a few issues i had at 3rd last night

[beachcarolyn2]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone had some advice for me. I am a beginner, and trying my hardest to have a good go at this before the wind dies down. I had a bit of an issue at 3rd yesterday, and just trying to work out what happened. The wind conditions were great - i have a Caprihna Omega 9M, and prodigy board (currently using a board leash).

I had managed to stand up a few times, and ride along a little a few times, then suddenly, my chicken loop somehow suddenly came unclipped (the loop was still in place, but the emergency release bit unclipped itself), my bar shot off towards my kite (that had fallen at this point), so I only had the safety leash attached. I would have expected under normal circumstances, this would have left the kite completely depowered, but somehow, the lines were all tangled, and the kite was not completey depowered. I think at that point, potentially the board and leash were somehow tangled with the lines - all out of my reach. I was just getting dragged towards the rocks with the kite trying to launch itself and with no bar in my hand, and no way to completely depower it.

I was actually pretty terrified. I was 1 second away from letting the whole kite go. One guy asked if I wanted help. I told him I did, and tried to explain what happened, he didnít seem to know what to do and then just rode off!

I had undone my safety leash, and was literally just holding the kite with my hand, ready to let it go, but then somehow, whatever was preventing it from depowering seemed to get untangled, and I managed to keep it depowered. Then began the LONG swim to shore, by then I had been taken below the lower landing beach, so swam for the rocky shore.

Anyway, I survived, but I have to say - the whole experience gave me the fright of my life. I then spent the next hour untangling my lines.

So my question is:
1. I am not sure why my chicken ring release part unsnapped itself - does this often happen? There was no damage to it that i could see
2. Was it just that everything got tangled that the kite was not fully depowered or am i missing something?

Thanks for reading. I really believe i am a diligent and safe beginner, have had 5 lessons, been practicing at Alameda (but tired of not getting any wind) and have been reading quite a bit on this website. I enjoy reading the chit chat and learn a lot from it and are hoping someone can help me.

So i would just like some advice or someone to let me know if i did anything glaringly incorrect.

Thanks to Mike and the other guy who helped reassure me afterwards.

[adamrod]

it seems like your safety release got accidentally activated. did you accidentally hit it? it could have been a little loose . . .

you should check your safety release before you ride to make sure it's properly seated . . .it's good practice to release it and re-activate it before you launch.

also where was your leash attached? was it attached to the flagging ring a few feet up on the center lines? that seems like the best way to fully depower the kite.

this kind of thing happens. even the best kites do tangle. sometimes, you're just going to have to ditch the kite.

i realize you were terrified, but think about it. you weren't in any real danger. you're surrounded by people who will help you out, people would call the coast guard if things got bad. the worst that reasonably could have happened? you would have ditched the kite and it got wrecked. in the big scheme of things, that's not THAT bad.

Kiting is full of really scary experiences, but if you keep a level head, you'll realize that you're gonna be OK. and plus, it all worked out! the kite DID depower and it was all cool.

honestly? i think you did everything right. you were ready to ditch the kite if it came to that, but you waited and the kite sorted itself out. to me, it sounds like it all worked out quite well. I think you'll find that most of the kiters on this forum have had way worse kitemares...

one word of advice? kite a bit further from the beach so that if something bad happens, you have a bit more time to sort things out before your kite hits the rocks...

also, if you wave your hands in the "help me" motion, most of us regulars at 3rd will tow you in so you won't have to swim so far...

but, like the guy who rode off, i generally won't help you out if you're attached to a kite. too dangerous for you AND me.

[Jtrupkin]

Well first Carolyn, I have to say that its awesome that this experience hasn't discouraged you from the sport.

Second, I have the same thing happen to me at 3rd (I think it happened the day you posted this). I'm not sure what happened to mine although I can only come up with the chicken loop stop was not all they way through my spreader bar. It did look ok when I started.

About your leash. Some bars have differant set up options concerning the leash. Typically for beginners the leash is connected to the kites safety system incase something like this happens. Other times for more advanced riders you can connect the leash allowing you to do handle passes without the leash getting wrapped around your depower line. This is a dangerous set up for beginners because the kite leash is not connected to the safety system and can stay powered without holding onto the bar. You will probably not find out what made your chicken loop come off the last time but this might explain why your kite stayed powered up after it crashed. Mine did the same thing and tangled when in the water.

It is not uncommon for the kite to tangle itself if you just have it by the leash so don't be discouraged about that. If this happens it usually means the end of the session for right then and a swim in.

The only strange thing that I can see in your case is why your chicken loop came undone for no reason. Other than that everything else that happened after is not uncommon and it sounds like you did everything right and as best as you could. Its funny that reading your post is almost word for word what happened to me.

If I can encourage: I have been kiting for 2 years now and these things still happen. Its not because your a beginner. Its the nature of the sport.

