foil kite twist

[windmlv]

There I was just foiling along in about 13mph having a great day.
Screwed up an on the water jibe. The foil kite went down. No problem except it now had a twist ( an hour glass in my old spinnaker sailing days ).
Worked on it for a while but eventually rolled up the lines and then tried to roll up the wet, soggy kite and place it on top of my board.
Not easy when it has water in it. Swam for a while but another foiler dragged me in, thankfully. I was way too far out.
Any tricks to remove the twist? I couldn't think of a way to do it but assume there is.
Thanks. Ready to go out again today.

[cglazier]

I wish I had a better answer.. but this can help.

If you have a kiter friend nearby, he should approach your kite from downwind and grab the untwisted (properly aligned) side of the kite and pull while body dragging slightly upwind. You must be sure to not have any line tension on the twisted side of the kite so it can freely unravel. This seems to get more and more of the kite untwisted.

CG

[socommk23]

It's a "bow tie" and a pain I the butt. NO real tricks to getting them out unless you can get hold of the kite itself. Open cell kites are bad enough. closed cell just will not untie unless you can put it down and sort it onshore really.

[grigorib]

Usually it's harder to bowtie a bigger, fatter, "large volume" wing. The thin and high AR wings are more prone to bowtie.
My worst experience was when a bowtied kite decided to become a propeller and starting spinning. Fast. While spinning it also had me dragged directly downwind and I had only few spins before the lines became a cable to activate the QR

[gmb13]

If its windy enough you can get it out. This is what I do.

1) Figure out which side of the kite has inverted to cause the bowtie.

2) Pull in enough of the back or front line on the opposite side to let the kite flag out with the inverted side downwind of you. +

3) Be patient. Give the front or back line some slack, take some pressure back in, basically play with the tension. The downwind twisted side will eventually unravel. It can take a few minutes.

--
Gunnar

[windmlv]

Thanks everyone. It is amazing how much information is out there!
Had a really nice 9m session yesterday foil on foil. Didn't put the kite in the water.
Getting used to the more continual lift. Spent a long time watching the "experts" here in LaVentana.
On their foil tacks and jibes, the board doesn't even "bobble" for a millisecond. Their transitions are as smooth as silk.
I have a dream that one day......

[Mossy 757]

I have a dream that one day......

you and me both bro!

[Jzh_perth]

I like Gunnars idea best - I've not actually tried that.

I have better luck getting them to pop out with the kite nose down on the water - just don't pull the front lines or she'll fill up! With the Trailing edge pointed at the sky and working the rear lines they usually untwist eventually.

[Mossy 757]

I saw Nico Parlier recover from what looked like an absolutely fatal bowtie by flagging his kite out on a rear line until it untwisted, then reverse launched and rode away like nothing happened. I did the same thing at the regatta in St Pete 3 weeks ago and was amazed at how well it worked.

[jaros]

I saw Nico Parlier recover from what looked like an absolutely fatal bowtie by flagging his kite out on a rear line until it untwisted, then reverse launched and rode away like nothing happened. I did the same thing at the regatta in St Pete 3 weeks ago and was amazed at how well it worked.

Back in my Peter Lynn days, that was the way to recover bow-tie from an Arc. It usually worked if enough wind, but I never felt too comfortable with all the line in the water around me, when pulling one line to flag the kite.
Greetings,
Jaros