Historically, with the scenario of looping kite dragging a kiter, with the kiter unable to depower (often defeated after some looping) or release the kite entirely for whatever reason, with potential rescuers following in other water craft, shooting the kite out of the sky seemed to be the easiest approach. Problem, no one usually has a gun. People have dove into the kite, tried to cut the lines and other risky measures not certain to succeed. Sometimes something fails on the kite system depowering the kite but there is no predicting that.
This subject came up recently when a land traction kiter said they throw a water bottle tied to a line across the lines of the looping kite and there by pull the kite down? He said he had done this procedure twice with success. I suspect it was with a RAM kite and one not moving unlike what is usually this case in our kite looping cases. I wonder if this would do any good with a rigid LEI kite or if the bottle and line would just be pulled into the kiter?
I thought about changing the water bottle out for a small grapnel, throwing the grapnel and line then pulling it slightly windward abeam of the kite lines? The goal would be to try to support the kite by one or two lines at most, depowering it. Still, even small grapnel might be pulled into the kiter and do harm, it may fail to catch the lines, etc. . The line attached to the grapnel could do some harm to the rescuer as well once it loaded up. I am not convinced this is a good approach either.
Speculation on variants of this approach? Otherwise, carry a shotgun for looping kites?
I looked around for a looping kite video to give a feeling for just how difficult it can be to get at the lines to cut them or to jump on the canopy and came across one I hadn't seen before. Preflight your kite setup and punchout instantly if it looks/acts like the lines are improperly rigged or the bar is upside down. The kite will often hesitate to fly when held up for launch, a give away of trouble to come. If your kite goes down into the water, expect that it might come up looping and release it entirely immediately if it does. If your kite goes down and your are tangled in your lines, consider cutting your lines fast as your may have very little time to act, etc.. Anyway ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33HUFJmM-Bk
and something more along the lines I was looking for. Note how uneven the lines are and yet the kite is still looping dragging the kiter along. This also makes me question the water bottle or grapnel over the lines is a sufficiently reliable approach. Each case may vary somewhat requiring specific response but it would be good to come up with a general approach with some chance of success in depowering the kite and saving the kiter before drowning, heart attack or serious impact.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WQl_2Klta6w
Fksa.org
transcribed by:
Rick Iossi
.