Hi dewwy

What you are experiencing is very common for beginners and in this case the problems/solutions are very easy to understand and fix. We can first look at kite skills, then board skills.

Kite skills:

The first problem is you are diving the kite too low. At 9 O'clock your kite would be touching the water or just about.

Solution: Dive the kite more aggressively with the bar further in and STOP the kite at 45' degrees (10:30 or 1:30). Most beginners who dive the kite to water start don't give the bar enough input to stop the dive and/or wait too long before stopping the dive. If you dive the kite loo low it takes too much time to steer it back up, therefore you lose a lot of momentum by the time it goes back up. You also typically have significantly less wind (and more wind turbulence) on the surface of the water as opposed to when you kite is at 45'.

Your second problem is you are sheeting out too far and/or too quickly when you want to stroke the kite back up. Going fast downwind towards your kite after your first power stroke will create some slack in your lines. If you sheet all the way out you will aggravate this problem. The goal is to regain tension in your lines and power in your kite as soon as possible after getting up.

Solution: Steer the kite back up earlier with the bar in (just not ALL the way in). When, and ONLY when the kite starts to move back up, sheet out a LITTLE bit, usually about half way does the job. Trying to steer the kite with the bar all the way out is simply never going to help.

Board skills:

Your third problem is you are most likely going too far downwind with your board and for too long. The more downwind you go towards your kite and the more time you spend going downwind before edging, the more you will lose power in your kite, create slack in your lines, lose momentum and sink.

Solution: avoid pointing the board too far downwind especially if the wind is strong. You only need to point your board more downwind when the wind is LIGHT and you have to dive the kite directly into the deepest part of the power zone.
Assuming you are well powered and the wind is strong, try pointing your board no further than 45' downwind.
As soon as you get up and you're standing up right (usually takes 1 to 2 seconds) you need to start edging immediately. Riding with your board flat will make you go further downwind and create more slack in your lines and you will lose speed.

Edging your board early and timing this edging with the second pull of the kite (first pull being your initial power stroke) is the key here. This is an effort which requires coordination and a lot of practice for some. It also helps to have a background in other board sports here.

As mentioned above, if you stop your kite earlier you will be able to have more tension in your lines and start edging your board earlier as well, making you lose less speed and be able to carry on riding.

If you still struggle after a while consider getting a 1H Lesson with radio helmet and video support. With the right advice and seeing your mistakes on camera, you can make incredible improvements in a very short amount of time.

Hope this helps

Christian - KiteBud

Love ya work Christian....another very articulated response

One more thing to add....don't know how old those RPM's are, but if they are a bit older maybe some line tuning is in order?

To answer your last question dewwy, it's a common noob thing to do the walk of shame to get back upwind....

It will eventually click and u will get that locked in feeling where u are edging hard with kite in the correct position staying upwind effortlessly

Good luck and good winds

+1 for Christians response, legend!

cbulota said..
Hi dewwy

What you are experiencing is very common for beginners and in this case the problems/solutions are very easy to understand and fix. We can first look at kite skills, then board skills.

Kite skills:

The first problem is you are diving the kite too low. At 9 O'clock your kite would be touching the water or just about.

Solution: Dive the kite more aggressively with the bar further in and STOP the kite at 45' degrees (10:30 or 1:30). Most beginners who dive the kite to water start don't give the bar enough input to stop the dive and/or wait too long before stopping the dive. If you dive the kite loo low it takes too much time to steer it back up, therefore you lose a lot of momentum by the time it goes back up. You also typically have significantly less wind (and more wind turbulence) on the surface of the water as opposed to when you kite is at 45'.

Your second problem is you are sheeting out too far and/or too quickly when you want to stroke the kite back up. Going fast downwind towards your kite after your first power stroke will create some slack in your lines. If you sheet all the way out you will aggravate this problem. The goal is to regain tension in your lines and power in your kite as soon as possible after getting up.

Solution: Steer the kite back up earlier with the bar in (just not ALL the way in). When, and ONLY when the kite starts to move back up, sheet out a LITTLE bit, usually about half way does the job. Trying to steer the kite with the bar all the way out is simply never going to help.

Board skills:

Your third problem is you are most likely going too far downwind with your board and for too long. The more downwind you go towards your kite and the more time you spend going downwind before edging, the more you will lose power in your kite, create slack in your lines, lose momentum and sink. https://videoder.pro/ tubemate.onl/ snaptube.vip/

Solution: avoid pointing the board too far downwind especially if the wind is strong. You only need to point your board more downwind when the wind is LIGHT and you have to dive the kite directly into the deepest part of the power zone.
Assuming you are well powered and the wind is strong, try pointing your board no further than 45' downwind.
As soon as you get up and you're standing up right (usually takes 1 to 2 seconds) you need to start edging immediately. Riding with your board flat will make you go further downwind and create more slack in your lines and you will lose speed.

Edging your board early and timing this edging with the second pull of the kite (first pull being your initial power stroke) is the key here. This is an effort which requires coordination and a lot of practice for some. It also helps to have a background in other board sports here.

As mentioned above, if you stop your kite earlier you will be able to have more tension in your lines and start edging your board earlier as well, making you lose less speed and be able to carry on riding.

If you still struggle after a while consider getting a 1H Lesson with radio helmet and video support. With the right advice and seeing your mistakes on camera, you can make incredible improvements in a very short amount of time.

Hope this helps

Christian - KiteBud

u will get that locked in feeling where u are edging hard with kite in the correct position staying upwind effortlessly

Good luck and good winds