Hey guys, I'm kind of new to depowers so bear with me! I've got 3 problems, one of which I think I know the answer to:

1. When I'm traveling across wind (on my landboard) the kite likes to slip down into the power zone, eventually pulling me off my board... I presume this is because I'm not keeping enough tension in the lines...?

2. When I first start out, I put my board out in front of me and park the kite at the zenith until I'm on my board and ready to go. BUT the kite loves to overtake me and fly behind me, until eventually it looses power and floats back down to earth. This tends to happen only when there's a gust - whether the bar is in or out. Which means I'm always trying to not let it get to the zenith just in case - making getting on my board all the much harder!

3. And is it just me or does this kite love to twist up/invert?!

Any advice is welcome - you are welcome to lol at me! Phil.

One thing I have noticed about the manta is it is not a park and ride kite, you have to keep working it, keeping out of the power zone or in it.

Getting on the board with the manta is also hard, as you have found out, lol it does love to over fly. Most of the time though this is correctable by keeping the bar all the way in, but a bad idea when its gusty, then just keep it at the side.

Don’t really have that problem, only occasionally when I mess up and let over fly and then come back down to earth, it will twist up but even then it's not all that often.

When it over fly's you , knee on the ground really quick to re gain tension on the lines and steer it from the zenith.
But the nice thing about the manta is it’s a really powerful kite as long as it is cutting through the air : ) and it has lots of float, not as much as those pl kites but man I love my mantas.

Don't take this the wrong way but I'm very curious why you chose the manta if you are new to de-powers. That kite is an advanced kite. Not saying your skills will not eventually catch up to the kite, but it may be a frustrating road ahead of you.

I chose that kite because I read a lot of good reviews on it and I also happened to get a very good deal on it. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a complete noob at depowers, and you're right I'm sure my skills will quickly catch up. I was just hoping for a little constructive input. Cheers anyway though I guess.............

oh no worries I was not knocking you. Here is my 2 cents to try and help out just like f22 said do not keep it at zenith ... leave the kite off to the side. If you were on a access or HQ apex it would be not a big deal to leave it at zenith as it will have less tendency to lift you or over fly. Plus if it did start to over fly you could pull in the bar and stall it a bit to get it back where you want it. I want to be honest and straight forward with you that I have not yet flown the Manta. I do own one but I have not had the opportunity to fly it yet. But it is my understanding that it is a very lifty kite. This is why I give the advise of not keeping it at zenith. If you have it at zenith and a gust hits you are at its mercy. If you pull in the bar to stall it most likely you will just get lifted, but if you let it overfly ... well you know what happens then

higher AR kites will drive hard to the edge and overfly.................counter this by bar position.....higher AR kites are not follow me kites so yes you need line tension, again bar position, and point more upwind....................Im sure its frusturatig but it will come........

If it's gusty and you have it at zenith and she's overflying and you don't want to risk getting lofted wouldn't one be able to yard the brake cross over and collapse the trailing edge briefly? More direct effect than sheeting in and not likely to lift ya.

Just a thought.

Is the M3 a high AR kite? I thought they were in the mid 4AR range.

I know when I had my 9.5 montana I would have it set at full depower and it would fly too flat and drift over center , it prefered an inch or two of power. Also a kite that size follows Newtons law... a body in motion tends to stay in motion. So if the kite is moving toward center it will tend to move past center and luft. If you can keep it moving sightly side to side while overhead it might be ok.
When being dragged by a high performance kite you are probably not going to be able to "park and ride" untill you are on a nice hard surface. Surface conditions are a very big part of what you fly, how the kite flys and how you fly it.

Being pulled over the board while riding along, that doesnt really make sense to me. The only thing I can think of is that your wind must be a little gusty and you just arent prepared for the surge in power. Compensating for that will not be easy, only time and practice will take care of that...

Starting out is going to be hard if you have shifty/inconsistent wind. When I first started buggying, I used to side launch while sitting in the buggy. When the wind would hit, I would just start moving right away. You could try that, but you are really going to need to be prepared and lean back against it right off the bat. Tricky, but not impossible, I would think.

The kite is going to wrap up and invert any time the winds shift direction on the kite. This will take time and practice to avoid. If you see the kite falling, grap the brake line for the upwind wingtip and pull on that. So, I would agree with the comments about keeping the kite moving to prevent that as another prevention technique.

are you being snatched off the board or is it a build up of power that fianlly overtakes and pulls you off? If your being snatched would indicate gusts. Make sure you lean back and edge harder, it will come. If its a gradual build up of power and the kite is falling back into the window would indicate you are choking the kite with the bar position (in too far and too long). Let the kite run towards the edge (bar out) then a quick in on the bar will stop overfly but not allow the kite kite to stall and fall back into the window. Remember all higher aspect ratio kites need to be flown usually the harder the better. You will find your bar sweet spots (powered/depowered) and will become instictive............

Thanks for all your replies Yeah it is a gradual build up of power, and tridude I think you're right! I think I may invest in a buggy - that would be soo much easier and I think it would help teach me more about kite positioning. What d'u think? At the moment I'm happy if I can stay on the board for more than 15-20 secs!

Also what beginner friendly depowers for kite landboarding could you suggest? I may pick up a more manageable kite if I could find one cheap enough...

Thanks again guys, your help is much appreciated :roll:

you dont need a new kite be patient and practice........................but to answer your question, friendly beginer depowers would be the Flysurfer Pulse/ Pulse 2, HQ Apex and Ozone Access................

Yeah I'll keep practicing, I've just bought a better landboard - a Scrub Psycho, my current board is awful.. That can only help. Theres also a fairly cheap buggy for sale in my area, might go for that as well...

ya, its pretty much said already, but i bet your traveling downwind too much or pulling in the bar too much, or both.
ya, definetely give the kite a serious go.
. If it just doesnt work for you, you could try an arc. i do prefer my foil for snowkiting (as long as its not super gusty), but so far...i am really liking my venom13 for landboarding. Easy to handle and great for gusty conditions. defintely give the manta a fair shake though

When I first got my mitts on the 8m M3 demo kite, I flew it like I fly my Accesses' and Apex and the Manta kept going to the edge then overflying and luffing. The more aggressive I was with the kite, the better I flew it. If I wasn't traveling at any great speed and kite was about to go over the edge, I'd turn harder upwind for a moment then loop the kite back under itself with the resultant power boost as it came back through the window. I ended up having a lot of fun with it but I really had to take it by the scruff of the neck. Whereas my Apex, almost as soon as I'm moving, I can just park it there and off we go.

It will park 'n ride nicely, it just needs more apparent wind - quite a bit more - than say, an Apex II. I'd love to have a couple in the quiver....but, you know......$$$ !

also keep in mind this kite is Chasta's baby so yes it needs to be flown hard..........