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It's safer to fly this in the water than on land because land is hard and air inland is always very gusty. Let us know how it goes. Wipika's of that era are terrible wings, lots of drag, barely goes upwind, no depower to speak of it's either on or off, difficult to control. I do like the kites from 2003 a lot better than the ones from 2002, you have the slingshot fuel, the cabrinha blacktips (like the nitro), some other C kites that I have owned and thought were pretty decent, you can rig them with a 5th line and they can be fun to fly. Of course even better is to go to 2007 or later when the bridled kite was invented. C kites are just not very well behaved compared to bridled kites. Take some videos of you flying the kite, it will bring back some (bad) memories for people here, lol. As for rigging, what people said above, equal line lengths and pigtails you should be ok, you can rig it through the pulley or not, fly it both ways see what you like better.

If you paid more than $10 for this kite you got ripped off. I see people coming on the forum all the time with old kites and saying "I got a great bargain such and such kite from 200x only $100" and every time I tell them the same it's worth $10, maybe $50 if it's in mint condition. they say "How can that be when a new kite is around $1,500?" Well, kites are like blue jeans. They wear out and get old. They are not like windsurfers or canoes which can retain value as they age.

The unanswered question is why would you want to fly this kite? You seem to know and understand it is very old and not up to current standards. You have an upgraded bar but how do you know that it will now work correctly with the kite? You don't. You show a lack of understanding of the sport by stating you want to fly this kite on land. You're an accident waiting to happen imho.

Take a hint from off-piste skiing: this sport is about risk minimization. Those guys first assess the slope, the weather, the snow conditions, the avalanche bulletin, the terrain around the slope, before they choose a particular line on the mountain to go down on. Also, they assess the qualities and deficiencies of the team they're skiing with. Only if every aspect is carefully analyzed and the risk has been minimized, they will ski down.

Looking at you:
- you lack kitesurfing skills. You may know traction kites but a kitesurfing kite is different. Even/especially such an old one
- you lack the skills to assess potential dangers. The ground's much harder than water...
- you assess your own skills incorrectly. You think you are able to manage situations that you have never experienced before
- you throw in the wind the advice of people that do have the skills and experience

If I'd meet you on the beach and you ask me to throw up that kite, I won't. I wouldn't want to feel partly responsible for a possible accident. I've done this before. I'm not that confrontational but if I were, I'd more than likely open your valves. If I were a confrontational local at a beach under threat of closure because of kitesurfing incidents, e.g. with beach goers, I would likely make sure that your kite would become unusable.

Aah, probably atleast testable. It would be fun to try that old Wipika. As a total beginner it´s probably not the best idea, but in shallow water, sideshore wind, a modern quick release and a single line flag-out option it for sure can be done. You should definately let an experienced kiter test it first if possible. If noone wants to do it, well... if you choose the right location in the right conditions and you don´t do anything stupid, you can test it pretty much without risk. If you test it in the wrong location in the wrong conditions and make some mistakes, you really risk your life. The big problem in this case is that you probably don´t know what location and conditions to choose.

I would be extremely careful, but I would not be afraid to try it anyhow. For sure it is A LOT x 1000 easier, safer and more comfortable to learn on a somewhat modern bridled kite, but still, I started to kite with a kite that was one year older than that Wipika and the Airblast was probably the next years cool shit that summer. And I managed to get going and survived. Apart from having no depower, I would say that the biggest risk is the launch. You never know what will happen. It might blow up more or less in the air, or you might have the wrong line tuning for it or whatever. Keep that quick release near and test it 10 times before launching. AND NO OBSTACLES WHAT SO EVER DOWNWIND for a few hundred meters. No onshore wind.

Also keep in mind that this equipment came from an era where people kited together in groups and had more of a communal safety vibe than the modern, solo-kiter has now. This is a testament to the evolution of the gear, the fact that I can launch/land by myself is because of how well this modern equipment works.

This was not possible with older style kites, and if you try to do this alone, it's very likely that the launch/landing will go quite poorly.

Just post in your local forum that your setting yourself up for trouble with the air blast and I am sure you will get better FREE kite donations as we all have leftovers in our garages after 18 years of kiting.

Enjoy ... LOL

Reminds me of a local guy years ago wanted to get started on blades. He did a lot of swimming for two years and got nowhere. Finally switched and started riding right away.

I'm new to the forum myself. I began learning how to kitesurf back around 2004 on an old slingshot fuel 16m. Around the same time, I picked up two other kites. A Wipika freeride 7.1 and another Wipika similar to the OP. I practiced a lot of body drags but only got up on my board on a single downwind session. I left it there in 2005 (though I picked up a new bar with all the fancy safety releases in '06-'07). Now I'm back and scared to pick up where I left off with the gear I still have from back then. But I can't bring myself to get rid of the old gear. Unfortunately I don't have the cash to get new gear so I'm kind of in the same boat.

VTwindsurfer wrote: I'm new to the forum myself. I began learning how to kitesurf back around 2004 on an old slingshot fuel 16m. Around the same time, I picked up two other kites. A Wipika freeride 7.1 and another Wipika similar to the OP. I practiced a lot of body drags but only got up on my board on a single downwind session. I left it there in 2005 (though I picked up a new bar with all the fancy safety releases in '06-'07). Now I'm back and scared to pick up where I left off with the gear I still have from back then. But I can't bring myself to get rid of the old gear. Unfortunately I don't have the cash to get new gear so I'm kind of in the same boat.

sorry but your 2004 gear is worth about as much as your 2004 cell phone. You probably tossed the phone in the trash with no sentiment about how cool you thought it was when you bought it (so small and flips open!) - toss the kites too. There are lots of people at your local beach ready to dump moderately used gear only a few years old at very low prices. Just go to the nearest kite beach and make some friends...

Eduardo wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 14, 2018 2:07 am

VTwindsurfer wrote: I'm new to the forum myself. I began learning how to kitesurf back around 2004 on an old slingshot fuel 16m. Around the same time, I picked up two other kites. A Wipika freeride 7.1 and another Wipika similar to the OP. I practiced a lot of body drags but only got up on my board on a single downwind session. I left it there in 2005 (though I picked up a new bar with all the fancy safety releases in '06-'07). Now I'm back and scared to pick up where I left off with the gear I still have from back then. But I can't bring myself to get rid of the old gear. Unfortunately I don't have the cash to get new gear so I'm kind of in the same boat.

sorry but your 2004 gear is worth about as much as your 2004 cell phone. You probably tossed the phone in the trash with no sentiment about how cool you thought it was when you bought it (so small and flips open!) - toss the kites too. There are lots of people at your local beach ready to dump moderately used gear only a few years old at very low prices. Just go to the nearest kite beach and make some friends...

great advice, as everybody knows someone who is selling some good or great gear from the safer years.
(and also know who is selling some shockingly bad stuff as well)

Darwin Award candidacy?

Never launch any of the older C kites hooked in. You are just asking for a good spanking.