Why the long depower rope??

[damian]

Looking at some of the pics that have come out of the recent comp in Sylt I am seeing photos of a lot of the top guys using really long trim straps. There is a good vid of Adam Koch (i think it was an ad for some fins or something) and he is riding along trimming the kite with 1 hand on the bar and 1 hand on the trim strap and playing both of them almost constantly......anyone know whats up with that??

At first i thought it would be so that he can keep his body further outboard but then i noticed he is ridding most of the time with the bar all the way out anyway. My second thought was that it might be so he can do bigger adjustments quicker but if you look carefully he is running it through pulleys so it would give smaller and slower adjustments than moving the bar would do.

So what am i missing????

[BWD]

Smaller and slower adjustments = more accurate adjustments,
to have the kite exaactly at the right AOA.
Also, easier to change trim when really loaded up and going fast....

[ChristoffM]

I think most people would like to know why they do it? I doubt it can be the get the just perfect AOA, given that the guys seem to sheet the bar in and out wildly the whole time? The pulleys are needed since adjusting on the main lines takes a lot more force than adjusting the bar on the rear lines, so its not necessarily used for finer adjustments, although it could be?

[ktouhey]

the long line isn't the point, it's the result of a higher-purchase depower system.
if you go 3:1 or 4:1, then you get fine tuning control of the kite with a lot less stength needed and can do it under load. But you end up with a long tail because you need to pull a more line for less trim. its a tradeoff. You do want it at least a certain length to reach it though .

the idea is to be able to keep perfect kite trim and perfect body position, not compromising either - like a dinghy sailor would do with a mainsheet. Sheeting in and out with the bar is more like a shock absorbing system for the micro gusts.

I've had a similar system on my bar for over a year now and it really helps.


watch closely how Adam trims his kite in this Ristafins video. http://vimeo.com/25127199

[ChristoffM]

Cool. It makes sense now. Mainly to keep your body position at the perfect place while allowing any kite trim.

That video just makes we want to go kite now and kite fast. Lovely flat water there.

[ktouhey]

...Lovely flat water there.

hahah... really? Maui?
actually it is pretty organized chop for the raceboards.

[ChristoffM]

Looks flat compared to what I'm used to in strong wind anyway.

[tautologies]

nothing really matter except that friggin tack he does at 2.46 mins...

awesome

[tautologies]

the idea is to be able to keep perfect kite trim and perfect body position, not compromising either - like a dinghy sailor would do with a mainsheet. Sheeting in and out with the bar is more like a shock absorbing system for the micro gusts.

Makes a lot of sense!!!

I've had a similar system on my bar for over a year now and it really helps.

care to share some details?

[ronnie]