I went for a surfing weekend at seal rocks last weekend. the surf was pretty average but the wind was right up. so i cruised up to wallis lakes by myself to check it out.. what a great spot 15-20 knts waist deep sandy bottom.only trouble was it was wsw almost straight onshore. i was the only one there so i was a little concerned about the dodgy launch and land area. i had a few problems with launch and landing and i was wondering the easiest water launch method. can i just put my turbo2 or switchblade2 in the water leading edge into the wind then pull it around with the lines to launch.. and to land is it safe to just walk up one of the front lines and lift the kite onto land. which is what i did but it felt a bit dodgy. would appreciate some advice.thanks
I'm not sure I've understood you correctly, but heres what I'd do:
If your talking about walking into the water with your kite and lines attached, then letting the kite drift back while you unwind the lines.
You are just asking for trouble doing this. I've tried it before and it works, but you need to be very careful when winding your lines on so the kite stays flagged out when the lines are unwound. Plus your lines usually end up getting tangled.
If there is plenty of room on the beach then do the sand on folded wingtip launch. People reckon you cant do this with bows but it still works fine and is prob the safest method. This is your best option for direct onshore wind.
Landing: Practise this in light winds first.
-Fly kite to edge of window with wingtip touching the sand. Be sure to fly the kite to the side that allows your flagging line to be the upper middle line.
-Pull the upper middle line in (flagging line) and the kite should flip over leading edge down.
-If it all goes to sh!t or is looking like it will, then just flag the kite by the flagging line by either pulling your QR or letting go of the bar.
Note: The middle lines will turn the kite the opposite direction to the outer lines. i.e. if you pull your right outer line the kite will turn right, but if you pull your right middle line, the kite will turn left.
This is why when the kite is touching the sand you pull the upper middle line, as this makes the kite want to fly into the ground and not up into the window.
I know all you other guys already know this. Hopefully this helps Milko?
thanks walshd but this carpark is surrounded with trees and is basically grass to the water with a big seaweed wall right on the edge. how i did launch was put my kite on the grass leading edge facing the wind then ran my lines off the back of the kite. then i just picked up my bar and walked to the front of the kite and just dragged it over the weed into the water. now what happined is some weed got mixed into the lines and it would not untangle.. so i had to walk up my lines and sort this out which i felt was a little dangerous.( there was no one anywhere near me so i was only risking my kite) then once untangled the kite launched fine. now this spot is as sketchy as it gets. waterfront trees hanging over the water with about a 15mtr window in between. so what i really wanted to know was can i just lay my kite in the water leading edge into the wind with my lines out. then just drag the kite to where i feel safe do a normal water relaunch. basically will the kit just sit there pushing against the shore or will it want to jump up.. and what is the best way to land a kite in the shallow water so i can safely walk to it and pick it up. thanks
I'd have to see your spot to give you the best advice.
From the sounds of things, the way you self landed is what I would have done anyway. i.e. pull the QR out in the water, walk up the flagging line and grab the kite.
As for launching, if you have no room at all to do a beach launch then you need to do my dodgy water launch, which I dont reccomend. When launching from a boat you may need to do this too:
Rigging up:
-Rig up kite and lines behind the kite so everything is layed out on the ground.
-Be sure that NO lines are tangled or rigged incorrectly.
-Check lines again
-Place your board behind your bar and clip your safety leash to your board.
-Now walk the bar up towards the kite enough so that the kite would be flagged out.
Winding up lines:
-First unclip your leash from your board and clip it to your harness.
-Wind up the 3-4 meters of flaging line onto your bar. This line is attached to your safety leash.
- Then carefully wind up your kite lines.
- When you get to your kite, the flagging line connected to the kite should be tight and the other 3 lines will have 3-4 metres of slop.
-walk out to the water with your kite, bar and board.
-Throw your board upwind so it will drift back to you by the time the kite is in the air.
-Let go of your kite and let it drift back while unwinding the lines CAREFULLY!!!!
-If you did this properly, the kite should remain flagged out with no power while you unwind.
-Then once all the lines are equal lengths the kite will pocket air and be ready for a conventional water relaunch.
Again I dont reccomend this to anyone.
You should get yourself an anchor, some rope, a bouy and a shackle.
Clip the shackle to your chicken loop and walk your kite around to the edge of the window where it will sit there while you walk up to the bouy.
Sorry, I forgot to mention that this may only work safely on the Turbo2. I'm not sure how well behaved the switchblade is when flagged out.
My dodgy method works for all 5th line kites, and any other kite that doesnt flap around, loop or do anything other than just sit patently on the water while it is flagged out.
Also not much fun in anymore wind than 20knts.
####Very high risk of getting lines tangled, bridle wrap, or yourself tangled in lines####
I have used the above method about 10 times without any trouble. Like in the video, leave the chicken loop clipped in and leash attached to a flagging line.
Make sure that you flip the kite over in the water in the opposite direction that you flipped it over on the land. As you can see, he has not wound up the lines so this method only works in areas where you can walk out without getting your lines caught up in sticks etc.
thanks for the input. i know its not often i will be out at this place in a direct onshore. www.google.com:443/maps?ll=-32.273542,152.51344&z=14&t=h&hl=en but this place is bigger than sydney harbour and is on fire in all westerlies. its gold
