 |
|
|
previous topic :: next topic |
| Author |
Message |
bulae99
Since 12 Jul 2006
1691 Posts
I give out bad advice.
|
 Wed May 08, 13 6:16 am I'll give a free drift clinic |
 |
|
If you are a level 3 kiter and want to learn how to drift I'll give a clinic.
The first part of this clinic will be how to wrap your bar.
If you interested
Send me an email at ron@rooster2rufus.com
ron
_________________
Hey, I'm being hahahahahrassed! |
|
|
bad monkey
Since 10 Mar 2010
13 Posts
|
| Wed May 08, 13 8:36 am |
|
|
| I learned a technique a few years back that I have used many times without problems. I rig my bar and roll it up carefully. Then I walk upwind into the water with my kite leading edge down on my head and unroll the bar making sure the lines are clear and not hanging up on the kite. Once the lines are unrolled they should make a nice u shape in the water. Then just set the kite in the water leading edge down like you would do on the beach an try to give it a bit of a spin as you let it go. Continue to walk up wind at a slight angle from the and it should turn and be in launch position as the lines come tight. This works best in shallow water.
|
|
|
kitezilla
Since 22 Jun 2006
453 Posts
gorge
Obsessed
|
| Wed May 08, 13 9:17 am |
|
|
Below is what I stated on a kiteforum thread about launching a kite from a narrow beach, a couple of years ago. At the time, i was interested in inventing the ideal bar set-up for doing a "swimming drift launch"... something that I could use to get out past the big rock at Home Valley on East wind days... a real challenge to self-launch there with the weird wind swirls, current, etc... very humbling and somewhat dangerous getting plastered against the big rock, when things go wrong.
The bar had to have many features which minimized tangling, snagging, etc.
The technique to perform the swimming drift launch, even with an ideal bar and line set-up still needs some refinement, so if anyone is interested in persueing the "quest" for perfection of this idea, I would appreciate any reports on progress.
I can give more references to links on kiteforum, where the drift launch is discussed if anyone is interested. (like this one http://www.kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2378014 )
Here is what I said:
"All this discussion really points out a "weak link" in the activity of kiteboarding. There are 2 somewhat possible ways of correcting this need to be able to put a kite into the air, without the need for a proper or traditionally large launch site.
(1) Feed the kite line out from some device (reel) located on the bar. There have been about 5 different reels designed to do this... all of which had one problem or another related to malfunctioning, weight, line wear, etc.
(2) A method of performing a SWIMMING DRIFT LAUNCH, where the kiter uses the kite to "drag" him offshore, and then, when he is in the clear of objects, swimmers, etc... then, he drifts the kite out to the end of the lines, and does a water "relaunch". This type of launch would demand a very "clean" bar, free of anything that could snag the lines, as they are fed out. I think that it would demand a special bar, to be used for this kind of a launch only.
I presented some ideas a few months ago on this idea, but have not had time or motivation to adequately persue the idea. I think that the idea is very "doable" for an experienced kiter."
Here is the thread... see page 3
http://www.kiteforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=2372529
 |
| |
mega-floties.jpg |
|
|
|
macgruber
Since 06 Dec 2011
490 Posts
SE PDX volcano
Obsessed
|
| Fri Jan 30, 15 9:41 am |
|
|
Any new advice for drift launching or tether-launching at Home Valley or Stevenson? Could come in handy as they have been good lately and Rooster is nukin and flooded about chest deep now. I shortened one set of lines and have drift launched Rowena a bunch but 7m wind at Stevenson gives me pause...
 |
| Stevie 1-29-15 |
newgraph.gif |
|
|
|
D-Krep It Kiter
Since 18 Jul 2011
417 Posts
Obsessed
|
| Fri Jan 30, 15 11:18 am |
|
|
| macgruber wrote: | | Any new advice for drift launching or tether-launching at Home Valley or Stevenson? |
Never tried it at Stevenson, but done it a bunch of times at Home Valley. Check out this thread for info on drift launching out of the lagoon: http://www.nwkite.com/forums/post-186303.html&highlight=#186303
Also, take kitezilla's dire warnings seriously. I've had drift launches there that range from super easy to quite sketchy to losing the entire kite (complete loss; kite was totally destroyed when it went into the bushes miles down river).
