Kitemare need help.

[mf1tym]

I had an incident two weeks ago and have been thinking a lot about what and how it happened.

I still cannot wrap my head around it. This is my second season kiting and never happend until now.

I am hoping folks here can help me out and tell me what I did wrong. How/what to correct, so I can avoid this from happening again. Andd also hoping by sharing this would help out other new kiters to avoid the same situation/mistake.

I was practicing some toe side and toe side curving, and got swiped out. The front lines lost tension and kite fell. For some reason I instinctively thought the kite and lines were inverted due to the way the kite fell. (now come to think of it it might not have been but i am not sure) I gave up trying to water relaunch the kite and thought hey this might be a good time to do a self rescue practice (last time I did it was a few months ago). At this point I was about 60 meters away from shore. I punched out, and pulled on the safety line trying to get to the bar. But the kite was drifting faster (to shore) than I expected. So I thought f**k it, I'll just drift with the kite and when the kite hit shore it should just flag out and sit on the beach.

WRONG !! Once the kite hit shore it picked up and started looping in air like crazy non stop. I was getting yanked to the beach hard. While I was getting dragged on the beach I looked up to the kite and realized one steering line was caught or wrapped around on the windtip edge of the leading edge. I knew I had to stay calm so I relaxed my entired body and I looked downwind of the beach and made sure no one was in the way and I detached the safety.

I thought after detaching the safety the kite would just flag out because there is no more tension on the front lines.

WRONG AGAIN!! the kite countinued to loop downwind, and was eventually stopped by a pile of bushes.

During kite school's safety training we were told if shi*t happend just punch out and the kite power will be killed. And I have punched out/released the chicken loop many times during my kite school training days and never had this issue.

1. Should I have not punched out/when the kite came down? And If the kite came down inverted is it not a good idea to punch out?

2. Was the line already caught on the windtip when it came down? or it most likely happened after I punched out?

3. How could this situation be handled correctly if it were to happen again? How can I avoid this from happening again?

Luckly I was not hurt, and the beach was litterally empty (just me and another kiter sharing the entire 1.5 mile long beach) I got lukcy that day.

Any help or advice on this is truly appreciated.

2014 12M Ocean Rodeo Prodigy with Ocean Rodeo Fusion bar.

[Saxon]

It sounds like somehow your depower system was disabled. Possibly because you punched out and then drifted to shore instead of reeling into the kite. If you were floating around with the eject activated, it could have become tangled around the bar, preventing the bar from moving up the middle lines and de-powering the kite. As soon as you made the decesion to punch out you should have pulled yourself along the de-power line to recover the kite. Drifting with your de-power activated risks tangles.

[cleepa]

Maybe one of your back lines got wrapped around the bar?

[juandesooka]

Yikes....glad you're ok. Sounds like you did the #1 most important thing....keep a clear head and not panic.

Thinking through the mechanics of this, I agree with posters above...makes sense that your steering line got wrapped around bar. OR bar is a mini-5th style, so there are still two flying lines extending from the swivel. If the bar is all the way up by the swivel, and then a rear line wraps around the bar, this would give the 3 active lines needed to have it power up and fly. That would also explain how it kept flying after you detached....wouldn't need any tension on the front lines.

If that's correct, then a follow up question I'm curious about: would this same problem be possible with a single line flagging system?

[Starsky]

No idea, but I'm with Saxon. Once you punch out its a non stop task until you have the kite in hand. You never really stop taking care of business until your certain its secured. Waves and drifting kites on loose lines is a recipe for trouble. That being said, its not absolute. I don't hit the safety on suspicion alone. Unless the waves pose a danger, I wait to see if it can be sorted.

[Slappysan]

I'll bet your bar just didn't travel up the lines. If it's twisted it can get stuck.

If you pull your safety and notice your bar isn't a full 4m up your lines then understand your kite is still powered. Best thing to do if that happens is try to get the bar to release and travel up the flagging line (lines for OR kites) but if you can't get that just climb up the line to the bar and then pick a single front line and grab it above the bar and then just keep climbing that line until you get to the kite. Once you are at the kite you can wind up your lines.

[Do-it]

Yep...five line kites are great.

[plummet]

What is the safety system of this kite?

Do be honest it sounds like a shity system.

[KiteboardingTampaBay]

All great advice above.
I would add to this-
The only 100% depower on any kite is the deflate plug. (which you should never do out on the water unless absolutely necessary.)
Try to be on the upcurrent side of the lines in the water and keep lines away from you at all times. Make sure you're line knife is accessible and ready to cut lines. There are some good threads about better kite knives on this forum.

Never wrap your hands around a kite line-ever. I will get a pic sometime of a good method that helps avoid cuts from line slippage. Basically your thumb on the line, overhand grip, and a good 90+ degree bend in the line. This is where practice in light wind comes in handy. If line starts to slip and cut, simply open your hand to release and be ready for whatever happens next.

If the kite makes 3 or more loops out of control, punch out, and be ready pull leash safety to ditch the entire rig. Once there are 3-4 wraps of the lines, no flagging system is going to work properly due to the tension on the lines. Just going to your leash doesn't mean much in a real emergency- ditch the kite if you have to.
Hooking the leash to the back of harness is going to pull you backwards thru the water. Always hook to the front if possible.
Knowing each kites flag-out and self-rescue situation characteristics is a must. Practice with each kite you have on light wind days in shallow water.
I don't trust any mini-5th system myself, but to each his own I guess. Mini-5ths seem to still want to fly, even inverted. I think a single front line or 5th line is safer. Rear line safeties result in a fast looping kite until it hits the water.
Punching out and getting to the kite takes time and covers distance getting pulled downwind. If something goes bad and is unfixable quickly, get to the kite safely ASAP and start your self rescue.
Hope that helps a little.

[William Munney]

All great advice above.
I would add to this-
The only 100% depower on any kite is the deflate plug. (which you should never do out on the water unless absolutely necessary.)
Try to be on the upcurrent side of the lines in the water and keep lines away from you at all times. Make sure you're line knife is accessible and ready to cut lines. There are some good threads about better kite knives on this forum.

Never wrap your hands around a kite line-ever. I will get a pic sometime of a good method that helps avoid cuts from line slippage. Basically your thumb on the line, overhand grip, and a good 90+ degree bend in the line. This is where practice in light wind comes in handy. If line starts to slip and cut, simply open your hand to release and be ready for whatever happens next.

If the kite makes 3 or more loops out of control, punch out, and be ready pull leash safety to ditch the entire rig. Once there are 3-4 wraps of the lines, no flagging system is going to work properly due to the tension on the lines. Just going to your leash doesn't mean much in a real emergency- ditch the kite if you have to.
Hooking the leash to the back of harness is going to pull you backwards thru the water. Always hook to the front if possible.
Knowing each kites flag-out and self-rescue situation characteristics is a must. Practice with each kite you have on light wind days in shallow water.
I don't trust any mini-5th system myself, but to each his own I guess. Mini-5ths seem to still want to fly, even inverted. I think a single front line or 5th line is safer. Rear line safeties result in a fast looping kite until it hits the water.
Punching out and getting to the kite takes time and covers distance getting pulled downwind. If something goes bad and is unfixable quickly, get to the kite safely ASAP and start your self rescue.
Hope that helps a little.

+1
Even a five line system will not work once the kite has looped to the point where the lines are jammed. If a line is wrapped around the bar you may be able to grab your flag out line above the bar and pull it in to flag the kite. But once the lines are twisted tight together by a death looping kite the best option is to ditch it by releasing your kite leash.