Utah Windriders Association

so i found myself in a predicament the other day on lake michigan that i thought i might get your thoughts on. i was riding off a beach and the wind was really light. i didn't bring my big board, so i was forced to slog around on my small board. i walked up the beach once and my party was ready to go. fortunately, we were headed downwind. they suggested i do a downwinder which turned out to be a lot of fun. however, when we reached our destination, i decided to try and land on the boat instead of going into the beach. the boat was pointed downwind. i landed the kite succesfully, but as i was winidng my lines up which were still attached to the kite, i became tangled and couldn't keep up with the boats downwind progress. i ended up fighting it and got my leg tangled around a line. the wind was soft, so nothing was too dangerous and i was able to get back on the boat with a mess of lines, but i wonder what we could have done different? does the boat attack the kite from a downwind angle, i.e. bow pointed upwind? do you immediately detach the lines from the kite? just wondering if anyone else had any experience with this?

The process i've used for landing to a boat is as follows. Put the kite down on the water, preferably LE down so re-launch is less likely. have the boat come from the downwind side of your kite, grab it and immediately pull the deflate valve. Then detatch the lines. Once the lines are free of the kite, you can wind them up while kicking away from the lines. this will keep them straight and keep you from getting tangled. they'll look as good as when you wind them on the beach.

Mikey, next time put the boat at the edge of the window, Bow facing into the wind and just bring your kite down th the edge and right up to the stern, ( you may have to do a few approches) have a assestant catch your kite over the stern and deflate your leading edge or they can use a stern cleet and throw your front bridle lines over it. Then wind up your bar place it neatly in your kite like when we snow kite, Then roll up your kite. That way you can do the step in the reverse to launch from the stern for another session.


PS deer creek should fire today and this week end! Come visit your old friend Billy!!

thansk for the tips guys! i think the main step i missed was teh approach angle for the boat, and i could have detached the lines for ease of relaunch. they did listen to me and deflated the leading edge quickly though.

bill- i will try and make it up. i have lots to do thsi weekend, and a few family obligations that sprung up as a result of a decision ash and i made....

i want to come up though. i'll call you later on. i definitely feel that i need a life jacket if i come up to deer creek though. perhaps you have one i can borrow?

Mike,

I think the best bet is to actually just land the kite in the water. Then roll up the lines, detach them from the kite. Then hop onto the stern of the boat and deflate your kite. If the stern is small, roll the kite up in the water and just hang it over the edge to drain the excess water. You can then dry it out later on shore. This method ensures that the kite lines won't get tangled up with the boat and that your kite won't get ripped on the boat.

Kenny

I heard a story recently where a kiter's lines got tangled around the boat prop shaft. The driver noticed the kiter was getting pulled toward the boat and began to accelerate to get away causing the kiter to get pulled toward the boat faster. The kiter managed to free himself with his saftey release, but it took a few tries. Be careful around boats.

I've been assisted in the water by boaters a handfull of times. Neither the boaters or I have experience landing on the boat, so I land the kite on the water, use the saftey release, and roll the lines up and swim my kite to the boat. I've had the lines tangle around my leg before. You really have to pay attention where your lines are at all times, and be careful when reeling in the lines so that the kite doesnt relaunch with a body part attached.