I went out the other day and had a great time on my 9m Argo, but then I dipped the wing of the kite into the water after diving it too hard (something that happens regularly to me - is that normal?). It then caught the wind from the side somehow and inverted on me. I tried to relaunch the kite in the water and noticed that it was inside out and the lines were turned.
I had heard that this can cause a death roll and I did not know how to rectify this inversion in the water, so I had no choice (I believe) but to pull my safety and self-rescue.

I always knew eventually I would have to do this and considered it a good exercise. So I was prepared as I had studied videos on self-rescue to the n-th degree and it worked a treat. Knowing how to wrap up the safety line, then the other lines whilst pulling the kite towards you is actually pretty neat.

How can I prevent the kite from clipping the water when I dive it down? I don't see it happen to other people but it happens to me say 2-3 times per session.
Also is there anything I can do when my kite inverts like this? It's happened to me before on a different kite...

Problem 1) Turn the kite earlier before it hits the water or turn it harder so it doesn't hit the water
Problem 2) I would say that your not pumping the leading edge hard enough. The Argo is quite c shaped and if pumped up enough should not invert.
This is not guaranteed to work but does work about 50% of the time. If the kite relaunches inside out fly it to the zenith then fly it straight back down through the center of the window just before it hits the water swim at it to lose all line tension and hope it comes right. Might have the steering line wraped around the front lines.

Thanks a lot for the video, DJMWA.

I did not realise that I can actually relaunch the kite when the back lines are crossed with the front lines after the inversion.
The video is very useful although I do not understand how by pulling the safety after the inversion and resetting the safety, you can relaunch the kite whereas trying to immediately relaunch the kite after the inversion is not recommended...?
I'll defo try it next time when there is low wind and not worth going out from the shoreline.

Kajo said..
Thanks a lot for the video, DJMWA.

I did not realise that I can actually relaunch the kite when the back lines are crossed with the front lines after the inversion.
The video is very useful although I do not understand how by pulling the safety after the inversion and resetting the safety, you can relaunch the kite whereas trying to immediately relaunch the kite after the inversion is not recommended...?
I'll defo try it next time when there is low wind and not worth going out from the shoreline.

Kajo, be aware that with the lines crossed the kite will be powered up more since your steering lines will be wrapped around the front lines.
Since the front lines take most of the load, they will effectively stay the same length as before the kite inversion.
THe steering lines though (since they have less load on them) will wrap around the inside of the front lines, hence have to travel further to connect the bar to the kite - this will effectively shorten the steering lines and have the effect of sheeting in/powering up the kite.
Suggest to pull some depower/trim to compensate.

Oh and be careful with kite inversions - it wont always invert with both steering lines crossed through the front line. The kite can end up flipping between a front line and steering line, in which case one steering line will be wrapped and one wont - you may have to fly with your bar at 45 degrees for the kite to fly straight.
Keep your hand close by your safety release when relaunching the kite after an inversion.
Steve

Hi Kajo,

DJMWA is right, you probably simply don't react on the bar quick enough. Stop your kite quicker so you avoid getting it too close to the water or crashing it when you water start. Ideally your kite should be at 45' when you get up on the board.

Note that you won't always be able to relaunch and fly your kite after an inversion, especially if one or both bridles are wrapped around the kite's wing tip or even worse if your canopy inverts and your kite starts to power up with the canopy inside out...which is a common occurrence after an inversion!

The video encourages to release the safety system after such problems occur to fix such issues and prevent the kite from flying out of control, then reset the safety system and attempt to relaunch after the kite itself becomes tangle free.

As I mention in the video most people won't release the safety system after an inversion and insist on trying to relaunch and fly the kite regardless of the behavior the kite... if you try to do this when the canopy is inverted and/or when your bridles are caught around the kite, you'll find yourself drifting downwind for ages and possibly end up in a death loop and tangle your lines more...jam your safety system and end up releasing the whole kite, which I've seen happen countless times.

Christian