Contact   Imprint   Advertising   Guidelines

Relaunching a kite while holding board

Forum for kitesurfers
espana2323
Rare Poster
Posts: 44
Joined: Sun Feb 11, 2018 8:05 am
Gear: No gear yet
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 2 times

Relaunching a kite while holding board

Postby espana2323 » Thu Jul 26, 2018 8:22 am

Hi,

When you guys relaunch a kite at sea and lets say you are next to you board, do you keep hold of the board while attempting to relaunch? Or do you let the board go, launch the kite and then body drag to get it?

When I try to relaunch while holding the board I have a really hard time (I am new at kitesurfing).

Thanks.

apollo4000
Frequent Poster
Posts: 434
Joined: Thu Jan 03, 2013 2:27 pm
Kiting since: 2006
Local Beach: Camber / Lancing / Whitstable
Favorite Beaches: The next one
Style: trying hard
Gear: All sorts
Brand Affiliation: Nope. Just a regular Joe.
Has thanked: 155 times
Been thanked: 48 times

Re: Relaunching a kite while holding board

Postby apollo4000 » Thu Jul 26, 2018 8:43 am

IMO it’s safety first. Get your kite back up and then recover your board. If it all goes a bit Pete Tong and there’s waves, buoys, underwater hazards, kite eating hazards other kiters, plus your lines are in the water you are a risk to yourself and others; your kite will get you home when in difficulty. Clearly it’s also important to take into consideration the local conditions. Hard to let go of your board as a beginner but it’s best to get the kite up first.

The dilemma of board recovery is a decision scale from body-dragging (best option), Go-Joes (good for distressing when learning), other kiters (hit and miss), taking a risk on the tide or waves doing the job (very hit and miss) then the heresy of reel leashes (expect prison if seen in daylight)....don’t mention, the reel. I mentioned it once and I think I got away with it.

Good luck and have fun.

tomtom
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 1693
Joined: Sun Nov 03, 2002 1:00 am
Has thanked: 23 times
Been thanked: 218 times

Re: Relaunching a kite while holding board

Postby tomtom » Thu Jul 26, 2018 8:44 am

which board? Twintip, Surfboard, Foilboard? Straped, Strapless?

it depends...

MartinO
Medium Poster
Posts: 82
Joined: Wed Aug 05, 2015 8:28 am
Kiting since: 2001
Local Beach: South Sweden
Favorite Beaches: Grönhögen, Sweden
Style: Freeride
Gear: Naish Pivot, Blade Trigger, Flysurfer Peak4 kites
RRD and Liquid Force boards
Slingshot Hydrofoil
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 15 times

Re: Relaunching a kite while holding board

Postby MartinO » Thu Jul 26, 2018 8:50 am

For flatwater and twintip board, let the board go, but keep somewhat track of it. Get the kite up quick. Then get the board.

You will most likely loose more ground by beeing slow to relaunch while holding the board, than what you do when letting the board go and then bodydrag after a quick relaunch. With modern kites, it is so easy to relaunch that you are up in no time if it´s windy enough. Just a few days ago, I helped a beginner that held his board while trying to relaunch. He got one of his lines stuck under a fin on the board and the line snapped, giving him a lot of problems. So make sure that the board are well clear of the lines.

There are some home made solutions to your problems. I have seen a beginner guy around here that uses some kind of "light release leash", that looks like a leash but has a release connection. I think he has a short 10cm leash connection on the board that ends with a hose and then a leash from the harness with a small stick at the end that fits the hose with a tight fit. He inserts the stick into the hose while fiddling with the kite and that keeps the board near him. Then when he rides away he pulls the leach and the stick pops out of the hose. Or if he crashes after forgetting about the leach it also releases easily I assume. That might be one idea for the first days if you have problems with the body dragging or are unable to get back upwind if you loose ground while learning to body drag. It is definately not needed when you get your things sorted out however, so I wouldn´t bother.
Last edited by MartinO on Thu Jul 26, 2018 8:52 am, edited 1 time in total.

