im new to kiting and had only been out with my kite twice before in around 10 knots... today it was blowing like #@%$#! (storm coming across) and i took my kite out in a force 7 gusting 8 (25-30 kts). took it off and it immediately took me 3m airborne and 40 ft forwards. slightly shaken it had another go, this time the kite pulling me flat on my face and dragging me right across my 100+m long feild on my belly.
(#@%$#! my 3m is more powerful than i imagined) then a gust came through, pulling me forwards and upwards at the same time, with me doing an uncanny impression of superman!

two questions for those in the know out there:

1. is belly scudding an established technique?

2. what advice can you give me for flying in force 5 +
(such as not going out at all!!) how can you turn the
power into a controllable force instead of an unpredictable one which may try and kill you at any given notice!!

3. do you set the kite up differently? what do you adjust?

Don't go out in winds like that until you can fly your kite blindfolded.

Stay away from the center of the window; launch your kite from an angle so you get it to zenith from the side of the window.

Don't be afraid to let go!

Hey Harry!

Pick yourself up a set of kite killers.... Then when you let go you will depower the kite and keep it from flying away in the process.... Hope that helps..

In all stories of people getting hurt, Experience People included, gusty winds are the most consistent apect of serious injury. No matter what size kite you fly.

However, if you must go out in strong unpredictable winds, get a sheetable kite like a Peter Lynn Venom, Ozone Frenzy or Windwing with their SAFE bar.

Then the winds force is reduced to an much more controllable risk factor.

With your level of enthusiasm I would suggest you checking out EVS protective gear too.

IN THOSE WINDS SOMETIMES EVEN THE KITE KILLERS DONT WORK PROPERLY AND THE KITES POWERS UP AGAIN JUST WHEN YOU THINK ITS SAFE, I SAY IN THOS WINDS DONT FLY, WHEN THE WINDS GET INTO THE 20'S I SAY TIME TO PACK IT UP, OR ELSE RISK BREAKING SOMETHING BEFORE THE KITING SESSION IS OVER. AND I ASUURE YOU IT WONT BE YOUR KITE CAUSE IT CAN TAKE A BETTER THRASHIN THAN YOU.

What 3m kite are you using??

Scoop

radsail 3m

Which Dakine harness do you have? I use the fusion

Quote:

Originally posted by gilligan Don't go out in winds like that until you can fly your kite blindfolded. Stay away from the center of the window; launch your kite from an angle so you get it to zenith from the side of the window. Don't be afraid to let go!

Sorry, Im a newbie. Whats the window?

K, if you don't know much about the wind window, I don't know if talk about harnesses and how to launch in high winds are the way to go.

More like if you've been flying it no problem in 10mph, how bout trying 15mph. when you have that nailed, move up to 20mph.

At 240lbs I can hang on to a 3m like that in 35mph, that's about the top end of it though, and it's getting to more of a survival mode. You won't be able to learn much from the experience and just may well end up putting yourself out of action for a couple months which will really cut into your flying time, better to sit out a session.

If you know what your doing, and want to fly way overpowered, you can always launch surf style. Either get a buddy to help launch you at the side of the window, or fold over the upwind tip, lay the kite out so that it's flagged downwind, then on about a 45 deg angle to the kite, start to tension the lines, same tecnique as with an ARC. The kite will lift and move to the edge, then up the side of the window.

As a rule of thumb though, if your getting airbourn without trying, your flying too big of a kite for your experience. Remember, just because the pint size punk is flying a 6.5m, doesn't mean you should, he may have years of kiting under his belt and may have way better flying skills than you.

Harsh.... maybe, Reality check......for sure.

O.k.

Here's the what the wind window is:

Standing with your back to the wind with your arms sticking out at your sides, imagine a half-dome (like a big amphetheater) in front of you. The top edge is roughly straight above you while your arms are roughly pointing to the side edges. The boundry of this dome equals you kites line length. This area is your "window" that you can fly around in. In power kiting, as the kite approaches an edge of this window, the speed and power generated in pull decreases. Conversely, as you fly closer to the "center" of the window (lower in the sky and more directly in front of you) the speed and pull of the kite greatly increases. How close to perpendicular with the wind that you can get and still remain aloft, is determined by kite design and windspeed.

All this is something that you probably already know "intuitively" if you've spent any time flying your kite, even if you didn't know the "lingo". So consider yourself "in the know".

However.... I have to strongly stress that flying in winds like that is NOT A GOOD THING!! No matter how tame your kite is, or how much confidence you have. Here's a true story that was related to me a few years back:

A guy (very experienced) in Cannon Beach, Oregon decides to go out land boarding during one of our frequent winter storms. He having a blast with his 3 meter, and is tearing up the beach. He stops, with his kite parked directly above him to adjust something. Just then a "wind eddie" (wind vortexes that occur in high unstable winds) jerks him off the ground about 40 ft into the air. At that height, his kite balls up, and he falls like a rock. He breaks both his legs, ruptures his spleen, and has damage to his spinal column. Luckly, he survives and is eventually able to walk and fly again. (He doesn't land board anymore, because he says landing on his tailbone now is excruciating) The only things that saved him, were the fact that he had been blown into softer sand before he landed, the drag from his balled up kite created a slight drag. And that someone just happened to be looking out their window when it happened, and had called 911. The point is, he was 100% sure he was in control, right up to the moment he got shot up into the sky. Mother nature WILL kick your *** if you don't respect her!!

Thanks for the reply bucky.

I had seen this window chart before but didnt make the connection really

Anyway yes, I tend not to go out in crazy weather and be blown 12 meters up to the air. Being able to recover from a fall like that is a miracle.

But one thing though bycky, I tend to kiteski alot so I was wondering, isent it harder to control the kite and thus more dangerous kiteski in higher winds? Does that mean I should always kiteski in lower winds then I would maybe while jumping freestile and etc.?

Now I've never ski-kited before, although it sounds like fun!! Now I've skied and snowboarded before, so I know that your rolling (cough, cough) sliding resistance is pretty low on hardpacked snow, and slightly more on powder, but only until you're planing. Because of this, I'd probably use a slightly smaller kite than I would if I were buggying or land boarding (I'm not sure about this though) So any comments I make will be from a buggying, boarding, kiteskating mindset. But I'm sure it will translate to kite-skiing (or is it kiteskiing - ski-kiting - skikiting. I don't know..) with very little modification.

When I go out boarding (or any other kite________ that moves across the ground.) , I generally want to fly in about the same wind (same sized kite) as I would when jumping. This is because when you're jumping, you focus on the power in the center of the window. When boarding, you're moving perpendicular with the wind, so you focus more on the power at the edge of your window (which is less). Generally, good boarding days, are good jumping days. This is true except when higher wind requires that you use a smaller kite (3m or less) because these kites don't have enough loft to make jumping safe. (They'll still lift you, they just don't set you down so nice.)

As far as the question "are they harder to control in higher winds" The answer is YES and NO. Most kites are actually far more responsive in a higher wind than in a lower wind (to a point). Turning is faster, tighter, and more deliberate. Speed, however is also increased. Which means your reaction time is reduced. Also higher wind increases your chances of being overpowered by the kite. A better way to think about it, is that a kite will have an ideal range of wind for a particular person where "performance" and "managability" are balanced. Lower wind than that, and performance begins to suffer. Higher wind than that, and managability begins to suffer. Remember though, that ideal "performance" and ideal "managability" are both subjective, based on the pilots comfort and skill level. So you'll need to find that ideal windspeed for that particular kite, regardless of it's application.

I hope I didn't muddy that up too much..

Not muddy at all. Thanks