thx to Jo Macdonald for putting these infos together for us !
if you need more infos, click here: http://www.kitesurfingschool.org/
Body dragging upwind
Body dragging upwind to retreive your board is really easy.
Even if you don’t actually go upwind all the time, your board floats downwind so even if you just hold your ground it ok.
Try without the board first, all you do is lie in the water with your body and arm outstretched like superman, pointing in the direction you want to go, hooked in with the other hand controlling the kite which should be near the edge of the window and not too high, just a little powered up, you can even sine it slightly if it's too underpowered.
In lightwind power it up on the downstroke and depower to help it climb again.
Go one way then the next, powering the kite as little as possible past zenith when changing direction. keep your eye on something on shore to use as a reference point and when you get the hang of it you'll find you can go upwind.
Then try with the board, first fall let the kite pull you out of the water at zenith to look for the board (especially in waves), it will almost certainly be somewhere upwind of you. Once you've spotted it, body drag upwind back and forth until your board floats downwind to you.
Best days to start trying with your board but without your board leash are with side-onshore wind, that way even if you can't get back to your board for any reason, it'll come back to shore eventually.
Onshore is even easier and if you're close to shore it can be quicker to bodydrag back to the beach and start out again because you board will get home fast.
You can start doing this once you're past the stage where your kite pulls you downwind a lot every time you fall because if you're still doing this without a leash the board will be miles away, before you start jumping seriously is the best time to loose the board leash.
As with going upwind on your board, when bodydragging, longer upwind tacks are more effective because you will loose a little ground every time you switch sides.
The only time it’s really hard to go upwind to get your board is in gusty wind because in the lulls the kite will fly further back in the window and you’ll loose body speed (which is forwards directional speed, instead of sideways drag), then when a gust hits the kite will drag you downwind because it isn’t at the edge of the window.
Another thing to watch out for especially in gusty stuff is that when you’re lying in the water it will look like the kite is flying a lot higher then it actually is so watch you don’t keep the kite too low at the edge of the window or the first lul will drop it in the drink and you’ll be off downwind again while relaunching.
These techniques are good for self rescue too, if you're kite’s down and you can’t relaunch it and you’re
being dragged downwind by your kite towards nasty shit, or just to get back to the shore quicker, you can make
you kite drag you left or right when it's on the water by pulling one
or other of the leader lines, try and see, this lets you be
directional even with the kite down, instead of just following it
downwind cursing. If you use the superman position, arm and body
streched out in the direction you want to go, you can do even better, if you still have the board, hook one leader round one of the straps of the board and
use the board like a fin, in line with your body to push against
the water, these techniques will get you back to the beach when you
wing's down way faster.