I haven't had to swim in for years but the other day the wind dropped out completely with no chance of a relaunch. Luckily I had a impact vest with a bit of buoyancy and didn't have to swim too far until j could touch the bottom.
I clamped off all the struts let the air out of the main bladder and rolled all the struts up. Rolled up lines and towed board on leash.
By lying on rolled up struts as you swim they all spread apart. A rope may have worked to tie around the the struts.
It seams logically that you can only breaststroke or side stroke, possible using one hand while the other holds the kite, or could you fold kite up completely and lye on board.
What do other people normally do if this happens.??

Once you have deflated the kite you are committed to swimming that thing in, so how about using your safety as a tie to go around the kite?

Pretty tough situation if it was a total surprise that the wind was gonna die completely.

I wrap the lines round the kite raft, stuff the bar into the bundle of kite raft and paddle in

If there's no wind, why deflate the kite? Except in offshore winds it never makes much sense to deflate the kite.

Flip it on it's back. Lie in it with your chest over the leading edge. Paddle.

Alternatively, lie on the board and hook your toes over the leading edge. Paddle.

Or, hook the kite leash into the pump loop. Push the board in front of you. Swim.

Or, just swim in. Tow the kite at the end of the lines. If the wind comes back you can relaunch and ride in.

In the extreme, I have a length of kite line stashed in the key pocket of my harness. I could use it to secure the board and kite and tow them in. Never had to use it. Usually the kite leash is enough for securing the board or whatever.

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Gorgo said..
If there's no wind, why deflate the kite? Except in offshore winds it never makes much sense to deflate the kite.

Flip it on it's back. Lie in it with your chest over the leading edge. Paddle.

Alternatively, lie on the board and hook your toes over the leading edge. Paddle.

Or, hook the kite leash into the pump loop. Push the board in front of you. Swim.

Or, just swim in. Tow the kite at the end of the lines. If the wind comes back you can relaunch and ride in.

In the extreme, I have a length of kite line stashed in the key pocket of my harness. I could use it to secure the board and kite and tow them in. Never had to use it. Usually the kite leash is enough for securing the board or whatever.

I agree, deflating your kite you'll lose visibility from potential rescuers so should only be used as a last resort or if you know you are about to get picked up by a boat. If you are far from the shore (let' say 1km or more) and stuck with no wind or off-shore wind then rolling your lines and staying inside your kite for floatation and visibility is probably your best bet to get rescued. That far from shore you should have an EPIRB anyways or at the very least a phone in a waterproof pouch.

If you are close to shore (let's say 200m or less) and a decent swimmer, then flagging your kite out on a single line should make it relatively easy to swim in while holding on to your board if your kite rolls onto it's leading edge and is therefore not creating too much drag (vs sunk on it's trailing edge).

It's worth practicing these techniques on no wind days close to shore and figure out what works best for you. Every rescue situation is different so it's about using your best judgment and thinking about how you can get to shore using the least amount of effort.

I would also add that staying calm is probably your best asset in any rescue situation. Too many kiters panic when in trouble which leads to poor decision making and counterproductive efforts.

Christian

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cbulota said..

Gorgo said..
If there's no wind, why deflate the kite? Except in offshore winds it never makes much sense to deflate the kite.

Flip it on it's back. Lie in it with your chest over the leading edge. Paddle.

Alternatively, lie on the board and hook your toes over the leading edge. Paddle.

Or, hook the kite leash into the pump loop. Push the board in front of you. Swim.

Or, just swim in. Tow the kite at the end of the lines. If the wind comes back you can relaunch and ride in.

In the extreme, I have a length of kite line stashed in the key pocket of my harness. I could use it to secure the board and kite and tow them in. Never had to use it. Usually the kite leash is enough for securing the board or whatever.

I agree, deflating your kite you'll lose visibility from potential rescuers so should only be used as a last resort or if you know you are about to get picked up by a boat. If you are far from the shore (let' say 1km or more) and stuck with no wind or off-shore wind then rolling your lines and staying inside your kite for floatation and visibility is probably your best bet to get rescued. That far from shore you should have an EPIRB anyways or at the very least a phone in a waterproof pouch.

If you are close to shore (let's say 200m or less) and a decent swimmer, then flagging your kite out on a single line should make it relatively easy to swim in while holding on to your board if your kite rolls onto it's leading edge and is therefore not creating too much drag (vs sunk on it's trailing edge).

It's worth practicing these techniques on no wind days close to shore and figure out what works best for you. Every rescue situation is different so it's about using your best judgment and thinking about how you can get to shore using the least amount of effort.

I would also add that staying calm is probably your best asset in any rescue situation. Too many kiters panic when in trouble which leads to poor decision making and counterproductive efforts.

Christian

This is the best advise in the majority of situations. If the wind really is really completely gone, or extremely light onshore, the kite will provide plenty of buoyancy and will likely impede you a lot less than the 'raft' you were trying to make with the inflated struts.