User avatar
pmaggie
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 861
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:54 am
Kiting since: 2010
Local Beach: Gera Lario, Como Lake, Italy
Favorite Beaches: Lo Stagnone (Marsala, Sicily - Italy) - Soma Bay (Egipt) - Cabarete (Dom Rep.) - Kite beach (Maui)
Style: Freeride
Gear: Core XR4 11, Core Riot XR 7, Core Riot XR2 15, Flysurfer Speed 5 21, Flysurfer Sonic 3 13
Shinn Bronq 136x42, Shinn Bronq XL
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Como Lake - Italy
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 31 times

Re: Relaunching a kite while holding board

Postby pmaggie » Thu Jul 26, 2018 8:52 am

I simply keep the board on my feet. If the situation is difficult (lines tangled, inverted kite etc.), I hook the board to my roll leash, that I carry exactly for this reason, so that I'm free to move and I can take my time to fix the problem. Then I unhook the board and start again. Please note that I NEVER ride with my board hooked to the leash.

espana23
Medium Poster
Posts: 139
Joined: Wed Dec 06, 2017 8:51 am
Gear: NA
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 27 times
Been thanked: 14 times

Re: Relaunching a kite while holding board

Postby espana23 » Thu Jul 26, 2018 8:53 am

tomtom wrote:
Thu Jul 26, 2018 8:44 am
which board? Twintip, Surfboard, Foilboard? Straped, Strapless?

it depends...
Twintip

User avatar
K-Roy
Frequent Poster
Posts: 300
Joined: Tue Jan 27, 2015 5:42 pm
Local Beach: Lake Balaton
Taiba, Brasil
Favorite Beaches: Cumbuco to Jeri
Style: strapless SB & strapless FB
Gear: Fone Bandit X, XII, Breeze V2. and Diablo V.1
FW Vader, OR Duke, Mitu Pro, Fone foil
Brand Affiliation: Fone brand Ambassador
Has thanked: 12 times
Been thanked: 12 times

Re: Relaunching a kite while holding board

Postby K-Roy » Thu Jul 26, 2018 9:07 am

in light or border line wind I try to recover my board first and use it as "resistance" (on my feet or sitting on it) to get the kite back up.
in most all other cases kite first, then board...

User avatar
iriejohn
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 2618
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:04 pm
Weight: 80kg, 1.78m
Local Beach: West & East Wittering (UK South Coast)
Style: Make it up as I go along
Gear: Bars, Kites
Twintips, Directional
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Noviomagus Reginorum
Has thanked: 554 times
Been thanked: 284 times

Re: Relaunching a kite while holding board

Postby iriejohn » Thu Jul 26, 2018 9:26 am

Keep the board on your feet then you have both hands free to relaunch the kite.

espana23
Medium Poster
Posts: 139
Joined: Wed Dec 06, 2017 8:51 am
Gear: NA
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 27 times
Been thanked: 14 times

Re: Relaunching a kite while holding board

Postby espana23 » Thu Jul 26, 2018 10:06 am

When you guys say to keep it on your feet, what body stance do you have while relaunching? Do you lie on your back having the board in front of you and relaunching? Or do you "face down" having the board behind you dragging while relaunching?

User avatar
Beardytello
Frequent Poster
Posts: 393
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2016 3:07 pm
Local Beach: Isle of Man
Gear: North / Spleene / Ozone / CrazyFly / Mystic
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 42 times
Been thanked: 14 times

Re: Relaunching a kite while holding board

Postby Beardytello » Thu Jul 26, 2018 10:27 am

espana23 wrote:
Thu Jul 26, 2018 10:06 am
When you guys say to keep it on your feet, what body stance do you have while relaunching? Do you lie on your back having the board in front of you and relaunching? Or do you "face down" having the board behind you dragging while relaunching?
I usually have the board in front of me (like a pre waterstart position) however this obviously carries the risk of catching the lines on the board.


Return to “Kitesurfing”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: alekbelia, andylc, Baptiste_FR, Bartolo, DanielorDani, gl, Google [Bot], ham-er, headintheclouds, knotwindy, Leon van Bergen, Pitu, rnelias, Slappysan, tobesen, tonester, Ventum, Wainando, Windwarrior, Yahoo [Bot] and 373 guests