after I was holding the kite bar and kept the kite at 12 a clock a sudden gust and the f-arc1600 lifted me about 30 feet then kinda went down suddenly I didn't get injured but was pretty scary but I had stumbled apon this video and it kind of explained to me that holding the kite at 12 clock is not the safest spot(I thought it was) is this something that most power kiters already know?

the winds were only like 15mph



comparing the video above to something like



gives a totally different impression of safety

Basedblue, it looks like you found out why the f-arc is called a widow maker. 15mph sounds like way to much for the 16m static flying. That is
borderline overpowered on a board.

To answer your question though, 12 O'clock is one of the worst spots to let the kite hangout in Gusty winds, especially with the bar out. It is the easiest place to get lifted and if the kite luffs (falls out of the sky) it can open explosively in the power zone and drag you. Keeping the pulled in slightly will reduce the tendency for the kite to do either of those. If you get lifted, you always need to keep the kite overhead, failure to do so may lead to landing way faster than you would otherwise. There are other techniques to slow your decent, but if you don't know what you are doing you can make things way worse, just focus on keeping the kite overhead. When you land, PULL THE RELEASE! No one will think less of you for doing so, they will think you are think you wise for not letting mother nature spank you again! Same thing if the kite luffs in a decent breeze, PULL THE RELEASE! I'll say it again for the kids in the back, if your Spidey sense is tingling that you could end up in trouble, PULL THE RELEASE!

That's not to say you can't keep the kite overhead. If the winds aren't gusty, that is a pretty good place to keep it. In gusty winds have to learn how to keep the kite overhead with bar travel. If the kite falls back, let out the bar. Kite about to overfly, pull in the bar. Once you have that down, you will learn to predict what the kite will do and make corrections before the kite moves. Example would be the kite starts to fall back from a gust, you let the bar out so it will recover faster and not fall back as far, then right before it starts moving back overhead you add just enough bar to stop it from shooting too fast and liting you up. If you can master that, getting lifted should be pretty rare if you aren't flying overpowered.

thanks for advice here is me flying at 10mph mostly testing the auto zenith this was dec 29

been a bit nervous to fly in anything over 10mph

btw would happen to know what technique this guy is teaching?
https://youtu.be/y5Ly2yqCVMs?t=122

It looks like the guy in the video is teaching his buddy how to jump. The rider doesn't let the bar out for the kite to gain speed while turning the kite back which is why his friend keeps yelling "release the bar". Other things I noticed is the rider is jumping instead of letting the kite lift him off the ground, which removes the tension on the lines making the kite not lift.

The rider also had pretty bad bar posture. You you try to keep you're hand close to the center. I notice in your video you at times grab the bar at the ends. That is fine for when you are flying static and need small corrections, but you should try not to ride like that. It makes it easier to make turns with the bar all the way in or out and stops the the tendency to try to spin the bar like a steering wheel when you grab close to the center. The guy on the water also seems to lean on the bar for balance at times which is also a bad habit to get into.

How I try to ride is both hands on the bar close to the center with my thumbs tips touching. When I really get going going I will often let go of the bar with my leading hand and swing that arm out to help with balance when riding a board. In the buggy I do the same thing but grab the stem do I don't fall out when I hit bumps. Watch some old superkiteday videos, you can see how Abe holds the bar really well in this video around 0:45

https://youtu.be/Cl6hFgrmTRg

my video I am holding a gopro in my left hand lol