As a beginner I notice that mastering the art of the deep water relaunch is paramount to being able to kite . I was out on a 14 m draft on the weekend, I crashed lost my board and crashed the kite ,when I tried to relaunch I found I couldn't get any purchase to stop the kite just dragging me down wind hence I couldn't get back to my board . I ended up having to pull the safety , swim to my board , then wind up my tangled lines and self rescue back to the beach. I realise that not dropping my kite in the first place is probably the way to go , but is there a technique for relaunch in that situation ?

If you can't relaunch on your port side (left) quickly swap lines by pulling the starboard steering line.

Because the kite is towards the wind window on the port side. When shifted to the starboard side, the kite will in effect "fill" with air, generating power and relaunching on the starboard side.

A more technicial way is to pull the 2 centre lines and the kite will fly upside down. The trick is to then flick the kite the correct way around, sort of like a half kite loop.

I think that its a high aspect kite and in light wind not an easy kite to launch I have an nrg 14 hard in light wind for water relaunch I try not to drop my kite but after time on kite gets bit easier with practise

Efilnikufesin said...
Plummet I agree with your comments , but at the time I was just thinking how can I produce more resistance against the kite to get it back into the air and since I couldn't touch the bottom I thought , get the board back on my feet to create more drag and get the kite to launch . But since I couldn't reach the board and couldn't launch the kite I made the decision to self rescue . Taking the 14 m out was a miscalculation on my part . I had a forecast for 10-15 knots but the reality was closer to 15-20 . But my question is . How do you relaunch a kite when you are swimming without board or bottom purchase ?

Plummet's right in saying keep it in the air when you crash problem is it takes time to master, no different than when we first started and it was a challenge to keep the kite at 12 without looking at. It will come to you after a few more crashes.

With regards to the relaunch without the board in deeper water- I haven’t had to do too much different than in shallow water only it does take a bit longer to get the kite back in the air because you’re not grounded but that usually just means more upwind body dragging to get to your board. Maybe a bit more relaunch practice in shallow water and it’ll all come together in the deep. Good luck...

ONYX said...
If you can't relaunch on your port side (left) quickly swap lines by pulling the starboard steering line.

Because the kite is towards the wind window on the port side. When shifted to the starboard side, the kite will in effect "fill" with air, generating power and relaunching on the starboard side.

A more technicial way is to pull the 2 centre lines and the kite will fly upside down. The trick is to then flick the kite the correct way around, sort of like a half kite loop.

Yeh always worked for me in light wind. Shouldnt think your 14m draft would have to many issues with relaunch. Havent flown one so cant really comment.

With the draft the back lines pull from the centre of the wing rather than from the back edge like the other kite I use ( switchy) which I think makes it more difficult to launch because it doesn't want to lay back and take off , and when you drop it downwind it can be very hard to get it to the edge of the window,add deep water to that mix and your in for a time . That's what I discovered anyway.

Efilniku...
Light wind relaunching has its own special technique - google it there is heaps of info on it. But in summary you have to pull ~2meters of one of the steering lines to get the kite to move in really light wind (remember your arm length is only ~500mm, so need four arm lengths.)

But i dont think your problem was light wind considering you say it was 15-20 knots and you had a 14 meter kite...thats almost overpowered.
Remember that the kite doesnt always respond straight away when its on the water...it might take 5 or 10 seconds to start moving, and up to 30 seconds to get from downwind to the edge of the wind window...just be patient.
again, maybe try being more brutal with the kite to see if it responds - pull 1 to 1.5 meters of one of the steering lines to see if it moves.

A few tips for light wind relaunch in deep water
( without board ).
Try laying back and frog kicking to create added tension whilst pulling in a steering line.

Try pulling one steering line until the kite begins to move across the window ( leading edge down ) once it has a bit of momentum release the line and pull the opposite the sudden change can cause the wingtip to grab the surface and assist in pivoting the opposite side up.
Swim or walk towards the kite and get it to roll slightly onto its back ( not completely ). This this causes the wingtips to have less c tontact witb the water and therefore less drag Then finess the steering line to relaunch the kite.

Great input everyone thanks very much. !

Naish do a relaunch line that you can fit to the draft I can't remember the full details of it but it sounded pretty useful Im sure a quick google search would bring up the full details

Two things to look at.
Sheet in and you will see the kite fall back then let the bar out and see it move foreword in the window, this is where you want it to pull you up wind, you can do this on the beach, but pick the right conditions! It is very easy to oversheet the kite as it is losing power after the sweet spot.
Lay back on the harness, as has been said, this will bring on the edge of the board.
I spent months walking up the beach, cant get me off the water now.
Stick with it and enjoy the early pain.

Ah.. I remember relaunching a 15m 2005 fuel in low wind. Pulling on the centre lines hoping for a launch, the bloody thing always landed on it's back too..

You're not using a 05 fuel are you?

BTW the fix for me was to buy 08 T2's, maybe pick up an 08 kite?

Learned one thing ! If you are a beginner don't let a shop owner talk you into buying a naish draft ! NOT a beginners kite !!!!!!

Which shop?

What's not beginner about it? Just a bow kite with bar pressure up the wazoo...

said..


A more technicial way is to pull the 2 centre lines and the kite will fly upside down. The trick is to then flick the kite the correct way around, sort of like a half kite loop.

Wrong wrong wrong. No the more technical way is to pull the two back lines not the centre line ,,centre lines attach to the LE and it might be hard if you don't have a board to put some resistance on the kite in deep water ,try body dragging to one edge . use your hand as a rudder ,,,