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not hooking in until ready to launch, ok or not ok?

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acctx
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not hooking in until ready to launch, ok or not ok?

Postby acctx » Wed Nov 23, 2011 3:48 pm

The other day I was getting an assisted launch. It was extremely gusty so I didnt hook in right away as the launcher was getting control of the kite and we were walking into position. The kite was waving around kind of crazy and eventually he lost control. Stupidly I was not leashed in yet either and when he let go of the kite it blew away.

Someone mentioned to me that I really needed to be hooked in to launch at all times because the depower bar would not actually depower unless I was hooked in because of the type of kite (Bow kite).

Aside from the obvious issue of not being leashed to the kite, should I always be hooked in before my launch person picks up the kite? We were basically walking into position and I was just about to hook in when he lost control.

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Re: not hooking in until ready to launch, ok or not ok?

Postby Chillbay » Wed Nov 23, 2011 4:01 pm

acctx wrote:The other day I was getting an assisted launch. It was extremely gusty so I didnt hook in right away as the launcher was getting control of the kite and we were walking into position. The kite was waving around kind of crazy and eventually he lost control. Stupidly I was not leashed in yet either and when he let go of the kite it blew away.

Someone mentioned to me that I really needed to be hooked in to launch at all times because the depower bar would not actually depower unless I was hooked in because of the type of kite (Bow kite).

Aside from the obvious issue of not being leashed to the kite, should I always be hooked in before my launch person picks up the kite? We were basically walking into position and I was just about to hook in when he lost control.
Theres a lot of talk on here about this, some say yes some say no, i do, however i can see why some dont. Either way you need to be leashed up so you can let go if things go wrong stright to QR.

So if you dont hold the chicken loop with one hand while holding the bar with the other, if it goes wrong you should be placed away from others so you can let go without causing problems for others.

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Re: not hooking in until ready to launch, ok or not ok?

Postby ragden » Wed Nov 23, 2011 4:03 pm

In a situation like that... I'd hook up the leash, but not necessarily the chickenloop... At least if he lets go, it doesnt fly away. But being fulled connected to the kite, could have been really bad. In that situation the kite could have powered up and slammed right into the guy who was trying to launch you... Could have been really bad...

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Re: not hooking in until ready to launch, ok or not ok?

Postby davesails7 » Wed Nov 23, 2011 4:54 pm

I hook up my leash before the assistant picks up the kite, but don't hook in until I see that everything is looking good.

If you hold on to the chicken loop while making sure the lines are untangled/bridles aren't snagged, that's the same as having your bar our all the way when hooked in.

If you hold onto the boar when unhooked, then yes, you are powering up the kite.

One problem I've had with this is that some people giving me a launch won't pick up the kite until they see that I'm hooked in. They are standing there looking at me waiting for me to hook in, I'm waiting for them to flip the kite over before I hook in. Causes some confusion, but usually they figure out what you're doing right away.

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Re: not hooking in until ready to launch, ok or not ok?

Postby frankm1960 » Wed Nov 23, 2011 6:01 pm

davesails7 wrote:I hook up my leash before the assistant picks up the kite, but don't hook in until I see that everything is looking good.
That sounds like the plan right there :thumb:

Put the leash on first... you don't want a run away kite with a bar and 400 ft of line in tow.

With the leash on you can at least manage the kite without to much trouble and keep people down wind of you safe.

If you were hooked in when the kite got away... then you'll need to be swift with the QR.

So if you're practiced with the QR then it won't make much difference if you hook in before or after you check your lines.

This is an aside and not a minor detail IMO...

It's important to remember to position yourself and your assistant directly across the wind (edge of wind window) before you attempt to check your lines for tangles and connection errors. This is the only position that you can safely put tension in the lines so you can easily check them without the kite powering up. Once everything is checked you can reposition to launch the kite. If you position incorrectly then you risk the kite powering up while you're checking the lines and knocking over your assistant... and the kite could get away... and if you're hooked in it could be a total disaster.

It's worth it to take the time here especially in higher winds... and it's not that much more time especially if you've found there is a problem with your lines while you were checking them... can easily put the kite down and fix it.

