I writing this post, because a friend of mine, had a pretty ****ty situation where I think we can all learn.

This is what happened: the wind was a bit gusty. His kite stalls. He is about 70 meters from the sea rocks. Tries to relaunch. After a couple of seconds his kite relaunches aggressively and starts looping very fast. He is dragged uncontrollably towards the rocks. After a couple of seconds and about 10 - 15 loops, he manages to pull the QR. Everyone is shocked. The kite doesn't seem to be affected almost at all. He continues fast towards the rocks. After two-three more seconds, he manages to pull the safety leash. He stops exactly 21 meters from the rocks. The way I know, his lines are 21 meters and the kite plums into the sea rocks. He then swims back to the shore shaking and scared.

I asked what happened. Apparently on of the external lines got tangled around the bar, which made the kite loop out of control.

This is the first time in my life when I see a kite still pulling like crazy after QR.

Everything happened so fast, it's incredible how fast he reacted to completely disconnect himself from the kite. Thumbs up for his reaction. Provided the QR and the Safety release wouldn't have worked, he would've been dead. Considering how fast he was being dragged.

Points to be learnt:
1. Practice on the beach 50 times Quick Release until it becomes instinct.
2. Practice safety leash release another 50 times.
3. When your kite falls in the water, before trying to relaunch, make sure the external lines are not around the bar handle.
4. No matter how good you think you are always make sure you are minimum 100 meters away from anything but water.
5. Once every 5 session check your lines for signs of wear.

Be safe!

Mikedobee said...br]

Points to be learnt:
1. Practice on the beach 50 times Quick Release until it becomes instinct.

Be safe!

Easy one here we teach all our students.
A practice ALL kiters could/should adopt.
EVERY time your buddy grabs your kite for a landing - in that last instant before taking tension out of your lines - hit your QR instead of unhooking; or whatever else you do to allow them to flip the kite over.
1) it will reinforce your natural reaction to bail when it's needed.
2) it ensures your QR is guaranteed free and ready to work.
3) as long as you are confident in your landers ability it gives them free reign to put it down with guarantee that its not going to misbehave while you get your end sorted.
A basic procedure which IMO we should all adopt.

Only reservation being that you should be 100% confident that your lander will follow through correctly. Otherwise keep control till kite is safely secured on the beach.

Chris6791 said...
Your mate should probably have pulled his QR earlier. After 15 or so loops those four lines would be bound together as tight as a rope, not much chance of one line sliding freely once bound up that tight.

But lucky he still had his wits and was willing to dump it completely.

Agreed, this is a common problem for people who aren't trained to pull the safety release at first signs of a major problem. Too much tangle = less chance of the kite depowering even if you activate the release, all the lines are knotted. I find it happens more easily if the safety is on BOTH center lines rather than 1 center line. What brand, model and year was the kite?

Also happens when a wing tip gets caught in the bridle. No point trying to hang on to the looping kite. It cannot be controlled like this. Best to pull the QR straight away before the lines get too twisted.