cant reach full depower

[Duke15]

Hello,

Just got back from aruba and one thing i noticed is whenever i try to fully sheet out i have to arch my back to try and reach full depower. I have short arms and feel as though I constantly have my arms fully stretched which is causing the poo stance. I was riding a14m 2015 switchblade in 12-17kt winds. Any tips on how to make it so i dont have to reach as far to depower.

[edt]

shorten the chicken loop, there are replacement loops you can buy (talk to your local kite shop if you can't do this mod yourself) and change from a spreader bar to one of those sliding spreaders or switch to a seat harness, these mods should give you about 3 inches/ 8cm which I think is enough. there are other options too, like buying a new control bar which has an adjustable stop, lots of new bars have this capability, but of course you are giving up a little bit of depower this way.

[plummet]

11995163.jpg (86.16 KiB) Viewed 1669 times

Make your chicken loop smaller.

[Peert]

Assuming you are on a TT:
When dealing with more power from the kite:
0. Possibly (I dont know your weight) you want to depower/trim the kite a bit when you notice the pull from the kite is on the upper end of what you can handle comfortably.
1. Bend you knees and get your ass and weight closer to the heelside edge of your board.
2. Drive your board even more in upwind direction to control speed.
You will notice that you can handle way more power as soon as you have mastered the above.

When your arms are really short you might what to change something in your gear. There are multiple options:
- Use a shorter chicken loop and/or a shorter harnass hook.
- Use a seat harness
- Use a kite type known for the short power-depower range
If you don't unhook:
- Use a Boardriding Maui CCS or something like it to bring the bar closer to the body (and loose the harness hook) (Like posted above while I was writing)

[dylan*]

You should already be riding with your arms fully stretched and hanging back in your harness so that you don't get tendonitis, with the bar somewhat close to your body. If you need to depower more than you can reach, it sounds like you need to pull more trim in (that's what it's there for). Riding with the bar fully sheeted out is a bit of an anti-technique unless you're in the middle of surfing a wave or something.

[matth]

You can also set up rear lines on the last knot.

[rjkritzer]

I had the same problem and switched to a Cabrinha Fireball, instead of the chicken loop, and a Cabrinha Recoil bar. The fireball seems to be closer to the body than standard chicken loops I had used previously. The Recoil bar idea came from a video I saw on a popular website where the issue of shorter arms was specifically addressed (don't know if I am allowed to say the name here).

I am very happy with this setup and can now comfortably reach the full depower position.

[Duke15]

Assuming you are on a TT:
When dealing with more power from the kite:
0. Possibly (I dont know your weight) you want to depower/trim the kite a bit when you notice the pull from the kite is on the upper end of what you can handle comfortably.
1. Bend you knees and get your ass and weight closer to the heelside edge of your board.
2. Drive your board even more in upwind direction to control speed.
You will notice that you can handle way more power as soon as you have mastered the above.

When your arms are really short you might what to change something in your gear. There are multiple options:
- Use a shorter chicken loop and/or a shorter harnass hook.
- Use a seat harness
- Use a kite type known for the short power-depower range
If you don't unhook:
- Use a Boardriding Maui CCS or something like it to bring the bar closer to the body (and loose the harness hook) (Like posted above while I was writing)

Awesome thanks for the info I’ll try to shorten the chicken loop, I’m 5’7” 170lbs and was on a twin tip. I tried my friends north clickbar on his 17m and didn’t seem to have the same issue, wondering if the bar is part of the problem, maybe a bar with lighter pressure would be better for me

[PullStrings]

I see that you have a North Rebel 7 sqm 2012...so you have a loaded 5th Element bar to match
That's the best kite set-up to get full depower for short arms...requires having to push the bar 1/3 less for depowering a kite compared regular linear bars

May i suggest to get yourself a Rebel size 14 sqm year 2017-2016-2015 or 2014 and use the bar you have...problem solved

[kiterocky]

Rebel...good suggest..short depower ..