Get the launch down pat because the launch is where a lot of accidents occur.

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Re: not hooking in until ready to launch, ok or not ok?

Postby TheJoe » Wed Nov 23, 2011 6:05 pm

1st you should have your leash attached before even attempting to launch. In really gusty conditions it's best to leash to 100% flag out. This will keep the kite from running free and harming someone else down wind or prevent the Coast Guard from searching for a lost kiter.

2nd In really gusty winds you have to be full on ready to move. Most of the time in gusty winds not only is the wind speed changing but so is the direction that it is coming from. You can not expect the kite to stay at the edge of the window and just sit there. The safest way to launch is from the water or just don't kite in really gusty winds. As a rule of thumb I stay away from 10+kts gust.

Lastly pulling the bar does not power the kite up. There is no throttle to be had on a kite. All it does is change its angle to the wind. I launch all the time unhooked with just 1 hand on the bar and bar only. Sorry but I have a big problem with the word "Depower" its marketing B.S. and seems like most people have no idea what they are doing or why they are really doing it.

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Re: not hooking in until ready to launch, ok or not ok?

Postby acctx » Wed Nov 23, 2011 6:19 pm

ragden wrote:In a situation like that... I'd hook up the leash, but not necessarily the chickenloop... At least if he lets go, it doesnt fly away. But being fulled connected to the kite, could have been really bad. In that situation the kite could have powered up and slammed right into the guy who was trying to launch you... Could have been really bad...
What he said was that the depower on bow kites really only works well if you are hooked in. If you are holding on to the chicken loop (like I was) the bar can be resting pulled in. When a gust hits the kite powers up and you have to let go before the bar can slide out. If you are hooked in he said you will have enough resistance for the bar to slide out on its own and depower the kite.

Also, I kite on a lake so we pretty much always have 10+ knots of gust, but this day was particularly gusty.

In any case, it was extremely stupid of me to not be leashed to the kite and I definitely havent ever done it before and wont do it again.

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Re: not hooking in until ready to launch, ok or not ok?

Postby Motion » Wed Nov 23, 2011 7:09 pm

I and 90% of other i see on the beach do it like this.

Untangle the lines down wind or side ways if no room down wind. Some do it upwind.
When every thing is set, i grab a bar and walk to the edge of ww.
Connect my leash then hook in the CL.
Signal the asistent to put kite up. But still holding it.
Walk up wind until kite is filled with wind. The lines got tensioned.
Check the lines. If all is ok. Signal the asistent to let go of the kite.

Never ever i got problems whit this procedure even in the gusty winds we have here.

i often see kites hitting ground and pushing the luncher, because they don't know or realise the kite is to deep in the wind window.

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Re: not hooking in until ready to launch, ok or not ok?

Postby Pippi langsamer » Thu Nov 24, 2011 2:43 am

Yer, as above:

Attach leash
Hook-in
Launch

I always try to launch with one hand on the QR too.

Also, with the Naish kites at least, I attach leash to the yellow flagging front line when launching and landing, and only when on the water do I switch it over to the depower/ trim strap swapping it back to flagging line when ready to come in to land.

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Re: not hooking in until ready to launch, ok or not ok?

Postby dyyylan » Thu Nov 24, 2011 3:53 am

Motion wrote:I and 90% of other i see on the beach do it like this.

Untangle the lines down wind or side ways if no room down wind. Some do it upwind.
When every thing is set, i grab a bar and walk to the edge of ww.
Connect my leash then hook in the CL.
Signal the asistent to put kite up. But still holding it.
Walk up wind until kite is filled with wind. The lines got tensioned.
Check the lines. If all is ok. Signal the asistent to let go of the kite.

Never ever i got problems whit this procedure even in the gusty winds we have here.

i often see kites hitting ground and pushing the luncher, because they don't know or realise the kite is to deep in the wind window.
I do the same as this, there are a lot of kooks around though that try to get you to pick the kite up while the lines are still slack though, so as soon pick it up the kite gets ripped out of your hands. launching your kite is not hard just don't be an idiot


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