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Bow Loving
09/10/2005 |
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If you have, or are about to part with cash and stoke up the flames of a new romance with a bow kite, you may well appreciate a few pointers from somebody who’s faced a few rounds with one. Christian and Karine have been smugly smiling around on these kites for a few months now, and so are well equipped on what you should know to keep that courtship sweet. For sure this list of quick tips may seemed biased to Cabrinha Crossbows or Switchblades, but the madness behind the method will ring true whatever badge you’re driving.
1 Pump Action
Due to the flatter shape, or extreme pro span, these kites work best under pressure! The struts need to be hard, and personally I put a fair bit in the leading edge too. Now don’t quote me on this, but with the ability to de-power the kite as it plummets and the concave shape of the leading edge preventing a direct, “all at once blow” assault on the tube, the chances of splitting your favourite new toy are dramatically reduced.
2 Lines
If you belong to the laying your lines with the bar upwind of your kite school of thought, it may be time to reconsider. The bridle system on a bow kite is simple, but you’ve got very little chance of getting it tangled if you set your bar downwind. Just remember, if you’ve never done it this way before, you must place your bar face down on the beach.
3 Lift Off
One of the major benefits of a bow kite is its unrivalled safety. Whenever you are launching or landing, on land or sailing close to the beach in onshore conditions, be sure that your override ball is not engaged. Should you get into trouble it is simple enough to push out, but if you get lofted it is comforting to know that nothing works as instantly as letting go – brilliant. Its also a great bonus when learning new moves as you will not get such a spanking and your kite will not hit the deck so hard.
4 Sofa Surfing
Understanding how to tune your bar is quintessential to getting the most out of your bow kite. The centre line adjustment strap, de-power strap, trim strop or whatever you care to call it is the key. For sure if you are overpowered, making your front lines shorter will de-power the kite. More importantly, however, is using this adjustment to set the position of your bar. I enjoy riding with the bar close to the harness loop, shoulders back and arms extended. Karine needs a similar set up as her arms are shorter and this allows her to de-power the kite should she need. Whatever the reason once you are on the water try and feel the sweet spot, the position of the bar where the kite seems to have perfect power. If you are now sailing along like Quasimodo, tug on some de-power until you fell comfy. Now you will have a better stance, more room for movement in the gusts, and feel a lot more confident.
5 Park and Ride
The main difference between riding a bow kite and a classic kite is that you no longer need to edge as if you life depends on it. For those new to kiting, you can now completely control the kite’s power with the bar. We have already been witness to a steepening in the learning curve of novices using these kites – easy power control, easy re-launching and no more down wind to hell runs. All definitely great for confidence.
The more experienced rider will need to acclimatise themselves to not edging like a banshee, trying to pull the bar in further than necessary, searching for that classic kite fight.
6 Water Re-launch
Pure joy. Getting one of these beauties out of the water can make you laugh it’s so simple. Whether you are working the kite around the edge of the window or flipping it over for a downwind launch be ready to de-power the kite by pushing the bar away from you. Pushing the override ball out before launching will give you ample room to coax the kite to lift off early from the water.
Always remember when pulling one of the back lines to grab it from above, palm facing down, so that it will drop away when you open your hand to release it. Also pull the line back and to one side on an extended arm to prevent any snags or tangles around the bar.
7 In Flight Entertainment and Unhooking
To head up to the stratosphere you will need to focus on two areas. Firstly once you have got used to riding around not holding on for dear life, you may well forget to edge as hard as you can before take-off. Cruising is good but to get pop you’ve got to use the board. The same applies for unhooked tricks. It’s easy to get lulled into passenger mode but once you unhook it’s back to old school edging. Secondly when jumping you need to be sensitive to the bar’s sweet spot. If you are well powered you can dump some power to edge hard, but as soon as the kite starts to pull you off the water, keep hold of that bar. If you let it pull away from you all that energy will be lost. Your best bet is to pull the bar down towards your hips as you fell the kite rise.
8 Pimping your ride
If you use a bar with an override ball, you will find that the factory positioning will allow your kite to substantially de-power when you let the bar butt up against it. This is perfect for getting to know your kite and ideal for new kiters getting to grips with the sport. However if you’re well acquainted with your kite and are prone to the odd loop or two you may well desire to move the override ball so that you can spin the bar and remain powered. Experiment to see where it suits you best. We have found that four fingers (think drinking game measurements) down works a treat. Be warned though, this is a safety device designed to move under load. If you spin your bar whilst powering out of a transition or whilst riding out a gust it could well push the override up, so wait a little longer than usual. As for the top ball, leave it where it is. You never know just when you could need all that de-power. |
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