Self-Land a Soul

[PurdyKiter]

Self Landing a Soul... without a sand-anchor?
On my Clouds I am able to hand-over-hand walk up the front lines as the kite flys on it's tip over at 6 or 9 on the beach. Do you think with a Soul I could reverse land with the steering line strap on my Ozona foil bar, then walk up hand-over-hand to the Soul as it sits trailing edge down?
This is on a wide sandy deserted Mexican beach.
I'm trying to justify purchasing and carrying a sand anchor for the bridle-trap-hook method or not.

[andylc]

I liked using a sand anchor but you can also walk up to the kite keeping tension on the back lines.

[JakeFarley]

I do it most of the time with my Soul and Speed 5 in light to moderate winds. Once the kite is trailing edge down, I unhook and leave the bar on the sand, walking hand over hand to the kite, making sure I keep a good grip on all lines so they do not slip. When I get to the mixers I will release one side and quickly work my way to the wing tip. In high winds I opt for an assisted landing. As a last resort I release to the FLS.

[jakemoore]

I walk to the kite hand over hand holding all four kite lines and ultimately the complete bridle as I get close to the kite. It works for my underpowered riding and creates the least flogging as the kite sits parked on its trailing edge.

[PurdyKiter]

Thanks All for your answers. This is on our marginal winds Mexico beach near Manzanillo. I'd not try this in the Columbia River Gorge
Boca de Iguanas, Jalisco, Mexico:

[slide]

walking along the lines sounds well dodgy to me , what if the kite starts flapping about aggressively and pulls it from under your foot, what then , I have always brought down on the back lines , I'm back kiting after an illness break and I been bringing my souls on the back lines , but i'm still fine tuning this , I always used to do it by giving a good tug to get it decending and then i let it back a bit to slow the decent so as not to bash the beach hard , i'm a land boarder and often fly on my own , and when there are kitesurfers , they have to set up one end of the beach and I have to fly down the far end supposeably out of everybodies way

I did wonder weather to pull the trim fully in to low power , just before I drop the kite,to slow it down what do you peeps think

[FLandOBX]

I did wonder weather to pull the trim fully in to low power , just before I drop the kite,to slow it down what do you peeps think

I land my Soul with full power trim (trim line all the way out). This gives your back lines more control over the kite when you pull them in to land. If you pull the trim line fully in to low power, then you'll need to pull the back lines in that much further to compensate for the relatively shorter front lines.

[PurdyKiter]

My question is not necessarily how to land the Soul, but it's a question of whether anyone here walks up to the Soul hand-over-hand holding the back (steering) lines in tension. Our beach is wide open and there's really nothing available as an anchor to hook to.

[slide]

thx for the reply on the trim , and I carry my own stainless steel stake , and I recently brought some landing lines off slav ,with a loop on each end , and put the loop over the plastic ball's and works well as the kite sits on the ground nicely and if i'm going to be a while i'll put some sand on the trailing edge- I 've never liked the fls

[FLandOBX]

My question is not necessarily how to land the Soul, but it's a question of whether anyone here walks up to the Soul hand-over-hand holding the back (steering) lines in tension.

Once I backstall my Soul to the beach, I usually walk hand over hand holding the back steering lines. However, I've found that the Soul doesn't behave as nicely as my FS Speed 4 when I just hold the back lines. While the Speed sits quietly on the beach while I work my way to the bridles holding just the 2 back lines, the Soul (esp. in stronger wind) occasionally lifts a few feet and twists around a bit. That's why (I think) others have said it's best to approach the Soul hand over hand holding all 4 lines (with more slack on the center lines, of course). Holding all 4 lines seems to increase the stability of the Soul as it sits on the beach during the approach.