Cabrinha owners (and others too) check your line lengths

[Matteo V]

Should all the lines be the same length with trim all the way out (i.e. full power) and the bar pulled all the way in or out?

Trim to full power and bar all the way in.

Full power is not a single place on the bar. Bar position for full power is variable according (ultimately) air speed over the kite vs load. Position in the wind window, inherent forward flying speed of that particular model/size, angle to the wind/apparent wind, are all quantifiable as to thier influence for ideal maximum sheeting angle prior to stall or partial stall.

[Ventum]

The story goes it’s the rear lines which get full with sand that actually shrink.

That is one theory. Better one is pre stretch of back lines creeps back because there is not so much loading for them.

I don't have any sand in my lines and they still need to be checked and stretched every now and then. And why only back lines would get full of sand and get shorter?

Creep would mean the lines extend and quite sure creep is no issue we face in kitesurfing (relative low and fluctuating loads over short time).
I think you mean hysteresis but hysteresis effect is only high directly after unloading and gets very low arlready after 1 minute. For sure no hysteresis after a week.

Backlines getting shorter then frontlines can be the effect of using kites in hot locations. Lines enter the water and water (including salt and clay particles) may penetrate the fibers (espceially true for the "open" lines like FL10). Frontlines are loaded more then backlines squeezing out more water ....then the water evaporates. This effect can be undone (as far as I know) by washing your lines in a washmachnie (mechanical action to smack out the particles and water to dissolve the salts). Then there is the PU coating also playing a role especially in hot countries.

My experience is that the biggest differences are seen in tropical countries wich confirms a bit the above statement.

Off course there can be other effects; how does the factory determine the length and under what load did they measure, the frontlines are connected to 5mm depowerlines which are in general less optimal bedded-in when measurering the length in the factory, leaderlines...were the splices set properly after making them and even event depending efects (sure 1 frontline is longer after you had a deadlooping kite) but backlines indeed get shorter then frontlines over time in general.

[Matteo V]

Cabrinha has always had this problem. They just use shit lines.

I use Spectra/Dyneema fishing line. I would call it the second most s--t line on the market. But with proper stretching techniques, a good splice, it's more resistant to going out of tune than any factory line available.

Stepping up the load, loading for a consistent time interval, and doing so at a temperature no more than 15⁰C less than the maximum operating temp expected, will make the second shi-----t lines on the market stay in tune past when they are too worn out to be considered safe to use.


The worst lines on the market - Duotone (old North), Best, and a few others who have upgraded (at least slightly), are not possible to make reliable with any method I know of. This makes old North bars worth the value of thier excellent CL release only, and old Best bars not worth about the cost of half of a 6-pack of cheap beer.

P.S. if you are trading an old Best bar (2010 to 2013?) for half a 6-pack of cheap beer, cut the faulty/defective CL loop release off of it and smash it with a hammer. That could stop an accident and keep your local beach from having a kiteboarding ban, as well as possibly saving a life.

[peche2013]

Hello,

I have just check my bar(2019 Cabrinha Overdrive 1x recoil with quickloop) and the length of my lines are not ok. I saw a video on youtube where the distance between the bar and chikenloop is much smaller. What do you recommend me to do in this case?

Thanks.

[nixmatters]

Hello,

I have just check my bar(2019 Cabrinha Overdrive 1x recoil with quickloop) and the length of my lines are not ok. I saw a video on youtube where the distance between the bar and chikenloop is much smaller. What do you recommend me to do in this case?

Thanks.

1. Soak the lines in warm water and rinse them well. Preferably loose, not tightly wound in the bar. Washing them in a laundry machine works great (I've done it), but is an overkill and it might take a while to untangle and sort them.
2. Connect the bar like you did in the photo, put your harness on and lean back with full weight on your front lines.
3. Pull the bar as much as you can (incl. one side at a time) trying to get the bar as close as possible to the QR, and 90° to the depower mainline.
4. Share here how it worked

[gator1]

Washing your lines in a washing machine sounds like a very bad idea.

Lines dont stretch they shrink. Your back lines shrink over time, so it makes your front lines look longer. Lines come prestreched from the factory. That's why new lines are longer than old ones.

All lines shrink, its a part of kiting. That's why bars have ways you can tune your lines. Cabrinha lines are a lot better than some other brands.

[Herman]

Peche, can you still trim in enough to get slack rears when being overpowered at the top end of your biggest kite?

[Onda]

Cabrinha has always had this problem. They just use shit lines.

My 2018 Cabrinha lines are still in perfect condition. Steering lines shrunk maybe 5 cm which can be adjusted with the knots hidden in the bar ends (attachment points of steering lines).
Since the first adjustment of steering lines I don´t see any further change in length.
I always try to treat my bar with very high attention though. Maybe this makes a difference as well. And I kite in rather cold conditions (NL, DE).

[iriejohn]

I calibrate the lines on my bars every month or two after first getting them wet.

Trim to full power and bar all the way in.

Full power is not a single place on the bar. Bar position for full power is variable according (ultimately) air speed over the kite vs load. Position in the wind window, inherent forward flying speed of that particular model/size, angle to the wind/apparent wind, are all quantifiable as to thier influence for ideal maximum sheeting angle prior to stall or partial stall.

"Full power" is a figure of speech when calibrating a bar, it's quite unlike you to go up your arse about something like this!

Oh.

[peche2013]

Peche, can you still trim in enough to get slack rears when being overpowered at the top end of your biggest kite?

Yes, I have try this the day I been in the park and check the lines, I have to depower until the bar touches the QR(same like nikmatter was saying yo do above). But another thing comes when I depower my bar; the power and depower lines of the bar are too long and they tangle around each other or tangle around the bar(I stretch the spring of the bar, but didn’t work that well). Did they stretch too over time? In this case what should I do? Can I trim this two little lines or should I change them and the spring?