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lei lightwind launch

Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2018 3:51 pm
by neilhapgood
Hi folks,

whats the preferred way for self - launching a 12m LEI in light wind?

It doesn't want to go by walking round till it rolls onto back as I can't get it onto its back if its too light.

is it worth folding a wingtip and piling on sand like we used to do with c kites?

Any tips?

Thanks

Re: lei lightwind launch

Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2018 4:08 pm
by Peter_Frank
neilhapgood wrote:
Mon Jul 09, 2018 3:51 pm
Hi folks,

whats the preferred way for self - launching a 12m LEI in light wind?

It doesn't want to go by walking round till it rolls onto back as I can't get it onto its back if its too light.

is it worth folding a wingtip and piling on sand like we used to do with c kites?

Any tips?

Thanks

No doubt, make a normal reverse launch - I do this 100 % of the times when up in 12 m2 LEIs.

For me these sizes are used in winds from 6 to 9 knots, where there is even less wind down on the beach often, so not possible in any other way when alone.

Sometimes better to reverse launch, than to get a helper launch you, as it will probably not be easy or possible to launch in the really low end, unless your helper and kite goes DEEP down in the window and can hold the kite correctly, so you need a very skilled helper.

When 10 knots and up I use a 9 m2 and smaller, and these can now easily be normally slide launched or tether launched, which I normally do in these sizes.

Sand on LEI wingtips are no good in this wind, wont work at all actually :roll: - only works for light foilkites, and even these sometimes have to be started dead downwind when too light.

The reverse launch is one you have to use often, if your kite goes down in really low wind - as now you have to drift ashore where you can reverse launch the kite from the beach (maybe you standing in the water) if not too much sand on the LE.
You can also launch in low water from the water, reverse, if a bit more wind, or in a gust sitting on your board.

8) PF

Re: lei lightwind launch

Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2018 4:56 pm
by SparD
If it's under 10knots and you're alone you can hot launch with sand on the trailing edge like I do in the begining of this video :



If you're not alone just do a normal side launch with the helper holding the kite a little deeper in the window than usual

Re: lei lightwind launch

Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2018 5:17 pm
by junebug
In addition to the above, you can also try pulling on the opposite center line and/or walking toward the kite once you have it a little on its side to change the shape of the leading edge. I’ve used these methods to launch a 12m LEI in 8kn (never tried lower).

The video below explains both of these methods nicely. The video is in the water, but they work on dry land too:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Zxje1acn2p0

Re: lei lightwind launch

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 7:27 am
by RedSky
If its really that light, then just stand the kite up on its trailing edge and hot launch it. Keep the bar fully powered in order to back stall the kite until your ready to launch, then just grab the chicken loop line and give it a good tug. In these situations, I normally go home.

Re: lei lightwind launch

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 10:31 am
by Peter_Frank
RedSky wrote:
Tue Jul 10, 2018 7:27 am
If its really that light, then just stand the kite up on its trailing edge and hot launch it. Keep the bar fully powered in order to back stall the kite until your ready to launch, then just grab the chicken loop line and give it a good tug. In these situations, I normally go home.

Not so sure that will work very often when alone, only if wind is lighter than possible to foil (4 knots and below) :roll:

Say it is 6-7 knots so you can not launch in "ordinary" ways - but you can still foil with a LEI, then if I put a strutted kite standing on its back, it will usually move rearwards with the wind, even if less wind at the ground :(
If it is a onestrut, the strut might bend and sometimes the kite sits steady on the ground yes, which is okay, other times it will also move with the wind and hit something :(
If it is strutless, the wind will often catch the underside of the kite, either full length or like a corkscrew, not good either :(


This is why I recommend the "safe" way, put the kite diagonally to the wind LE down, pull the far rear line so it goes dead downwind, and reverse launch the kite :thumb:

It requires a tad more wind than if TE down, correct, but my experiences riding in around 6 knots as my current lower limit for foiling with a 12 m2 LEI, is that when even lower so you can not run the kite up backwards, you can not ride either :wink:
This does not always apply though, as occasionally there are NO wind at the surface, but okay when up, and then the only way is to place the kite TE down like you say, and RUN :rollgrin:

8) PF

Re: lei lightwind launch

Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2018 2:11 pm
by jumptheshark
Hot launch with the kite resting LE up is super easy with strutless kites. Usually done in virtually no wind launch spots that make even reverse launch a challenge.