Leave all the settings as normal. Before you go out sheet the bar all the way in with the kite at 12 o'clock and hold it for about 5-10 seconds. If the kite starts to back stall this means that it is too oversheeted to unhook. Pull in and let out depower as necessary to find the point the kite starts flying backwards when fully sheeted in. Pull a slight ammount of depower so it does not fly backwards, this is maximum power when unhooked. You can pull more depower to suit windstrength. If you find you are losing a fair bit of depower just getting it so you can unhook you may want to consider playing with the knots on your kite. Shortening the middle lines (attached to Leading edge) will depower your kite, as will lengthening the steering lines.

If you plan on unhooking a lot it is best to get it so you can ride with no depower strap pulled in (or very little) so that you got a lot of unhooked depower to play with if the wind picks up. If you have to pull in all your depower just to get the kite sheeted right for unhooking then your going to find yourself overpowered quite often and not being able to depower much. (this is especially true with bow kites with a long chicken line, they have all the depower to use hooked in but when your unhooked you don't have the luxury of using it)

EB said...

Thanks Spacemonkey as my kite is currently set as the day I took it out of the bag,when the depower is pulled all the way in,optimal position of the bar is 2-3" from the chicken loop.

Which means you'll have to play with your pigtails to find the optimal point by putting your back (steering) lines lower on the knots-effectively lengthening your steering lines. Depending on your set up you could also play with the front line pigtails-all you need to do is get the lines set so the max (or less depending upon your preference) power is at the bar without oversheeting.

You can easily shorten the chicken line length by adjusting it at the cleat, and then you don't have to mess with any of the other line lengths. Just mark where it is in factory trim with a permanent marker(so you can get it back to normal if you stuff it up) then shorten from there. basically it just depowers the kite by shortening the front lines. I moved one of mine in about 5 cm as i recall before i got it where i liked it.

By the way Lovey I take it this adjustment is done on the other side of the cleat from where the Depower is adjusted?

The bar I have has the round QR 07 I think,their is a tag to pull on I tryed this but appeared very solid. Did not want to force the issue for fear of destroying it.

Thanks a lot felixk spot on.Have been on that site many times but did not look at the movies. Now I know how to use the vario cleat fully.
Now to set the lines up and check their lengths and set it up for unhooking.
So much too learn in what seems a simple sport!
Cheers EB.