http://www.nwkite.com/forums/post-191228.html#191228

I had to chime in on this forum after watching a classic wind window mistake... seems like dude got lucky with only a scar to the arm but good to show what a kite line / bridle can do when landing or launching.

wise words for those coming into land at cook st... please come to a stop before dropping your kite near the beach... when you're riding in at speed them dump the kite to the beach it drives up the window!

I've never sailed Squamish but have seen these people at Nitinat!

why anyone would set up for a launch with the kite pulling you towards land I don't understand... as well, when people are set up on land you're launching with bystanders under / down wind of your kite...

Seems to be some local phenomenon, in some spots that is the way it is done....the kiter stands at shore or in the water, the launcher on the beach, kite is launched on the land side. I once launched a guy at Gordons who was from elsewhere, and he insisted it be done this way.

I can see this in places with narrow beaches, shallow water, and launchers not in wetsuits. But otherwise not optimal....as you say, if you get dragged, better towards the water than towards hard objects. Also, the wind tends to be more steady close to the water, can be quite gusty/swirly towards land in our forested and cliff spots.

On another note, among the discussion on that site, came across this, really REALLY good advice on not becoming complacent.

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It's easy to get in the habit of expecting everything will go fine on a launch. People see what they expect to see. Look for the lines to be OK, and you'll most likely see them as OK, even if they are not. Instead, look for a line to be wrapped on a wing tip. Look for front and rear lines to be reversed. Look for the bridle to be tangled in some slight manner. When you are the rider launching, EXPECT your kite to go out of control EXPECT your lines to be connected wrong. EXPECT that you will have to dump the kite to the safety. Be on a trigger to react to what you know is about to go wrong. In short, look for something to be wrong and be pleasantly surprised when it's not. You will react faster and better to incidents like this when you are expecting them to happen. It's hard, you may go years with everything perfect, yet you still must assume things are going to go to hell on every launch and landing. Your reaction will be several seconds faster and far more appropriate if you are expecting it. I've been flying professionally for 30 years. Each and every takeoff I expect the worst. I believe on every takeoff that a brake will lock or an engine will catastrophically fail. I'm on a hair trigger waiting for something terrible to happen. That belief and expectation will ensure that every one of my passengers will walk away safely if it ever does happen. Same thing with launching a kite. That kite is going to try and kill you or a bystander each and every time you launch or land. Believe it and be happily surprised when it doesn't. Your reaction time will be AT LEAST several seconds faster. Those seconds might just be critical. Look for the lines to be screwed up in some manner; expect and believe they are attached wrong or tangled. Find out where the malfunction is; be surprised when you don't find it. If you look at the kite expecting to see it rigged correctly, it's way less likely you'll see a problem. When you pick up the kite, EXPECT that it's going to try and kill you. Keep a secure, IRON, grip on it till you've proved that it's behaving normally. Doesn't matter if you're too deep in the window or the kite is rigged wrong, just expect something to go wrong and hang on to that kite for dear life. The life you save may be mine!!

abetanzo wrote:I've never sailed Squamish but have seen these people at Nitinat!

why anyone would set up for a launch with the kite pulling you towards land I don't understand... as well, when people are set up on land you're launching with bystanders under / down wind of your kite...

That incident that is illustrated in the video can happen wither your kite is pointed toward the water of pointed toward the land.


The logic behind launching your kite with you close to the water and the kite closer to the land is, you don't have to walk as far in bare feet on sharp rocks and sketchy ground. You can launch your kite, bring it past 12 then take far less steps to the water then proceed to kite.

Shoreward kite launch was the way EVERYONE did it in Miami when I was there.

Re: looking for kite line messups, I was in the water getting ready to launch a kite last week for someone I didn't know and noticed only three of the lines were attached. I walked the kite back up the beach and parked it. Tighten those larkshead knots securely!!!!

THe best I ever saw was Sky Solbach do it at Hookipa. I asked him if he wanted a launch, and he laughed at me. That kite went up smooth as butter. He's an expert and probably nets 200++ days on the water per year if not 300. I'm sure he's done it a million times. I tried it once, and although I was fine, I had a lot of room. I certainly wouldn't do it with people downwind of me. That would be a dumbass thing to do. That and I'm not Sky.

do as I say not as I do...?

ambientrax wrote:do as I say not as I do...?

Sometimes it is best too hot launch @ cook st...

not sure if you think today I launched towards land or hot launched... I didnt however..

didnt you then track through all the reefs and seaweeds possible... only to tack back into the reefs again!!

hot launching today would have worked for ya well.. its the kooks that had no idea which way the wind was blowing today...

saw someone holding a kite, hot ready to launch in the southerly winds facing towards land.... only after I came in yelling did the guy drop the kite and grab the other wingtip then the kiter had the kite drive up the window hard!!

the angle of attack is so simple yet so many kooks just don't fucking get it... I wasn't surprised today with the very different wind angle..

I have friends in Los Barriles who insist they launch with the kite towards land. Not anything about the length of the walk but they pointed out how many kites miss launched ended up in the fence or on the shack. They strongly believe that when things go wrong, the kite pulls throughout the wind window and yanks you in the opposite direction.. Saw it happens numerous times and how many mislaunched kites end up in the trees at nitinhat? I still launch the conventional way but understand their point. They are comfortable and consistent in their launches as I am with mine so?