My question is two parts
I had my lines cross front and back in a back stall yesterday, the wind was pretty passive so I passed the bar through to sort it out without drama. If windy I wouldn't be that keen to try it. But first question is, from reading on topic this morning although crossed can you confirm it would be ok to launch and return to the beach for correction? I understand so far wear is the main issue due to friction from the twist.
second incident only the left hand side crossed front with back somehow, how the hell do you fix that on the water?
I released and self rescued on this occasion as just wasn't sure of launch effect. But would it of flown normal if launched and return to the beach.
Noobs are welcome!
As long as the lines are not twisted around the bar itself or any other object, and they're still attached to the kite, you should be ok. BUT only if you're still holding the bar correctly (red on your left and blue on the right) or what ever colour your bars have.
You did the right thing in the 2nd bit. If the lines are tangled around the bar, it's best to QR immediately and not try and untangle the situation. You would probably have to do a self-rescue, and then sort it all on the beach.
No1 aim in any sticky situation is to depower the kite to zilch if possible. If it pulls you regardless, you need to release the lot! Don't try and 2nd guess it.
You are right when lines get twisted out in the water you need to come in and fix them on the beach. I never know if they are twisted till I relaunch out in the water, ....if the kite flies I come in, if it is tangled around weed or the bar it usually crashes pretty quickly and then i swim in with it. Passing the bar through the lines on the beach is only safe in light steady winds, then it's fine to try.
Thanks for response's, just going solo and these events occur. On one hand I feel I need to learn the solutions if I want to progress you must need to be able to problem solve.
But yeah now Im self rescue if in any doubt but my questions and yr answers confirm some of the rationalizing Ive done in the moment. What you say makes sense to me.
You can fly if you kite rolls "inverts" through your lines. Come to the beach hook your leash to your lines at the y and pass bar through the reconnect your leash. Not the best idea if you have a high Y though.
Passing though the side lines is a little more tricky, can be done but best done with someone holding the kite as its easy to get wraps around the bar and the kite will move around more.
Thanks Nick, on the water I could not even visualise how that one sided cross over could be undone, but at least now I know I can safely kite back to the beach and I think for either scenario that's not much water time to give up to do it in controlled way
It's absolutely fine to fly the kite with the lines crossed and variously through them. As long as it will relaunch and you can steer then it's fine to ride back to the beach and sort it out. What else are you going to do?
I wouldn't ride too long that way, and if there is a lot of load on the lines that are crossed, then there is increased chance of wear. That is unlikely because it's usually the lightly loaded back lines crossed with the heavily loaded front lines.
Back at the beach it's best to land your kite and fully check the lines before heading out again. It doesn't take long and it's always good to be absolutely certain that things are right. If you always check then the chances of anything going wrong are reduced.
You can fix line crosses out on the water, but that is fraught with difficulty. You have to unhook and work out which lines to pass the bar through and which direction to do the passing. You can end up with the chicken loop wrapped around the bar and locked with a powered up kite, or having your kite get away from you.
If you really want to understand all this, you can simulate it on the beach in no wind. Take your kite down the beach on a *NO WIND* day (say maximum of 5 knots). Rig everything up then pass the kite through the side lines. See what it all looks like and see what you would have to do to fix it. Repeat for the kite through the centre lines.