Erick's first downwinder

[Kamikazi]

Good story...bad call!
Everything worked out OK but it was very risky letting someone land your kite. It could have been a disaster in those winds. Im glad it worked out but do not recommend anyone ever just let a bystander land a kite, no matter how much "training" you give them on the beach.
I thought you knew better than that. If you want, I will teach you how to self land. It very easy and much safer.

Paz,
Jaime

[inferno]

i rode IRB solo on sun around 5-8pm, wind was anywhere from 25-35, occasional gusting to 40 near the end (i know this cause i was occasionally litt on my 9m roo and im 200lbs ), when i finished i just walked over to one of the signs on the beach, wrapped the leash around it and clipped it to the CL, put the kite down on its wing tip and walked over to it.... its that easy....
most people dont know how to do this but you should learn, there is almost always something to tie your CL to.... ive done it on my 13m in about solid 25 as well....

Not sure I would try that with a hybrid... not all of them depower as much as a waroo but it would probably work for a few of them. I also use that method 90% of the time. I launch that way too. In a pinch I've burried my board and connected it to the handle. Definately don't do this if you can't fully depower the kite.

As a last ditch option, I would generally rather release my kite on one of the back lines than get a spectator involved. If it's really windy, gently crash it first and then release... less spinning.

In most cases in a lot of wind it's a good idea to crash it before you do anything...

But, when there are two of us, we usually catch each other. We flip a coin to see who's gonna catch first. Not recommended for beginners!

We don't do any of this around people on the beach of course.. things can and do go wrong once in awhile.

[bayflite]

Christoph(from germany) lands by stalling hiz kite.
You basically get the kite straight overhead then grab the outside lines by the tips of the floaties and pull.
Kite stalls all the way to the ground straight downwind then you flag it. Kinda scary the first time you try it. I recomend having someone hold your harness the first try. Not sure if it works with bow/sle. Works great with the PL venom.

[inferno]

works with the waroo in light wind, but i would never try that on any kite in med to high wind....
(except a foil)

[toby wilson]

Originally Posted by Kamikazi

Good story...bad call!
Everything worked out OK but it was very risky letting someone land your kite. It could have been a disaster in those winds. Im glad it worked out but do not recommend anyone ever just let a bystander land a kite, no matter how much "training" you give them on the beach.
I thought you knew better than that. If you want, I will teach you how to self land. It very easy and much safer.

Paz,
Jaime

I learned to self land long ago but thanks for the offer. Everyone takes their own calculated risks and uses their best judgement out there. In my opinion, the winds were too high for me to safely attempt a self-landing of a Thruster much less have another rider attempt catching it with a kite in the air. So I pulled the Father of the family aside, took the time to carefully explain what he should expect in assisting me and all was VERY smooth. It is the people who don't make things clear to their assistants that have the issues. I am confident that I could teach an ape to catch my kite if I had to. If that is one of your personal limitations, sobeit but in that scenario I will ask if someone is comfortable helping me and take a minute to properly instruct them how to catch my kite any day. Just personal preference I guess.

[TampaBay Noob]

Originally Posted by toby wilson

Just personal preference I guess.

I've done it as well....launching too. No problems whatsoever if you take the time to properly instruct the individual. It's not rocket science and in sunday's wind, self landing would have been a very bad idea.

To each his own, but I would never ask a non-kiter to land my kite in 30 knots. We couldn't talk (hear) one another from 20 feet away that day at TI. No way to communicate with the guy if the process went just a tad wrong.
Also, they can't understand what not to do, by being given some brief instruction on what to do.
Might sound odd, but trust me on that. I've seen people do what they were told, and then "improvise".

Some of the worst kitemares I have witnessed have been associated with inexperienced people "landing" (more like hot launching) a kiter in high winds. Even Billy almost got whacked that way once. That was the most mad I have ever seen Billy was on that bad landing (turned into a hot-launch) in about 40.
(Probably because for one brief moment, he was at another's mercy, not in completely in control himself)

Originally Posted by toby wilson

In my opinion, the winds were too high for me to safely attempt a self-landing of a Thruster

Sounds like you were riding suicide leash? I can't remember if that bar had oh-shit handles or not... but releasing to one of those is what I generally do if I need to land in high wind.

[toby wilson]

No, the other attachment point is on the center of the bar on one of the center lines. It loops through the mickey mouse ears so this may be a form of the same thing. I'll try it out next session in lighter winds to see what happens but the attachment point is so high and my leash is always in the way so yes, I just ride suicide.