moments, or unplanned departures from the boat

. When the kite is good to go, disconnect the clip from the chicken loop, connect the chicken loop to your harness, and off you go.

^^ don't forget the all important "Death Leash"!!..^^

toddws

469 posts

toddws

WA, 469 posts

26 Oct 2011 8:55am

Hate to agree with RPM but self launch is a core skill.
The funniest thing i have seen is a tethered launch go wrong with the kite tomohawking from left to right as a gust came through and then the kite self destructing.
With a tow ball or post if it goes t!ts up, it happens so quickley and you have no chance of getting back to the bar and flagging the kite.
4 weeks ago we saw a 2 month old, 2011 rebel which had been ripped to shreds because of this method of relaunch. It alternated between the beach debris and the hard thorny bush at Shoalwater in Safety Bay, when asked if we could repair i suggested that the guy check his insurance!

TurtleHunter

1675 posts

TurtleHunter

WA, 1675 posts

26 Oct 2011 1:39pm

^^^ seen the same thing but the blokes missus and kid were taken out by the kite as it raced across the window. Then again I have seen some pretty funny self launches too.

Andrash

637 posts

Andrash

WA, 637 posts

26 Oct 2011 3:20pm

Attaching your kite to your board, especially in high wind is an extreme risk stuff in my book. Simply, there is too much room for errors.
If you can't do safe self launch in strong wind, you should not kite strong wind. If you can't self land, you still can release the safety and walk to your kite on the safety line.

ezza

NSW

561 posts

ezza

NSW, 561 posts

26 Oct 2011 7:20pm

Anyone got tips on self landing a Slingshot Rally when its windy? Ive recently gone back to SS after a couple of years on a Bandit and finding it just wants to flyyyy. My old tecnique of crash and pull the windward side back line to make it sit down doesn't seem to work as well. Or do i need to post this in the nooob section ?

Ozoned

NSW

58 posts

Ozoned

NSW, 58 posts

26 Oct 2011 10:34pm

ezza said...

Anyone got tips on self landing a Slingshot Rally when its windy? Ive recently gone back to SS after a couple of years on a Bandit and finding it just wants to flyyyy. My old tecnique of crash and pull the windward side back line to make it sit down doesn't seem to work as well. Or do i need to post this in the nooob section ?

I'm not sure of the setup of the Slingshot but when I self land I pull the top front line to pull the kite into the wind. Taking a couple of steps towards the kite as I gab a full arms length of line.

Andrash

637 posts

Andrash

WA, 637 posts

26 Oct 2011 7:40pm

I fly Rev's. They love to fly too. The trick is: unhook, hold onto the safety line make sure it slides freely, and when the wing is touching the beach, you pull the safety line (to flag the kite) and run!! upwind in teh same time. If you miss it (in strong wind) and the kite still takes off, it lands on its LE after one flip as long as you hold the safety.

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