North Dyno 2015 NO water relaunch?

[Peter_Frank]

Snip..

Yes I've also tried to swim backwards, but the current was strong and the kite started to dive pretty fast in front of me

Don't blame the current

Will repeat: Current does not change relaunch in any way whatsoever

You will go more upwind, or less, compared to solid ground, depending on current direction, when riding, that is the only difference when powered the same.

Bodydrag for your board, and relaunch, is NOT influenced by current no matter how strong the current, and which direction.

Most erroneously think it does, this is why I keep posting when it pops up

Of course it is always nice to have something to blame, but it doesn't work like that

Peter

[Lokihel]

Snip..

Yes I've also tried to swim backwards, but the current was strong and the kite started to dive pretty fast in front of me

Don't blame the current

Will repeat: Current does not change relaunch in any way whatsoever

You will go more upwind, or less, compared to solid ground, depending on current direction, when riding, that is the only difference when powered the same.

Bodydrag for your board, and relaunch, is NOT influenced by current no matter how strong the current, and which direction.

Most erroneously think it does, this is why I keep posting when it pops up

Of course it is always nice to have something to blame, but it doesn't work like that

Peter

When you have current pulling you straight downwind it does affect water relaunch, particularly in light winds.
If you and your floating kite are both drifting downwind, that means your kite 'feels' less wind, and will therefore be harder to relaunch.

The bodydragging part is only true if you assume your board is drifting at the same speed as you are. This might not always be true depend on the relative direction of the wind and current.

[Peter_Frank]

No Lokihel, if you are powered the same when riding on your board, and same kitesize, the current doesnt matter at all, relaunch is precisely the same no matter how much current

To compensate for current, we choose a bigger kite if downwind current, and a smaller if upwind current - to get the "right" power when riding, of course, to be powered the same when riding, this is something you learn but takes a lot of time and you can still be surprised sometimes.
Meaning, that if a bigger kite in general is harder to relaunch, there is a difference, agree - but if same kitesize and powered the same (two different scenarios), definetly no difference no matter how much current.

In really strong downwind current, we often choose a bigger kite than would be sweetspot when riding, so we can go upwind better, a tad overpowered so to speak - at least at wavespots.
But this is not the topic here...

For bodydrag yes, it is assumed you are in approximately the same current, but this is almost always the case, for most kitesurfers at least, with very few exceptions only

Peter

[mr moon]

I think I understand what Peter means about the current:

that both myself and the kite were floating at the same speed (downwind/downcurrent) hence the current made no difference in the kite behaviour or in the water filling the kite. I thought that the current was helping the kite collecting water much faster.

ANYWAY, at that point instead to try pulling the front lines and swimming backwards I should have just pulled the 5th line and reverse the kite on its LE...