Self launch and self land option

[deniska]

you can try regular tethered landing method in high winds.. but it requires a lot of timing to be done right..
Basically, you hook the chicken loop to an anchor while kite is at 11 or 1 (the angle really depends on the kite/size) and let it lower by itself while you run to it and grab it..
Obviously, your timing and precision is critical.. if you fail to grab it it will likely to taco and relaunch...
So far I tried it a few times and had 50% success rate and other 50% got a little sketchy... but then again, flagging my 15 in 20kts on a side of the window was pretty sketchy too for some reason... I guess I need more practice

[jakemoore]

durrr. double post

[jakemoore]

I had a 12.5m Flysurfer Psycho (the first one) drag my Nissan Maxima and then rip the roof rack off it. So I can't say I would tether a flying foil kite to anything.

Learn to self land it the right way in lighter winds. Its not that hard. And if you find the wind come up to the point that you are afraid to self land then just put the kite in the water.

[StillLovinIt]

Older video but still relevant:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssU5RkUHzUc
for light wind:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssU5RkU ... tu.be&t=30
moderate wind:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ssU5RkU ... .be&t=122

If it's really windy I avoid self-landing and ask another kiter to catch my kite after explaining it well. Never had any problems.

[foilholio]

Foil kites are far more capable and easier self launching and landing than inflatables.

There are many ways to do it, try using the search button. By far the easiest is to launch straight downwind and land into a wind shadow.

[deniska]

I think everyone here understands back stalling and flagging techniques already.. They work fine in moderate winds.
What I would want to see is some youtube video of a guy self-landing it really jacked.. Like having a couple of 12-15m jumps and then landing the kite gracefully...

[edt]

You can hot launch nearly every foil kite even when it's nuking. The reason is simple, when the foil kite is filling up with air it has no power. so just hot launch it, and the kite will just flap around in the air without power. To land, if you have the 5th line attached, you can just pull the QR. I suggest attaching the 5th line if you think you are doing a lot of self landings in nuking conditions, just because pulling the QR is so easy. You can't really pull the QR if you are running your foil in 4 line mode because you get spaghetti in your lines, and here, yeah you can do a tether land maybe (I never tether land my kites), or a reverse land, but reverse landing a foil kite when it's nuking sucks because you can get yarded. I don't mind self launching a foil kite, it has to fill up with air anyway for your helper to hold it, so might as well put it in the air right away and let it fill up. As for landing, I always want an assisted landing on my foil kite way easier. In light conditions it doesn't matter what you do anything works, reverse land it just fly it into the ground and run to it, anything work, it's when it is nuking that you need to worry about which technique you need to use on landing. The last time I was on my 19m and it just started nuking up to 30 knots I teabagged to the beach screaming for anyone to grab my kite, nobody did I guess they were busy or something, lol, so I had to pull the QR even though I was in 4 line mode. Instant spaghetti, took me a while to untangle.

[PurdyKiter]

I had to pull the QR even though I was in 4 line mode. Instant spaghetti, took me a while to untangle.

Thank You, I would not mind a few hours of spaghetti... it's the hours of spaghetti from a hospital bed that has me concerned.
Good information.

[Adventure Logs]

I had to pull the QR even though I was in 4 line mode. Instant spaghetti, took me a while to untangle.

Thank You, I would not mind a few hours of spaghetti... it's the hours of spaghetti from a hospital bed that has me concerned.
Good information.

By keeping the bar/line on the ground after you pull the safety, you can minimize tangles. Also pull to safety with the kite near the ground/edge of window. This reduces bridal shock and uneven lines.

[RagingGrandpa]

I suggest attaching the 5th line if you think you are doing a lot of self landings in nuking conditions

Ugh, but then water-relaunch after a kite tumble is impossible to resolve (5th-line wrapped over the canopy and choking the kite).

Practical considerations for modern foilkites: Soul and Hyperlink don't have center-mounted reefing bridles.
Hyperlink does have an interesting 5th-line mode which flags to the C-level bridles only, might be more tolerant of kite tumbles... (owners please comment).

... but:

The kite must be set to Open Cell mode when using 5-line mode.

(Hyperlink V2 has the snowkite-like internal re-ride reefing system; same disclaimers from ozone: only for open-cell mode, for risk of damage during flagging with the kite holding air.)