Can one go straight up and back down and not wind up accelerating with the wind and have to do a running landing?

Its relative to how directly overhead you can keep your kite. If it's downwind of you, you will follow it. Directly overhead, and you float straight down. It is possible to minimize drift downwind but difficult to eliminate it because the wind is blowing you and the lines. The kites drag in the wind wants to keep it downwind of zenith. Redirection of an efficient kite can get you as close as possible.

kite acceleration is the key to lift .

a gust would lift like that, BUT typical situation .. bar is out and down wind drift is hard to avoid. really not what you want.

there has to be some relative speed acceleration across the top of the kite . by input or apparent wind.

maybe a small pilot and large rig might get close but tedious balance of control in the necessary wind.

in a up wind point of sail there is forward speed in the jump that is additive to wind which produces a big floaty air.

in a transitions sometimes there is little actual position change kinda of up and down but it is momentary proceeded by apex kite direction and hard redirect in descent, so this has a lot kite action to produce .


hope it helps

I've had instances where I've had the kite at zenith, and back-pedaled then pulled in the bar and went up vertically, but I also drifted forward. Sometimes to where I was before I started back-pedalling, sometimes farther... Always drift forward in these instances though. Only very rarely going straight up...

It is possible, but it seems like its more of a situation thing and not really something you can plan. I guess you can eventually figure it out but your best bet is to land running or do a soccer slide. When i'm not riding on the board and i'm just practicing jumps or showing someone how it works, I sometimes land while moving downwind. Its just one of those things that is part of kiting. You either land running or slide out fast so you don't take the impact in your joints. I'm also talking about bigger jumps with a de-power kite. If you had a smaller kite (7m or smaller) it is more possible to do jumps under feet high without moving downwind much thus saving yourself from running like a mad man. But I looooove the big jumps

One day at the beach, I launched the 12M Flexi Ion Tube in steady 22-25 mph onshore wind. With the kite sitting at Zenith, I was amazed that when sheeted in, I would go straight up 1-2 feet....sheet out... back on my feet. Hovering over and over without much input or horizontal movement at all. Most of been the steady wind and the kite trimmed just right. Cool feeling for sure. :wee: