supernoodles

Also just bought the 2011 Mutant and I was very toasty in the water today. A bit tricky to get in and out of but once you get the knack of it, it's not too bad (I'm also hoping it will stretch a little). The hood is excellent and doesn't let any water in at all, although I didn't have any really hard crashes. The zip for the hood and neck protector was a little flimsy feeling but I don't think it will cause any problems.

I seem to have the opposite problem. I can be riding upwind quite nicely (well I thought so) and then I'll catch my front foot in the water and down I go!

Stumpi, two beaches at Troon, North and South beach. Brassie looks over north beach. Sounds like you where just north of where we were. Bumped into a couple of other kiters from Glasgow there as well. Don't let the rain put you off, the sea was pretty wet last night as well. :-)

Shame you missed it Stumpi! We had a great session at Brassie today and kited until it was getting dark. Wind was a little hit or miss but still lots of fun.

The hose did look OK but I'll take a closer look. Using silicone did cross my mind but I didn't think it would hold under a sharp pressure. Might be worth putting the cable tie on a little tighter or just doubling up. Also found a site offering spare parts, which have the collar I need. Just need to see if the deliver to the UK. http://www.kitebladder.com/Pages/cabrinha%20%20parts.htm

I recently bought a used Cabrinha Convert and during a lesson the leading edge suddenly deflated during a heavy crash. It turned out that the isolation valve between the strut and the leading edge was missing a rubber collar. This allowed the hose connector to pop off and the air to escape. So I've strapped a cable tie around the rubber hose to stop it popping off and this seems to have stopped the leading edge instantly deflating. However, I still ended the session today as it half-deflated and had to carry the kite back to the beach. Presumably because the valve is still leaking a little when it gets dunked a little hard. Confirmed today that it isn't just a slow leak. So how can I seal this valve up a little better? Been thinking maybe a little superglue might do the trick, any other ideas?

Garc, that really makes sense with what was happening to me the other day. I was waterstarting and getting on the board just fine, but after the initial dive the kite felt a little lacking in power resulting in that sinking feeling. The wind was a little light and I suspect I could have sheeted in a little on the downstroke a bit more and starting sine-ing the kite. I'd just been keeping the bar in the sweet spot in the middle of the bar and not sheeting in/out at all. As the wind picked up I managed to get up and going without too much trouble. As you say probably just practice and time on the water. Great answers, thanks a lot folks!

Great advice, thanks! I think that explains a few of my issues getting properly up and motoring. I'll give it a try on Sunday.

I'm a beginner and just finally starting to get up and moving on the board a bit now but I have no idea when I should be sheeting in and out with the bar. In light winds I know I need to sheet in hard to get the kite to turn aggressively then sheet out to let the kite breath a little. However, forgetting light winds for the moment, is there a general rule for when I would want to sheet in and out on the bar? Not interested in getting air for the moment just mowing the grass. Especially interested in the initial dive of the kite for the water start. Should I sheet in during the dive? What about when sine-ing the kite? When should I sheet out, except to depower for emergencies. How about when mowing upwind? Cheers!

Balugh, that was exactly my experience! OK a last question on this.. should you put a little depower on a 5-line C kite before launching and landing?

Thanks everyone! I'll give some of these a go soon. I really like Paulie's suggestion just for its simplicity and lack of scuffing the kite but I'm going to give br3n's method a shot too and see what I'm more comfortable with. I suspect Paulie's method is going to be a little more reliable if it is gusty but if your launch are is on the grass and you don't have any method to hold onto your kite, it is good to have a fall back. Cheers!!

Paulie_amoose: that looks really straight-forward but how do you get your kite onto its back? So you lay out your lines upwind of your kite, while your kite is flat on the sand. What next? Is this one of those situations where you bury your board in the sand and tie your 5th line around the handle of your board, then walk over to your kite and flip it onto its back? I've seen something like this on youtube before.

Great vid! At 39 seconds, the kite has just slid round into the wind and you kick it over onto its back, so you can pull it up onto its side. Do you need to do anything special with the bar, to get it onto its back? I ask because last time I tried this technique with my 4 line, it skidded downwind and almost took me out!

Any tips on how to self-launch a 2011 5 line C kite? I've only ever had a 4 line bow kite before. For bows I've seen videos of the sandbag launch and turning it slowly on the beach until the tip catches in the wind. Do the same techniques work with the 5 line C kite or is there a better way using the 5th line? I've also seen a couple of videos on youtube but it is difficult to tell what is going on. Cheers

I'm heading to the Isle of Lewis in August and hoping to get out on the water. Is anyone kiting out there at a similar time? Going to be close to Reef and Cliff beaches.