One bit of advice I'd offer at this time of year is that if your launch starts to go wrong, abort immediately. Just downwind and out of site of the lagoon are two rock islands which you don't want to get drug into. Also, the shoreline from the west end of the lagoon widens quickly to the north, opening up to the large bay. If you are trying to fix your kite lines in the chilly water, and then get drug into that very wide part of the river, you could be in serious trouble if you have to self-rescue after 30-45min of being immersed in sub-40 degree water.
I know this seems like mother-hen over-kill, but not long ago one of our group had a very close call with this exact scenario. What I do is try to be patient, and make sure the lines are clear, and at minimum the kite is in the side launch position before its pulling me off my feet and out to sea. That way if I have a tangle, or weeds, or line breakage, it happens while I'm still standing and I can walk back to shore.
|
|
|
Blazeheliski
Since 30 Mar 2011
655 Posts
Mosier
Addicted
|
| Wed Mar 04, 15 3:12 pm |
|
|
I have much more success drift launching at Rowena (in the little bay) than at Home Valley. Right now - Home Valley and I are doing a little couples counseling to see if we can't work it out..............  D-Krep It is right - she lulls you in with her shallow bay and can punish you severely if you don't respect her ............ 
|
|
|
MikeZ
Since 17 Jul 2012
207 Posts
Beaverton / Seaside / Govy
Stoked
|
| Wed Mar 04, 15 6:58 pm |
|
|
Hey Cal - in that thread you mention a low water possibility of launching from an exposed beach out of that lagoon.
Is there wind at that beach to launch from? The only time I've been there (watching and not attempting drift launches), there was no beach - and it looked like people were having to get pretty far out towards the entrance of the lagoon before there was wind. That whole bay looks way too sketch to me. I've currently got no interest in attempting a drift launch anywhere - least of all there.
Are those the only options for launching there? I'll probably just stick to Stevenson and Rooster on the east winds...
|
|
|
D-Krep It Kiter
Since 18 Jul 2011
417 Posts
Obsessed
|
| Wed Mar 04, 15 7:37 pm |
|
|
| MikeZ wrote: |
Is there wind at that beach to launch from? |
Nope... when the water is lower, there's this little muddy, stinky beach way at the back. From the parking lot, walk straight down then cut left through the tiny trail to the lagoon (not straight ahead to the obvious beach on the west side). You come out of the little trail, on to the "beach" (its really small, just enough room to pump up) if the water is low, and then keep walking NE almost to the other shore. You'll see a little sandy point there.
Mike, you're right to think that launch is sketchy. The wind swirls from all directions... even with your board on it, you don't want to leave your kite alone for long. The toughest part really is just getting your lines walked out and attached cleanly. We usually go in a group, and someone takes one for the team standing in the lagoon making sure each persons lines are clear as they walk out (short straw goes last... good luck!). If your lines are clean, then walk out in the middle of the lagoon because your kite very well may move EAST "into" the wind as it swirls around. Eventually though, you will get wind in your kite and then you just do a normal water launch. The launches tend to be pretty hot as the kite suddenly finds the real wind, races around takes off... One second you can't get enough wind into the kite, the next, its fully powered and headed for the moon. That's how it is sometimes. Then again, I've seen relatively new people walk out and launch nice and gentle and away they go. Its really just a roll of the dice. My 10m Fuse powered up so quickly on one launch, it snapped all four lines without even pulling me off my feet. In east steady winds, the Home Valley downwinder is really fun, and worth it if you're going in a group, but yeah, the launch can be a real adventure.
|
|
|
MikeZ
Since 17 Jul 2012
207 Posts
Beaverton / Seaside / Govy
Stoked
|
| Thu Mar 05, 15 9:27 am |
|
|
| D-Krep It Kiter wrote: | | MikeZ wrote: |
Is there wind at that beach to launch from? |
Nope... when the water is lower, there's this little muddy, stinky beach way at the back. From the parking lot, walk straight down then cut left through the tiny trail to the lagoon (not straight ahead to the obvious beach on the west side). |
OK - I think I understand now. The low water beach is mainly an option for pumping up and laying out lines - not as a way to avoid a drift launch.
I can see how it might make the drift launch a bit less problematic - easier to get kite and lines in water with hopefully lower likelihood of fouling. But then you've still got to deal with the rest of the driflt launch issues in the bay.
No thanks...
|
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
You can attach files in this forum
You can download files in this forum
|
|
