MrTwist said..


I have never tried it with my chicken loop unhooked. What happens if things don't go to plan? Does the kite roll around on the beach in an arc across the wind window?

It seems to work fine in light winds staying hooked in, I haven't had to try it in stronger winds yet.

Unhooking = activating the safety system (chicken loop quick release) as long as your leash is connected to the safety line. If you let go of the lines accidentally whilst self-landing or if you fail to put the kite down in a secure position, your kite may roll downwind but cannot pull you and cannot power up if you are no longer hooked in the chicken loop.

The advantage of unhooking vs release the safety system is to allow the kite to stay stable and keep it under your control at the edge of the window.

Self-landing without using your safety system (unhooking or activating the quick-release) can be very dangerous, especially in strong winds.

Over the years I have seen many people getting dragged violently trying to self-land their kites whilst still being hooked in the chicken loop...

be smart and don't be one of them!

Makes me think I'll have to shoot another video to make this more clear for everyone

Hi all,

Here is a follow up video from the original self-landing video ()

Hopefully this new video will clarify the safety aspect of this technique, so that even if you fail to self-land, even in strong winds, you won't get dragged by the kite since you have unhooked from the chicken loop first. At the risk of repeating myself, always UNHOOK from the chicken loop first, before attempting to self-land. If in doubt about self-landing, simply activate your safety system and follow the center lines back to the kite, which often leads to a similar result as Unhooking anyways.

bene313 said..

belldiver said..

Cheers Ive seen that video and in light winds with my 11m its exactly like that and easy.

Today with 20 plus knots, that little 8m touches the sand and just jumps straight back into the air. It was virtually impossible to get it to sit on the sand?????

I stay hooked in, depower, let go of the bar and pull on the bottom steering line to literally steer the kite into the ground. If you are doing this, the kite cannot bounce or relaunch - it is being steered into the ground. Hold strong tension on the line and walk upwind. Then flag out / pull in top centre line.

I have done this regularly with my 6m in 25kn.

Hi bene

Are you saying you walk towards the kite keeping tension on the steering line and the flagging lines until you get to the point where you can pull the upper flagging line and tip the kite over? This to me seems risky especially if your CL is still hooked in?

@cebulota I always disconnect the CL now. In reality the is no reason not to. Only laziness or rushing to get up the lines and pull the kite over. Nice video.

Teacher land, never done that. I think it in itself would have problems as you would attach your chicken loop to the teather but not your safety??? So you would then have to disconnect the safety altogether to reach your kite?? If the tether then let go your kite would just roll down the beach??

If on the other hand you just connect your safety to the tether and let the kite flag well the whole point of this thread is to try and avoid your kite rolling around on the sand uncontrollably being damaged??

belldiver said..
Hi bene

Are you saying you walk towards the kite keeping tension on the steering line and the flagging lines until you get to the point where you can pull the upper flagging line and tip the kite over? This to me seems risky especially if your CL is still hooked in?

Not walk towards the kite - walk upwind, so perpendicular to your kite lines. Walk upwind while steering the kite into the ground, not pulling any line in, just steering the kite into the sand. You need to be upwind of the kite in order for it to tip over on itself properly. If you don't do this upwind walk, the kite will, in high wind, relaunch instead of fully tipping over.

Once 5-10m upwind of where you started, you then then flag out to upper flagging line.

In regards to unhooking, I will start to do this as it makes sense from a safety point of view. However when I've had kites unsuccessfully tip over and relaunch on me, I just hang onto the flagging line, the kite has no power so ends up crashing downwind, then walk up the flagged line to secure the kite.

bene313 said..

bigtone667 said..
I bought a monster carabiner and use my two surfboard/roofrack straps when I tether launch/land. Works really well and safely in strong winds.
Strap one connected tightly around the pole/tether point, second strap loops from strap number one and carabiner connects to number two.

I still don't understand why people tether launch/land - adding so many more variables to go wrong! Why tether when:

- Self-launch is easy.
- Self-land always have the option of setting kite @ 12 - then pulling safety.

I generally self launch and land, but a few locations we use at Lake Macquarie in Newcastle come with some interesting challenges during on-shore high wind conditions. So I set up a tether as an option.

belldiver said..

Teacher land, never done that. I think it in itself would have problems as you would attach your chicken loop to the teather but not your safety??? So you would then have to disconnect the safety altogether to reach your kite?? If the tether then let go your kite would just roll down the beach??

If on the other hand you just connect your safety to the tether and let the kite flag well the whole point of this thread is to try and avoid your kite rolling around on the sand uncontrollably being damaged??

i think i need to post a video for you

I showed a guy at the beach this the other day. It so easy, he laughed half shocked.
[1] bring kite down the edge of the wind window to its tip
[2] make sure kite is bopping there not moving or trying to self fly.
[3] depower kite fully (pull your depower line full)
[4] grab the top wing tip centre line and quickly yank towards you
[5] kite is parked.

Tips:
* If kite wants to fly again you are too much upwind. Walk down wind a bit but not too much to loose tension and control on the lines (front lines or leading edge lines).
* If the kite wants to roll backwards, you're not holding tension on at least one of the steering (back or rear) lines
* If the kite is falling down to be parked, but moves along the sand, you have chosen a bad spot as the angle of the ground to wind, is too steep upwind causing kite to not be held down enough by the wind.

Practice!