VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

Ive done a bit of experimenting and have sort of come to the conclusion that there are almost two definite phases to a kiteloop on a 10m RISE without total inhalation. (I have not yet attempted beyond ~9 or 10 knots for obvious reasons)
1). Jump and bring kite no further than 12 o'clock and as close to the edge of the window as possible.

2). with the bar completely powered up and sheeted in at 12 o'clock, (seems to be important to be sheeted in) loop the kite, no second thoughts at this time. it turns out that i get a real face slap (and by that I mean beating) when not fully powered up AND sheeted in since then the kite doesnt want to loop as fast.

the kiteloops that i can complete almost always seem to have a pause between these two phases.

someones expert advice would be fabulous

Just GIve er""

I am curious about what a kite lop looks like. Any Youtube videos around?

Bring your kite up high while your still on the water. When your ready to commit slowly bring your kite up to twelve then crank the bar and pop off the water. Keep the bar cranked until you land or it will hurt. If your going to land on your face let go of the bar, it will hurt less. Good luck, no pain no gain!

If you can get down the aerial transition and at the top of the transition
pull the bar that's you best bet .

Instructional videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPGVHvlHPjI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QXGtfXPK ... re=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZAIW82mD ... re=related

Just pull the bar as hard as you can... You'll figure it out!

Nine or ten knots? You must be very light. I can not move with a sixteen m3 in 16 knots. 20knots good....30 better. Pull the trigger!

Ya, Theres no way im going upwind with that much though. Its just enough for me to get a bit of pop from a jump with though. I need ~12 to go upwind...

Well I can’t sleep again and I feel like talking about kiteloops.

Guys under 25yrs: Sure, just boost and pull that trigger. Please, I love to watch all the slams. Personally, by age 30 I’d torn or broken every joint in my entire body, so yeah it’s kind of important to learn how to land clean. And in my opinion, if you didn’t ride away clean, it doesn’t count for anything more than a learning experience. Kiteloops especially len10 style kiteloops on a c-kite are not at all ‘pull the trigger’ Russian roulette, they are a display of kite flying at its highest level.

Here’s most of the important ingredients to landing big kiteloops clean.

Raleys: the most important trick to master, and the basis of all freestyle kiteboarding in one way or another. Raleys teach you how to load the lines and release from the water (pop). Over the years you’ll learn to fine tune your edging to control height, power, line slack, direction and axis of rotation etc. Raleys will add height to any set jump but for kiteloops they teach you to land HOT. Try to do them full power and violently so your body torques half way frontside and you have to use everything you have to straighten out and land fast downwind without the kite cushioning you.

Boosting: obviously, jump as high as you can all the time and experiment with kite position during the air. On a standard big air in winds up to 35 knots you should be able to land 25+ft airs almost at a dead floating stop when you touch the water. If you are still ass landing the big ones, then don’t even think about big kiteloops. Do another 1000 big airs and re-evaluate. Also, no table tops!! Keep your body in a tight contracted position and study your kite.

Kite flying: grab that old trainer and do 1000 loops concentrating on beginning and ending the loop at 12 and no further! Also, practice extending your arms once as the kite is exiting the loop since it’s very important to sheet out so the kite drives back up to 12 and catches you. Any backstall and it won’t make it. Then try it on a small inflatable in light winds, again 1000 times. You can begin to add a recovery loop in after the first kiteloop. What’s a recovery loop? I thought I just had to pull the trigger...

Recovery loops: other than the commitment, this is the most difficult part of megaloops. Any true megaloop takes at least 2 and a half loops to land (so 1.5 recovery loops). But you can just do 1 recovery for now since you have to be mega high to get that many loops in. The recovery loop can be in the same direction as your kiteloop or in the opposite. Which way? If you over rotate your initial kiteloop, then go in the other direction. You want the kite to pass through 12 as your dropping. If the kite does not pass through 12 then the recovery loop will just make you drop faster. Whenever possible I try to under rotate the kiteloop just a little so it flys up and across, which give you a more linear pull and lift. In this case you have to do another kiteloop in the same direction as the first. I’ll explain when it makes sense to try a recovery loop on the next few sections.

Over sending on big airs: this gets you used to fancy kite flying and the feeling of dropping and catching. For oversending to work you’ll have to be powered up on a small kite. Charge a kicker and send the kite, then as your rising, continue to send the kite until you’ve got it as low as possible (10 or 2 oclock depending on your jumping direction). Give it a quick snap to get the leading edge facing up but not steering back in the other direction. Then wait, you will begin to fall. But that little snap you did to get the le facing up will bring the kite back over your head. The kite should be sheeted out a bit as it’s passing over you so there’s and efficient angle of attack in the canopy to create upward lift. Once the kite passes through 12 this is the perfect chance to practice recovery loops.

