Kiteforum.com

Hi, I need help!
I have been windsurfing for 15 years and thought that I should give kitesurfing a go but am finding certain aspects of it really difficult. Can anyone give me advice on the following:
I am using a Cabrinah 12.2 Black Tip which I got second hand which seems great. But I can't seem to re-launch it from the water. I'm not sure if it's me being crap, or the kite or both! It just doesn't turn on its back etc etc. Help!
I can get going on board briefly when I bring the kite down and then when i start bringing it back up, I lose speed and fall in the water! This happens quite often and I end up drifting downwind. Why!? Do I need more wind, a quicker kite??
Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

Big kites like above 14 sqm surface area ae not easy to relaunch in general.
So if you are a beginner (it still is a very big kite to start with...) you should attach a 5th line at the end of the kite (at the left and right strut of the middle strut) with a short line and then one line from the center down to your bar. This way relaunch will be much easier nd faster.
Try to train the waterstart in shallow water.
Pull all the way the bar over your head and swim towards it, best to lay down on your board and swim towards it, this way it will be faster. The it may flip. But with too low winds, it won't turn.
And it looks like you don't have enough wind, otherwise you would be riding more and not only once down and up again and then fall back in the water again.
Normally you kick it down and you are out, then up again and you are gliding and can keep the kite at the same position and it will pull you.
As soon as you have to fly it up and down you don't have enough wind.

Which windspeed are you using it in? And your weight?

Good luck
Toby

On 2002-08-19 21:16, Anonymous wrote:
Hi, I need help!
I can get going on board briefly when I bring the kite down and then when i start bringing it back up, I lose speed and fall in the water! This happens quite often and I end up drifting downwind. Why!? Do I need more wind, a quicker kite??
Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks

You need more wind if you have the kite set at max power already and this is happening. If you are in the chicken loop and this is happening, get out of it. Ride the fixed loop and adjust the strap until the kite feels most powerfull. Ride like this and stay out of higher winds that require the use of the chicken loop until you have good kite control.

I have a 16 mtr north Rhino and with windforce 3 it's hard to relaunch. If there is more wind it's only a matter of being quick with the lines. Swim or run forward very quick.

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You need more wind...

I had the same problem last year with my 7.5m AR5 Naish (very small kite). When I was making the transition from using C Quads (a kite more suited to buggying) I found the inflatables needed a different style of flying (ie you have to be more powered up) as they are too slow to sine properly.

Problem was that the 7.5 needed heaps of wind to do this... once I got the 11.5 ... sweet as...

As for relaunching... it just takes practice. The high AR kites (ie black Tip etc) aren't easy to relaunch especially in light winds....

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Oh and as Dwight rightly pointed out... don't use the chickenloop but ride in the main loop.... just as you would when windsurfing.

If the kite still doesn't give you enough power then you may even want to unhook all together and use your arms and shoulders to sine the kite faster... that works wonders for me in light winds.

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Hi, I was the guy who posted the initial message but was so keen to get some answers, I forgot to login!
Thanks to everyone for your replies and it looks as though I definitely need more wind to get rid of those problems and a little more practice!
Thanks again everyone,
Lindsay

Once you get going and boosting jumps you'll be saving the windsurfing for over 30 knots and kiting in everything else!!

Go Hard and go high

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