Seems to be the new guys curse with the rebels, it certainly was for me:

1. In gusty or marginal winds, or tide conditions that are taking you downwind don't leave the kite sitting at 12 it will just fall out of the sky. When you're setting up have the kite at 9 or 10, once you're ready to go if you don't want a big power stroke bring it up again but never leave it at 12.
2. With 4 line kites you can relaunch with twisted lines and take yourself back to shore to rerig. With the 5 lines, if the centre line wraps around the canopy you have to punch out. It is possible to recover from that situation but at this stage I'd just keep punching out. As you progress it will happen less and less.
3. Covered in one

Good luck!

1. The rebel is a heavier kite and works perfectly in its given wind range. I reckon you may have set up in conditions too light for the kite to sit in the 12 position. If the wind is that light you need to fly the kite gently between 11 and 1 and keep it working and stop it from falling.
2. If the kites just falls back into the water under marginal winds most kites will take time to drift back around to the edge of the wind window, this gives you time to check your lines, you can do this by pulling the bar in gently and placing some tension in the lines. You'll get a pretty good idea whether that fifth line is running properly from the leading edge. Also helps work out which way to rotate the bar.
3. I used to fly 11m rebel in the surf and the kite didn't like hauling my 100kg backside under 15 knots, these kites like wind and the more powered up the kite the easier is was to fly, even in the surf. One of the great attributes of your kite mate is the trim/de power line, it really depowers the kite efficiently so set your trim before you enter the water.

Hope you find this useful

My 1st kite was a rebel, i was sold on the 5th line safety factor and it made it really easy to land in the water and recover,

how ever i has so many of the dramas your talking about. They fly great when there is good wind but they suck when there isnt.
Ive gone to a 4 line Bandit and never looked back and never twisted the lines since.

I think the rebels are crap for beginners as you crash so much and then end up twisted.

Hey Bcolkite,

I'm a noob like you sailing down at Melville until I get my s#*t together. Had a great session yesterday arvo and probably heading down again today. I'm on a black 12m cab convert so if you're around, come say hi.

Oli

Guys - Melville was pretty gusty and had some serious lulls where i was there on monday. It probably wasnt your fault that the kite fell out of the sky.
If you keep your kite at the 45 degree position (10.30 or 1.30), if there is a lull it will fall down sideways onto the water (either LE up or LE down) and is less likely to invert - especially helpful for the rebel riders.

Guys, that was a great advice.

I went out yesterday on my Rebel 2013 / 11m at Melville Beach Road - great conditions - although it was a bit crowded :)


Anyway - the tip to keep the Rebel on 1 / 11 o-clock worked perfectly for me.

I really struggled with my rebel when i bought it 3 month ago because it often just fell out of the sky and got tangled and i had to pull the quick release :(

I never had that issue with my Rebler2010 - 9m though - so I think the bigger kites are more likely to get tangled than the smaller kites?

anyway thanks for that advice - I now have faith in my Rebel 11m again :)

SaltySinus said..

Note if you do get a tangle, it's worth pulling the quick release in the hope it untangled.... works for me (1 time out of 10!).

Well but this really only works in areas where you can stand?

You might find if you shorten you center lines it might make it sit back in the window a bit better.
Not familiar with norths line adjustment, but surely there is room for adjustment.
also dont pull your bar in too much when sitting in the water as it just chokes the kite.

Faramirsen said..

SaltySinus said..

Note if you do get a tangle, it's worth pulling the quick release in the hope it untangled.... works for me (1 time out of 10!).

Well but this really only works in areas where you can stand?

Yeah, good point. It's certainly easier if you're standing on the shore/in the shallows and you pull the QR (ideally with the kite on the water with it catching the wind... If you're lucky, it will 'roll' in the wind the right way...

Loftywinds said..

Bcolkite said..
I ride a 12m North Rebel.. Any tips would be much appreciated....
Cheers

Get rid of North!

What do you recommend.... Going to get myself a 9m in the next week or two... need it for those winds over 22knots.. any tips appreciated..

Bcolkite said..

Loftywinds said..

Bcolkite said..
I ride a 12m North Rebel.. Any tips would be much appreciated....
Cheers

Get rid of North!

What do you recommend.... Going to get myself a 9m in the next week or two... need it for those winds over 22knots.. any tips appreciated..

DEmo, Demo, Demo.
every kite will invert in the right hands at the wrong time
so my opinion is..
5line kites suck.
bowties are not cool and 5 lines are unnecessarily complicated. good 4 line kites are childs play to land and launch.
Epic Renegade 4g 9m - dope kite.
Relaunch - super fast.
Landing - super easy, do it with one hand.
Boost's bigger than you can dare to go. Free rides awesome, and rides waves nice, a bit more powered up than the 11m but keeps your heart pumping, and is built to take a beating, this I have proved...lol
or you could just get the 11m (best kite ever) and sell the rebel. they come with an extra set of 15m lines which you put on to make this kite go sick in the 20 - 28 knts zone. I find the 11 boosts easier on these lines and it turns FAST. that's a total range of 13 - 28 kts from an 11m.
I got an extra bar so the 15m lines can be set up fulltime = stoked and ready to go with one kite, in any wind range. (it helps to have an assortment of TT's and SB's for sure ;)
Folks will claim that the dice 12m or the drifter 11m will do this range but you can bet they are not having a lovely time at the 20+ range lol. Survival kiting is severely over-rated as the kite is let out so much they become a pig to turn. Also both these kites have the front lines stuck together for about 5-8meters (longer?) so you can't "drop" them out of the sky like the EPIC, and when you're lopping them down from their wing tip pozzie, you gotta walk up that line that far = bogus. Landing a bigger kite with a long safety throw at it's higher end solo can get a little tedious not to mention dangerous. But you can always activate safety and walk up the line....
EPIC = 2steps, pull the top front line, fat lady sings.
Dice and Drifter are both sick kites, but the Epic is the bomb. 11m for smooth wave, freeriding, drifting, 9m good at all this but for more powered up wave riding but this kite is the boost machine if you're looking to go that way.