VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

thanks for THAT link, Gareth, the double chicken loop is for me I think.....the 2 bar thing is just weird and would cause grief I foresee...it would be nice to be able to also adjust the lateral lines once out there.....not having flown a kite much not sure if this would get really screwy flying the kite but a take-off and landing position would be cool. In addition to the power/depower strap. Maybe a flexibe section that gives during gusts to keep from getting lofted but you can solidify/lock-in when getting out there (like forks on a mountain bike when climbing....training wheels for beginners as it were) Hey.... would that work at all? Ross?

Here is my opinion after a few years of teaching kitesurfing:

There are three basic ways that things will go wrong on a launch:

a) somehow the equipment gets screwed up (this could be rigging error, line breaking, line gets caught on your dog, etc) In this case your kite does not fly like it should. Get out, if your kite is not responding like it should you need to release from your loop and/or drop the bar because like Gareth said you might not have a chance to figure out what is wrong before you are rolling through driftwood. In this case it doesn't matter how good you are: best race car driver in the world will crash if he doesn't have brakes.

b)pilot error - you don't fly the kite properly - if you are not 100% confident that you can keep a kite on the edge of the window while launching then you should be unhooked. You should also be looking for extremly safe launching sites with no downwind objects and non-gusty/lighter winds for your learning process (I know tough in BC during winter). I make all students launch unhooked until they have prooven their launching skills and would never allow them to launch hooked in if the conditions were strong or gusty.

c)conditions - sometimes if its real gusty and real strong or you are on a slippery surface (like IV right Gareth) its just plain dangerous for all. So you have to use your own judgement and risk assessement (beginners should be very selective). Hey some people climb frozen waterfalls and some of us choose to launch kites in gusty/windshadowed 30 knots on a high tide at Jordan river in January. To each his own, but try to make sure your skills are up the challenge as much as they can be.

On lofting - 12 oclock is a very dangerous position to hold your kite in gusty conditions, for most beaches your kite doesn't need to be above 30 to 40 feet off the ground while your on land. P.S being lofted to 50ft is an extremely rare circumstance that will only happen if you have extreme gusts or some type of rising thermal wind.

On launching unhooked - this is almost always the safest way to launch if the pilot is ready to let go. I believe beginner should always use this method. Most of us, once we have experience choose to take on the added risk of launching hooked in because it is easier (you can depower some or have all your steering, plus you use body weight instead of arm muscles).

On depowering your kite - you need to understand the relationship between loss of steering and depowering your kite. You can only depower your kite so much, then you just loose ability to control your kite. On the flip side, I see alot of people launch kites (unhooked) which are totally oversheeted which makes them fall back in the window towards the power and be ultra-sensative to turn. Another point is that the main way you depower your kite is by flying it on the edge of the window. It doesn't matter how much you pull in your trim strap if you fly your kite directly through the power zone. If you don't believe me try a kiteloop depowered. Edit - the one kite/crossbow style do have the ability to depower while flown downwind.

Launching kites is IMO the most dangerous part of the sport and other than choosing safe sites and steady/lighter winds there is no "green slopes" you just have to do it and gain experience. But like I said I've launched thousands and I'm still here despite being no rocket surgeon or brain scientist.

Have fun.

Well said 'V' dood !!! My philosophy is:" The kite can be replaced. I can't be"...Some one else can earn the Darwin award.

Bow kites are going to help but not remove the human factor.

The Globerider Sonic (Bow kite) bar has the trim strap on the rider side of the bar (wow that makes a lot of sense), and a sort of punch out system that lets you push the bar beyond a pseudo stopper.

The problem I see with launching unhooked and depowered is you have zip control and may be too underpowered. At shore the wind is lighter and gusty, so expect a hindenberg or fallback in light wind, or worse your kite to fall back into the power zone and then super power up.

Yes launch facing towards the water if possible, but not with obstacles like logs inbetween. At CB at high tide this will be a challenge since we have a bank of big logs then 10 feet of beach. That's why we have traditionally had the kiter in the water and launcher on the sand. We have so few kiters and helpers at CB, doesn't help matters. I think the launch that is 200m south is safer since there is no log bank.

Self launching in strong winds facing the shore is probably not advisable, but is still the safest of self launching options at CB.

Has anyone tried self drift launching in sideshore wind? If so how do you get your lines correct and handle a downwind powered kite?

Maybe a line manager device would allow this, but still how do you fight against the pull of the kite while letting out the lines?

