So last Thursday myself with friends and even another kiter from AZ went up to Lake Pleasant to see if we could do some flying. Another attempt start kiteboarding. Forecast looked good with winds just over 10+ knots. We found a nice lil cove that had dirt shores (instead of the normal rocks) and decided to give it a shot. Broke out the GK 15m and took to the water.
Long story short, winds were 5knots for 5 minutes then 15+ for 5 minutes and back and forth. So I had little winds to try and get up and going. After a few close times of getting up without being overpowered, the worst happened. Lines got tangled and kite kept going up and down, relaunching on its own. I was trying to correct the lines as quick as possible (which were wrapped around the bar) but wasn't getting any where. Mean while I am being dragged down wind.
I have to admit, it was fun being dragged down wind but only to look up and see the kite with 2 huge 3-4ft cuts in the sail.
So at that point I just hit the quick release and watched her head to shore. Im sure she can be fixed but the price may be more than I even got her for. Although this sucks it was a blast and good times.
I keep forgetting I still have an old 19m Slingshot Fuel C-kite. So maybe when we have a boat, I'll just get dropped off in the middle of the lake and play with that.
Otherwise, it is all true what they say about the winds here. Its not stable and either is not enough or gusts tooo much.

Teh suk!

id get a repair quote anyway..... Itll be cheaper than a new one. Did you snag it on something, or did it just open up?

I was trying to untangle the lines while skipping across the water so I didnt see what exactly caused it to tear. From what I was told, it was the impact of the kite hitting the water LE down. I dont see how exactly that could've caused it to tear in those two spots. No tears/rips in those 2 locations prior to going on the lake. :puzzled:
There aren't any kite shops here in Phoenix. May look into self repair for the hell of it. Honestly, kinda burnt out of the winds here. Just like everyone has said in this forum and others, the winds here(PHX) just aren't stable enough for kiteboarding. May get out there and play with the 18m C-Kite or wait till I live in a better location.

Lol I live in the meca of crap winds!

try an arc buddy! I was buggin in 15 gusting 40 today with the phantom.... Not ideal, but I made it work... And no accidents :D

Theres a few companies on here that repair kites... I know fixmykite is one, theres more tho... Someone who knows more can chime in tho

Take pics and fill out the form on http://fixmykite.com/ and get a repair quote. It might be cheaper then you think; but at least you will know.

That's not the first kite I've heard of that's ripped LE to TE after an impact like that ... the Infinity I had did the same thing and I don't even think it hit the water that hard. Bad luck eh

Sorry to hear about your kite AZ

BTW, don't give up on kiting in AZ...this is what I found below regarding Lake Pleasant.

"Northwest of Phoenix is lake Pleasant. The lake has mountains bordering its north side which encourage thermal activity in the morning and evenings. In the morning warming air rushes up the mountains to the north and the lake gets a fairly consistent South wind up to 12-14mph. In the afternoon the cooling air causes the reverse.

Frequently, a light morning north wind will set in for a few hours before shifting south. With the appropriate weather conditions, this can set up for some quality wind:

"Dawn Patrols" usually offer the best winds at Lake Pleasant. These are north winds that build during the night and frequently increase at sunrise. They are the steadiest winds at the lake but tend to die out by 10am. To check for a dawn patrol, take a look at a weather map of the western US. If there is a pressure drop from the north to the south of Arizona (you should see multiple isobars going east-west over AZ and Utah) then there is a good chance for a dawn patrol the next morning. There is a weather station at the marina, its identification is KAZPEORI3 (see link below).

Also during the Fall, Winter and Spring frontal activity can add to the winds. There is definitely windsurfing in the desert. You just have to keep a keen eye on the forecast and have plenty of personal time saved up at work!! ;-)

Launch from the West side of the lake via the park entrance. Or sail from the East side of the lake via the Marina. They both charge a fee. Obviously check the forecast and see which side the wind is going to favor. The wind can be very up and down on the lake shore but as you sail toward the center the winds clean up and can be downright ripping on the right days."

Hey Kevin
You can fix I yourself. It's not hard and It will be completely solid. The ONLY problem with doing it yourself is it will affect th resale value of the kite. It will end up looking hack job and nobody will want it. If you want more instruction you caan u2 me.

+1 on getting the sail repaired. I was surprised when I got a torn kite repaired how cheap it actually was. That was on a twinskin so an lei may be cheaper. The thing to remember is that once the tear is repaired, that point will be rock solid and should never rip in that spot again. Don't give up all will come together with time.

might as well repair it , you will only do the same to the next one, DIY make REALLY yours!

