Contact   Imprint   Advertising   Guidelines

Video How To: Self Launch and Self Land?

Forum for kitesurfers
User avatar
Toby
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 50343
Joined: Mon Sep 24, 2001 1:00 am
Kiting since: 2000
Weight: 95 kg
Local Beach: Cumbuco, Brazil
Barra do Cauipe, Brazil
Favorite Beaches: same
Style: Airstyle
Gear: Rebel 2015 18
Brand Affiliation: None.
Location: World (KF Admin)
Has thanked: 831 times
Been thanked: 2364 times
Contact:

Video How To: Self Launch and Self Land?

Postby Toby » Sun Sep 11, 2016 11:28 am

How To: Self Launch and Self Land?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5XvVmf1pas

tomatkins
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 1123
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2004 11:53 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Video How To: Self Launch and Self Land?

Postby tomatkins » Sun Sep 11, 2016 4:07 pm

Nice video for an experienced kiter to try to use to learn how to do this in LOW, STEADY wind.

There is a need for a follow-up video... maybe call it the "Kitemare Self-launch-and-Self-Land" warning video. The first scenario to be presented and discussed would be that of self-landing and the unexpected re-launching of the kite... just as the kiter has reeled in meters and meters of line, hanging down and draping the components of the bar and the kiters feet. YIKES! Let go of everything... hang on to everything...grab the tangled lines... don't touch the lines... hit the release... don't touch the release, but spend the last few seconds on focusing on retrieving the bar and hoping the lines untangle themselves...yell a warning to those downwind of you on the beach... get the lines off your arms, feet, hook, chicken loop release...wish that you had a bar design which was more "self-landing friendly"... wish that the first video you had watched had warned you about this fast moving scenario... ha,ha

cor
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 543
Joined: Thu Apr 10, 2014 1:20 pm
Gear: -
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 214 times
Been thanked: 161 times

Re: Video How To: Self Launch and Self Land?

Postby cor » Mon Sep 12, 2016 10:42 am

Nice video indeed and this works very well - as already said - in very low and very steady wind.

However I am not a fan of this "grabbing into the lines landing" because there is quite some risk that the Kite will roll over and then shit hits the fan pretty quickly in higher winds or gusty conditions. I prefer the landing method w/o grabbing into the lines, just using the bar and steering lines which is just as safe: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfmTXLZjkxk

User avatar
pmaggie
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 861
Joined: Mon Oct 17, 2011 9:54 am
Kiting since: 2010
Local Beach: Gera Lario, Como Lake, Italy
Favorite Beaches: Lo Stagnone (Marsala, Sicily - Italy) - Soma Bay (Egipt) - Cabarete (Dom Rep.) - Kite beach (Maui)
Style: Freeride
Gear: Core XR4 11, Core Riot XR 7, Core Riot XR2 15, Flysurfer Speed 5 21, Flysurfer Sonic 3 13
Shinn Bronq 136x42, Shinn Bronq XL
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Como Lake - Italy
Has thanked: 3 times
Been thanked: 31 times

Re: Video How To: Self Launch and Self Land?

Postby pmaggie » Mon Sep 12, 2016 2:20 pm

Nice video but, as Cor wrote, good in low steady winds.
1) Self launching: no need to "prepare" the kite rotating it a little in the wind. Dangerous in medium/high or gusty winds. Just leave the kite in the normal park position and walk around as shown till it catches wind.
2) Self landing, 4 lines: this system works fine if the front line split is quite close to the bar, elsewhere you have to reach it very quickly following the front lines till you get to the split point. In medium to high winds this is absolutely not safe. I also prefer the back line method.

User avatar
edt
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 7316
Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 6:27 am
Kiting since: 2010
Local Beach: Michigan
Gear: ride hard, no regrets
Has thanked: 529 times
Been thanked: 663 times

Re: Video How To: Self Launch and Self Land?

Postby edt » Mon Sep 12, 2016 2:27 pm

good video for teaching the drag launch and top front landing. 4 and a half minutes is a bit long tho for teaching these methods. top front is a good method for light wind only, as others of mentioned, but a good technique to master because it's such a convenient technique. Of course if it is blowing hard there's always using the safety equipment on your kite. No shame in landing your kite pulling the QR.

