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Kitemare on my Diablo

For all foil kite riders
GCKiter
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Local Beach: Navarre Fl.
Style: Old style, waves, endless downwinders
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Kitemare on my Diablo

Postby GCKiter » Tue Feb 21, 2017 3:11 pm

Went out yesterday in 9-12 with light seas.Had a great session for the first 45min. ,then a noticeable wind drop. I began making my way back to the shore on my goofy stance on the foil when I dropped the kite in the water,was able to get 1 wing tip up but just not enough breeze to water launch. Half the kite started filling with water so I started rolling up the lines and dog paddled in,except now I've got a sea anchor I'm trying to swim to shore.Seemed like it took forever to get to shore. I didn't realize the Diablo would fill that fast. I don't recall that characteristic ever happening with my Flysurfer. Anyone else out there have a similar experience ?

socommk23
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Re: Kitemare on my Diablo

Postby socommk23 » Tue Feb 21, 2017 3:24 pm

Did it land leading or trailing edge first?

GCKiter
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Posts: 65
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2016 8:43 pm
Local Beach: Navarre Fl.
Style: Old style, waves, endless downwinders
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Re: Kitemare on my Diablo

Postby GCKiter » Tue Feb 21, 2017 3:32 pm

It landed trailing edge but twisted on a wave before I could water start.

socommk23
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Posts: 499
Joined: Mon Oct 03, 2016 10:05 pm
Local Beach: Hill head
Favorite Beaches: Brean. Uphill. Pembrey. Hill head. Meon shore
Style: Keeping the kite dry....hopefully
Gear: F.one diablo 15, 11 and 8m . Pansh aurora2 15m. Pansh sprints and firsts and Adams and flux .
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Re: Kitemare on my Diablo

Postby socommk23 » Tue Feb 21, 2017 3:45 pm

Doh! Not good.
Well if the leading edge is down, twisted and there are waves.....itll fill pretty well. Couldnt compare to a flysurfer. Unless you crash one in a similar way id assume any intake facing a wave would fill quite fast.

Bletti
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Re: Kitemare on my Diablo

Postby Bletti » Wed Feb 22, 2017 4:24 am

Done that plenty with my ozone r1v1 kites before I started to pack down quick if things aren't looking good.

cosmo
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Re: Kitemare on my Diablo

Postby cosmo » Wed Feb 22, 2017 2:43 pm

Agree with Bletti...pack quick as hell my Chrono. In light conditions the foils are very dificult if not impossible to launch (apart from the FS speeds).

foilholio
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Re: Kitemare on my Diablo

Postby foilholio » Wed Feb 22, 2017 10:20 pm

swimming with foils is never easy, best bet is to pack them up, try rolling the water out.

joriws
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Re: Kitemare on my Diablo

Postby joriws » Thu Feb 23, 2017 9:43 am

Remember foilkite can be used also as a downwind sail if there is any wind on the surface. So keep all 4 lines in tension which is the most basic thing with foils. But do not overtension so when some air bleeds out from the kite (when sitting on trailing edge) it might start flying trailing edge first.

Rule #1: if kite is on the water/ground never let the 4-line tension release. (meaning le or te on the ground, not in taco position)

If there are breaking waves then it comes impossible to keep line tension as wave hits you, you lose tension of lines and kite goes flat and after wave hits the kite it can be flooded with water..

Only occasion you should release line tension is that if kite is already (full or partial "bikini") inverted you might try to de-invert it by pulling lines and letting other 3 lines very lose. But experts only and practise on dry-land first. I have succeeded on "bikini" fixes with this approach on the bar end.

GCKiter
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Posts: 65
Joined: Sat Jun 04, 2016 8:43 pm
Local Beach: Navarre Fl.
Style: Old style, waves, endless downwinders
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Re: Kitemare on my Diablo

Postby GCKiter » Sat Feb 25, 2017 3:42 pm

Hey thanks for the suggestions,I seem to push the low end limits of the wind a lot just to get that last session before the breeze drops completely. Now that I've experienced some of the characteristics of this particular kite, I'll try and anticipate when to start hauling ass to shore!

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davesails7
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Re: Kitemare on my Diablo

Postby davesails7 » Sun Feb 26, 2017 1:54 pm

What type of board were you riding? If it's a foil board or surfboard with some volume, you can sit on top of it like surfers do. It took some getting used to, but now I can balance on top of my foil board while I roll up the lines.

The key in light wind is, as soon as the kite hits the water, always grab your board first before you start trying to relaunch. If not, your board will take off downwind without you. Especially the foil boards.

It took quite a while to get used to it, but now I can pack the foil down on the water and get it up onto the board for the swim in without falling off the board.


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