U2U sent Flyfish.
I'll give it a shot. I'll get some pictures of her too and post them up to give you all a better idea of what she looks like.

Lunchbox, what I found is that the winds are the best in the mornings before the sunrises. I'll attach a picture of the month's wind so you can see what it actually like. Im sure the winds are much more stable (at least I am hoping) in the middle of the lake. Issue is, while learning I need to be near shore or get someone with a boat.

consider the repair expense what it would cost you to replace the broken kite if you threw it away. This makes repair an obvious choice other than the worst of shreds. I've never had the guts to do a stitching repair myself but have never had remorse for shipping a kite to fixmykite.

Sorry to hear about your kite man..

On a good note, when I first tear my sail, it was almost the length of the entire kite !!
I bought a kite repair kit, which coast me around $10, then watch a few clips on YouTube about How to repair.... then did it myself VERY VERY slow. Kite turn out to be as good as new !! I sold it for maybe $25 less then I paid for it and the rip was hardly seen.
If the pro repair turns out too be too expensive, 'do it yourself' will only cost you up to $20 and a chance of getting your kite back in the air...

Worth the shot man...don't give up on her :embarrased:

Good luck

Buying another kite right now to replace this one isn't really a priority. So using the old C-Kite or repairing this one are my options. If it can be repaired for only $20 I'd be down to do that. Any info on which material to use would be much appreciated.

Not exactly the price I remembered, but I also didn't got too deep in the site & options.
This is where I got my kit from :
http://www.kitefix.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=...

Hope it will help

Well I've been too busy to even get the kite of the of car since the Lake. But I had a minute and looked up some videos online and this is what I found on youtube.

http://youtu.be/aIB__aW__PI

Its a lot like my tears. Any thoughts on this stuff? Seems cheap and doable.

Well I've been too busy to even get the kite of the of car since the Lake. But I had a minute and looked up some videos online and this is what I found on youtube.

http://youtu.be/aIB__aW__PI

Its a lot like my tears. Any thoughts on this stuff? Seems cheap and doable.

That looks like a heat-cured version of TearAid.
Kite-fix kits look like some kind of epoxy-type idea with some 'tape' as structure - I'd go for that. The club house guy, Miyachi, reckons it's a rock-solid repair. And easy to do ...

Finally broke the kite out of the bag/van since I went to the lake back in 3 weeks ago. Here are some pictures.
I ordered some adhesive sail tape ($15 for 25ft) and going to sew it back together. Here are some pictures:

all kites after a while will begin to breakdown because of the sun and the uv stuff. the area that gave out is at the seam, very common. use the kitefix, I repaired a guys kite at NABX that blew out 6 cells on a rather soft bounce. it was his go to kite with a lot of use and it was showing it. the kite tape will give out due to the size of the tear (hard to get the kite clean enough to make the tape stick), use the kitefix, its the best I have found to fix that big if a tear.
If you send it in to have it sewn up by a pro, the area at the edge of the patch will now become the week point. I had a couple of older kites repaired and that happened, sent it back to the company to fix again and thats what they told me.
I have repaired many kites with kitefix and everyone is still flying, 2 of them are in Mexico and the guy sends me an email every once in a while and tells me the kites are still flying....as soon as they blow up again, he'll buy a new one.
just remember, if you can, patch both sides.

Update

Currently in the process of taping and sewing this kite back together. Trying out "Ripstop Sail Tape ($15 for 25ft)" and sewing it back together. Tape is amazingly adhesive and strong. Once taped we sewed it and added another layer of tape on top to help. Hope to be able to take it out next week and see how she holds up in the park.

So took the GK 15m out in a very light wind day. It wasn't even hitting 5mph. Got her up in the air and she handled OK. Enough to see that the tape and sew job would hold up.

New issue tho, one of the struts is leaking. Right at the nozzle. This kite has the octo-pump system. So this one strut has an inlet and outlet. The inlet is leaking. If I press on the nozzle it will stop the leak. Problem is, when I try to take the strut out, it won't. On the my other kite and the videos on youtube, you just press the nozzles in and then you pull the strut out through the bottom. But this kite doesn't see to want to allow me to push the nozzle through.

Am I just being to "gentle" and need to force it through or am I missing something?

Thanks for any info!

Nevermind....I wasn't being "rough" enough...

Well for anyone interested, this kite has been beaten and ripped. Took her out last night and she flew flawlessly!

Used Sail Tape + sewing to repair the tears and Tear-Aid for the bladder leaks. Tear-Aid worked around the nozzle and is holding 2 different half dollar size holes on my other kite (on the main bladder). I would highly recommend both.