However, if you do really do need to pack down (offshore, cross currents etc),the best thing I have found is to use your waist harness to wrap the kite in, and attach your safety to the board. I'm not sure how this would go with a seat harness, but the waist harnesses are typically the perfect size to do this with, and the velcro gives you a very easy to adjust, strong, and solid backing for the kite. In the case you mentioned, where your struts were still inflated, a waist harness securely wrapped around those struts would have made them solid enough to use as buoyancy (although I don't think trying to ride it like a raft would be the best idea).

I personally think this is a much safer way than trying to leave line out to wrap the kite with. If you are packing down - IMO - the lines are the thing you want to pay the most attention to. You don't want any lines trailing anywhere.

I mostly ride foil kites, so when something goes seriously wrong (lines snap, wind drops out), then it is always a pack down. The priorities are:
- secure the board using your safety leash (because you won't catch up to it later)
- roll in the lines - making sure there are no loose lines anywhere
- packdown the kite (with the foil kite, ensuring all the bridles are rolled inside the kite)
---- here I also roll the bar and lines INSIDE the kite
---- this ensures I end up with NO lines anywhere. Just a rolled up kite and no bar/lines to contend with.
- If I need to, I will wrap the kite up inside the harness as I outlined above.
---- I typically don't actually need to do this. Maybe if it the water was rough, or I otherwise couldn't keep the kite on top of the board.
- Put the kite on top of the board and paddle in.
---- I don't think trying to ride it like a raft would work out too well though... Just use the board for additional bouyancy and side paddle in.

If I was on one of my inflatables though, I'd probably just leave the kite inflated. The thing you really need to pay attention to is what is happening with your lines. In the exact scenario you described, I would most likely have secured the board, wound the lines in right up to the kite, put it on it's back, held the wrapped up bar/lines against the inside of the leading edge, and swam in using the LE for bouancy. The board is a PITA like this, but the kite isn't that bad to swim with on its back (in no wind) and gives you all the bouancy and visibility you need. If the wind does come back, you can eaily position the kite to sail in with, or even reset the lines and relaunch (you might want to practice this though).

Anyway... Just my 2c...

I've had this happen twice, the first time I was about 800 metres off shore! The only thing that I did different to this video, was to flip the kite upside down, put my twin tip in the middle over the leading edge and lie on top of it, paddling with my arms out the front. Only took about 30 minutes to get back to shore, and also, remove your harness!

When you get to the kite you need to secure the lines around the end of the bar with two hitches (one will do in a pinch). The bungies won't hold the lines secure under any kind of load.

All this assumes no shore break and a sandy beach to land on. When you get to a shore break you need to be ready to let go of the kite so the waves can take it up onto the beach.

As a last resort, have your name and phone number on the kite in case you have to let it go. Chances are it will be found and you will get it back. Being safe and alive without your kite is better than the alternative.

I often ride with an Apple watch. I can call for help if I need it.

I'd probably be going for this method:




From my experience though. The MOST important thing is to avoid anything getting tangled around your body/legs during the swim

Great thread and discussion, as I know for sure NONE of this is being taught to beginners, by IKO instructors.

Very topical..

See birds best from weekend. Was windy so was able to sail in. Only worry came from lines wrapping around while in the water. So either stay away from them or wind them up as u go..

The worst part was getting hit by a wave once on the sand bar, losing the kite and then having to run down the beach to catch the thing.

I did have the wind die on me once on holiday in tarifa.. the boats didn't get me so I swam the fker in. Combination of survival stroke and feet in leading edge.

This concept of the wind dieing is very interesting. Living in WA this is something that never happens

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Jonesey32 said..

...

I mostly ride foil kites, so when something goes seriously wrong (lines snap, wind drops out), then it is always a pack down. ...

In my foil kiting days I don't think I ever packed down. My main way of getting back in was to let the downed kite tow me in at the end of the lines. Those were mostly malfunctions in stronger winds.

When I did have to swim in I would roll the kite around the bar from one tip. That would pressurise the air inside and turn the kite into a big lilo. I could swim in and tow it holding with one hand. From time to time I would put an extra turn in the bar to re-pressurise the kite.

That works quite well with a split cell. You turn the bar until the split is trapped inside the wrap then continue to swim in with the lilo.

Pilot Pete had the best technique which he mastered over the years
He'd go out in fark all wind, dump the kite, lounge on it like a swimming pool resort lounger , wait for sea rescue to come and pick him up,
Very Efficient as he did it quite a few times until the volunteers got hacked off with him and run him over in the rescue boat,

Good advice here.

Here's my 5 cents. Usually there is some residual wind. Not enough for the kite to fly or enough to provide self rescue power. But enough to provide some pull. I have been known to just leave the kite at full extension of the lines and let the kite pull me in as swim in.

Also if you have non buoyant gear. Be prepared to ditch the gear and swim in. You can spend a lot of time slowly self rescuing trying to save your expensive gear while putting yourself at risk. Its a lot faster to swim without that gear. Of course if it adds buoyancy, use it.

I deflate my kite and wrap my self up in it tightly. This way sharks will swim past thinking I'm a Christmas cracker

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Gazuki said..
This concept of the wind dieing is very interesting. Living in WA this is something that never happens

In WA nothing interesting happens. Even covid stayed the **** away