Depends on the scenario, if you 'choose' to do a self rescue, and you're in deep water, you can leave the board on your feet (in the Superman position), you can try putting your board downwind of your lines and push it with your hands towards the kite as you wind in, or you can leave it, focus on securing the kite then swim back out for it.

There's a good video on here comparing the two approaches of self rescue (winding in the lines vs. climbing up the lines like the Adam West Batman and Robin, and not winding them). Do a few searches and see what you find.

Ultimately if things go pear shaped and you're in cross shore wind, the priority is securing your pesky kite and getting it in your hands. The longer it's flapping around, the more likely you'll be blown down wind. If there are obstacles down wind (Navigational markers, piers, invading arm of Saxons... etc.), No1. priority is getting your kite in your hands and NOT tangled in your lines.

Once you're lying on your kite you should be able to lay your board on top of it (fins up in the air, not down on the kite) and kick yourself in. If the wind is killing you, you can consider carefully defalting the leading edge, ensuring your struts are clipped off first, roll the kite up so the struts are in line and you've got a big inflatable sausage to float on with minimal wind drag.

This video should answer your questions. You may also want to read this thread: www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kitesurfing/General/Self-rescue-experiment-methods-comparison/

We have many hundreds of successful practical self-rescues being done by our students in deep water every season using this method, and all in cross-shore winds. Although most of them are done without the board.

As you can see in the video you can use your board as a rudder to help increase your speed and direction during the rescue. In the video I cover 200 meters of distance from the shore, in cross-shore winds, in about 5 minutes. I have also witnessed one of my ex-students self-rescuing from 1km out in a cross-shore 18 knots breeze, came back with his board within 30 minutes and only lost about 300 meter of ground downwind. This can only be done with a perfect sail / board rudder combo.

The key is creating an efficient sail, which many people struggle to do, from lack of knowledge and practice. If you choose to wrap your lines (good luck with this in strong winds) it can be easier to keep your board in your feet in front of you, otherwise if you choose not to wrap your lines, take the board off your feet and simply push the board forward as you pull yourself to the kite (as per video above).

Whenever you get a new kite, pump it up without connecting the lines and practice creating the best sail you can with it on the beach, then take it in the water (still without the lines connected) and create a sail with to practice. Every kite is a bit different when comes the time to creating a sail with it. Some kites are equipped with Self-Rescue handles which are very comfortable but less powerful than using the bridle or upper center line. The key is not to use the wing tip line (steering line), which I see many inexperienced people do. This will also create a sail but will blow you mostly DOWNWIND!

When choosing to self-rescue without wrapping the lines, the most important thing is to resist the natural reflex to kick your feet and swim at any times during the entire rescue. This is the main difference between no tangles (or very few tangles) and a s**t load of tangles. 95% of our students practicing self-rescue for the first time have their lines untangled and ready to go again in less than 10 minutes, when paying attention to the no swimming, no kicking rule.

Unfortunately, few kiters are actually competent at self-rescue simply from a lack of practice during their lessons are no practice after their lessons.

no worries

#1 Rule for untangling lines is to avoid disconnecting them from the kite unless it's absolutely necessary (last resort). This will typically save you half the time or more when you have a bit of practice.

-Leave the lines connected and unwrap/untangle lines from the bar and from the kite's bridles if that's also the case

-Locate the safety line and untangle it and put behind the bar (which should then be free of lines)

-work on the areas with the biggest tangles and open up those loops

-pull the bar down with a bit of tension every time you generate slack from untangling lines (best done with 2 people)

-Try to untangle as much as you can before disconnecting the lines, try to only disconnect when they are no more birds nests in your lines (only crosses and twists in the lines, no knots).

good luck.