RedSky wrote: ↑Tue Jul 10, 2018 7:27 am
If its really that light, then just stand the kite up on its trailing edge and hot launch it. Keep the bar fully powered in order to back stall the kite until your ready to launch, then just grab the chicken loop line and give it a good tug. In these situations, I normally go home.
Not so sure that will work very often when alone, only if wind is lighter than possible to foil (4 knots and below)
Say it is 6-7 knots so you can not launch in "ordinary" ways - but you can still foil with a LEI, then if I put a strutted kite standing on its back, it will usually move rearwards with the wind, even if less wind at the ground
If it is a onestrut, the strut might bend and sometimes the kite sits steady on the ground yes, which is okay, other times it will also move with the wind and hit something
If it is strutless, the wind will often catch the underside of the kite, either full length or like a corkscrew, not good either
This is why I recommend the "safe" way, put the kite diagonally to the wind LE down, pull the far rear line so it goes dead downwind, and reverse launch the kite
It requires a tad more wind than if TE down, correct, but my experiences riding in around 6 knots as my current lower limit for foiling with a 12 m2 LEI, is that when even lower so you can not run the kite up backwards, you can not ride either
This does not always apply though, as occasionally there are NO wind at the surface, but okay when up, and then the only way is to place the kite TE down like you say, and RUN
PF