At this point you’re probably a pretty damn high level kiter so you’re ready for the next two stages.

Small Kiteloops: Take a 7m kite out in conditions where you can hold your ground and do small jumps but are powered enough for big airs. You could always leave the board on shore and do a few kiteloops in the water to see how your kite is flying. Ride in your best direction, bring the kite up slowly to 11 then a bit faster 11 to 12 with a light loading of the board. The idea is just enough send and load to get the kite to lift you up (not explode off the water). When you reach about 50% of the height of what the jump could be then it’s time to commit. Look up at the kite and begin to steer the kite through a loop. Don’t crank the bar or pull the trigger, especially if you have a bridled kite. Too much steering, pivots the kite too tightly which creates turbulent air around the canopy. So while your kite might make a circle, there’s no power left to drive back up to 12. Instead steer a nice loop and just as you practiced (thousands of time with the trainer or in light wind), sheet out as the kite exits the loop, let it drive to 12 then begin a recovery loop. You won’t be high enough to complete the recovery loop at this point, but it keeps you from riding in front of the kite.

The problem: up until this point everything in your kiteboarding career had taught you to “let go” when the kite yanks you hard. And that’ll kill the power and everything will stop. So you attempt a loop and give up half way when it yanks. Bail hard and that’s your attempt at kitelooping. You have to, have to, have to commit. Relax, watch that kite loop, and continue to steer just as you practiced. Continue to do lots of low kiteloops experimenting with trim, kite settings, bar widths and line lengths.

Which kites to fly: In general 5-8m kites on short lines. My favourite rig is a 7m Fuel on 18-20m lines (4 line mode – 5 line seems to reduce control), pumped hard as rock cause kites can fold up backwards (expecially bridled kites) if under inflated. I have doubts about bridled kites for high wind loops for the main reason that they can slack right after the most intense part of the kiteloop instead of continuing to drive off those front lines back up. I can’t speak for all the other c-kites, but the fuel was designed to megaloop, so it makes a wide arc with continuous power through the loop, versus more of a yank and drop with bridles. I also prefer boots but laces loose so you can come out on hard crashes. You won’t accidently come out of boots though and they give you the ability to land at more angles and way hotter (would you put straps on your snowboard and go hit huge kicker or drop?).

The helicopter: ok, so everything is going as planned. You’re doing tons of kiteloops and the control is there. So you decide to take it a bit bigger and you get slammed, or fly way under your kite. What the hell!! Eh? The helicopter (may have a different name) is a way to get used to big recovery loops, the kind where you do actually swing in front of the kite during the loop which stops your forward momentum and cushions your landing. So for this one, boost big (30ft min). Let’s say you’re a regular jumper, so send the kite to 1 for the takeoff, then as you reach the apex send the kite back in the other direction toward 10:30. Aside - The horizontal float you experience while sending the kite back is in my opinion the most pleasurable feeling in kiteboarding. You feel like you just drifting sideways, almost detached from the kite. Enjoy it while it lasts. Sending the kite back to 10:30 swings forward similar to the way a kiteloop swings you. As you drop and pass in front of the kite begin the recovery loop by steering toward the right. The bigger the recovery loop the more lift. The difficult part is deciding when to loop. Too early and you’re going to land hot and hard. Too late and you fall on your butt, then the kite falls out of the sky. Once you get this down, then no matter how big you kiteloop your muscle memory will know how to steer the kite for a cushioned landing.

Finally, then megaloop: The bottom line here is that no matter what it’s going to scare the crap out of you. And you’re going to crash on many of them. They’re just plain hard to land, especially if it’s gusty or choppy water. You want to go back to those first few low loops you did where you let the kite lift you. Ever notice that the best kiteloops are either done off waves or dead flat water? Waves throw you up without oversending the kite and flat water allows you to use your diversified raley skills to add just the right amount of board load and release to go straight up without oversending. The message is don’t oversend! You’ll kill the power and loop too low. Once your off the water, when you loop makes a big difference in the overall feeling. If you wait till just before the apex then the loop will be higher in the sky but less powerfull. If you want to get in-line with your kite then loop at 50% of apex on the way up. The kite will whip you the rest of the way up and the landing will be by the skin of your sac.

Lastly, watch a lot of len10 videos, he sacrificed his body so we could all learn to kiteloop. His 2010 megaloop king and most recent one from capetown show how he’s finally (out of necessity) figured out how to loop and land safely.

Good read Smartang!

agreed...thx, Smartang!