Hi Lorga, Yeah maybe have one more lesson using your own gear....at least then you will know whether it is the kite or not. Or ask some one with more experience to check if your kite is rigged/flying as it should.

I have not flown a Core kite so don't know how good they are as a first kite.

Good luck with it mate.

I am a noob too and I'll try and explain the main mistakes I have been making.

I have a Crossbow 3 12m which has a very long bar throw on it. This proves to be a problem when you crash because if you crash the lines go very slack which allows the kite to roll and in my case it has inverted the kite many times which is not fun.

Making sure you keep pressure on the lines when you crash is good advice however it is important not to pull hard on the lines - eg "hanging on to the bar" as this may relaunch the kite and take you for a ride :)

Still having trouble staying up for more than a few seconds before either falling back or being flung forward superman style (which is when I usually have trouble with the kite).

Ok so falling back can be caused by a few different things - My biggest issue is that I am losing power once up on the board and just sink again.

Main things I am doing wrong at the moment -
* not pointing my board down wind -- this means you are trying to edge the board on startup and not planing downwind first so you are losing all of your power from board pressure.
* wind is not very strong and power stroke is too small -- when you move the kite slightly away before diving it you are not doing it smoothly or deep enough - this means you go up but then die again.
* Choking the kite -- I found out that this is a common mistake with noobs apparently -- It is basically human nature to hang on the bar and sheet in when you are off balance - you will find that if you let the bar out you will find a sweet spot that will have much more power - so once you are up and pointing the board relax your arms a little and extend them more.

Superman comes as a result of either moving your kite way too fast through the power zone or not pointing your board. Usually a combination of the two- so instead of the power of the kite pulling you horizontal it has to pull you up - up up up and away.

Hope this helps and these are the sorts of things an intructor will guide you on.

Stick with it mate - I have had to self rescue from an inverted kite 3 times now and it is disheartening but some things need to be repeated for your brain to do it automatically - so keep practicing and if you are still struggling, get some lessons with someone who teaches with a walkie talkie so they can tell you what you are doing wrong on the go.

Hi all,

Thanks for the advice.

On reflection I think some of the times I do get flung forward I have been looking down to see what's happening with my feet and not looking at what the kite is doing.

I have also spent some time on a trapeze on a sailing dinghy which entails keeping the front front straightned and pushing out with the back foot to get out on the trapeze and putting your weight into the harness and keeping your back leg slightly bent.

It just seems to happen a bit quicker on a kite. I'll get there and will look at another lesson if things don't improve. Will first get the kite checked out for peice of mind.

cheers

Would using a smaller kite help in the learning curve?

don't try and remotely kite upwind or even perpendicular to the wind. I learnt to stop stacking by directing the board almost directly downwind. This way i learnt to stand up, get some speed and then started to learn to edge. good luck

SpawnofFossl said: I have had to self rescue from an inverted kite 3 times now and it is disheartening..

You shouldnt have to self rescue from an inverted kite. Your lines will be crossed but your kite will still fly. you wont have the same responce from your kite as normal but it gives you enough to get back to dry land.

Hi SpawnofFossl most of the time if you can get your kite side ways in the wind you can get it out of inversion and if the lines are crossed it will still fly my advice is to try this in shallow water next time . But well done on your pack downs most people dont practice this enough and at some point in time you will need it (Ive packed down and had to swim with kite for about 40mins was buggered but still got home fine )
Have fun
George

Hi All

I'm starting out and recently got a second hand set up. I think the Kite is a Griffin 09 and works fine but it won't sit at 12 o'clock, it always pulls to the right a bit. So when body dragging, its easy to go right, but when going left, it's almost impossible to hold the bar with one hand and twist it enough to keep the kite in the correct position. I've had experienced friends check the lines and the left hand blue was a bit longer so we shortened it and then the kite was a lot more balanced in the sky. But a week later it had gone back to the way it was. My solution is to replace the strings. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Morgan

I haven't read all the replies but you need more time spent flying the kite and not near a board.

Crash it, relaunch it, ad nauseum.....

Do it for a whole weekend until you don't even have to think about it. You are not ready for the board until you have sufficient time under a kite.

Personally, I get my students to log a minimum of 10 hours of practice time between the final body drag lesson and the board lesson.

Go back a step and get your flying skills a little more proficient.

morganhiscox said...

They've been retuned heaps allready, they keep changing though. I just measured them and there's 15 cm difference in the blue lines (which I've been making up with pigtails). I think they're over the hill and should get rid of them.

djdojo said...

No need to replace the lines. You should have plenty of room to tune them at the bar. If not, you can restitch an end. I use heavy duty polyester upholstery thread from Spotlight and stitch them by hand, re-using the original sleeving. Never had a problem.

Sometimes this happens to lower quality lines. If they keep stretching its time to replace them.
You can get top quality colour coded and numbered Ozone 360kg 25M linesets here for $189
http://www.kitepower.com.au/catalog/product_16490_Ozone_4__5_Linesets_cat_361.html