What do u do if your kite goes down in surf?


Here's my first day experience in surf. Having a blast , then:

I overshot my kite, it fell into the water.
A wave got my kite and i was dragged around a bit, very unnerving experience.
The donkey dick popped out unexpectedly and i was only connected by my secondary emergency.

I detached myself completely from my kite as it felt dangerous to be connected.
It was so water logged it was retrieved but had a few holes in it.

So, a little advice and instruction would be appreciated.

thanks.

as soon as the kite went down a wave got it, i had no time to relaunch. I was a bit underpowered too, which i know now is bad news.

What i really want to know is the 'what if scenario" and what to do.

"what if " your kite is eaten by a wave, what are the steps you should be prepared for.

i found the kite was a real dog to relaunch once it gets rinsed in the surf, even though it is quick to relaunch normally. just extra weight of a wet kite and no wind on the inside in the impact zone. this is a real drama if you are a long way offshore. not so bad if its a beach break near the shore. I found having a surfboard was a real plus in these situations compared to a twintip. if you still have the kite its so much easier to self rescue sitting on top of a surfboard.

"Strictly for rippin" classic.

Yeh salty, no matter what gear you ride we all find ourselves in that dreaded situaion of dropping your kite right in front of a liquid freight train sooner or later.

As you progress you get better with kite control and reacting quicker to stacks (so that you're kite doesn't end up in the drink). Then you get a bit better - push the envelope more with riding on the edge of control - and start stacking your kite into waves again.

In the event of having the kite 'catch' a wave on my 5th line Cs I used to bail to the 5th straight away so that the kite had minimum resistance (and shape) to take the force of the wave.

On my bows it doesn't make much diff as the bridle holds the kite in shape (perfect to grab a whole wave and shred to pieces) but I try to swim with the kite if it gets dragged to minimise the oomf. If the drab is big-time (and so is the wave) I have bailed out completey - releasing the kite. I ride small-ish beachies mostly so I can make it to shore pretty quick and get to the kite. However, if you are in big stuff way out it might not work for you?

You are correct to bail if you feel you will get rolled in your lines etc though.

Hey BTW in the mid 80's a mate of mine had a green OKE board that looked exactly like yours in shape. Fat rails. thin-ish slightly scooped pin tail. Went like a rocket in the Portsea surf compared to my old twinny i can tell ya.

they are good rules, it really wasn't windy enough on the particluar day my accident happened but i was desperate to go out ... i know beeter now. And probably will take a life jacket next time.

Did someone mention (on a 4 line kite) pulling in the De-power to change shape to make it "less catchy" on a wave, should i ingrain this into my memory?

Ultimately if you drop the kite into a wave with no chance of a quick relaunch you are risking damage and drama no matter what you do. But the advice on flagging to one line and minimising pull is about all you can do. Detaching completely is probably best if you are sure you can retrieve it and no other swimmers etc around.

Accordingly tightlines and Funky's advice is spot on. Do not drop the kite in the waves. Rinse and repeat this mantra.

Keeping the kite powered and in the air takes precedence over having fun on a wave face. Sad but an essential part of kiting in waves, and not something you automatically do when first playing in waves. You cannot just surf like you do without a kite, you need to adjust.

This is a hard lesson to learn especially when you barrelling down a nice wave, but you have to pay attention to the kite and move your board and kite together to ensure you do not overfly or drop the kite. You cannot just forget the kite once you are on the wave - unless you are perhaps in 30kts.

If you feel there is not enough wind and you don't have the skill or experience not to drop the kite. Don't go out unless you are prepared to come back with a damaged kite.

It is a learned skill and the one that IMO makes wave kiting a lot harder to get good at than flat water kiting.

IMO = In My Opinion

tightlines said...

Three rules for kiting in waves.

I: Don't drop the kite where you can't relaunch
II: Don't drop the kite when you can't disconnect in time to minimise the damage to the kite
III: Don't drop the kite any time you can't swim in (if you would not swim in any size surf, don't kite in it)

fixed that for you...

In light conditions and if your kite is either dropping down on the window or basically sitting with the trailing edge on the water grab an arms length up the front lines and pull. As long as your lines are taught you should do a suicide relaunch but as long as you catch it before the kite gets swamped. It is all about the angle of attack.

The key thing that I have noticed is always keep your lines tight and you should always be able to control your kite. If you see your kite starting to drop change course to tension lines, if you get washed under your kite atleast make sure you pull on the bar so that the kite will fly out towards backline rather were the breaking zone is.

Cheers
Rich

^^^^