Wind ripped me out of my buggy today and threw me forward

Anyway, my question is, what do you do when you're out of room and have to stop, are there any quick ways to semi-pack the kite? Or do i just have to wind the lines up each time?

Also, can you go in circles? I was thinking about kite racing and they go in circles don't they? That'd stop me running out of space..

Pete

For a quick pack down when away from the ground stakes, I usually wrap the lines around the handles, Be sure to pull in some brake line, make sure with the handles together you have enough brake line to keep the kite firmly on the ground, then wrap around the handles to get to the kite, fold up kite, plunk handles at one end and sausage roll the kite up the last bit. Works great and quick. place kite on buggy seat and tow back to your gear. Be sure to keep a peice of rope long enough to go from the foot pegs about 3-5 ft in front of the bug, makes it easier to do the walk of shame.

You need to study the fine art of sailing, in which you will find the finer art of tacking. Tack keeps one from haveing to walk alllllllllllllllllllllll the way back to the begining.

Tigger, where do you fly? I live in Henderson and thanks to a tip from Kent,have been trying to hook up with some like minded people which apparently fly at sam boyd park on fri. nights, but I havent been able to make it yet. So where do you or others fly on the other days that end in y?

At least with a dirtsurfer, the walk of shame becomes the skate of shame:D

Mmm sounds like what i'm doing, maybe a bit neater. I just fold it in half and throw it over my shoulder.

Tigger, tacking is the 'going in circles' thing i was asking about?

When I go (I'm married, so it's not to often), it's on a Sunday or Monday . I have my own BLM permit for Lake Ivanpah. The lake is only 1 hr. away from my house. Someday I going to check out the lake on Hwy. 95 near Boulder City. Every time I have head that way, the wind is to strong and blowing too much dust to see.

Tacking is a unexacting science of makeing unplaned (to some degree) zig zag turns. No matter which direction you are going. With or against the wind. You should be doing some sort of zig zag turns. If you run with the wind (a sailing term) you are not using the wind as well as you could.

It isn't a circle you sail but rather an triangle. With a bunch of zig zag thrown in.

Ok i think i understand(ish), probably something i just have to see. Sounds like a bit by bit thing. Do the lines go over your head at any point, or is that a bad thing to do? I always get disorientated when the kites behind me or other places and i end up crashing it into the ground.

It is almost a natural thing for newbies to do turns into the kite and avoid have the kite get behind you. I don't do any sailing in my buggy that warrents haveing to turn away from the kite thus causing the lines to go over your head and cross. Maybe I am just lazy; I do find it a lot easier to turn into the kite rather than away from and for me it is safer that being ripped out backwards.

Basically, instead of allowing yourself to be blown wherever, you pick a line, start by going a little downwind to pick up some speed, then start carving straight across wind and eventually start cutting harder upwind, you'll find when you're going close to straight across wind you'll be moving at a fair clip, lots of power in the kite, as you start carving upwind again, you'll find the kite will start creeping up towards the edge of the window and you'll start slowing down, Trial and error will give you a feel for how far upwind you can cut on a given day, if you're slowing down too much you're cutting too hard upwind.

So after your downwind run, you'll start making a zig zag run back upwind, cutting across the wind and somewhat upwind one way, turn around and cut upwind and across in the other direction.

The amount you can go upwind depends largely on kite type and kite size. Most entry level kites go across wind fine, and do ok going upwind when powered up. If you get into the more agressive kites, mainly race foils you can cut upwind at a powerful rate when powered up.

One more thing when tacking, straight from the Lama himself:

Never aim for your destination. Aim your tacks, calculating how many it will take to reach the destination, slightly farther than your intended landing point. So, if you're heading for camp, aim for the far end of the parking area, not for your vehicle.

The delightful surprise, after the requisite number of tacks, is that you end up exactly where you intended to go, in spite of aiming beyond it.

As a "cruiser", who almost always sails on small kites (I always fly the smallest sail that will pull me, and work the kite to make power), upwind has become an obsession with me, and I think I've got enough "seat time" to be some sort of second-string "authority" on the subject. I will, as always, defer to the Lama's opinion on that, but he did stop referring to me as "grasshopper" some time ago, lol!

I've noticed that many times, on a much smaller kite, I can overtake less experienced pilots flying bigger racing foils, and getting better upwind performance, simply by being just a bit better at visually calculating the tacks. I've followed groups with set destinations, and while I'm almost always the last to arrive... not always!

This is 'zackly what I love most about this sport, having been a boat sailor for a long time before finding kites... there's just such a wonderful assortment of variables, and so much going on, and every tack, every jibe, every reach is different than the previous.

I suggest, to the relative newbie, taking more time, slowing down, drop down one kite size , saving the "extreme" exercises for only the best of days, and studying the dynamics of what we're doing. When those proverbial light bulbs appear above your head, and things just "click", there's no feeling on earth quite like it!

It's almost Buggy Time again!

-Dooley :moon: