When Kiting in gusty conditions;
With the kite at 12oclock, the wind drops very suddenly and the lines go totally slack, the kite falls from the sky (over-flying me)and then inverts landing on the water flat on its back directly down wind of me, then starts flying upside down (when the wind comes back), hovering 3 or 4 meters off the water. I’ve tried pulling on front or rear lines, but without success and end up doing a self rescue with a long swim.
Anybody got any ‘get out of jail advice’?
The kite is a 9M Cabrinha Crossbow 2, but I’ve experienced this with my Contra as well.
Jim
Apparently you just have to pump it up rock hard, and keep the bar sheeted in a little bit all the time.
You could also attach a thin anti invert line across the front line attachment points like the ozone kites...
Oh yeah, if I'm really lucky the kite turns inside out and powers up again.
If this happens I can usually crash it on the water and it rights itself albeit with twisted lines.
J
I used to have one and it happened half a dozen times in a season.
I seem to remember that once you had crashed the kite to the water, unhook and let go of the bar. The kite will right itself. Swim towards the bar and get yourself sorted for the relaunch.
This worked for me.
Ohhhhh, lol this is what the new IDS System does, it puts the kite on its back with no power, similar things happened with the first few crossbow models and i'd say this is what you have goin on... IDS is a new name for something the old kites did, they just gave it a name and made it better this year...
If you reach up and pull about 2m of one of your back lines in, it will catch the wind and flip back down into the water...
Old C kites used to sit like this all the time on 5th lines, it was the only way you could relaunch the suckers...
mine used to do this heaps in gusty conditions to mate, i found that if you just leave it around 10oclock it doesn't get blown over your head by the gust and still hits the water when the wind stops but doesn't invert nearly as often
My CB2 used to do it each now and then. The best trick is to avoid having the kite at 12.
It also happens in normal winds. If you crash the kite while heading downwind, the slack lets the kite flip over.
I got it around the right way a few times, the lines were all tangled but it still flew alrite. Can't remember how I did it though, just fiddle with it and see what happens.
if you have tried pulling in the back lines and the doesn't work the only thing i do is to put the bar through the middle lines and this should fix you problem make sure you leave your leash attached when you do the just in case it try's to take off on you and then put you chicken loop back on then take off you leash and pull it back trough the middle lines, trying to use this method on the IDS will be allot harder because the IDS system line is higher up and is harder to reach. i use this technique on my SB3 but i only advise you use it if you are really in need and it is a last resort after many attempts with pulling in the back line ect...
also if you are an experienced rider to stop all Cabrinha bow kites from inverting put you lines on the 3rd knot (most power) and this should stop the kite from inverting you find it will invert mostly when you have your lines on you first knot.
you will also find that this rule will apply to most kites flying newer systems such as bridals, if your like has several different settings try find out which one gives the kite the most stability in the air (most power) and you problems will mostly be solved with you kite inverting.
I managed to flip my SB IDS onto its back and have it hover upside down(but not invert) by. crashing it and riding towards the kite making the lines slack. I haven't met a kite that enjoys this kind of treatment yet. I didn't play with the lines to much as they were wrapped around the kite and I didn't want to shred my new kite on session 1. I pulled the ids and went ashore as I was only a couple of meters out.
dawn patrol nailed it .....keep your kite down a little to edge of the window and not at 12 oclock. Keeping your kite high in high winds can be quite dangerous. lofting can hurt!! The 07 range of north kites fly upside as well this is great for launching from a boat and self landing in high winds. Just make sure your lines are in good condition.
Not all bridled kites do this. My REV has never inverted whereas my TD1 used to do it a lot until I learned how to deal with it.
It comes down to how slack the rear lines go and how quickly. So 100% depower and 2:1 kites are quite susceptible to inverting. With the TD1 I used to pull my stopper ball down a bit so that the bar never fully sheeted out. With a CAB you need to put your back lines on the 3rd knot as someone else said.
If you ride towards a bow kite theres almost nothing you can do to stop an invert. To get out of one I used to pull in about 5m of one of the rear lines to try and get the kite to spin around.
Some of the hybrids like a REV just float back down to the water without inverting even if the lines are completely slack.
this is happened to me a few times. just let it do what it wants and when its back in the air go back to beach and untwist the lines. takes a couple of minutes.
I may have misunderstood but isn't just a matter of getting the kite on the water and pulling in on the inside lines? I.e. grab the inside lines where they meet in a "V" and pull it towards you. It takes a good few meters of line or more .
What you are trying to do is to get the the leading edge to come back through the wind i.e. so the "other" side catches the wind and it will pop back into place.
It can be difficult to do in strong wind i.e. it takes some strength and you have to do it quite quickly i.e. because gusts will make the kite rise out of the water and/or pull the lines back through your hands.
A few points:
- dont wrap any line around your hand or arm - open underhard action
- make sure the slack isnt wrapping around you or the bar etc
- as it pops back you will take off downwind - check downwind first
When it pops back, the kite will usually take off, so you have a few scary seconds of being pulled downwind until you get it back under control.
Cheers.
I had a 'semi-inversion' a couple of days ago where about 2/3rd's of my kite was inside out, I steered the kite as far to the side of the window as possible and I gave the front lines a real good yank (i guess this opened the kite up a bit) and wham! to my surprise, airborne again! 
