SKY WAY WIND Currents WATER Currents

[RKITEKT]

Everyone needs to know this! TWO THINGS:WIND CURRENTS, WATER CURRENTS

WIND CURRENTS will suck you in and bring you to a state of being overpowered quicker then you can realize what is happening!

WATER CURRENTS can do the opposite and sometimes kill your wind. You maybe able to cruise across a strong current heading the same direction as the wind, yet when you turn to come back that current will actually NEGATE some of your wind and may cause your kite to drop from the sky and next thing you know, you are floating down the channel into the bridge and feeding frenzies. WOO HOO!

Wind currents and Water currents exist out in that Bay like powerful streams. Once you come into them, you had better realize it and turn your ass around! Both bridges south and north of the beach have EXTREMELY STRONG WATER CURRENTS FLOWING THOUGH THE BRIDGE AND OUT THE CHANNEL. On a windy day, the WIND CURRENTS TEND TO FLOW THROUGH THESE SAME AREAS near the BRIDGES!

So hear me out!

I've been kiteboarding the Skyway Bridge for over a 18 months now and have just finally come to learn the winds currents and water currents. This is just one of my spots that I have come to know. Each spot has its own advantages and disadvantages in regards to Wind currents and Water currents.

However, this post is for all those who KITESURF at the SKY WAY BRIDGE.

Recently within just a few weeks we have had 2 MAJOR MISHAPS! One led to a SERIOUS ACCIDENT AND INJURY! I myself had a mishap Thursday evening after the sunset. I was one of the few riders still out. I was trying a new board out for demo, very small and fast! It was blowing 15 -19 all afternoon and I could hold down my 15 Rastaroo no problem. I decided to get a good longggggg tack and slalom fast to test this board out. I was screaming, LITERALLY SCREAMING as I went buy from North end to South and past the beach with CINDY waving her arms at me to come in or something. LOL

Once I went past the beach I must have hit terminal velocity and just HAULED ASS on by faster then I have ever gone! It began as an intentional test drive, then quickly became a problem. Suddenly I got to the point right before the channel that flows under the small bridge and I got sucked into this WIND CURRENT! It didn't matter what I did with my BAR, nor my BOARD I was headed to the HIGHWAY for sure screamin all HELL! I had the kite down to the water, BREAKING on my board like a MO FO! I finally lost my edge and tumbled for about 5 seconds, skipping across the water like a rock, HIT MY OH SHIT RELEASE and the kite went down to the leftside (opposite side I was flying). Once I regained my composure, found my board inside my bar and lines... the kite had relaunched itself over the mangroves and dragged me right into it. As I was stuck to the Mangrove bush like a pin doll, I held the bar with one arm until I could get the leash on the end and FLAGGED THE KITE OUT! WHEEWWWEEEE ****IN WHEEWWW!

Everything turned out ok. I did everything I was supposed to do when SHIT HIT THE FAN. I got lucky! Two other GUYS did not! BUT I GUARANTEE YOU THAT WHAT HAPPENED TO ME IS EXACTLY WHAT HAPPENED TO BOTH OF THEM! GUARAN-DAMN-TEE IT!

That was no FUN AT ALL and I learned my lesson indeed. I am posting this so that others will learn from it too. E-bone was right... once you get upwind far enough you can see that there is not much beach at all. To elaborate, with onshore wind, if you are hauling ass from south to north or vice versa and lose it... you will either end up in the deep waters of the channel which is NO PLACE TO DROP YOUR KITE, or you will hit the rocks, or you will end up getting sucked into the WIND currents and eventually into the highway or either bridge.

Experienced or Beginner kitesurfers may never learn the lessons of the WIND AND WATER CURRENTS no matter how "CERTIFIED" they get. So please comment, educate others and myself more on this subject.

Hope this helps.

~Christopher

[Skyway Scott]

Outgoing tides carry you out, under the bridge. These go in the same direction as the wind (if riding on the east side, not back side) and will kill your apparent wind.

Incoming tides help carry you in to the bay. These oppose the wind and help to generate power (counter current, or opposing the wind).

It's a good idea to check the tide tables each day before you ride. I always check the tides because I use the currents to my advantage if possible. If you check the tide one day, the next day is the same thing (basically) except delayed 50 minutes.

I only ride in the channel that feeds to the smaller bridge if the tide is coming in. When it is coming in, I will try to use that current to help suck me way up wind. Otherwise, you actually lose apparent wind and the obvious, you may get sucked under the bridge when you get near it. I recommend not riding near the bridge. The current is just as strong in the channel (if incoming and you are using it to your advantage) 200 yards away as right under it. If the tide is going out, it's a really bad idea to get close to the bridge.

The tides here are just moderate in comparison to many spots in FL, but still have effect on us. About as fast as they get around the that bridge is 1.2 knots. I use to fish that bridge a ton and know that from being anchored up there. Tides are strongest on Full and New moons and pretty dead on quarter moons in this area.
The tidal current going under the big SW can hit 3 knots on rare occasion (usually strong "hill tide" of the summer). Unless you get right under it though, the current effect due to tides is not going to be that strong on the south side of our riding area. Still though, a half knot on a light wind day makes a difference. As a general rule, never expect the current south of the launch to ever be in your favor. It rarely is. In addition, the "waves" in that area are pulling you toward land. If you've ever dumped a kite out there, that's one reason relaunch in that area can be a pain and you might end up in the rocks.

The winds at the SW very commonly pick up as the land cools on east winds.
If it actually blew East all day (if it never dropped below 12 all day) odds are that at least 80 percent of the time it's going to nuke as it cools off. It very commonly goes straight from 12 to 20 or 25. If you haven't seen this as a rider out there yet, I would be surprised because it happens a lot. Heck, that's why we show up there, isn't it?
If as a rider you are going to launch your biggest kite at 5 30 or 6 pm, be ready to get blown off. It doesn't always happen, but it happens so frequently that I almost always rig anticipating this.

DOPPLER should be checked as well before you leave work to ride the SW.
If you see masses of red stuff coming at you full throttle from the middle of the state...yeah, it's gonna probably get dicey as the storms pass through. That's what happened last night. I guess it wasn't obvious out there (?), but I could sure see the clouds from my house a mile from the spot. It was even more obvious on doppler and had been for 2 hours. (It's actually how I knew it was gonna nuke, and I also knew we would be dodging storms)

These storm cells with these associated strong outflow boundaries happen mainly in the summer.

Hope that helps a little.

To me, the biggest danger at the SW is the "switch". The switch gets hit fast out there and can blow people away. Some things to be observant for-
Is it white capping like mad 300 to 600 yards out?

Call P.O.R.T.S . If it says 25 to 30 at the SW (the wind usually hits that sensor about 20 minutes before our riding spot) it IS coming your way!

Is there a band of clouds coming with clear sky behind them? These don't have to be menacing clouds at all, just clouds.
Is the air cooling?

I wasn't there last night (kiter blown off, kite in Interstate) but I have never seen it nuke without some visual clues first, ever.

So, if in doubt, look out a ways for whitecaps and call Ports...
1866 827 6787 and check to see if the SW sensor just went apeshit before launching.

These are a couple ways to minimize getting whacked by the switch (if on your biggest kite).

[Steve-O]

Just wanted to thank Scott on his insight into the weather events that happen here in the bay area. It always amazes me how obvious things are to him. He said all the signs were there on Friday night, but obviously guys pushed it a bit too far. I have increased our class at WSW to 3 hours to include some in depth discussion about weather events and patterns that take place in the bay area and I owe alot to Scott for his insight over the past few years. Imagine if you could sit and talk with a new kiter for three hours about the sport, then you get an idea of how much content we cover.

All of our students take this class about the fundamentals of the sport before they even hit a kite. I think it is truly an education that any new kiter would benefit from. If you know of anyone that might benefit from this type of lecture please send them our way. It will only be better for us all to have riders that are educated fully about the sport and its inherent dangers. Also, if anyone wants to sit in on the class and offer some suggestions to the curriculum please let me know....I would love to have your input. I hope this is not viewed as an attempt at pimpin but just a with all of the craziness lately, education will be a huge factor in the longevity of our sport. For what it's worth.

[Skyway Scott]

Thanks Steve. I don't know if anything is a given or obvious, but I believe when in doubt, play it safe where this stuff is concerned. I did drive out to the SW tonight to witness a very similar event to the one that occurred last night.

I was watching radar while reading kiteforum today (pathetic..indeed) when I saw another outflow boundary heading to the SW. The sensor at Port of Tampa spiked to 30 as the boundary passed it and I thought "crap, not again".
I decided to go to the SW to see it, and also hope to stop anyone with a large kite from launching. About 15 minutes after I got there, it spiked.
Not as dramatically (30 knots for about 1 minute, then solid low 20s for about 20 minutes) as last night, but that is still plenty to whack someone on a large kite though. I want to thank Bill, Rkitekt and others there for listening to me and not harassing or questioning me when I asked them to wait as the wind filled in. It looked awfully inviting when it was at 14 knots and they could have easily ignored my request and told me to shove it. Luckily they didn't. Unfortunately, once the initial winds passed, it basically died. Sorta sucked.

I have a real concern about the SW. It can be a booby-trap on East winds. We have people showing up after work, pumping up there big kite and waiting for wind. When it comes, it often blows about 13 or so for a few minutes and then totally switches on, often to 20 plus, sometimes, as you have witnessed, to even much more.
This happened again tonight, several people witnessed it. I have seen it, Jayson has seen it, and others have seen it probably 40 times. Its a pattern, not a fluke. Actually tonight Jayson had a 9m kite ready to rock when it was blowing..... 10 knots... yep (he knows what he is doing).

If I could ask only one thing (among the many things you teach your students) this whole season, it is this-
If you wait for hours for wind (on a weekend) or an hour after work, please wait ten minutes as these East winds begin to fill in before heading out.

That ten minutes of patience might save your life. I am not being dramatic with that statement, it's a very factual statement. The other route is to pray for wind, rig a little smaller in its anticipation, and if it doesn't fill to 20, just ride a larger board and tool around.

Thanks for taking safety seriously Steve.

(BTW, it filled in nicely tonight at Lassing :cool: )

[RKITEKT]

yo! Scott, pssttt...
It filled in nicely at the bridge too. If I hadn't been set up already, I would have come on over to Lasing. That is where I trained... and haven't been back since. I saw my instructor once about a year ago, but I think he is in Costa Rica now.

Anyway, good to see ya out there today. I'm going to bed now and heading back at dawn.

Peace out!

~Christopher

[BigR]

I have increased our class at WSW to 3 hours to include some in depth discussion about weather events and patterns that take place in the bay area and I owe alot to Scott for his insight over the past few years. Imagine if you could sit and talk with a new kiter for three hours about the sport, then you get an idea of how much content we cover. That's awesome Steve.

Imagine how much more you would have to teach to educate your students on the microweatherenvironments of the rest of FL; Miami, ft Pierce, st Aggie.
Or even the other states, OBX, Corpus, Gorge, SF

It would be a yearlong meteorological course!

P.S. Oh Geez, things don't remain static long. even bay area microevents are very seasonally dependent. BottomLine , become a keen weather observer

[Skyway Scott]

C ya' in 5 minutes. We saw a BIG shark about 30 feet offshore in 5 feet of water yesterday at dawn. Hope he is there again, I brought my camera to take pics as proof. :D:eek:

[BigR]

yeah, I've seen Alotta sharks @Skyway as well, it's just a matter of time till someone gets bit. Didn't they pull an unkown diver that was cut in half outta the skyway launch site by a bull shark like 4-5 years ago?
He was all bloated and stuff with his wetsuit on ( 'cept where the bull shark bit him in half ) and had prolly been in the water a few days B4 they found him washed up by the mangroves where we launch.

For some reason sharks love hanging out by the bridge, prolly cause the bait are by the underwater structures. Any fisherman can tell you that

[Steve-O]

Absolutely that Easterly spike in the evening is something I have now included in our content to discuss. I printed out the IKite graph of Friday night showing the spike of 20-45 in 2 minutes. Also printed out doppler and included your discussion from this post. I have started out with about a 30 page packet to give each student that has grown to 50 pages. I am sure by next year it will be even thicker.

Again, I have gained alot of insight from you through this forum and truly find it as a valuable tool in the sharing of knowledge. My entry into the forum was a bit dramatic to say the least, but I am glad that I stuck with it to see it's true value.

[popeye]

Thats a big thing... after about 8 months of riding I still had no idea it could go from 10 to 35 in 5 seconds until it actually did. Unfortunately I was on an 18M C kite when it happened.

My hard lesson involved getting dragged 75 yards to shore (quick release did not work.. pulled it as hard as I could may many times), hitting the beach and getting lofted 10 feet in the air, crashing down hard on my stomach, looping my kite when my bar hit the ground, and getting slingshotted another 75 yards on my stomach, between trees and signs, across the street, between cars, and into mangroves.. all at about 40mph in a time span of 8 seconds. A lot of road rash and some really bad near misses. WOW.

That was the day I realized I needed to pay more attention to the weather.

The second thing I learned was to crash the kite in the water first... pulling the quick release may just leave you with a looping kite and the bar out of reach.

Don't let your first hard lesson take you out.

Later found out the QR was a poor (Best) design which could easily be rigged wrong (the correct way was exactly the opposite way you rigged the more common slingshot version). The quick release worked fine unless it was under high load... so check your gear (under load) regularly boys.

[bayflite]

quick releases.
only use them as a last resort.
if your in hell and need to kill the kite, sheet out the bar then grab your chicken loop and unhook. Billy Parker explained this to me one time.
peace

[popeye]

If you are already getting lofted and dragged when sheeting out, you cannot simply unhook. Thats why the need for quick releases became apparent in the first place!

Hang from a bar in your tree by your harness hook and lets see you unhook by grabbing the chicken loop. It's not possible. I've tried. I tried it while getting dragged into EB with all of my strength. That chicken loop felt like a steel cable... I was not going to budge it.

However you might be able to do it inbetween gusts when there is a moment of slack in the lines.

[bayflite]

tom,
imo it's not the same bro.
when you pull on the chicken loop(front lines)to unhook, the kites >>>camber shift<<< will be more than enuff slack to get unhooked.
i'm assuming that whatever you hung from didn't give slack to the c-loop when you pull on it, kinda like if you tried to unhook using the bar(all 4 lines)
peace

[Skyway Scott]

Very true Bayflite. I hear you. I bet if it's really, really nuking though, it won't work. You would still have to take the time to get the chicken bone out of the spreader too, assuming you use that thingy (I do). Getting the Chicken Bone out is probably as hard as pulling the QR, for me it would be anyway.

All I know is it's hard to do much of anything when you're really getting worked, like that day yourself, Billy and I all got slammed at Shell trying to get back. That was pretty unreal.
Or if it happens real fast, like with a bridle snap gone to powered death spiral. I saw that happen to Chris Bigger. Not pretty.

[bayflite]

scott
good point.
i assumed everyone chopped off the donky dick straight away.
all i'm saying iz a quick release 4 me iz a last resort, not the first thing i reach 4.
steve...surefire iz a POS IMHO.
you however...r a cool mo fo.
peace

[RKITEKT]

I had a line snap on me once with a 11 meter FUEL blowing 25 knots! It kite lopped over and over draggin me down the beach over shells, rocks, roots, etc... I pulled that damn red release over and over as I bounced off the beach like a rag doll. Finally someone jumped on me and someone else jumped on my kite.

