Three kite tangles...better or worse?

[kitezilla]

Some of the senior authors on Kiteforum were bemoaning the lack of interesting topics recently:

viewtopic.php?t=2352609&p=559156

Maybe this question will fire up some of the theoreticians. With the booming interest in kiteboard racing, sweeping the world, I would guess that it will not be too long before we have some information leading to the answer to this question:

Is it better to have 3 kites tangled than just 2? Will the third kite interfere with the mess or make it worse?

[Freddy B]

I haven't seen a kite race yet, but I've been in enough sailing competitions to know that it gets very hairy at the starts and at the mark roundings. I believe they are keeping the heat system in place, with only a limited number of kites on the course at one time, but at some point in time, agressiveness will come in and get someone in trouble. This isn't a problem that normal sailing rules will be able to remedy either. There are obviously unique charachteristics of kiting tha that will have to have a group set our own rules for the sport.

It will be interesting, that's for sure.

[mikewang]

yah. thanks for making the forum content worst.

boring ass jokes. old farts talking shit.

[Freddy B]

I must be getting old! The title of this thread seemed to be forboding of future safety issues rather than pure sarcasm. I'm either too old to get the joke, or I know that much more than you.

[Don Monnot]

I think the question is legit. With kite racers going around a mark, there's higher potential for multiple kite collisions. Does that third kite getting tangled with the other two cause all three to come down, or does it sometimes make it an even more hazardous situation than with two kites tangled by themselves? As a relative noob to kiting and kiting mostly in sparsely populated locations, I've never experienced a kite tangle or seen one, but I would imagine they can get pretty nasty.

Don

[BWD]

How could 3 not be worse than 2?
Don't know, hope i don't find out 1st hand....

[mikewang]

i think it's called actually knowing your kite personally, rather than reading the safety section in the manual it came with.

every situation is unique, including conditions, equipment (safety releases, etc), and rider.

why do some people not see this sport as a dynamic sport, it's not just park your kite and lean back. kite control is a pair of skates to a hockey player. intimate relationship where the rider is knowledgeable about the kite's personality (how it acts) in certain situations.

[schmoe]

Its pretty obvious that 3 is worse then 2.
The real question is: Are bow tangles better or worse than C tangles?

[Nico]

I say "the more the merryer" !
Had this event a while back with 40 kites on the start line.
What a fantastic spectacle and a tangle or two as well.
Nico
link to some of the pics http://realeyes4u.com

[kitezilla]

Its pretty obvious that 3 is worse then 2.
The real question is: Are bow tangles better or worse than C tangles?

Good comment and question. Lots to think about. Did you base the comment on the fact that adding more people to the mix makes it worse... or that adding more kites makes it worse?

How about the idea, that adding more people to the mix, actually adds more people, and therefore, in effect, adds more rescue personnel to the scene? And also, consider the idea that, at some point in the addition of more and more kites to the tangle,...that this could supply objects, which would act to interfere with the powering up action of each of the other's kites...a traffic jam scenario?

I don't know the answer, but I do know that I ceased being surprised by kiteboarding related concepts that are "counter-intuitive".

In my "minds eye", I picture a downed mass of fabric, bladders, lines, and people...being slowly dragged down-wind, while each kiter deals with the situation, employing a quickly developed "plan A, B or C". With this scenario in mind, I can imagine many situations where the action of one kiter, freeing himself from the mess, could make the overall situation worse for the rest of the kiters.

Soooo...some related issues to think about would involve the responsibility of each kiter to each other kiter. Should the overriding principle be "each man for himself" or "we all are obligated to help each other, by following some set protocol"? So, should we act like "lone wolves" or in unison, like "dolphins" giving support to the weaker individuals?

Also, should the race committee have a trained official, who can quickly intervene, and who will be recognized as "the boss", whose commands must be followed, during the process of safely untangling the mess?

As far as "C"s versus "Bridled" goes, I have an intuitive feeling about the relative dangers, but I wouldn't want to comment on that. I would venture to guess that this will be a non-issue, since I can't easily image that "C"s will be the kite of choice for racing. However, I have been wrong before.