Hello!
Thanks for all the feedback on this topic. I made it to the beach early yesterday, when the wind was preatty low still(before 10), then I had to drop my Dad at the airport in Victoria.
Just to comment on why I didn't just let go of the kite. First I thought I could still control the kite by hooking into the chicken loop, while I was sliding across the slipery lawn. Then when I got to the logs everything happend so fast, I didn't have time to react. For some reason my reaction was to hold on. It happens to a lot of people in all different sports. In motor biking,jetsking and scadooing it is called throttle freeze. The person gets in trouble and holds on harder and sqeezes or turns the throttle more. It also happens in waterskiing. I wasn't worried about my equipment and luckily there was nobody down wind from me.
My biggest mistake was that I didn't mentally prepare myself before launching the kite. I should have taken a couple minutes to think about everything that can go wrong and what to do if it does. It is just as important as checking your equipment and setting up correctly. You also have to practice what to do when you get in trouble everytime you are in the water in a safe way. Iknew all this, but now I will practice this more, because when you get in trouble it is usually too late.
Thanks and keep the comments coming.
There is a website with some videos on drift launching with the turbolauncher at www.kitelauncher.com. I was going to get one in Vic but couldn't find one.

Hi Jens

I think we should check out the beach a little to the south, at the next public access. The beach pokes out into the water. At high tide you have water downwind of you and virtually no obstacles. This may allow for a drift launch. I cleared a little bit of it a while ago but we could clear all the loose sticks and brush out to make quite a nice launch area.

Cheers, hope to see you on the water soon.

Hi Mattdog!
Yes I think that is a better spot to launch. I checked it out today. It looks good. There was two windsurfers out at 2 o'clock. I will go and have a look at CB sometime tomorrow. Should be a good day. Cheers

Would it be possible to post a hand sketch of where to launch?


Thnks

G

Hey guys and gals, Mattdog, yeh I have drift launched before, primarily because there was no beach to launch from just lots of trees, my comment to that is you should be very familiar with launching your kite from the water, I have little experience with the 5th line so that might make a difference. As for powering up when you drift launch, I did my best to keep it low and steer it out to the edge before lift off but almost always I did about a 20ft powered body drag, so make sure you have clearance downwind. Myself personally would launch right at the shoreline heading towards the water at columbia as it definately has tendancys to gust. I left two tracks all the way to the water about 1ft deep last year as I tried to launch my 12 assisted, had I been launching water side, well I think I may have gotten intimate with the logs or a house as a 30k gust ripped by as I had just launched the kite. My memory of that was seeing the water froth abit just as I gave the thumbs up (I was looking upwind to watch for gusts). Fortunately I kept the kite low and once I hit the water punched out (to save the kite from hitting the beach and tearing on the barnacles). Granted I launch hooked in as that is how I have learned and the punch out is readily available and also would engage if the bar to get ripped out of the hands. My two bits on unhooked vs hooked in reflects on the thought that unhooked you are depending entirely on upper body strength to hold the kite, yes you can let go, and if your body is at stake then that is the only option, unfortunately that doesn't take into consideration of anybody else in the vicinity of the launch, including the one assisting you. In a perfect world nobody would be within range of your lines all around you, but that rarely is going to happen. Being hooked in I feel, provided you are familiar with your kite and competent to fly it, gives you far better control to fly the kite using your strength and body weight, and either steer it into the ground/water/beach or utilize the safety system should it be necessary. Only in stable wind conditions such as Nitinaht should you fly the kite directly above you during a launch near or on the beach. Shit happens so my comment to Jens is thank god your not hurt, glad to hear your not bailing out and yeh, think and practice on emerg. procedures, activate your emerg systems every so often so that you program yourself to use them, know if you have the time to steer the kite to the ground and let go, etc etc. I hope to see you all on the beach soon, been away far to long and hopefully have my new kites to play with.

Thanks Dale,

I would basically suggest a ban on launching the kite inside the parking area. There is far too much turbulence. Above the houses, the wind can be triple what it is on the ground. Please notify kiters when you see them.

I would suggest launching about 300m to the south. There is another beach access, then walk another 50m South. The beach is is wider and with fewer logs and sticks out into the water. Only downside is it kills the socializing with windsurfers.

See you down there !!

That Guest was me ...

Launch Safe, Kite Safe

Thank you gentlemen for your positive & prudent kite launching advice...Looking fwd. to a session @ C.B. sometime...

I meant it juts out into the water. Not that there are fewer sticks. If anyone was wondering