I hope this helps and feel free to send any other questions my way if you have them

See you at 3rd ave

JaY

[steve]

Beachcarolyn2:
difficult to tell from your description what might have happened..just glad everything worked out. Next time you are at third, ask someone to point me out and I'll be happy to take a look at your equipment to make sure everytihng is OK...that you are attaching the kite leash in the correct spot, and that your QR is connected properly. I'm pretty much at 3rd every day.
Just ask for Steve..I'm the Cabrinha rep

[windhorny]

Hello red cabrinha girl :)

I should have thought to mention that the other day but it didnt cross my mind. For some reason Cabrinha and the shops reccomend that the leash beset up in a "suicide style." This means that the leash only depowers the kite as much as letting go of the bar. Most kites have a flagging setup, as does yours, but the problem is tangling when you do rotations so noone uses it. It is a rare situation that you would need to depower the kite more than it does already and that the leash wouldnt do its job just holding on to the kite but...if your lines get tangled, you have no way out other than releasing your whole kitye. On a 5th line, for example, you can depower the kite like any other but if you pull your safety you have that one line flagging the kite in a totally depowered state.

So my reccomendation is that you start attaching your leash to your flagghing ring and not above the chicken loop.

I'll show you nexttime i see you.



Windhorny

[davewsail]

beachcarolyn2 and Jtrupkin, it's a little hard to tell from your description but from what I got, your chicken loops popped off the hook. That happens all the time and it used to really piss me off. Sometimes it's a donkey dick problem and sometimes it's just that the loop gets slack and reseated wrong. In any case, you can ride unhooked (even if you're a newbie) just hold on, go straight downwind to depower the kite, and when the pressure comes off, slide the chicken loop back onto the hook. It's really that simple but you have to react quickly. If you try to carve against the power of the kite, you'll drop the bar and then may have another swim in.

[jowall]

I think Upwind Dave is right. If you pull too far on your bar due to trying to get more power or trying to remove slack from you lines, your chicken loop can come off the spreader bar hook. Since you weren't expecting to unhook, you're then riding a fully powered kite like super man. Hold the bar, go downwind and do a pull up to the bar to hook back in.

If the loop's safety did open, then grab the chicken loop before letting go of bar, let the kite fall and reset the chicken loop while being dragged.

If neither of these work, your kite session just became a biatholon.

john

[beachcarolyn2]

Thanks everyone for the great advice and support. You guys rock! I think what Jay and Adam said is correct for what happened. It wasn't that the chicken loop just came off the spreader bar hook (or donkey dick issues - ha - didn't realise that was what it is called!). The loop was still connected to the hook. It was the red connector part that somehow came unclipped. Not sure how, perhaps i knocked it or it wasn't seatd properly as Adamrod suggested. It sounds like a good idea to check it and release and reset it everytime before heading out to be sure and i will definitely do this from now on.

I have had discussions with people before about the position of the safety leash being connected in the incorrecct place (the suicide style), and have always made sure that it is connected to the ring a few feet up on the center lines - but i am now wondering about the little bit of velcro that is there also (perhaps i did something wrong with that part? - would that make a difference?). I will check this before heading out next time. Steve/WH - I will look for you - thanks.

Upwind Dave and John - thanks for your thoughts too. The chicken loop was still intact on the spreader bar, but i can see why if that was what had happened - your suggestions would work well. I am trying to remember the point that i let go of the bar - i think it was just kinda ripped out of my hands as the snap bit unsnapped, pulled me forward and off the board, i fell, and let go all at the same time i think.

It did become a bit of a biatholon. I guess in hindsight, i was not that close to the rocks (as i did have a huge swim in), but i think that the rocks were all that was on my mind after hearing all the stories of people ending up there. All i could think of was that i could not regain control, and there were mean, bad rocks there - but you are correct Adamrod - i had enough room and therefore time to sort things out. I guess i just could not think of any other way to sort it out aside from ditching the kite, but luckily it did work out.

I really appreciate all your advice - was a little freaked out last night, but feel better after listening to the masters! This has just made me more determined to get back out there. I am travelling for work for a few days but will see some of you on the weekend perhaps.

Thanks again! :)

[friggin old guy]

Hey

One other suggestion: lose that board leash as soon as possible.

I know it seems like that will decrease your riding time, but here's a few good reasons NOT to use a leash even while you're learning:

-It's dangerous to have a board flopping around on a leash, either on shore or in the water- lots of injuries are caused that way
-It's just another thing to get wrapped up in your lines
-It'll teach you to depower quickly when you come off your board
-It'll make you learn how to body drag efficiently, which is another good exercise in kite control.

It takes some people quite a while to move away from board leashes, but honestly the quicker you can do without it, the better off you'll be.

I never used a leash......at first I thought the way to depower was to send the kite up to neutral immediately as I came off the board, which of course sent me flying (duh, that's how you jump). If you just kind of keep the kite in the same spot but push out on the bar when you fall, your body dragging in the water will depower the kite almost immediately. You'll be surprised how quickly you can stop.......

JW

[adamrod]

yep. we all have pretty scary experiences kiting, and especially in the beginning, it can be really intimidating. The key, is to always have a level head, take your time, and think things through.

you can learn one of two lessons from this experience, either:

1. that was really scary and I could have hurt myself

or

2. I screwed up, but managed to recover and everything was OK.

I think you'll agree, that option #2 is a much healthier way to see things. you're going to have lots of moments like this in the future. your first backroll-kiteloop is going to end in a brutal crash probably worse than what you had the other day, but by that point, you'll be so used to it, that you'll go out and try it again 10 min later!!!!



(also, another tip, bridled kites CAN tangle. but if you give them time, and sortof pull on different lines to force the kite in various positions, the vast majority of the time, the tangle will work itself free....you just have to be patient, which is tough when rocks are approaching)