So it's quite evident that some confusion comes from lak-o-jargon.
Perhaps we can post some sailing jargon

Tacking=upwind turns

Jibin=down wind turns
Gybing: Turning the rear of the buggy through the eye of the wind.

reaching- holding steady line across the wind ( and there are a million POINTS OF SAIL)
-close reacing
-broad reaching

aspect Ratio: The height of a sail or keel divided by its width.

Ballast Weight: Usually metal, placed low in a buggy to provide stability.

Points of Sail The recognized terms for which direction you are sailing relative to the wind

Close Hauled, Close Reach, Beam Reach, Broad Reach, Running, By the Lee

Close Hauled: Sailing as close to the wind as possible. (pointing) (See Point of Sail )

Close Reach: Sailing between close hauled and beam reach.
Beam%20Reach: Sailing with the wind directly abeam. (See Point of Sail )

Bear Away, Bear Off: To steer away from the wind. (See Point of Sail )

just a start, many sailing sites out there for 'THE SAILOR IN ALL OF US"

Starboard: Right : Green
Port : Left : Red
Starboard Tack: When forward wind is blowing over right shoulder. On starboard tack you have right of way, at least on water.
STARBOARD!!!!!!! : Someone is telling you to correct your course, bear off, as they have right of way.

To be precise in nautical terms:

Starboard - right when facing forward ( to the bow)
Port - left when facing forward.

When facing aft, Port=right, starboard=left. Don't think any of us will run into this in a buggy tho.......

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Originally posted by Deadhead To be precise in nautical terms: Starboard - right when facing forward ( to the bow) Port - left when facing forward. When facing aft, Port=right, starboard=left. Don't think any of us will run into this in a buggy tho.......

what about when you are going backwards?

Head= a place to take a crap!........aj

Finally one I already knew.

Harden up (don't go there aj...): turn up-wind, opposite of bearing off or falling off.

I was bored and own photo shop....so here ya go!:tumble:

Nice Job! Remember, direct downwind is out too. Anything less than 20-30 degrees up from direct down wind and you drop your kite and possibly run over your lines. Even then it's tricky.

Gotcha, havn't gone downwind in my buggy yet. I can fix tho

I guess a sail boat can get away with a downwinder because of the constant drag on the boat? So a buggy with some sort of drag anchor would let you go downwind if for some reason you needed to. like to get back to your flag after the wind changes direction

Exactly. I will often roll back into camp near dead downwind, but make s-turns to keep the lines tight, then straight downwind to drop the kite and stop, standing up as the lines slack. Higher winds, smaller s-turns and use the kite to stand me up when I plant my feet.

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Originally posted by acampbell Nice Job! Remember, direct downwind is out too. Anything less than 20-30 degrees up from direct down wind and you drop your kite and possibly run over your lines. Even then it's tricky.

Do you mean having your buggy going in that direction? If so, by having the kite go back and forth, minimizing the time the kite is directly in front of you, you can go almost directly downwind. Easily within 30 degrees of downwind.

Depends on your kite skill, and the kite (arcs do this wonderfully).

Steve Bateman
I stand behind what I write, and this posting will not be removed by me.

cool diagram NPWfever! going down wind is tricky, I find flying the kite up and down, vs. left and right, with just enough pressure on the lines to keep the kite Happy...I watched bison and my dad chasing each other all the time up and down wind, it took a while to learn how to keep up "running".

Sail boats, "run" downwind, buggies usually have to "fall off" a "broad reach" then "close reach" back and forth.

I think it's funny that going "upwind" is easier that "running" down wind.

Pop Quiz; What is the fastest reach?

Quote:

Originally posted by geokite Quote: Originally posted by acampbell Nice Job! Remember, direct downwind is out too. Anything less than 20-30 degrees up from direct down wind and you drop your kite and possibly run over your lines. Even then it's tricky. Do you mean having your buggy going in that direction? If so, by having the kite go back and forth, minimizing the time the kite is directly in front of you, you can go almost directly downwind. Easily within 30 degrees of downwind. Depends on your kite skill, and the kite (arcs do this wonderfully). Steve Bateman I stand behind what I write, and this posting will not be removed by me.

Right, that's pretty much what I said if you look at my quote. I can get withing 20-30 degrees of dead downwind, but it takes the right kite, wind and skill. I fly what will look like figure-eights to me. I fly the kite like mad, frist in the opposite direction and high behind me, then swoop down in front of me for the power stroke, then back up behind to repeat. Depending on the wind, I may be doing s-turns in the bug, alterenately hardening up and falling off to keep the lines tight. To me, the kite wll be doing figure-eights, but to an observer on the beach, it willl likely looke like a hook-toothed sine wave.

I was flying in 4-5 mph winds the other day and flying my PL Reactor 8.3 like I stole it and having an absolute blast milking everything I could despite benign conditions. When you don't have enough wind from the weatherman, you make your own!

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Originally posted by USA_Eli_A Pop Quiz; What is the fastest reach?

Slightly down wind from a beam reach. The apparent wind will decrease slightly, but your sheeting angle on the kite improves for a moment. Turn down too much and you loose the advantage, but a de-power foil helps cover that gap as you can change your sheeting angle.

yup, I like that bit about the depower foils. I ride my manta on the buggy, it's a ton of fun, easy to muscle uphill. Big depower foils are still pretty fast on a beam! Way different than race kites. Race kites "close it off" pretty good though. Crank upwind.:flaming:

FiNe!!! :P