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Water launching Sonics, any success?

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Horst Sergio
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Re: Water launching Sonics, any success?

Postby Horst Sergio » Tue Apr 25, 2017 6:34 am

As somebody has linked this old topic,

I have also a link to a new version also with video of how to launch in the water:

http://kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=197&t=2394369

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Re: Water launching Sonics, any success?

Postby early bird2 » Wed Aug 02, 2017 9:16 pm

Thanks a lot for this explanation . Only tried twice , first attempt I manage to fly the kite but second attempt , water got into the intake on one side and I had to stop everything and take the kite off the water very heavy ...
I'll try next time to inflate the kite way more . I'm a little nervous since I don't have all the safety space required downwind . Concrete wall wait for me ...

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Re: Water launching Sonics, any success?

Postby Carlos_C » Thu Aug 03, 2017 11:59 am

these work - use to inflate at sid eof boat
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Yellowstone-Ba ... mp+battery

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Horst Sergio
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Re: Water launching Sonics, any success?

Postby Horst Sergio » Fri Aug 04, 2017 8:55 am

Hi early bird2, (nice name :wink: )

thanks and yes, degree of pre filling is very important:
In light wind as much as possible,
in strong wind with obstacles in lee sometimes better less.

But you can always create distance by (especially in light wind) swimming towards luv, to get more time for your launching maneuver. And the ability of the kite to release water via drainage is also very important. As I have seen you have an Ozone Hyperlink I will write about possible improvements for Ozone kites into this topic:

viewtopic.php?f=197&t=2396325&start=70

The conclusion is, even an Ozone Chrono V1 is able to drift launch, but it may take some improvments on the canopy and will take more time, wind and space, as you drift longer distance.

Bernd

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Re: Water launching Sonics, any success?

Postby early bird2 » Fri Aug 04, 2017 8:48 pm

Horst Sergio's , Thanks a lot for these tips .
I'm going to take a look at my Ozone V2 9 meters to see if I can do the modification you showed .

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Re: Water launching Sonics, any success?

Postby Gyre » Sun Jul 21, 2019 4:14 pm

Thanks for these guides, Horst Sergio. I love the launching technique and I'm getting pretty good at it. Practice makes perfect. I think your kite folding tips are key to the success.

But the landing and packing up is still a mess. I find it pretty impossible to open the valves in the water without getting tangled in the lines, and even when I get the valves open, in the water it's nearly impossible to squeeze the air out of the kite and roll it up neatly. I always come in with a wet tangled mess. Any advice? I've done this with 21m Lotus, 15m Soul, and 12m Speed 2.

(Even if the packing is ugly, it's still worth it btw -- I just sort the kite out when I get home.)

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Re: Water launching Sonics, any success?

Postby MarkusK » Tue Jul 26, 2022 11:19 pm

Gyre wrote:
Sun Jul 21, 2019 4:14 pm
But the landing and packing up is still a mess. I find it pretty impossible to open the valves in the water without getting tangled in the lines, and even when I get the valves open, in the water it's nearly impossible to squeeze the air out of the kite and roll it up neatly. I always come in with a wet tangled mess. Any advice?
1. When winding up lines in the water, wind up until both wingtips come together, i.e. only leave about 1 bar length of lines from the tip.

2. Then detach the bar and hold it up in the air. Always make sure the chicken loop points away from the bridle lines. Pull the bar to one side so that the kite gets folded in half and only swims on one outer side. Put the bar on top of the tips. Now most of your bridle lines should be inside the folded kite. If the kite has already lost enough air, try to fold in the upper wingtip by about 1m, but leave the lower wingtip straight.

3. Swim around the trailing edge of the kite and open the air vent(s) in the middle of the kite. Put any bridle lines you might see between the folded kite halves.

4. Swim back to the tips. Make sure the upper wingtip is folded in by about 1m. This slight asymmetry is especially important if your kite has a zipper instead of normal velcro valves. The valve(s) must be up in the air while you roll the kite. Put the bar on the tips and the chicken loop towards the leading edge.

5. Roll up the kite. Ideally not round, but in segments of about 20cm width. If possible, hold it up in the air after each segment, so that water in the kite can flow towards the center of the kite. Hint: Water can not only flow at the trailing edge! Further up, the holes in the ribs are bigger.

6. When you reach the center, try to get rid of any remaining water in the kite. Fold it in half, close the velcros/zipper, and put it on the board.

