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Which kite is the easiest to re-lunch at low winds?

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Re: Which kite is the easiest to re-lunch at low winds?

Postby Cefirmeza » Mon May 06, 2019 8:12 pm

edt wrote:
Mon May 06, 2019 6:31 pm
only a foil will launch when the winds drop below 5 knots. I find the tube kites are much the same, has to be enough wind to get them up so it's better to never crash them in the first place. Once you know the inner center line outer rear line trick, it's more about how much the tube kite weighs than anything. If the wind actually goes to zero then swimming in with a foil kite sucks but if it's 5 knots or more you should be able to relaunch it as long as you don't have a pretzel.
Can you talk more about this center/rear lines trick?
I gues there is something to do with keeping the tension on the lines otherwise it may stall during a messed up turn.

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Re: Which kite is the easiest to re-lunch at low winds?

Postby jumptheshark » Mon May 06, 2019 8:30 pm

stopping a kite's one wingtip from stalling the whole kite onto its back is a real issue with super light wind relaunch and has everything to do with early recognition and appropriate release of tension from that tip's rear line. All LEI kites suffer some difficulty when one wing is essentially flying, but there is plenty of water pinning the other tip to the surface and not allowing it to move very well. You have to be deft at playing the tension in that one flying tip and the front lines.

The trick of tensioning the one rear line and the opposite front line aids in getting the kite to roll up so the one wingtip is up off the water. Once its up on one tip, you still have to be good at not stalling that tip and the kite onto its back while you let the water drain from the tip that is on the water. Patience and experience and a little more patience are needed.

I have stalled my clouds onto their back in light wind many times in rushing to get them up from deep in the window. Then have to tension one rear line long enough to get air under the canopy and le the wind flip the kite over and then start the relaunch all over from a LE down position. Once you have the one wingtip in the air, you are best to be gentle and let the kite slowly make its way closer to the edge than dead downwind. Water will drain off the lower wing as it moves forward and it will eventually relaunch if there is enough wind. In super low wind, its a trade off as you have to basically hot launch because the window is so small and the wind so weak. I often wait until I have cleared as much water off the down side tip as possible and then almost stall the kite on its back and immediately yank both front lines hard, ending the stall and hopefully getting the kite up off the water and headed skyward in a hot launch.

Dark arts, that develop mostly the hard way I'm afraid.

Good luck with it. Practice pays off eventually.

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Re: Which kite is the easiest to re-lunch at low winds?

Postby Foil » Mon May 06, 2019 8:33 pm

10 or 12 Ozone Alpha,
The 12 for my weight at 95kg makes for unbelievably easy relaunches in mega light winds.
I have owned far to many "light wind kites" in my 2 years of hydrofoiling, 4 of them were single strut, none came close to the Alpha 12.
The 2nd best was my 15mtr Fone Breeze, but 15mtr is now way too big, and the 15 was stolen anyways.

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Re: Which kite is the easiest to re-lunch at low winds?

Postby Breze » Mon May 06, 2019 8:54 pm

Most of my foil buddies have 8,10&12 Slingshot SST. This tube is heavy, 10qm 3.2 kg. They start surprisingly well. I think bc of the tweaked fronttube. They are the first flying away If not secured on the beach. In comparison the 12qm Boxer didn't launch as well. We are on a inland gusty, windshadowed lake and need good starters

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Re: Which kite is the easiest to re-lunch at low winds?

Postby winduser » Mon May 06, 2019 10:33 pm

Naish Boxer ( and you can put a relaunch line if needed)

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Re: Which kite is the easiest to re-lunch at low winds?

Postby hongchew » Tue May 07, 2019 12:54 am

Thanks for sharing, but I won't characterize this as easy relaunch. Slingshot Rally is easy, no need for all these maneuvers.

jumptheshark wrote:
Mon May 06, 2019 8:30 pm
stopping a kite's one wingtip from stalling the whole kite onto its back is a real issue with super light wind relaunch and has everything to do with early recognition and appropriate release of tension from that tip's rear line. All LEI kites suffer some difficulty when one wing is essentially flying, but there is plenty of water pinning the other tip to the surface and not allowing it to move very well. You have to be deft at playing the tension in that one flying tip and the front lines.

The trick of tensioning the one rear line and the opposite front line aids in getting the kite to roll up so the one wingtip is up off the water. Once its up on one tip, you still have to be good at not stalling that tip and the kite onto its back while you let the water drain from the tip that is on the water. Patience and experience and a little more patience are needed.

