how do I pack down my foil kite for a long swim

[Regis-de-giens]

Such rescue becomes frequent with lower and lower winds that hydrofoil allows... this is the price to pay.
Even after many of such rolling in the water, i am still often close to have my legs tangled. So be patient, very carreful and constantly watch your feet to check they are free, and have a line cutter or knife on your harness in case you cannot not untangle and /or if winds gets stronger during rolling and packing while tangled...

[edt]

Be careful with that backpack! Too big and it can be a problem. You want to test, go swim around with the backpack on. If it pushes your head underwater that can be a problem if for some reason (maybe a line tangle) you can't get the backpack off. The drysack idea is pretty genius.

[edt]

Even after many of such rolling in the water, i still am close to have my legs tangled.

Good advice!

[Peter_Frank]

Like in the video, eventhough you can also roll it up from both sides like you do on land anyways.

Then put it on top of the board, the LE "minibattens" in front so they dont get damaged.

Open your harness up a bit, and if a seat release the leg straps, and roll it around with hook on your back.

Climb onto the kite on the board, and now you can swim (crawl) for miles and miles which happens often around here for race kiters when the wind drops far out or on the other side of the bay.

I do the same, except I never ride that far out, so I roll the kite up, put it on top on the board, and swim besides it to get ashore (easy when close eventhough much slower than when on your board).

It is NOT possible to get safely ashore even if close, if you dont roll it up fully, you might damage it severely when you get to the shorebreak, even if just tiny anklesnappers they will ruin your kite if shells or small rocks, because of the huge amount of water inside (which happens really fast with high AR light racekites).

Best thing is to let the kite stay out after rolled up, put your board on shore, and go these few meters out to your kite again, put it on your shoulder, flap and maybe tip velcro open, and let the water drain out so you can carry it ashore away from sand, so it can dry or be relaunched to dry it faster.
It might take a long time to get the water out before going ashore, if you could not roll it fully (almost never possible, there will always be water inside), but worth it.

Peter

[revhed]

So easy, stay close to shore if even ANY doubt of wind conditions to avoid "long swim" so at the worst "short swim" DUH!
Why the need to go far out anyway?
Maybe sometimes (not often) one may think the wind is better, stronger, less gusty further out but again risking the "long swim"
We often ride in MICRO thermals able to see the wind via wind mills exactly the other way less than 3 Ks away and "iffy" off shore, so you are stupid if you venture far out, but some do swimming paying the price!
Understanding rule number 1 (ONE) when KBHFing, never bottom out, run aground, just fly far enough out to avoid this but close enough to SAFELY swim if needed!
R H

[Horst Sergio]

... I have to kite pretty far out because of the wind shadows near shore and the seaweed. Yesterday I was able to keep my kite in the air when the wind died but sooner or later I will have a long swim. Any advice on how to swim I dunno a mile or so back to shore with a hydrofoil kite and a foil board? ... Do you keep the kite tail down in the water and pull it behind you, or do you sort of pack it up in some way that prevents the water from getting into the kite? What if you get a bow tie before the kite goes down? How do you keep the water out then? Thanks for any help.

Hi edt,
first, I don't want to encourage anybody to go out with the risk to swim back, let's say half a mile. (a complete mile really seems to be exaggerated, possible but in this case better check for another spot)

But if you learn how to do it, it is no problem at all.
- You don't need to tangle your legs in the lines as there won't be any lines around.
- You don't need to pack it in a messy way as shown in the two videos on the last page, but clean folded tip on tip, as already Peter Frank said, once again
- You can have a clean packed kite on the board that is always launch able, if wind picks up again and no need of compression bags, etc.
- You needn't be afraid of any bow tie, as you can correct everything with the same following technique.

There is also a foil kite forum in here :
http://kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=197&t=2394369 video
http://kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=19 ... 44#p932444 explanation

Don't be confused as both links show how to start the kite in the water, but practically explain also all steps to pack it together in the water. All the steps are the same, they are just in reversed order. Even the pre filling step you see on the cover of the video can be used for pack down before rolling up to get the water to the tips and out, in the case there are still some short light gusts. The benefit is that you always can stop starting or packing process, if for example conditions are changing as wind is getting better again or obstacles coming close ...

The only occasion I would pack down the messy way as shown in the other videos is when the wind is getting to strong and there is no need to launch again. Then release, wait a bit to get some water in the kite and do it as shown and just in this case you have to be afraid to get tangled with the lines around your feet.

But biggest secret is experience, try this maneuver on land, in the shallow and last in the deep, when you really feel safe and ready to pack the kite with order.


And as others already said:
Never try to pull a foil kite behind you in any way, 50 m later you will end up with a drift anchor filled with one or two tons of water which you won't move another meter even with a 1000 hp boat.