Sail

When I'm out wave chasing the one thing I wanna know is that when I lose it an come around I got a kite above my head waiting for me - PL does it for me every time - as to performance - 5 years from now your silly scuffles will look a tad, well, silly scuffles.

Adam You're cool. Stay safe Regards

Glad to hear you're up and running - these big flexi wings are real steam engines when you get them moving. Just to confirm the point about the bars for 2 lines; the stresses on the bars are big; I hang them off a girder and bounce on them in my harness - hard. Best to use a 2 point fixing strop to spread the load rather than a single middle attachment. It's about time manufacturers specified breaking loads and conditions of use as is done with all climbing equipement. The big problem when they break is that they may not break right off but fold leaving you hanging onto a fully powered up kite looping mare and then it's downwind big time. Always good to have a QR between you and the rig. Go safe - have fun. Regards

Yep, work on your riding style, get your backside as close to the ground as you can - a couple of inches is good. If you're on sand have a look at your wheel marks - neat tramlines in the sand - you need to power up more, drop the kite low and control the power by sliding downwind - big wide gooves in the sand - no more bother with speed wobbles. Work on your powerslides. Good luck. Regards

Fantastic bunch of kite flyers, totally recommended.

I'm not saying " don't use safety " I'm questioning the use of wrist leashes. Thought experiment only: attach yourself to the rear fender of your car via a wrist leash and have someone drive down the beach at 25mph - get out of that. Now try it attached by 2 wrist leashes - this is a likely scenario when the other guys loose kite tangles yours or you're caught by; a mad 40mph buggy driven by Eddie, a runaway horse, a 4 wheel drive, a motorbike, motorboat, jetski or a nasty undertow etc etc. There are 3 things I look for in a safety system: 1. both hands free at all times ( ie no wrist leash ) 2. ability to instantly disable your kite 3. ability to jettison the whole caboodle It's easy enough to arrange: remove the wrist loops from the kk leashes - join both the leash ends together and attach a single line with an inline QR to a waistbelt or say Petzl chest harness and make sure you can easily reach the QR with both hands at all possible positions. Leash that kite at all times but not at your wrist and always via an effective QR. And hey, sky tigererer - whats a rep point - I probably will want it - but I'd like to know. Lots of peace and lots of regards

mx5alan With respect but I think you missed the point; it's the other guys tangled kite dragging you. I'd look so cool with a set of kk's hanging off the rear lines of my arc! Kind Regards

Upwind a bunch of big wings launching in hearty winds; you're wearing kite killers; two words - kite tangle. Kite killers are a useful safety technique but are inappropriate when there is a possibility of a big wing tangling your lines or passing cars collecting your wing ( Black Rock Sands ). Manacled by both hands and fully powered upon a renagade 15 mtr is not safe. As with all safety / jettison systems - use with caution and when appropriate. There are times when kite killers should not be worn.

Hangwind I've been flying B3 4.9 & 8.5 on 2 lines for the last 6 months. Use a 76cm bar with steel rings at the ends. One line goes through a ring and is terminated with a similar ring so it's captive. My leash goes to this ring then to a Witchard attached at centre of the bar; add a maillon link to this and attach via a further Witchard to the harness via a carabiner. Activating the Witchard nearest the bar dumps the bar same as on the G13 and leaves the leash attached; activating the Witchard nearest the harness dumps the whole caboodle. If you jam the swivel on the first Witchard you've a full spinning leash set up. I've flown both the 4.9 and 8.5 maxed out so that I'm unable to hold ground, jettisioning the bar under these conditions can be messy sometimes but the kite loses any effective power and just flaps about, albeit dramatically; best to normally land it with some help but as a safety get out clause it's worked for me every time. I run 2 lines on handles a lot of the time; don't use the normal 4 line handles but a pair of homemade handles like a triangle so I've a horizontal grip, I just have a short wrist leash on one of the handles. The ability to just instantly let go gives a great deal of confidence when playing with big winds, especially when launching. A partially inflated 8.5 single ended in a hoolie is little different to my fully inflated G13 flapping at the end of my leash. Don't knock it till you try it. go careful

Has anyone out there used the Harken Swivel, any comments / problems? Regards Go careful

Out of season now so should be cool. I understand the ban is only in place during high season.

If you can't SEE the knot and you can't SEE all of the leader on handles or bars don't buy it - you must be able to INSPECT the condition of your leaders on handles or bars, especially around the load point; ie, Peter Lynn or Ozone bars etc. Where rope is used in safety critical situations it's normal to reduce the working load to 10% of the breaking load; we all use our kit well above that limit and it's essential it's in good condition; visual inspection and easy and timely replacement of the leaders is an essential feature of any design. Go careful

Muppetdude and Sunset speak the truth. Practice ditching until it's on auto and get yourself insurance: £25 per annum - can't believe I'm saying this - must be another old fart. Go safe

npeac Thanks for reply. Glad you caught your kite. Keep my leash on a swivel straight into the harness and below the Peter Lynn QR. Go safe

npeac I'm trying to figure what you're saying. You popped your primary QR and got dragged by the remaining single line shackle? I've dipped out on my 13m Grilla and never, yet, had it drag me on the secondary. Let me know, sounds scary. Regards