On riding & staying upwind, most things I read say that pushing the bar out moves your kite closer to the edge of the window and pulls you more upwind which makes sense. But it also seems that you need a decent amount of power in the kite, ie pull the bar in.

I guess its a trial & error / Experience thing but which has more effect, being pulled more upwind but with less power or being pulled a little downwind & edging harder?


Also on the subject of the edge of the window, how much difference should there be between sheeting all the way in and out? Ie I've practised on land putting my kite at 2 o clock and pulling the bar in & out but there doesn't seem to be any difference in its position. It's a Best TS 17m I'm using if it might be the kite that's causing the lack of difference?

In light wind, try pulling the bar in on the down-stroke & letting it back out on the up-stroke.
If there's enough wind to park the kite - bar about half way.

You will get a feel for it eventually.

No one has mentioned trimming the kite. Your trim strap/cleat rope is your best friend to maximize performance out of your kite.

Going up wind is more about the way you angle your board. The bar will be constantly moving to where feels good

First season rookie here also, so take what I'm about to say with a grain of salt, but as long as your bar position is able to get you up and planing, you're better off focusing on board speed or sining the kite rather than obsessing over how far to sheet it out to go upwind. Both of these things ultimately have a larger effect on the power you extract from the kite than an angle of attack change (because they increase apparent wind speed rather than trading lift for power), and a more powerful kite will shoot you further upwind always, all things being equal, as long as you're able to edge that power.

Those are the lessons I've learned in making the switch to C kites way too soon, and having recently used a slightly underpowered really vague bow kite for a few minutes, they hold true even in bridled kites.

You can also just fly the kite lower. The wind window is obviously further into the wind at the horizon than higher altitudes, and you'll have less vertical pull to contend with pulling you off your edge. Should be a measurably larger effect than sheeting.

Gfly said..
What is the correct technique to bring the kite forward or back in the wind window?

The main thing to focus on is the angle of your board. Also helps to be relatively powered up (i.e nice and windy). Once you are powering along, edge your board hard with your back heal. By pressing on the back heal you can aim your board upwind, but don't aim it too far upwind or you will lose power. Remember, you must press hard with your back foot (front leg straight while back leg bent). Push your back foot towards the water to create an edge and use your heal to aim your board.

After I became very comfortable with my kite control, I began to start focusing on my board control. I looked at the kite less because I could feel where it was the majority of the time and started to spend more time looking at the board. By focusing more on my board I could manoeuvre myself using my back foot to aim the board more upwind.

I like to choose landmarks and aim for them.

PaulyOS said..

I like to choose landmarks and aim for them.

Spot on. Beginners will always look at the kite. That's ok, but you need to not worry about the kite and focus on direction and board control. Master kite control first then look to where you want to go and naturally your body turns upwind enough to aim in that direction.

Forcetwelve said..
Slightly off topic but similar concept, can someone clarify this for me. Here's the situation:

- light wind approx 12-15k
- 95kg rider
- 12m kite
- trim to full power
- seems that I am underpowered all the time and pull the bar in

Half way through the session I trimmed kite to half depowered and it seemed to fly better. Is that due to the parachute-like effect when it's fully powered?

Do a bit of research on how wings work. Your trim strap alters the angle of attack of your kite. Pulling in on the strap shortens the front lines and flattens the kite and spills air. Letting it out makes the wing more efficient by maximising the differential between the air moving over the kite versus the air moving under it. It is not like a parachute, it is a wing.

Gfly said..
So the only way to control whether the kite sits in front of the wind window or in in the middle is through the board?

My kite usually shoots out to the front of the window if there is isnt enough wind so most times I try to keep it further back.

The only ways to sit the kite further back in the window are with board speed (depending how you want this described, let's just say apparent wind pushes it further back, or the board moves the front of the window forward before the kite can fly to it, either works), or kite speed (moving the kite rather than letting it fly to the edge of the window).