celly wrote:What are the best methods to self land in water, aside from pulling the release... I have seen a lot of instruction as to how you can do this on the beach but nothing on how to do it while you are in the water. I have limited beach space available for a launch but do have shallow water, waist to knee deep conditions for landing. Any videos or resources you could share are greatly appreciated.
There are plenty of options if you have the shallow water and don't have to worry about drifting with your gear and getting tangled in lines. While it depends on the kite, the simplest one is the first idea you didn't ask for, which is to just bring it to the edge of the wind window and release the safety. Some kites and bar brands (Slingshot in my case) will drift perfectly depowered on a single front line. I have heard feedback that kites that leash to both front lines don't always sit nicely for you, thus, depends what you have.
Another good option is to find a sturdy post or plant yourself an anchor...then, again, bring the kite down to the edge of the wind window, depower the rig, attach the CL to a fixed object and walk up the lines to your kite. That's nice because you don't risk tangling your lines as you do on a leash release, but takes more prep. You also have to walk to your kite instead of pulling it to you on the leash line.
One other tip if you decide to try the safety release. On my kites, dumping to safety is effortless and non sketchy IF I have my leash connected to the upper front line. So, when I am rigging my kite I think about where I might self land and make sure the center line that is leashed will be on the upper line. It will 100% depower either way, however, if I have it connected to the lower line, the kite may spin around the leash line once until it orients itself. That can twist lines and can also be a bit sketchy if you do it on land and there are obstacles around). But if it's the upper line that is leashed...the kite just sets itself down gently on the leading edge...on land or water. Very predicable.
Good luck!