I have stalled my clouds onto their back in light wind many times in rushing to get them up from deep in the window. Then have to tension one rear line long enough to get air under the canopy and le the wind flip the kite over and then start the relaunch all over from a LE down position. Once you have the one wingtip in the air, you are best to be gentle and let the kite slowly make its way closer to the edge than dead downwind. Water will drain off the lower wing as it moves forward and it will eventually relaunch if there is enough wind. In super low wind, its a trade off as you have to basically hot launch because the window is so small and the wind so weak. I often wait until I have cleared as much water off the down side tip as possible and then almost stall the kite on its back and immediately yank both front lines hard, ending the stall and hopefully getting the kite up off the water and headed skyward in a hot launch.

Dark arts, that develop mostly the hard way I'm afraid.

Good luck with it. Practice pays off eventually.

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Re: Which kite is the easiest to re-lunch at low winds?

Postby jumptheshark » Tue May 07, 2019 1:16 am

Ha ha, for sure! Most of that was not cloud specific, but more low wind specific.

I guess it all depends on what you call low winds.

For a Rally, low winds is 10 knots.

For a cloud, its 6.

I had a 2015 Rally, liked it a lot, but like all slingshot kites, it was one of the heaviest meter for meter that I have ever owned. All that blah blah Ive spilt about cloud relaunch is in wind lower than a rally stands a chance. Sub 9 knots and they're pretty much dead in the water. I foiled with a 9m for over a year, and it absolutely needed that 10 knot gust. A cloud will go back up reliably as long as its not below 7. In rally flying winds the clouds are rarely more than a quick tilt of the bar and they're up, but if you somehow manage to really mess up, clearing the canopy in those winds is easy peasy. Pull in and hold one real line for a few seconds.

The cloud is ultra easy to keep in the air in 9 knots. Like you don't have to move it or even pay attention to it kind of easy. Where the Rally is gonna fall out of the sky the moment you take your eyes off it, and with those little wingtips it's a bitch to recover once it starts to fall. I guess you have to weigh easy relaunch with not needing to relaunch much at all.

In normal kiteboarding weather the Rally is a super quick relaunch. On the hydrofoil forum when your talking light wind.....
Last edited by jumptheshark on Tue May 07, 2019 1:38 am, edited 3 times in total.

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Re: Which kite is the easiest to re-lunch at low winds?

Postby edt » Tue May 07, 2019 1:31 am

Cefirmeza wrote:
Mon May 06, 2019 8:12 pm

Can you talk more about this center/rear lines trick?
I gues there is something to do with keeping the tension on the lines otherwise it may stall during a messed up turn.
No it's something else entirely.

If you have ever owned a 2005 era C kite you will know about the 5th line relaunch. To do this you haul in the 5th line I mean a lot, not just an inch or two. The kite then rolls over on its back. At this point you swim to one side and tug the other rear line. Eventually the kite rolls on its side. At this point you tug a rear line, and maybe jelly fish the centers a little to get it to rise up. Now the opposite line trick is way way better than this. You might ask why didn't they do this back in 2005 and that's because in 2005 nobody had a low V it was all high Y's and 5th line.

Anyway here's the technique. Haul in a ton of line on either center. The kite will roll on to it's back and a little bit to the side. Put a little bit on tension on the opposite rear line. The kite will start to flip over, now release the center line and keep tension on the rear line. The kill will roll to it's side and start to launch. Jelly fish the kite if it's reluctant to leave the water. Unlike the 5th line technique mentioned first, opposite center and rears doesn't require you to do any swimming as the kite rolls into the correct position right away and doesn't end up on its back like it does with a 5th line. Opposite center and rear lines will work when both a single rear line or reverse line won't work because there's not enough wind.

I dunno maybe I should make a video? Opposite center and rear line is a well known technique that allows you to launch any tube kite when tugging a rear line doesn't work. I looked around for a viddy about how this works didn't find one, I dunno, maybe I'l make one?

edit: just read jump the shark he has the correct description, my words are little different but it's the same thing that I described.
Last edited by edt on Tue May 07, 2019 1:38 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Re: Which kite is the easiest to re-lunch at low winds?

Postby jumptheshark » Tue May 07, 2019 1:36 am

As I said further up. That is super helpful for getting the kite up on a wingtip. In super light air, there is still the risk of having too much tension on the rear line your trying to relaunch with and stalling the kite onto it's back. Thats where the jellyfishing with the fronts comes in.

All of these are low wind tricks.... which does not sound much like "easy" relaunch, but in hydrofoiling's low end... easy becomes a relative term. If you know the tricks... its still pretty easy. If you don't, it aint.
Last edited by jumptheshark on Tue May 07, 2019 1:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Which kite is the easiest to re-lunch at low winds?

Postby edt » Tue May 07, 2019 1:40 am

don't forget to sit on your hydrofoil when you relaunch. It's the only way to get enough resistance against the wind.
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