Despite my best efforts I never could reliably self-land my Rev, I think it's just the design - the bastards just want to keep flying! I've had no problems since I changed to Rallys, pulling the top front line works every time.

Not sure about the board in the sand method, sounds pretty unstable but I've never tried it so can't comment.

not that i fly revs

but board in sand method works fine for 5th line kites. release kite to 5th. wait for it to fall and land on the beach. attach 5th to board in sand (or any fixed object). walk to kite and retrieve.

i wouldn't do this with a 4 line kite if there was any other option. e.g. another kiter to help you out. everynow and again, you'll get unlucky.... freak gust of wind, not enough sand on board, dog trips over lines.... many ways it can go pearshaped

One of the most commonly over looked techniques is using the EJECT,, or safety release- it is good once in a while to practise this method proving your lines etc are releasing correctly.. its only a matter of unclipping your eject or safety line from where you released on the beach ,, then after securing your kite walk your bar (away from your kite) feeding the eject line back through the bar till there is no line to feed back---- all done ----

DONT BE AFRAID - its better than your kite relaunching in 25 knots into a kite loop -- woooo hooooo straight into those onlookers watching that cool kiter guy--- FAAAARK THEY SAY !!!!!! he;s not so cool any more...

good luck

I self land every single time I kite these days, but it's normally closer to 20kts than 30.

It has gone wrong once in the last 50 times, but I have the beach space at my local to deal with it.

The vids that were in a recent thread really helped fine tune my technique.

Land on tip
reach up and grab handful of both front lines
walk around upwind while unhooking chicken loop
yank top line hard

It seems to work great with practice, ie commitment and timing are important.

I wouldn't ever do the board in sand thing - risks a board flying at the back of your head.

kiteboy dave said...
walk around upwind while unhooking chicken loop

I often self land in 20 knots+, I think the key point is to walk around whilst keeping tension on only the top centre line. I unhook and remove the safety so there is no chance of tension on the back lines and am nearly directly down wind before giving the centre top line a yank.

I see so many people trying to self land but don't walk around and consequently relaunch the kite.

I don't understand why more people don't just pull the QR. It's designed to depower the kite fully and you're able to pull up the line to catch your kite. Simple! Yeah sure, the lines are a mess and a pain to reset. but mate... it's waaaayyyy safer than doing smart-arse pull this line or that to try and park the kite. But like KP said... if there are people around that can land it for you - you would be STUPID not to ask for a hand.

Bedtime story for u'all.

Once upon a time in the middle of a dark and stormy day one intrepid little kiter decided the up&down but not too gusty 14/15kt SWer was good for a short session. Our little kiting buddy pumped his trusty 13M (I think at the time it was a Fuel )
All good. Actually ripped along pulling the trigger as each squally gust hit and bounced & bumped along in the chop back upwind.
UNTIL ...
Along came another gust. Easy to pick as it crossed the bay but not looking a lot different to the earlier easily managed fun ones. There were the ominous black clouds approaching but they seemed a way off yet. No problem. Another boost on the way back in and check the clouds again next time.
WRONG....
The next gust came in a bit quicker than expected. Caught me right out at the transition point. No chance of a boost even if it had been the right time & place. The initial hit ripped me off the board mid-turn. By the time I had recovered the board it was howling and still getting wilder by the second. Made one attempt to get up on the board. There was no chance. It was now truly ripping through my kite. Forgot the board. Parked the kite at 12 only to find myself being lifted & dunked just like the proverbial tea-bag. By the time I had been lofted & dunked about ten times - higher up with less of a dunking each time -I was getting close to the beach. Totally unable to do anything but try to keep it at 12.
Used the QR to safety method (above) when I was as close as I dared go - I was probably covering about 40/50 metres per loft. The kite went crazy on the end of the one line with still enough flapping power to drag itself & then me up onto the beach.
Happy Ending.
Secured the kite, rinsed out my pants and went home - still shaking (it was a cold day!)