That day, I ordered a SLINGSHOT SURE FIRE QUICK RELEASE! I haven't been yanked further then 10 feet since. I am waiting for the day when it rusts out and fails on me... I've seen this happen before and I know it is eminent. At that point, I will just buy another one.

~Christopher

[amber]

I became accidentally unhooked on the surefire more times than riding with it working properly. I hated it. In theory its great, but I just didn't like it.

[popeye]

When it goes ballistic and the kite has enough juice to throw you around like a rag doll thinking you are going to just reach down, depower it, and unhook is pretty silly. It's already depowered... there is no "camber shift" or slack in the lines to take advantage of until smackdown when the kite stalls but then it's too late.

Of course it doesn't hurt to try does it. Didn't work for me. :mrgreen:

[Skyway Scott]

Don't forget how strong and athletic Bill is. What comes very easy to him is damn near impossible for most. Daryl does the same thing, so I know it's possible.
I would feel more comfortable with a QR in a scenario of being on a 17m waroo in a gust to 35.

[H]

The surefire hasn't failed me yet, when it does, I might agree.
It's reloadable with one hand.
It needs a wider hook to make it easier to hook in/out.
IMO,Its the fastest/easiest way to get away from an angry kite, especially for a newbie.

I've gone through three Surefires. Two regular and one pro version, and broke all three. The last one did a good job for a while, but keep checking the area around the swivel for any rust or stress marks. It will eventually fail and when it does it will leave you with no way to depower except to let go, which sucks if you're far offshore.

[inferno]

Don
I would feel more comfortable with a QR in a scenario of being on a 17m waroo in a gust to 35.

:confused:

[popeye]

If the QR on the waroo actually did something other than place the bar out of reach ........... lol. Fortunately the leash usually breaks instead of dragging you.

[bryanleighty]

when i had my line snap on my 9m waroo and the kite was looping .. it was slowing building power on every loop.. i had to hit the QR and it was a reality check that all it did was send the bar further away and still looping..

now.. that was an 06 bar w/o the dual lines (double the depower length).. i have not had the pleasure of dropping the kite on those lines yet..

anyone?

does the extra 20 inch of depower make a huge difference .. or just different problems?

[inferno]

bryan, FYI, the double depower does not mean length...
its exactly the same as a single lines in respect to the amoutn of depower......

[popeye]

does the extra 20 inch of depower make a huge difference .. or just different problems?

The double CL line only does one thing... it automatically releases the stopper ball. The depower amount is exactly the same as if you just let go of the bar while hooked in.

You only have two options with a waroo when you are overpowered and in trouble:

1) Crash the kite and grab or move your leash to the outside line before it relaunches. DONT FORGET TO UNDO THE VELCRO or the kite will relaunch and start looping immediately.

2) Pull the safety and then the leash release and ditch the kite completely.

[inferno]

The double CL line only does one thing... it automatically releases the stopper ball. The depower amount is exactly the same as if you just let go of the bar while hooked in.

You only have two options with a waroo when you are overpowered and in trouble:

1) Crash the kite and grab or move your leash to the outside line before it relaunches. DONT FORGET TO UNDO THE VELCRO or the kite will relaunch and start looping immediately.

2) Pull the safety and then the leash release and ditch the kite completely.

this is why i switched back to fifth lines.... with (almost) any bow kite, if the wind goes from 15-35 and your leashed to the CL, your in trouble, they have great depower, but when you reach the limit.... then what????
with a Ckite, if it goes from 15-35 you just release to the fifth and the kite fully depowers, much safer for our fronts/squalls that we get alot....

also if the wind spikes and your ready for it, you just have to grab teh fifth line and pull in about 2-3 ft and your good, wait a few minutes for it to settle down and your off :)

[bryanleighty]

tom.. that does not make sense.. i understand that it pulls thru the stopper.. but if the depower line is 20 inches X 2 (doubled over) .. when you release it should give a 40 inch depower right?

i assume this is still not enough to safely flag a kite...

check my next post.. creating a new forum thread..

