Soul 10m flapping on ground after landing

[direnc]

Hi,

I have a 10m Soul. It's fine in the air, but once on the ground the free tips flaps like crazy. Putting sand on that tip is not enough. The kite starts oscillating and throws the sand off.
One time, before I was able to open the velcro air outlets I ended up with a bridle tangle that I spent quite some time untangling at home. Would have been impossible to untangle on the beach and have another session (wind was less than 20knots).
).
Today in 17-20knots of wind my wife was keeping the upwind tip down, and I wanted to fold the downwind tips over the downwind one... was very difficult to get hold of it... I even think the amount I had to pull may have stretched seams... I don't think panels are supposed to be grabbed and pulled with force...

I expect to be able to use this kite in higher winds, but I have doubts about being able to handle it on the ground easily after landing.

Any tips on stopping the downwind tip flapping?

[kiter4fun123]

Quite normal in high (maybe gusty - shifting winds ? )
just sand the trailing edge heavily and make sure trailing edge of kite is slightly against the wind,
the more gusty / shifting winds the more aggressive on the angle, you can even start the kite at 45 degrees in quite high winds.

[jakemoore]

Screenshot from the manual:

Deflate. Weight center of Kite both tips downwind.

Best place for kite for longevity is in the bag.

[Janus]

Hi direnc,
On a sandy beach and taking a break I fold and sand the upwind tip, then sand the trailing edge every 10cm a bit and pull it a bit so the kite curves a bit with the trailing edge to the wind. No more flapping, then I wind my lines and make sure the lines are ok.
After the break I just unwind the lines, shake the sand off the kite and restart.
The manual methode above is fine too.
If it’s a longer break or a very busy beach I would just take it all with me, easy to do with foils and better for your gear..

[Breze]

As mentioned above
For high wind pack down ,sometimes i roll the upwind half just bevor the deflate hole ,then i put a heavy weight on the roll. Then i roll the downwind side. Bar into the middle of the two rolls.
It's all about getting used to it, esp in high winds

[slide]

put a landing line on it across the balls backstall it drop to my knees drop the landing line on the stake ,(needs to be 500mm) and fall forward to completely remove any pull from the kite , thats what i do in a controlled smooth way -the hardest part is to bring the kite down slow , practice that in a light wind first , if its a stronger wind stand back away from your stake as your kite comes down it might pull you forward a bit , thats when i drop to my knees drop the landing line on the stake and fall forward to quickly remove any pull from the kite instantly , i have always brought kites down like this on the brakes fixed or depower

i often fly solo landboarding, so i need to be precise and calm, i've seen enough 5th line tangle landings in my time

once when i was landboarding at mablephorpe , i was flying the blade3 10.5 and when i finished i brought the kite down on the brakes, and one handle snapped in half -i phoned charlie at flexifoil and got a free replacement after the holiday , what a fantasic company they were in the day ,when landkiting was big-they had the best kite repair shop in europe, and a brilliant workforce of seamtresse's, i have a blade2 6.4 metre that has 6 sown repair patches on it and they are super neat , all square ,colours all match perfectly and it still flys like a dream but just a tad slow , theb2 4.9 is really the biggest one that still has it as an overall flying beauty ,a great landboarding kite ,fast , very lifty , can luff slightly if you hesitate but keep it flying fast and its a fun machine any day of the week :jump

[Adventure Logs]

With the more pronounced D profile of the Soul, you’ll need to fold over/sand more of the leading edge. This prevents wind from getting underneath which leads to the flapping.

As others have said though, in high winds just do a quick roll up. Takes maybe a minute more and saves wear on the fabric.

[BalsaMichel]

There is one thing I´m doing first when it´s windy: I´m walking with the bar around the kite behind the trailing edge, then laying the bar to the ground with a bit of tension in the lines. Just so much that the bridle/mixer lines of the downwind tip are straightened. Otherwise you might already have a mess in mixer and lines after 30 seconds and before you have done some other actions to prevent flapping.

Micha

[direnc]

Many good ideas! There seems to be consensus on folding more of the kite and applying more sand. Thank you all!