I've seen in a video on a turn, doing some sort of technique to turn back really fast. Something about looping the kite down or around in a certain way?

Can someone describe it well enough or is there a good video that shows it well. It was a long time ago when I caught a glimpse of it.

How common or rare is it to do a turn upwind(turning around into the wind instead of the usual, easier downwind turn)?

I still can't efficiently make my turn to tack without either losing all my speed or having to make a really wide turn(even then slowing down a lot).

i agree rtz i noticed this today when we were out that everytime i turn i scrub all my speed. i was wondering if it was just me.

rtz upwind turns are used by course racers to turn on the windward mark

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPG6mTXbsag - upwind turn (tacking), key is to have the kite right above u when u corner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nhb4dGiOVcY - downwind gybe, the loop is only necessary if u drive slower than the wind... again key is to have the kite above u

these are the two essential manouvers for racing. if you want to learn them its recomandable to learn them from somebody who knows the right technique as the obe potential is great and both manouvers work better the faster u go.

I did do 2 upwind turns Saturday. but each time I was very nervous. The first time I tried it, a few months ago, I had a lot of pain and suffering involved, but Sunday when we were out I didn't attempt it because of the small kites. I only did it with the 5m flow on the bar.

If I've got the kite above me and I'm still carrying enough momentum to get around the upwind turn - it works well. I also apply just a little bit of turn on the bar - if I'm turning left, I will gently turn the kite right as it's over my head - that way, as I swing around, the kite is lowering back into the power and 'meets me' on the other side.....so to speak. If it's not too windy, I can then loop it the other way to uncross the lines. So far, I only do this in gentle conditions with a slowish kite - Apex or 6.5m Method. The key, for me, is to have enough momentum to get me around the turn (as your not going to get any assistance from the kite) and to have the kite right above me before I commit - if I don't feel it's above me enough then I'll just turn downwind as usual. Also, you can't really afford to slide and scrub off speed, so take a wider turn. Going downhill on grass works very well too. If you go right to the end of this video: Labour Day 2011 you'll see Joel doing 'donuts' with the Vapor 4.?m. I'm not yet at the stage where I'd try this with a fast kite in moderate conditions - things could go wrong real quick......

and then there is this http://pic7.piczo.com/Popeyethewelder?g=51035522 deadmans turn.

note to self: learn Deadman's turn while at WWBB :evil:

I prefer the high-speed, powerslide, downwind turn... This does, however, require a buggy with which you can "break the rear tires free". When done right, you do not lose very much speed. Because the kites I use are very "lifty" upwind turns could end with a horrible lofting, if done wrong... heh.

Just the first 1/2 of that... you're lines will be twisted, but you can fly just fine with a few twists. Just down loop on your next turn and the twist will be gone.

I have a really bad habit of cutting up wind hard the down-looping and sending the kite all the way across the window while still cutting up wind. Once the kite gets about 3/4 of the way across the window it will spin the buggy around. I wouldn't do this is in an XR and you might get yanked out of the back of the buggy... it's CBE without getting lofted. In my libre I usually try to unhook so my ribs don't get pressed on the side rail But it's fun...

In under-powered conditions, wind I usually start with a down-loop and rather than looping in the other direction, I just continue to loop one more time in the same direction since the kite can move faster than the buggy.

I've never seen the deadman's turn before - just watched a couple of the videos from Weldngod's link. awesome! I wouldn't have even thought that was possible, but I can see why its a low-wind-high-speed move.

One for the 5 year plan.....

it's a fun one... many tricks do complete the turn, but #1 is to get the buggy to turn around before the kite kits the wind, re-powers up and the lines cut your head off :D