[popeye]

It can only pull the depower strap to your bar... it just takes twice as much rope to do it because of the 2:1 advantage. The kite doesn't flag. It keeps flying.

The "safety" on a waroo is it's 90% depower. When you let go of the bar, that's the safety UNLESS you connect the leash to one of the outside lines in which case you have 98% depower and the kite is killed (well, spinning on one line anyway).

Using the chicken loop safety is effectively a "suicide leash" but with an automatically releasing stopper mechanism.

In 90% of the cases it is sufficient... but if the kite is looping or you are getting lofted you are screwed. Your only option is to ditch the kite.

FWIW this is why so many waroos got released the other day when it went from 15 to 35 ... really there is no other option but to ditch the kite (unless you connected to an outside line).

[Skyway Scott]

:confused:

I meant I would rather pull a QR in a total sh.t storm than try to unhook by the Billy method.
I've been hit by sustained storm winds of 50 plus knots of wind on an 11m C and pulled the QR and had it work. I would never try to pull out of the C-loop as my first option in that scenario. Bayflite and Billy were there that day. We saw the storm coming but pushed it a tad too long. We were going back to where we started (a ten minute run) when we got drilled.

I too have had a Surefire fail. It bent on me in an Oh-#$t scenario and kept me locked in.
The kite was looping out of control going toward shore at the SW.
If it wasn't for Zack Kaplan, odds are high I would have died. Odds are 100% I would have bare minimum broken a lot of stuff. He jumped on the kite and it's lines and stopped the kite. He cut his hand pretty bad. It was an honest to goodness hero move and I'll never forget it.

I never gave that Unsure not release system a second chance.

[bayflite]

all great points.
can't deney that.
peace

[RKITEKT]

when i had my line snap on my 9m waroo and the kite was looping .. it was slowing building power on every loop.. i had to hit the QR and it was a reality check that all it did was send the bar further away and still looping..

now.. that was an 06 bar w/o the dual lines (double the depower length).. i have not had the pleasure of dropping the kite on those lines yet..

anyone?

does the extra 20 inch of depower make a huge difference .. or just different problems?

It makes a difference, yes indeed. However, the difference is a matter of just a few seconds. If it is gusting and you pull your quick release, you have only enough time to get your shit together, try to get that bar or a line, while the kite depowers, falls one way or the other to the water, before it relaunches on your ass! It is actually a very dangerous, stressful, panicking moment!... until you get that damn kite flagged out or ditch that bitch!

This has happened to me a few times now when I was on my 15 m waroo flying in 15 - 18 knots of wind and its suddenly spiked to 28 knots! Every time I quick released, the bar went out of reach, and I struggled to get it back and get that damn leash over on the end of the bar to hook into a back line, pull the oh-shit on the end and flag the kite out.

When it gusts almost twice as much as what you were just riding in and you get caught in it, your safety features become almost useless. If you can't get that kite flagged out quicker then it will relaunch on you, then DITCH THAT KITE! Don't find yourself at the mercy of the wind just moments after your quick release. You still have to take control! Otherwise, you may find yourself on the rocks too.

[RKITEKT]

I meant I would rather pull a QR in a total sh.t storm than try to unhook by the Billy method.
I've been hit by sustained storm winds of 50 plus knots of wind on an 11m C and pulled the QR and had it work. I would never try to pull out of the C-loop as my first option in that scenario. Bayflite and Billy were there that day. We saw the storm coming but pushed it a tad too long. We were going back to where we started (a ten minute run) when we got drilled.

