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That moment when ......

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Air_Pharaoh
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That moment when ......

Postby Air_Pharaoh » Sun Jul 07, 2013 2:23 pm

you lose tension in your lines and your kite starts falling slowly down in to the power zone.
You are like F*%#!!!!!!! :o :o :o


Any advice other than enjoy the ride. :D

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dyyylan
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Re: That moment when ......

Postby dyyylan » Sun Jul 07, 2013 2:53 pm

Enjoy the ride ;)

If you're still on the beach, you can run straight upwind and hope you can get tension in your lines before it falls, otherwise the only thing you can do is try to prevent it from happening in the first place

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Re: That moment when ......

Postby Toby » Sun Jul 07, 2013 3:20 pm

You can run upwind but be prepared for a heavy pull forward once it catches wind again!

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Re: That moment when ......

Postby JGTR » Sun Jul 07, 2013 3:39 pm

Erm just let the bar out surely??

On land I'd probably pull my safety but I think if you let go of the bar totally you should be ok

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icebird
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Re: That moment when ......

Postby icebird » Sun Jul 07, 2013 4:01 pm

If you discover it early enough and if you try to avoid keeping the kite exactly at 12, you can usually save the kite by actively steering it possibly by grabbing a handful of leader line. Preferably the topmost line, but any steering will do - a crash is better than a stall into the powerzone.

If the kite goes out of control, sheet out and hope it goes enough to the side to pick it up later on with active steering, but prepare for a full on blast on the power zone. The priority should be to avoid wrapping a steering line around youself or the bar. Even if the kite reaches the water, it may still power up and relaunch violently.

Kites behave differently - some will roll around and make a mess, others will be so easy to catch that it is mostly a non-issue.

If it happens too often, the kite may be trimmed incorrectly - e.g. length of loading 5th or move a knot on the leader lines.

On land - I would say the opposite of the others even though I get their point:

If the kite powers up you are in a better position if you run towards the kite, and by running towards the kite you keep the lines slack and may actually stand under the kite and catch it. I've tried some dicy things on land with kite powering up on self launch, but I try to avoid keeping the kite high on land where it can fall.

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Re: That moment when ......

Postby papand » Sun Jul 07, 2013 4:28 pm

The trick is.... never have your kite at 12, at 12 the kite has the best chances of flying over ur head and u have no chance savin it..

When not surfing ALWAYS keep ur kite at 11 or 1, in that position u can save it very easily if the shit hits the fan..

Kiteschool teachin the students otherwise should be banned from the sport. :angryfire:

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Re: That moment when ......

Postby Hawaiis » Sun Jul 07, 2013 4:51 pm

It usually happen to me when the wind drop from 4 knots to 3 knots. Nothing I do will save it

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Re: That moment when ......

Postby sarc » Sun Jul 07, 2013 5:43 pm

That's the microsecond when you need to stop looking at the kite and start looking at your lines, making sure they don't tangle on you, your harness or your bar while they are slack...

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Re: That moment when ......

Postby JGTR » Sun Jul 07, 2013 5:58 pm

Taking my eye off the kite would be the last thing I would do! I'd want to know exactly where my kite was going so I could react to it :thumb: Surely you'd want to know what way it is going if it powers up so you can steer it to the safest position :-?


On land I'd probably fire off my safety, 5 mins and I'd be set up again :thumb:
On water either grab the front lines which works sometimes but. Usually let go of the bar and let it so itself out then relaunch or do a pack down depending on how the kite ended up.

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Re: That moment when ......

Postby plummet » Sun Jul 07, 2013 8:04 pm

It depends how it falls. You can sometimes recover it by pulling in the top line side the bar.


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