I've done this with my Kauper Falcon 13 and a foilboard with no relevant volume. After 20 min. of swimming towards the shore, the wind picked up again, and I was surprised how easily I could relaunch the kite and continue riding. Caveat: Since I cannot sit stably on my board, I carry a second long leash, which I attach to a ring at the end of the board whenever I need both hands free for handling the kite/lines in the water.
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Re: Water launching Sonics, any success?

Postby derek440 » Wed Jul 27, 2022 7:51 am



video of a boat launch foil kite with Gin Spirit 6m

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Re: Water launching Sonics, any success?

Postby MaximumAC » Thu Jul 28, 2022 3:25 am

Little late to the party but I water launch (and land) my Sonics basically every session. Normally I attach the bar to my boat and unfurl the kite with the lines taut so that it keeps the leading edge engaged against the wind as I make my way back to the bar, then hold the center lines until it inflates. Generally works well.

https://www.instagram.com/tv/CPDxwDql47 ... NzVkMjY%3D

Lately I've been experimenting with anchoring the wing tip on a float attached to the back of the boat so that the kite can sit parallel to the wind. Here's a diagram and then the first proof of concept launch. The kite slipped out on this attempt. I've since done it with an 11m in 14-16 knots and it inflated wonderfully and almost the same as a tip-anchored launch on land.



Diagram of the idea:
Attachments
Screen Shot 2022-07-27 at 9.29.49 PM.png
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Re: Water launching Sonics, any success?

Postby artificialname » Sun Jul 30, 2023 2:18 am

Horst Sergio wrote:
Fri Jun 03, 2016 10:16 pm
No beach, No boat needed!

You may arm, disarm, rearm … your Flysurfer kite as often you want on the water with just the help of your board. I have done this approxi. 100 times and also with the Sonics much more than 10 times.
But you will need…

- A good preparation of your equipment
- Some experience with that maneuver, first in the shallow than in the deep water
- A floating board with more than 10 but less than 30 liters will be perfect and helpful
- Knowledge for the Sonic that have small specials but no problem if respected,

(With the ozone kites (Chronos and R1) it is really more difficult, you should fix / enlarge the drainage of every cell before using them that way, also the one of the Chrono V2)

1.1-DSC04643-.jpg

I have no fotos of the whole process but combined some to explain

1. First of all

you have to establish some discipline with the handling and packing of your equipment. As you never know if you will have to start your kite the next session in the deep water or not, it makes sense to always pack it the same way as explained in the following. This is not just helpful for starts in deep or shallow waters, but also helps to keep lines untangled, unbended, the original trim and the canopy waterproofed for very long:

2. Packing a foil-kite

Start winding up the bar by pulling all lines (depower-line and back-leader-lines) to the center eyelet of the bar and then start to wind up the bar. That way the back lines are shorted around 20 cm compared to the front lines and the kite will be back-stalled, keep sitting on its trailing edge while winding lines off in the water. It is very important to wind up the lines accurately and slightly tensioned, otherwise while winding the lines off, a backline could come of first and one side of the kite could start too early. You also have to wind up your lines with the mixer and the main part of the bridle lines till less than 1,5 m close to the tip of the kite, on the end you have to make a clove hitch knot on the bar which fixes the lines on the bar sufficiently without the help of rubbers and can also be opened easily also under load … and doesn’t bend the lines.
One additional tip: After kiting don’t release your leash until the bar is winded and fixed with that knot. That way it is impossible to tangle anything as long you don’t jump with the bar in between your lines.

2.1-P1100249.JPG

Make sure that also all bridle lines within the clove hitch knot are parallel and slightly tensioned the same way and now single bridle lines are coming off.
Then fold up your kite in half with the last 1m of the tips folded in and put the bar on the place as seen on the following two pictures.

2.2-P1100248

2.3-P1100247

By doing so you will recognize that all bridle lines are nearly or slightly tensioned, but take care no lines are over tensioned if you put the bar to much towards the tips. Especially the inner break lines shouldn’t be over tensioned. Maybe pull the bar a little bit back to the folded middle of the kite as seen in the next pic.

2.4-P1100250

Than start to roll your kite up with the bar and the chickenloop always close to the end of the canopy.

2.5-P1100252

2.6-P1100254

2.7-P1100255

On the end never forget to close the blow out valve properly. To put your kite in the bag or on the board you may fold in half. I don’t do this anymore as this may stress the canopy a little bit and my actually biggest kite is a 9 m² which is just around 1,3 m long.

2.8-DSC_1088-e1455912112854

3. ….

Good luck, maybe I will find some additional pictures in the future.

5-P1100245

Happy foiling


This looks brilliant but I don’t understand how to pack the kite so that the bridles remain tight? Can anyone explain?


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