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"New" to foil kites

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Don Monnot
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"New" to foil kites

Postby Don Monnot » Sun Jan 29, 2017 1:14 pm

I've been a tube kiter for 8 years, but flew a 2007 Ranger for a year when it was new. I recently bought a 2009 Flexifoil Sabre 2 (12m) and yesterday was the first chance I had to fly it. It's my first time with a 5th line kite.

After a few sudden collapses when I flew the kite too close to the edge of the window and got hit with a wind shift, I remembered to fly it farther back in the window. I also remembered that when it collapses to just be patient and let the wind sort out the kite. I kite on a frozen lake--not on terrain. That worked every time, and I eventually got better at it.

My question is really about how to use the fifth line. I attach my kite leash to it, but haven't tried to QR the kite to see what happens. All the lines and complexity of the bridle system intimidates me a bit--if things get too badly tangled, I'm not sure I'd ever sort them out.

I used the brake strap to set up and land the kite. The extra leash from the CL to the brake strap loop also confuses me a bit. How does that work? Other than to depower the kite when shit happens, what are the uses for the fifth line?

Thanks.
Don

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Re: "New" to foil kites

Postby joriws » Mon Jan 30, 2017 9:18 am

Sabre2 I don't have any experience nor it's safety options.

But in general at QR safety release the bridles should not tangle. Bridles tangle if kite is laying on the ground and wind makes kite flap hard. In these kind of winds weight the kite trailing edge down. The tangle are bridle loops (not knots) which can be untangled by taking/pulling loop out from other loop. General advice: Never detach bridles from the kite unless you mark them properly!

So to answer your question, do the release on low winds, see how it works. Re-assemble QR and check if you can flyaway. 5th line should be quite simple. Front line safety you might need to rotate bar few rounds to direction kite rotated which in the air on safety.

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Re: "New" to foil kites

Postby Hardwater Kiter » Mon Jan 30, 2017 2:29 pm

The 5th is there as a secondary/emergency means of landing the Sabre 2. Your primary landing method is by using the stall handle/brake crossover line as you have been. Using the 5th line on the Sabre 2, unless the winds are pretty steady and mellow, can result in a minor mess. Coming from an LEI background it will seem pretty daunting at first but with experience the bridles become pretty familiar and surprisingly simple. As joriws points out the trick is recognizing REAL twists and knots vs. things that LOOk like a twist or knot. If you do have to use the QR and 5th line and pack it up messy, just remember when you go to sort it out not to pull anything tight or disconnect anything. (nothing was disconnected to make the mess so you should be able to reverse things without disconnect) Massage the messy lines and loosen them up to open things up. Take your time and be patient.

If you are parking the kite for a while, park it off the center of the stall handle to an anchor. We use Ice screws here 90% of the time as we operate on lakes (http://www.hardwaterkiter.com/ice-screw ... ashes.html). If you leave the kite parked too long it can roll over, reverse launch etc. But should be relatively simple to untangle if it does tangle. Anchoring on the 5th line tends to make a bigger mess in wide shifts in wind direction.

The biggest factor in causing a mess when using the 5th line is how the bar reacts as it moves away from you. sometimes it can flop around a bit in the air before it stops and you can get line inverts and twists. The easiest way to avoid this is to keep an eye on the bar and watch what it does as the 5th flags out. And reverse the twists and bar flips when you reassemble the system. Not always easy when you hit the QR in a panic or in a crash.

I haven't flown a Sabre 2 in some time but I don't recall anything that resembles a leash from the CL to the stall handle in the system. Can you post a pic? The 5th line comes down to the trim assembly to the CL and has a ring for your leash. I can't think of anything that mates it to the stall handle and the stall handle would hit the bar before the 5th could fully engage if what you describe is what I envision.

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Re: "New" to foil kites

Postby Hardwater Kiter » Mon Jan 30, 2017 2:35 pm

On a side note. At Hardwater Kiting we get LEI riders looking to learn foils for winter use. Once and a while, in fact we had one this weekend, we get someone who is familiar with launching LEIs off an anchor using their CL and assume that the same practice is employed on foil kites. Although sometimes you can get away with this on a foil kite in exceptionally smooth winds, it is extremely risky if you are riding on inland lakes or anywhere with less than perfect conditions. Use the stall handle or brakes lines. Safer and less likely to damage the kite.

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Re: "New" to foil kites

Postby Hardwater Kiter » Mon Jan 30, 2017 3:49 pm

I Couldn't find any of my old Sabre manuals but found this site with a bunch of PDFs. The Sabre Manual was very good, hope this helps a bit.

http://pdf.nauticexpo.com/pdf/flexifoil ... -3727.html

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Re: "New" to foil kites

Postby Don Monnot » Wed Feb 01, 2017 4:51 pm

Hardwater kiter said: I haven't flown a Sabre 2 in some time but I don't recall anything that resembles a leash from the CL to the stall handle in the system. Can you post a pic? The 5th line comes down to the trim assembly to the CL and has a ring for your leash. I can't think of anything that mates it to the stall handle and the stall handle would hit the bar before the 5th could fully engage if what you describe is what I envision.

I think this is a "First release" option, since it has it's own QR where it attaches to the CL. Once you hit the QR on the CL, the leash would pull on the brake/stall strap. If you needed to go to the 5th line, you'd release the "brake strap leash" and the 5th line would function. I think it's really there in case you are in a situation where you can't reach the brake strap but want to depower the kite, without going to a full release to the 5th line. I don't have pictures yet, but I'll try to get some the next time I use the kite.

Don

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Re: "New" to foil kites

Postby plummet » Wed Feb 01, 2017 6:39 pm

Foil technology and refinement have come a long way since 2009. That foils performance will be terrible compared to the latest breed of foil kite. My suggestion is to look to upgrade as soon as practical.

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Re: "New" to foil kites

Postby Hardwater Kiter » Wed Feb 01, 2017 11:58 pm

I agree, it's amazing how far things have come. But the Sabre wasn't a terrible kite and it rides pretty well. "Run what you brung"! :-)

I miss my Sabre 1. That was a great kite and mine was warrantied by Flexi with a Sabre 2. Probably memories clouded by nostalgia but I really miss that Sabre 1.

I'd probably hate it if I flew it today.


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