Epic session mini kitemare

[bkkite]

Didn't realize i caught this on film, but here's a shot of the Core Sensor 3 bar not fully clasping the chicken loop and releasing. I think its because either it didn't fully close or because it may have had some sand jammed in it.

[leeuwen]

Note that you can fly a kite “unhooked” as long you are not too powered up and possibly saved the situation without going into full “safety mode”.
One hand on the rope above the chickenloop other to steer the kite. Try to fly it with the bar as much “out” as possible to depower it.
If you park the kite slowly on the water at the edge of the window flying it like this it then should be doable to click-in the safety and re-hook.

You can try this a few times in ultra light conditions (10 knots or less) on an empty beach if you want to get familiar with such a situation.
Obviously all power will go through the arm holding the rope above the chickenloop so be aware of that.

[bkkite]

Note that you can fly a kite “unhooked” as long you are not too powered up and possibly saved the situation without going into full “safety mode”.
One hand on the rope above the chickenloop other to steer the kite. Try to fly it with the bar as much “out” as possible to depower it.
If you park the kite slowly on the water at the edge of the window flying it like this it then should be doable to click-in the safety and re-hook.

You can try this a few times in ultra light conditions (10 knots or less) on an empty beach if you want to get familiar with such a situation.
Obviously all power will go through the arm holding the rope above the chickenloop so be aware of that.

Thanks, I've never flown unhooked and this was a stronger day so I thought it was best just to flag and reset (especially with the boat downwind). Great suggestion to try this a few times on a lighter day, I'll do that and report back.

[Slappysan]

Note that you can fly a kite “unhooked” as long you are not too powered up and possibly saved the situation without going into full “safety mode”.

Thanks, I've never flown unhooked and this was a stronger day so I thought it was best just to flag and reset (especially with the boat downwind).

When you are powered up I would suggest just grabbing the CL mechanism and holding on while the kite slowly crashes in to the water on one side. Flying with one hand holding the CL mechanism and the other hand piloting the bar is pretty easy in light conditions but very hard when powered up. After the kite has crashed in to the water trim the bar to max depower then proceed to re-assemble the CL and hook in again.

And it's never a bad option to just let go of the bar when kiting, which is exactly what you did.

[lifeinthehood]

Just had a similar kite mare myself this past weekend at the Event Site in Hood River. 20 knots of wind, gusts up to 28. I pumped up a 9m. I asked a random kiter to help me launch. On my first attempt, it looked like the lines were twisted - they didn't seem to want to straighten out. So he set my kite down and I re-checked the lines. They were fine. But then I noticed that my launcher kindly waited for me to check my lines and was going to help me launch again. So feeling a little bad that he was waiting, I ran to my bar to hook up. My bar is new to me - it's a Reedin Dreamstick X. And so I don't quite have my routine on autopilot yet. I rushed to hook everything up and didn't double check, so I failed to notice that I had hooked up the safety ring into the loop and not the ring on slider bar...

Yes, I launched "unhooked" and in suicide mode. The bar went flying out of my hands and started pulling on my safety leash on my right side. It's a short safety leash, but the bar was still beyond my reach. The kite immediately launched to 12:00 and then started falling towards my 3:00. I jumped to grab the bar and saved it from hitting the shrubs, but then the kite steered super quickly back towards the 9:00. I got pulled to the ground before I knew it. Luckily the kite fell to my 9:00 and a kiter downwind caught it. Got up to check myself and was relieved to find no major injuries. I was a bit shaken up, but finally realized in complete embarrassment that I had hooked up the wrong ring.

Thinking back on it, I probably should have grabbed the chicken loop first, before grabbing the bar. Horrifying experience, but it also motivated me to buy an Antal 20x14 mm low friction ring to replace the slider ring that looks far too similar to the safety line ring on my bar. This will force me to wrap the chicken loop around the Antal ring rather than through it. Good reminder to slow down especially when I'm feeling under pressure to launch.

