Hiya.
I have just started flying my 13m Waroo, and I have been having pretty good luck, overall. However, it's very rare that I have a helper/friend with me, so I have to self launch. I haven't had it in more than 8mph winds, so I've totally been phoning in my self launch technique. Basically, I run down there, flip the kite, sprint back and hot launch

I realize this is totally NOT the safe/smart way to do it, but IS there a safe smart way to self launch in low winds?

I have folded a tip over and buried it in sand so that when I pull on that line it unfolds and dumps the sand, launching from the side of the window. That was with a C kite however. I have very limited LEI experience. Let some one who knows more chime in any time now.

google self launch on youtube. there are a few ways to do it. easiest is to just anchor your center safety to something (a log, sand anchor) then just setup your kite on the edge of the window. go back and get your bar... the waroo should just sit at the edge of the window and wait for you to apply line pressure. but in light winds it may collapse, so you may need to let it drag to down wind and reverse launch it. with really light winds you may need to run backwards to help it out.

i'm actually very surprised you are flying a 13m LEI in 8mph. that's a pretty small kite for those winds. well flying to me implies getting some pull. the kite should fly, well float a bit and be hard to control. you'd likely also have to fly the kite _much_ differently then you would in the normal wind range for the kite. so don't get used to how it flies in low wind. it's a totally different beast in the correct wind range.

I assume you are not trying to go out on the water? I have a hard time you'd move. maybe with a really floaty board but you're only going for a short down wind ride

If he's got a 13m at 8mph, he must be planning on ATB/Buggy!

here you go proletariat-it's even the same kite! This is how I launch every time, in any wind condition on my LEI's.




kite leading edge into wind, face down.(wind running over kite, folding it towards ground) run lines directly downwind. check/attach lines. Start walking in a half-circle at max line extension towards upwind. The kite will eventually catch after you expose the back/tips of the kite to the wind, and you can reverse launch by pulling both brake lines, or crank on one side of the control bar until that corner lifts and the kite takes off.

I like it because it allows you to 100% be certain about your line connections before takeoff, something I'm never certain of when launching via some of the other methods.

Nice! Thanks for the tips. I should have mentioned that I'm flying on land, and have no sand to work with. You "coastal" people are very lucky

And regarding "flying", you're exactly right. I'm not actually riding anything, just trying to fly static to get a feel for the kite. I do have a few ground stakes, and I can put the chicken loop on it, but I can't get the kite to stand on its side at the edge of the window at all.

I also even laid a couple of sand bags on the inside of the kite between the 2nd and 3rd spar, but the kite just shifted in the wind and they went flying off while the kite flipped to its "I'm never launching again" position.

I tried reverse launching a lot, by pulling up a bunch of slack in the rear lines, but I never could get it to float up backwards (trailing edge up.). I even tried sheeting out on one side and taking up the slack on the upwind side. That seems to have the most promise, but I still couldn't quite get it to work.

So... Without sand, it sounds like I just don't have enough wind to work with (certainly not enough to board). Does that sound about right? Any other tips?

Sorry, I posted before I watched that video. I think I came close to doing that today, but when he walked upwind, I have a couple of questions:
1) was he sheeted out or in?
2) should the trim be all out or all in, too?
3) did he pull the upwind or downwind line to get it to flip like that?

I think I can launch just fine if I can get it flipped over like that.

Thanks again for the help!

It's just a water-relaunch, without being in the water and having to do all the walking around the kite to get it downwind.

1) whatever is needed to control the kite without stalling it
2) out!
3) doesn't matter - all it is, is turning the kite so whatever line you need to get it to turn the right way don't think about up- or downwind.

Key points IMHO.
Wind is on-shore.
He rotates the kite by walking around it, to bring it directly downwind.
At about 0:43 he walks towards the kite to get it to flip onto its LE (almost its back) - this is important for easy relaunch and is a skill many people have forgotten.
Once he's flipped it, he walks back downwind to bring the kite to the side of the window, about 0:50.
Walking away from the kite, the lines get tension, it stands up and launches.

You can use the same techniques to water relaunch - in fact, you had to on old C-kites - so it's good skills to have but... that's a whole lot of swimming to do!

Cons about that style of launch - kite does a lot of dragging across the beach... that's tough on the LE and asking for cuts.

This Cabrinha video offers a better method - less dragging the kite around and less walking...



But still, the BEST method is with an assistant. If you can't get a warm body, use a tethered launch, using an anchor. There's various ways to make an anchor...



... and you might even be able to reverse launch...

Also, if you can't launch the kite on the beach cos the winds are so light... you probably aren't going to have much fun with it...

one other note - when you run your lines straight back behind the kite and downwind when setting up, make sure you flip your bar 180 degrees before launching so that you are holding the correct sides of the bar.

Proletariat, Erratic Wind is in Colorado so he is definitely executing these launches inland and I would guess usually on Grass. I am assuming that is not him in the video or if it is he is not "at home" or I missed the memo about the west side of Denver turning into an ocean LOL.

Yes, I launch on grass. I don't do a full half circle around the kite, that's what results in the wind catching it and moving it across the ground, I do more of a J-shape walk upwind, and make the kite rotate 180 deg in place rather than skip across the ground like that.

Man, if we had a coast (and a 500 mi reef), Colorado would be the coolest place on the planet.

So, I went out today (Lorentz park at Colorado/County Line, Erratic) and I tried what the guy did in the video. It totally worked like a champ. Once you get it flopped onto its back, it's just a matter of walking in that "J" Erratic was talking about, and not letting the kite flip back to nose-down.

It was easy as pie in about 8-10 mph winds. Later, the wind died down to 3-5 and I couldn't get it to flip at all (and I spent some serious time trying to.) There is most certainly a bottom end to self-launch the right way with the 2007 waroo 13m. When it was that low, I just walked to the kite, flipped it myself and then walked back and launched, but yes... flying in those winds was pretty lame. If I can get about 10mph winds, I think I'm ready to add the board.

Thank you all so much for the help! I'm totally like an expert self-launcher now... erm... no really!

I would skip that park tho for anything but static fly, those fields are synthetic and the "soccer only" rule rather applies.