Hi there,

I've acquired a Peter Lynn Arc 840.

I'm an intermediate kiteboarder and use an inflatable 10m 4 line kite.

I'd like to use the foil kite for mountain boarding or with a buggy.

I flew it today for the first time and it didn't seem to fly right.

Didn't seem to inflate properly and when I sheeted in to power up it seemed to have the opposite effect.

I couldn't really get it to inflate on the beach properly.

Any ideas? I'm thinking I should have closed the zip and may have to alter the length of the lines.

Yes you need to close the zipper. Arcs depend on internal air pressure to hold their shape. Filling those early arcs from the middle is a pain but important. If you have a blower it will be the way to go. If not, push air to the tips.

Arcs very much fly off of the front lines. When your strap is pulled in and bar out you should have a bit of slack on the back lines. Pulling in the bar should stall the kite. Doing so with the trim out should back the kite down.

This kite will show you some of arcs qualities like auto zenith but they got way easier to fill and much better depower / turning.

bottom (outside) lines are probably too tight. Arcs fly quite different than today's LEI kites with almost zero bar pressure. You will find that bar all the way out and speed through the window is where the power is. Pull the bar in to turn and push the bar back out to gain speed/power. Once up to speed, pull in for huge boosts. If your outside lines are too tight then you will stall the kite out and not let it get up to speed. It will "Seal Clap" easily (wing tips collapsing) and will stall when you pull the bar in for power.

As Bladerunner mentioned, the kite should barely stall (slow down) when the bar is pulled in to max. Pull the lines a little more and it will back down in the window. When bar is out all the way the lines should be drooping a bit with very little tension on them.

Common comment with the older arcs "Fly it like you are mad at it, spank it around and it will perform". Meaning sheet out for speed, yank it in and crank it to turn, sheet it out again once the turn is completed. The harder you fly it the better it performs.

Ok great thanks. I'll give it a go next time. Any idea what year it is? Any idea how much it is worth?

It is the 1st generation of arc from the early 2000's. It isn't worth much. Arcs improved greatly from there.

I've seen a few of those vintage just shred spontaneously. The stitching held, the material along the stitching failed. Don't rely too much on that kite.