[deniska]

Note that you can fly a kite “unhooked” as long you are not too powered up and possibly saved the situation without going into full “safety mode”.
One hand on the rope above the chickenloop other to steer the kite. Try to fly it with the bar as much “out” as possible to depower it.
If you park the kite slowly on the water at the edge of the window flying it like this it then should be doable to click-in the safety and re-hook.

You can try this a few times in ultra light conditions (10 knots or less) on an empty beach if you want to get familiar with such a situation.
Obviously all power will go through the arm holding the rope above the chickenloop so be aware of that.

the key word is "re-hook"
If he had a hook this would have been an easy one.. you never try to reassamble the loop in the water.. it may be doable in some conditions, but not in big swell, not in big wind, not in 5mm claws, etc..Instead you let go of a bar and grab above CL and rehook above it where the 2 plastic line run, then regain control of the kite...Obviosly this is a suicide mode, so you just ride to the beach and fix it there w/o swimming and drinking the water.. this can be done with other brand too.. but you need a hook.. I did it with Core, Flysurfer.. keep this in mind, it may save you some time swimmming and keep your kites dry .. I get the slider for foiling, maybe.. but why would you use it for TT?

[knotwindy]

Actually you can do it with a slider if you reassemble the QR first and then use a carabiner to reattach it to the slider. Keep the biner attached to the harness as it can be useful for other things. Yes, it puts the bar a bit further away but it gets you home easily.

[bkkite]

Actually you can do it with a slider if you reassemble the QR first and then use a carabiner to reattach it to the slider. Keep the biner attached to the harness as it can be useful for other things. Yes, it puts the bar a bit further away but it gets you home easily.

Never heard the Carabiner suggestion before, how do people use this setup? Thanks!

[bkkite]

Note that you can fly a kite “unhooked” as long you are not too powered up and possibly saved the situation without going into full “safety mode”.
One hand on the rope above the chickenloop other to steer the kite. Try to fly it with the bar as much “out” as possible to depower it.
If you park the kite slowly on the water at the edge of the window flying it like this it then should be doable to click-in the safety and re-hook.

You can try this a few times in ultra light conditions (10 knots or less) on an empty beach if you want to get familiar with such a situation.
Obviously all power will go through the arm holding the rope above the chickenloop so be aware of that.

the key word is "re-hook"
If he had a hook this would have been an easy one.. you never try to reassamble the loop in the water.. it may be doable in some conditions, but not in big swell, not in big wind, not in 5mm claws, etc..Instead you let go of a bar and grab above CL and rehook above it where the 2 plastic line run, then regain control of the kite...Obviosly this is a suicide mode, so you just ride to the beach and fix it there w/o swimming and drinking the water.. this can be done with other brand too.. but you need a hook.. I did it with Core, Flysurfer.. keep this in mind, it may save you some time swimmming and keep your kites dry .. I get the slider for foiling, maybe.. but why would you use it for TT?

Yeah, so thats my thinking too, I did not have a hook, which is ultimately why I just self rescued because I'd never really thought through the logistics of this type of situation, much less in higher wind. 10 min later I was back up and riding.... But now that I'm getting so many tips, I do want to think through what the best answer is. I'm not sure I'm following what you're suggesting by "rehooking above where the 2 plastic line run"?

Re: your question about using a slider for foiling, I'm using Mystic's stealth surf spreader bar. It has a slider, but it also has a way to lock the loop into a fixed position (you pass the metal ring through a very small line loop, which completely prevents it from sliding. At this point its locked just like a regular hook, but the nice thing is this setup is much closer to me and creates a lot less torque on my spreader bar. It's way more comfortable, and as far as I can tell it feels the same when jumping. Then I can easily pop the ring out and go into slider mode when I'm surfing or foiling.

[Bille]

My opinion here is :

Dude ---- you had Way Too much Fun ; in that video !!!

Good days are Awesome ...

Bille