Bill
Frequent Poster
Posts: 263
Joined: Tue Feb 25, 2003 1:59 pm
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: England
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 1 time

Re: Video How To: Self Launch and Self Land?

Postby Bill » Tue Sep 13, 2016 9:20 am

When I self launch, usually in a bit more wind than in the video, my kite always seems to slide down the beach before flipping over. I see others do it and their kite just flips over as in the video. I have a 4 line kite. Do others have this problem?

Thanks....

ThickAir
Medium Poster
Posts: 184
Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2008 12:43 am
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 21 times
Been thanked: 7 times

Re: Video How To: Self Launch and Self Land?

Postby ThickAir » Tue Sep 13, 2016 1:53 pm

Bill,

Walk upwind a bit more than you would for an assisted launch. Your self-launch will be a bit hotter than assisted, but most experienced kiters like a hot launch anyway. If you are uncomfortable with the kite hot launching, do what he says in the video and once the kite rotates up in to launch position, walk downwind until it can simply lift off the beach.

User avatar
edt
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 7316
Joined: Fri Jul 16, 2010 6:27 am
Kiting since: 2010
Local Beach: Michigan
Gear: ride hard, no regrets
Has thanked: 529 times
Been thanked: 663 times

Re: Video How To: Self Launch and Self Land?

Postby edt » Tue Sep 13, 2016 2:01 pm

sometimes it slides. That's why you want to get an assisted launch when possible saves on the wear and tear.

mrbig
Medium Poster
Posts: 51
Joined: Thu Jan 21, 2016 12:35 pm
Local Beach: Langebaan, Cape Town
Gear: Airush, Cabrinha
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 5 times
Contact:

Re: Video How To: Self Launch and Self Land?

Postby mrbig » Tue Sep 13, 2016 2:04 pm

Can't find the video on YouTube but there's a great instructional using the front line to self-land - but unhooking the CL before pulling the line.
I've practiced it a bunch of times and always felt safe doing so. Worst case the kite flags on the leash.

tomatkins
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 1123
Joined: Sat Jan 10, 2004 11:53 pm
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 2 times

Re: Video How To: Self Launch and Self Land?

Postby tomatkins » Tue Sep 13, 2016 6:27 pm

There are a number of procedures to follow which will lessen the danger of a self-launch going wrong. As an example for the "drag" self launch. It is a good idea to rig your lines down-wind of the kite, so that you can sight along the lines all the way to the kite, to confirm that there are no crossed or improperly rigged lines. If the lines are laid out downwind of the kite, it is easier to then arrange the lines in a tight "S" pattern, close behind the kite, so that, as the kiter walks off to the side of the kite in preparation for the launch, the lines are pulled "straight out" from the kite, sliding along a narrow "corridor", cleared of sticks, rocks and other 'snagable' objects. This avoids the problem of dragging the lines a long distance up the beach, where one or more lines can get hooked on an object, resulting in an unwanted pull on the kite, as the kiter walks to his position. When the lines are set-up in a downwind position of the kite, it is important to realize, that at some point the bar will have to be flipped over 180 degrees in order to position the bar correctly for the right and left hands. The kiter should think about this "flipping" of the bar, and do the "flip" in such a way that the lines will not be crossed, as the kite takes off during the launch. If the kiter "flips" the bar the incorrect way, the lines will be crossed, and have to be uncrossed right away by spinning the bar. If the kiter errors, and does not "flip" the bar at all, then the best thing that will happen is that the kite does take off at all... the worst is that the kite will take off and immediately surprise the kiter by looping... Opps... it is really nice to be able to note that the lines are all going straight up to the proper place on the kite... as the kite shoots up into the air.

Setting up the kite, the lines and the bar for the drag launch is a large part of doing this kind of self launch... especially on a beach which is not perfectly flat and free of sticks, stones, and other embedded objects.


Return to “Kitesurfing”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Abaltasis, Aberdovy kiter, andylc, arjas, Bing [Bot], Clem, DanielorDani, decay, htsc, Yahoo [Bot] and 389 guests