I too have had a Surefire fail. It bent on me in an Oh-#$t scenario and kept me locked in.
The kite was looping out of control going toward shore at the SW.
If it wasn't for Zack Kaplan, odds are high I would have died. Odds are 100% I would have bare minimum broken a lot of stuff. He jumped on the kite and it's lines and stopped the kite. He cut his hand pretty bad. It was an honest to goodness hero move and I'll never forget it.

I never gave that Unsure not release system a second chance.

Wow Scott, You've got me all worried now. I said that same thing about the best quick release when I couldn't get the thing to let lose while I was being dragged down the beach after a line snap and several tazmanian devil loops. Same thing happened to me, I was locked in being dragged and no way out. Someone jumped on my kite and someone jumped on me. That was it. I went out and bought a surefire after that. LOL Ok... after hearing your story... NOW WHAT DO I GET? HAHAHAHA

[RKITEKT]

I don't know why I am all worried now. It just dawned on me that I ACTUALLY have BOTH the surefire release as well as the best release on the chicken loop. If one fails, I have the other. REDUNDANCY! That's what it is all about.

Oh... but if the Surefire breaks and opens up versus locking up on you, then that is another story... get ready for a TOTAL POWERED UP RIDE TO HELL!!!!

[jim]

This is just opinion but if you are in an emergent situation and you are using the bypass option on the best bar(or flexi axis bar which is the same) you wont have time to switch leash from center ring to an outside flying line, let alone undo the velcro . the only quick reliable leash position for total killing of kite is an outside line, and thats where your leash should be in the first place. It is in the way in this position-a compromise no doubt.

[popeye]

Jim is right... thats why I usually suggest crashing the kite in the water first to KILL it ... grab the o-shit handle (god please remember to undo the velcro... I usually leave mine undone), release your leash if you can't transfer it, and THEN pull the QR. I had to do this a few months ago at backside when my bridle snapped and my kite started looping. In between the loops, crashes, and relaunches I managed to grab an outside line and release everything else.

If you know it's getting crazy (dark clouds coming, gusty weather, slightly overpowered, etc) then you should already be rigged with the leash on the outside line.

I use the center depower because I've been trying a lot of unhooked stuff and dont want to keep crashing my kite... that becomes a hazard for everyone else.

[Skyway Scott]

That's actually an excellent point Jim (and Tom). If you plan on using the outside line o-shit handle(s) for safety while riding, you HAVE to undo the velcro from the base of the leader lines so that the velcro does not wrap around the leader line. You should do thins before hitting the water, not when the sh.it hits the fan.
When wrapped around the leader line, the velcro is so strong, it will disallow the O-shit handle from functioning, no matter how hard you pull it. If you pull hard on it while the kite is in the sky, it might loop the kite.

I didn't read the manual (who does?) on the first day I got the BEST bar at EK to demo it. I loved the bar but thought to myself "this velcro is a death trap". I called Billy at Best (think he is gone now) and voiced concern. He said "read the manual", and sure enough in the manual (which is online), it says that (somewhere).
The thing is, it's an online manual and WHO reads that? As I remember it, the sentence wasn't in red or easy to find either (at least back then).

As much as I love the Best bar, the velcro (the amount of it) is total overkill for doing its job of aiding in the wrap up of lines when done kiting.
But, I wonder how many riders know that the O-shit won't work "out of the box" until the velcro is removed from around the line and re-attached not enveloping the line?
Even if you know it, it's just one more thing to maybe forget.
It's an oversight on the safety system, imo.

I also agree with Tom about crashing the kite first. If the kite is in the water, it can't loft you. If you are trying to find you QR with the kite in the sky..... you are looking for and at, your QR and ignoring the kite momentarily. This allows two things to possibly occur-

1) More time to get lofted (kite is in the sky, maybe right above your head)
2) Gives the kite the opportunity to loop. You might actually pull on one side of the bar, especially when grabbing for that O-shit handle that IS velcroed down :(

In addition, you will probably cover less ground when the kite is in the water.
When its in the sky it usually pulls you further (toward land).
Putting the kite in the water effectively removes on (big) variable (possible lofts, kiteloops) from the equation and might even buy you more time.

