Jumping in strong wind

[Francis]

Where we ride (Southern California) the wind is usually 14 to 18 mph. When we get winds over 20mph with gust in the high 20s I have problems landing my jumps, and I have observed other riders having the same problem. I can get good height and air time, but I will end up swinging under the kite too much and land with the kite over head or at the edge of the window, and I will fall backwards. If I pull down hard with my front hand, I will land with too much speed and take off downwind, or be pulled sideways in the air and loose my balance and crash hard. I have tried sweeping the kite back and forth, and delay the pull with the front hand, but can't seem to figure out the timing. I ride a 12 M bow kite and weigh 160 lbs, so I am riding at the upper end of the kite range. Any suggestions for a better technique?

[waynepjh]

there is a post not to far back that shows I belive mark shinn jumping lets say right hand forward and before landing he brings the kite back with the left hand then dives with the right hand. like an s turn. I learned this snow kitng jumping off cornices with side wind. It was the only way to land soft! Look for the video!

[fernmanus]

Francis,

Try this technique the next time the wind is blowing hard. When you redirect the kite, take it only to zenith. Keep the kite there until you are coming in close to landing and pull on your front hand hard enough to sweep the kite forward for landing. Don't do any tricks, rotations, grabs. Focus on keeping your body in control. I find it helpful to bend my legs and pull them up close to my body. You don't want to dangle, you want to be able to focus on your timing. Try to jump in flat water or between wave sets if possible. As chop can really throw you off.

Like you, I live where the wind is light, so I always have to reset my timing when using a smaller kite.

Once you are comfortable taking it to zenith, try taking it a little past. However, with a bow kite, you don't have to take it much past zenith to get nice boosts. Start adding style once you have your timing down.

[Peter_Frank]

Francis,

Try this technique the next time the wind is blowing hard. When you redirect the kite, take it only to zenith. Keep the kite there until you are coming in close to landing and pull on your front hand hard enough to sweep the kite forward for landing. Don't do any tricks, rotations, grabs. Focus on keeping your body in control. I find it helpful to bend my legs and pull them up close to my body. You don't want to dangle, you want to be able to focus on your timing. Try to jump in flat water or between wave sets if possible. As chop can really throw you off.

Like you, I live where the wind is light, so I always have to reset my timing when using a smaller kite.

Once you are comfortable taking it to zenith, try taking it a little past. However, with a bow kite, you don't have to take it much past zenith to get nice boosts. Start adding style once you have your timing down.

Above is right.

And one VERY important thing:

Remember to bear off a lot in the landing !!!

You should go extremely downwind....

This is the most often seen mistake, by those beginning to jump high - regarding the landing - as you'll always end up falling backwards in the landing with a splash otherwise
You can pull the kite more forward with speed then, and still get a clean easy and "featherlight" landing.

Try it

Kindly, Peter Frank

[mattvogel]

Some of my tips have already been mentioned but here is my list.

1. Point downwind on landing. In higher winds the landings will be faster because your kite is moving faster. Try and learn how to ride it out.

2. If you are using a Bow kite try letting out on the bar a little bit. Sometimes people tend to pull to hard on the bar and stall the kite.

3. Pull you knees up and lean back during the jump. This will help stop unwated rotation.

4. Try landing toe side and blind. Many times when the body is out of position in a jump all that is needed is a different style of landing and your friends will give you style points.

5. If you kite is to far forward in the window do a kiteloop to get it back into position. Just remember to point downwind. Kiteloops with the kite at the edge of the window are not as powerful as kiteloops in the middle of the power zone.

6. Try adding a grab with your back hand. When I first started jumping I was not brining the kite forward fast enough and I kept landing and falling back. Whenever I would throw a grab with my backhand I always landed the jump perfectly. This is because with your backhand off the bar your front hand can pull the kite to the correct position for a landing. This taught me how to land better.

7. Say to your self "pull right, pull right" or "pull left, pull left" as you start you jump to remind youself to redirect. Many times we are so focused on the jumping part that we redirect the kite to late or a good landing.

8. Just go for it. It will all come together before you know it.

Good luck.

[bay surfer]

First the right kite for conditions, for example 2 weeks ago I had a sessions with 3 kite sizes within 5 hrs, 14m,12m,9m. You notice how size effects your kite speed, so jumping is different with each size.
Second you also notice how wind speed effects the turning of each kite as wind increases, Back lines get loser, turning gets more exposive.
Third increase wind also mean increased gusts that can throw you around.
What I do in higher winds, is keep the jumps with rotations small, otherwise you dont have the control for landing, nothing worse than a F-16 when you dont what it..
When blasting up for those helecoptor rides I move the kite around at zenith for float and start bringing the kite down for powered landing about half way down.
You have to keep the kite moving or you'll kill your control, and lift.

[BullsShit.com]

Speed kills jumps.
So when fully lit, try to slow down, edge hard and jump off a certain mark, wave, or any point you focused on.
Don't yank your kite from 3 to 12, bring it up slowly, but aim for a spot you want to jump of off. Know what I mean?

the more power you have in your kite, the easier it is to boost high, but you do not want speed.

You'll get it , just slow down. Seems like you know what to do while airborne, just slow down (really, that's all you got to do...with having a spot on the water to jump off of.)

[ruffridah89]

The problem is that when you jump, you have to land with the kite at 65 Degrees above the water. If you bring the kite from the vertex all the way down, it will yank you and you will have a rough landing. Soften your landing!
-Danny

[tautologies]

also, when t is powered, try to start the turning without a lot of power in the kite, and only sheet in once you start getting a little lift......

it goes without saying that you need to have enough power to turn the kite and ride it comfortable....this will give the effct that KB is talking about...so once you see that little piece of chop coming sheet in and enjoy the view


TO land all you ave to do is to redirect...and use the sheeting to control the power / speed of landing...


Different kites require a little different techniques...


...but there is a lot of good advice in this thread

A,

[spork]

I think several people here have good tips. The secret (IMO) is this...

In a low jump there are two phases: launch and landing
In a high jump there are three phases: launch, flight, and landing.

During the flight you don't have to be "doing" anything. You can keep the kite straight overhead and just wait until you're approaching touchdown. As you near the water then pull the forward hand again. That'll give you a nice soft touchdown without bringing the kite too low by the time you touch. And yes, plan on riding out of it on a pretty signficant downwind angle. The longer you're in the air, the more downwind you'll be going when you land.