Best practices on the bow kites

Use mallet to hammer PVC tube into ground. Rig kite. Put chicken loop onto PVC tube. Walk kite to edge of window. Make sure the kite stands on end and is at the true edge of the window. Let go but get ready to grab the kite in case you are wrong. Once it stays put you should be in the right spot. It's just like launching a buddy, you hold the kite until it stops pushing forward.

Run back to bar upwind of the lines, attach your leash to the bar, grab chicken loop and hook in. Ride for an hour alone. Then, wave as the second kiter to the session shows up.

I have had launching problems with this method only when the wind was very light and the kite falls down, then starts to tumble. I admit that I am hesitant to try it in really heavy wind, but there are usually other people around when it's blowing 30.

Ahh the conveniences of the bow kite Yeah, I'm kdding mostly. Wish I could afford one so I could carry all of the extra stuff for a self launch. Maybe a backpack full of PVC pipes and boat anchors in case I do a down winder and need to stop somewhere to fix something and relaunch hehe.

I guess that one small hassle is the small price to pay for a huge wind range.

[Allan]

I am much less enamored with the Waroo after self launching it in different conditions and locations. It is a really shitty design to have to drag your kite along the beach just to get it to launch. Sounds like planned obsolescence from the manufacturer to me (They'll have to replace their kites ever year after dragging them across the beach every launch and land).

I never had any problems self launching a c-kite from the first time. With the Waroo, I felt like a freaking puppet master, pulling on lines trying to get the f**ing thing to roll so it would launch in gusty, somewhat blocked conditions today. Meanwhile its sliding all over the place right over shells and all the shit that is on every beach. Another time it launched before I had the chicken loop. Im pissed.

[bryanleighty]

i have had self launched my 12m waroo at least 15 or 20 times with the fold n sand method. worked EVERYTIME but once when I didnt sand it enough and it flipped on its LE and I had to the the roll n drag across the sand method and it still launched perfectly.

the CL clip method is just another way to do it that makes it easier if you have the space and equipment.

fold n sand is still how it do it and just did it last week w/ my new 16 waroo. you just need to put a bit more sand on it as the LE does not like to stay folded as much as a C kite. a sandbag works the best.

self land is just like a C..
kite to the edge, touch wingtip to the sand, unhook, grab upper center line and pull quickly as you walk/run towards the kite...

[inferno]

ive never had a problem launching mine, ive reversed launched it down wind of me (without it sliding more then a few feet) and ive clipped the CL to a stake in the ground, i think its better then launching a Ckite, if you dont have enough space on shore with a Ckite (either because its a small shore or overcrowded) youd have to do a drift launch, but with a bow i can screw my stake in the ground and walk my kite out in the water and launch it myself, then walk back and grab the bar, good to go, no complaints here

ive also heard that in lighter winds you can place the kite TE down and put some sand on it (on the TE), then walk to your bar and hot launch it, should work perfect on those light days when clipping the CL to a stake might not work

I don't know, piling sand on an SLE or a bow seems to be a shitty way to try to launch it. I did several self launches using sand on the wingtip with my 9M Waroo when I had it. Sketchy. Try the chicken loop/PVC method.

Unless you are doing a big downwind session with several stops and starts, as alluded to by Tom, using PVC is not a difficult or expensive method. $5.00 for a piece of PVC, a $10 mallet, and that's it. Tom, I'll show you this the next time we are at the Skyway. It's easy as hell. You will ultimately love it, especially for that night riding you do, because it allows you to check your lines before committing to the launch.

Also, I have doubts about making the anchor too strong (like the metal corkscrew, etc., boat anchor from a container ship, rebar, whatever). First, I don't want to break my toes on a hard-to-see corkscrew or piece of rebar that someone has pounded into the beach. Also, one of those lying around could easily tear a kite. Most importantly, if I somehow f*ck up during a self launch and the kite powers up and starts raging through the window while I am trying to self launch, I do not want the PVC to hold the kite, I want it to release and let the kite go. Otherwise, the kite is going to loop and ultimately smash into the beach, dirt, whatever and explode.

[inferno]

good points E, and anyone who leaves there stake or screw in the ground with out clearly marking it will come back to the beach to find it missing, i personally remove mine right after launch, takes all of 5 seconds,

also my keep is completely depowered so if it does launch it wont power up and crash hardm, comma but a very good point to make

I agree that launching with a stake would be nice for night riding.. the problem is the stake itself. As you mentioned it's calling for a broken toe, or worse, a ripped open torso or arse for the sucker who gets dragged over it on the beach during an accidental hot launch (kite drifts, more wind up top, etc.).

Putting steel rods and pvc in the ground at the beach is really not nice. Please remove them immediately after launch, or at least put a bucket upside down over them.

Putting steel rods and pvc in the ground at the beach is really not nice. Please remove them immediately after launch, or at least put a bucket upside down over them.

"Steel Rod" sounds like a pretty cool nickname. Maybe I'll drop E Bone and go with Steel Rod.

Really, with the PVC, it is easy. You just pull it out of the ground and throw it at your vehicle when you are done with it. No big deal. Steel shit is another matter and I am as concerned with it as you are.