friday am?

[Sean B]

My '06 Green/Red Waroo. That kite has been used and abused. Maybe you can teach young grasshopper the ways of a soft landing?..

I can show you next time out.

Let me take a pic of the front line mod (it's very straightforward). Should be done in a few minutes.
Just make sure the front lines end up exactly the same length after the mod.
Quite a few of the local guys have modded their bars like this.

All the mod requires is a ring at the end of one of your front lines, as in the pic. I usually look around for an old pig tail or something similar, and use it with a ring you can get at West Marine.
Don't forget to make sure both front lines are exactly the same length.
It's easy to do this on the Best bar, because of the mini-leader with knots, and the fact you can untie and make knots different lengths.
You could just use the existing semi-leader with the ring, but I like to avoid any knots that might get hung up. (ignore my Q-line, btw, it's just what I use. It's not necessary at all for the mod)

With the mickey mouse ears of the Best bar, it doesn't matter which "side" you modify.
It's a good idea to put a piece of tape or dark line on the other end of the line you modded. That way, when rigging, you can attach it to it's proper side without any confusion (right or left). It does matter which side you attach it to when rigging, as it will determine to which side you can land the kite on.

Always attach the modded front line to the wingtip which is going to be highest in the sky (not bottom) when self landing your kite. If your kite is off to your left (as in a port tack) when landing, this would be the right front line that you would have attached it to prior to launching, so you can self land on that side.

It won't work if you try to land it on the other side with the right front line "slipping through the ring".

The whole process will take 2 minutes to show and a half hour of words.
Not really wanting to waste that many words.
Get the mod and then you're half way there.

All it is is an o-shit approach on a front line.

[BigR]

hmmm....

the cabrinha's have had this mod built in all along.

must be I mistook what they were actually for all along..... Duh!!!!

[inferno]

naish had a front line release a few years back, thats how i used to self land my C-kites

Yeah, I think you are right Raul, Cab has had this from the get go on their bows (nice)
I am definitely not claiming to be the "inventor" of this "mod".
The fact we even have to mod bars made for bridled kites to have this does sort of puzzle me (??!!)
I guess self landing isn't a high priority in design for most, although front line for safety makes more sense to me as well. (but that's just me)

I think I do know (at least one of the first) who thought of this though -- Jeff Weiss.
He showed this modification to me about 7 years ago, back in the days before the Cabrinha Black tip, and just before the Wipi Airblast was released.

It was obvious as a better choice for self landing C kites the first time I saw him use it. Still though, landing with the rear O-shit on a C-kite wasn't all that hard (front and rear line attachments were fairly close, and both on the wing tips of the kite) so I just stuck with that approach.

The difference is ten times more obvious using the front line as opposed to rear line for self landing of the bridled kites vs. the C-kites though (at least to me) and I wouldn't even try self landing a bridled kite without the front line technique (in terms of keeping my kite 100% injury free).
The placement of the front line on a bridled kite is ideal (more toward middle of LE than on the old C-kites) for self landing, compared to a rear line. The front line attachment pulls the nose of the kite down to the ground and points the kite into the wind.

The rear line just pegs down the back of the kite, letting wind under the LE and not pointing the LE into the wind.
The only way I feel confident landing with a bridled kite with the rear O shit is to "crash" the kite and force it to stay, not so good for your kite.
Maybe that's what is happening to you on your landings, Sean.
Anyway, just some thoughts. I fully anticipate seeing you guys carrying your 3 foot tent stakes and doggie anchors out to the beach still!

[Sean B]

Originally Posted by Skyway Scott

Maybe that's what is happening to you on your landings, Sean.
Anyway, just some thoughts. I fully anticipate seeing you guys carrying your 3 foot tent stakes and doggie anchors out to the beach still!

Yeah, pretty much. I'll give that mod a try, but I still plan on using doggie anchors for the most part! haha