I’m a little slow to fall in love with Bow kites. I actually still prefer 5th line kites ... and one of the reasons is that I kite mostly alone at odd hours and feel a 5-line is safer to handle alone.
The SLE Shockwave has one really neat feature: let go of the bar and it hangs loose like a good dog. I made the DEADMAN, so when I am at the ocean - he tends the kite for me while I'm picking my nose.
The big problem was when I was over on the other side of the barrier island: there’s no beach..no room! This new BOWTENDER solves that problem - Big Time. This worked so well, I left the kite for about a half hour and got some liquids and calories.
Before the moral police don their uniforms: 1. there were no civilians anywhere nearby ... 2. If it broke loose; it would have only ended up in a marsh with 10,000 mosquitos per sq M. ...but, Yes, it would be a hazard for other kiters - but there were no other kiters! That is the point.
I used to have a float where I could attach a few boards, so I did not have to come in to change boards, but because the Shockwave is so docile; I attached the chicken loop to the carabiner and left my board with the line over the top to hold it. My new version will have a pocket for the board.
I used a 13lb Danforth off my boat and it dug in the mud/sand perfectly. The core is a close-cell foam and the next one will have a mesh cover - this one held water.
The winds over the period were maybe 8-18kts. The kite fell over on its face but re-launched itself. A couple of times in the puffs it lifted off just a little bit but came back into the position you see here. I may make a second one; launch two kites and simply leave them in position so I can switch kites and boards without loosing too much time. The lines always stayed perfectly straight, the water does not scratch or wear the kite, etc.... What's not to like?!
This is almost like the old-days with Peter Lynn kites that would sit nicely at zenith, but it is safer and these kites work better. Anyway, I have a new liking for SLEs. Now I need to learn to love the way they fly.
....and feel free to make one. I'm not going to commercialize it or do stoopid patents.
Jim