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Question to all kite instructors - beginner bar-system

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KITEPROSHOP.com
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Postby KITEPROSHOP.com » Tue Sep 10, 2002 9:43 pm

Hi guys,

currently we are developing a bar for beginners and schools.

Since most people buy a 4 line kite at the beginning anyway, why shouldn't they learn on a four line kite, when you have the right safety system? And using a 4 line kite they can depower it specially in gusts so they don't have full power all the time.

The system is simple, you use a chicken loop and if something happens, you just let go of the bar and the kite will be safe, since the chicken loop opens itself.

We would like to know from instructors, if they think that the bar should have an extra depower like we have at our kitebar-system for rotations.

Image

or since they already have a depower of full arm lenght, that the new beginner bar system doesn't need it, what we assume.

Thx for your cooperation and thx for many informative replies.

Nik_KiteAntigua
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Postby Nik_KiteAntigua » Tue Sep 10, 2002 10:22 pm

Dear Kitepro:

The biggest reason that we use the two line kite is for simplicity/practicality for effective teaching. We do usually put our students on 4 lines but after they are good enough to waterstart on a board.

A big raeson for the required simplicity is for our practice of changing line lenght to increase the wind window as the studen progresses. The first stage of our teaching method includes a two line kite rigged on leader lines only. Then we go to kite lines that are half length (by halving and attaching both ends to the leader lines). Then we go to full length lines. This would be very complicated and time consuming with two extra lines of a 4 line kite.

Also we promote the practice of letting go of the bar and kite retrieval to get the student comfortable with a "bail out" method and hopefully preventing the all to common "death grip" which is a common habbit among self taught/untuaght riders. There is a lot less untangling after repeated excercises.

Also, at the early stages we find that the student is usually not capable of thinking about the depower/chicken loop and does not use it even if they want to. Usually right around the time that they think about edging then they are thinking about the depower loop but that can be well after the beginner course is over(several hours or days of experience).

The issue over the additional depower/trim strap would be for the same reason. Beginners just dont have the control to reach for the strap and adjust it. I think the strap should be there but the system all together is a bit too complicated for the beginner.

Hope this helps,
Nik Bohachevsky
IKO certified instructor
http://www.KiteAntigua.com

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Postby KITEPROSHOP.com » Wed Sep 11, 2002 9:26 am

Hi Nik,
thank you very much for your detailed info.
What we always see when guys taking lessons is that they have a kite in the air which always has full power when a gust hits if using a 2-liner.
Since there are intermediate kites out there nowadays which have an easier handling and are close to 2-liner.

But with this bar system the beginners have better control in gusty conditions and can already get used to a 4-line kite, which most of them are buying as first kite anyway.

But in the case somethig happens and they are in the Chicken Loop, they just let go of the bar and it releases itself from the harness.
So no dangerous situation here, since they don't have to find a release to push or pull. Just let go.
This system is called a "passive system".

Thx for more comments.


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