Good points Tom and Jim.

I wonder how many people with the Best bars think the O-shit handles work out of the box?

[Skyway Scott]

Wow Scott, You've got me all worried now. I said that same thing about the best quick release when I couldn't get the thing to let lose while I was being dragged down the beach after a line snap and several tazmanian devil loops. Same thing happened to me, I was locked in being dragged and no way out. Someone jumped on my kite and someone jumped on me. That was it. I went out and bought a surefire after that. LOL Ok... after hearing your story... NOW WHAT DO I GET? HAHAHAHA

I guess nothing works all the time. The only QR I have ever had fail was the SS one. I don't know!? I am going to start wearing a hook knife around a bungee on my wrist. It's going to look kind of weird, but oh well.

I thought there was concern about hooking to a back line on bow/hybrid kites?
I honestly don't know, I am looking for answer on this.

Funny (but scary) thing is that most of my real close calls were on C-kites and I "know what to expect". I feel that a lot of my experience with critical situations (which can only be gained by going through them, unfortunately) got flushed down the toilet with the SLEs.
I love SLEs and being on them, but I guess I am saying I feel I don't have much "gotten my ass kicked experience on them" and sometimes that inexperience concerns me.

ESPECIALLY since we can ride a 14m SLE (power equivalent of an old 19m C) up to 25 knots. I would have gotten blown off the 19m C at 17, NO questions asked, probably more like 15, actually.

That is one thing about the C kites. We HAD to hop off the water at a certain point.
Now, with the SLEs we have more kite power up (most of the time anyway) when stuff goes bad. Also, the kites turn faster.
It's a real concern for me, especially since we "lost" a lot of group experience (from vets) because not all the C-kite "knowledge" transfered over to the SLEs. (I hope that makes since).

[popeye]

RKITEKT, get an orange stopper ball, put a loop of through it, and connect it to the pin (not the handle) on the best quick release.

Speaking from experience here... there is NO WAY you will find that little red loop on the quick release when you are getting dragged or lofted. I found that out the hard way. It sucks.

The ball makes it easier... you can FEEL it without having to look down at it.

But, always crash the kite first (unless of course you are in the air already or on the beach full of people) ... even if it relaunches it will give you time to deal with the situation and it will draw attention to you (so everyone knows you are about to get whacked ... they will need time to pull out the cameras, score cards, etc.)

[RKITEKT]

cameras, score cards... etc... HAHA

GOOD ONE MAN! Hey... thanks for the tip! I'll get me some little spare parts here soon and rig that up like you said. I too would feel more comfy if I could just reach and "feel" for it.

Curious, what was your real name again Popeye and what do you fly/ride?

Cya on the water...

~Chris to pher

[BigR]

Well, he used to be "invisible", but he keeps changing his alias

[popeye]

Chris, it's me Tom, green/yellow waroo ... I rode with you at backside all summer. Can't remember wasn't it you who I let ride my Anomaly on your very first solid ride at East Beach? Maybe not... I get people mixed up. My memory is pretty bad probably from getting so many times diving :(

[RKITEKT]

Yah yah yah... blame it on the lack of oxygen! That use to be my excuse too, then I switched it to "sorry my memory is bad, had to much FREE LOVE in the 60s"

I don't know, just sounds better to me... haha

I'm sure the chics dig it too... well at least the old left over hippies about to flip 50 now. HAHAAH

Yah I remember you Tom, Green/Yellow Waroo! I don't know about the Anomaly board, not sure if I rode that or not. I've ridden so many boards now I can't remember which ones I liked best. Oh wait... I like the one I SPENT $650 bucks on best... thats right. HAHAHA

Anamoly... don't know the board, but damn ANNA MOLLY by INCUBUS is a KICK ASS SONG! Thanks for reminding me to get that on my IPOD!

HAHA

SEE YA ON THE WATER BROTHA!!!