Yesterday I went out for a session. I can do a water start and go for about 4 seconds but after that the kite looses power, goes into the water and turns inside out which is very frustrating as I have to drag it out of the water and untangle all of the lines.

Do you know of what I'm doing wrong?

Cheers, Jukesy

Your going too far down wind. Get up and going then carve upwind to tension the lines and create power. Also work that kite line a mother****er until it has ample power. Then you can part it!

I'm only going downwind for a max of 4 seconds.

4 seconds is a good start and you're not far away from the apparent wind kicking in provided you are going along on the right line for this. You are so close to getting it so keep trying!

One thing someone said to me on here that really helped was to remember that the first pump of the bar gets you up, the second gets you going, and the third is what keeps you going. Try it and see.

Essentially what Plummet just said - work the kite and bar so that you are maintaining tension in the lines. You may have to sheet in and out with your bar to get the spot...a sheeted out bar will let the kite run a bit and also give you the capacity to pull in when you need to get more power.

Another thing that Steve from KSS told me that really helped him when he was starting is try hard NOT to look at the kite when first starting out...instead learn to listen and feel to where it is.

This helps gets you properly into the next stage after first runs which is Stance (and Upwind).

Think to commit to your harness.
Once you get up and moving, relax back and let your harness take your weight.
Hips ahead of shoulders.
Then repeat the diving of the kite till you are up to speed and aim to be just running into waves at a slight angle. Hold your edge through the waves to stop being knocked forward.
Always try to keep line tension even when crashing, sounds weird but do it anyway.

If you drop your kite don't keep riding your board towards it. Thats how the kite rolls back and gets tangles because the lines get so slack.
you shouldn't need to keep riding downwind for more than 2 seconds. Thats a lot more time than you think in kiting

What beginners normally think about pulling the bar in: "I'll pull in and keep it pulled in because that means 'power'". Wrong.

When you get up and out of the water, you need to push the bar away to give the kite a little breather. Turn a bit downwind too, turn back into the direction of riding, lean back and pull the bar back in. That there is your kite's position for the power to ride.

This is what happens when you pull the bar in too much.

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surpher said..
What beginners normally think about pulling the bar in: "I'll pull in and keep it pulled in because that means 'power'". Wrong.

When you get up and out of the water, you need to push the bar away to give the kite a little breather. Turn a bit downwind too, turn back into the direction of riding, lean back and pull the bar back in. That there is your kite's position for the power to ride.

Agreed, don't 'pump' your bar as this will not give you the steady power you need to get up and riding. Really concentrate on keeping your arms extended, you should be getting pulled up from the power coming through your harness when you water-start, not through your arms.

Like Surpher said, you need to be working your kite - so you do your power-swoop and get up out of the water, at this point you're pointing your board downwind. Once you get out of the water you want to be bringing your kite back up towards 12 and leaning back slightly, whilst pointing your board more upwind - then you start pointing your board back down wind again as you dip your kite back down for another power-swoop. You'll need to do this a few times (depending on the wind) before you'll be able to park your kite at 45 degrees and really start leaning back into it as you ride along..

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flyingcab said..
This is what happens when you pull the bar in too much.

That's an excellent video FC. Yep that's exactly what happens and the kite can stall out of the sky. I found this is especially the case with foil kites.

Jukesy - since you're water starting, make sure you get out in decent windy days above 15knots and perhaps below 25. If you try and kite in low to moderate winds, you'll be struggling a lot more and getting frustrated.

It will "click" for you once you get edging and pulling back on the kite from your body, not your arms. You'll ride for at least 20metres I reckon and the stoke will really kick in!

I went out on Sunday and went all the way down the beach which im really happy about :)

That's great work Jukesy - it wasn't so windy Sunday so you must have been flying the kite well. What's your next goal?

Next time I go out, ill have a go at going upwind