Hi all,

I have 2 kites, both on bars.
One is a 4m Ozone Octane, the other is a 2.5m Fexifoil Rage.

I started Landboarding last summer, most of that time was spend learning to fly the Kite - and I had a 2 hour teaching session from a Kitesurfer. Which got me moving slowly and....let's say "not that gracefully"...

So now I'v started the new season - and I just can't get the darn board to move. Any tip's or advice on what techniques to practice ?
Moving the kite in 8's or something like this ?

Best Wishes
/Thomas , Denmark

greetings...point it down wind , then pass the kite thru the window. curve back to a cross wind position as you start to move keep the kite moving , as you start moving and power feels steady you move the kite less. a cross wind point of sail will be easiest to manage. practice speed control by keeping the kite high in the window and point of sail attitude.
do you know sailing principles? if not study up

As phree said... to get moving point the board slightly down wind and sine the kite or drop it in and out of the power zone until you get rolling. As you start to roll, lean back a bit and keep moving the kite. Keep repeating the point into the wind, lean away from the wind routine. Boarding is a balancing act. Unless you are standing right over the board and going directly down wind, your pattern in the sand should always be more or less like a long sine curve because you are constantly dropping the kite into the window and then coming out of the window and leaning forward and back over and over. Its not as easy as it looks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wH5_PRcvs4&list=PLlxcSG...

Hey Guy's,

Thank you so much for the response - I tested it out, and actually got rolling a bit :-)
But it seams that flying the kite on bar's requieres more sinus movement - so I'm considdering getting a hold og the Ozone Turbo Bar.

Anyone know if that would improve kitecontrole, and make it easy'r to start boarding ?

Best Wishes
/Thomas

no easy route , lots of practice , you become better pilot, better balance and better timing.

when you gain experience, easy it will become

If you want to get the most out of the kites you have buy handles. That is how they are designed to fly.

For the price of a new Turbo bar you could buy a larger foil with handles.

I really wanted to fly my FB on a bar at 1st. I wasted a lot of valuable time and a bit of money trying . In the end I realized I was looking for an easy way out. Learning to fly proper with handles made me a much better pilot and allows me to get much more out of the kite.

What are the winds like when you are struggling ? What kind of surface ? It will be hard to work a ride out of a 4m kite on grass in less than about 10mph winds. I suspect a big part of your problems are not enough wind / kite and a slow surface combined ?

i second handles....jusayin

Handles would help and either more wind or a bigger kite. I find more power solves just about every problem I have had in the buggy.

Thanks for the advice !
And yes the wind was between 9 and 11 mph , and it was on grass - so got to rolling a bit, but not much.

Also the brakelines a very loose (form a nice arch) - would it help on kitecontrol to tighten them a bit ?
Becourse at the moment it seams I only steer with the powerlines.

Best Wishes
/Thomas

Quote: Originally posted by ThomasDK

Thanks for the advice ! Also the brakelines a very loose (form a nice arch) - would it help on kitecontrol to tighten them a bit ? Becourse at the moment it seams I only steer with the powerlines. Best Wishes /Thomas

I think I see your problems ?

Flying FB on a bar means you give up pretty much all brake control. Flying strictly on front lines and adding almost no brake input. Your back lines only come into play reverse launching and going to safety this way. You may get a tiny bit more passive brake input by tightening the brakes a bit but not what I think you are looking for. Too much and you will choke the kite. To get around that I made a " crossover " pulley system for the brakes. It adds input to the brakes but the extra weight was an issue with small kites in low wind. I bit of a waste of time and money.

I have not tried the Turbo bar but understand that not all kites take to it. I have a suspicion your Rage would not? It isn't cheap and possibly not the best solution.

Most FB foils are designed to be flown on handles. Yours are. Control you simply can't get from a bar.

If your winds are typically 9 - 11 and the grass slows you down then I think you need a bigger kite and handles or a depower if you want a bar ? To me that is where you want to put your money ?

If you want to ride ATB and use a bar it may be best to look at depower kites. They are the kite of choice. That said, you can ride ATB with handles , no problem.

Is there a reason you want to use a bar on FB ?

Is an Ozone turbo bar the prevalent recommendation for using a bar with a fixed bridle kite? I understand it sends inputs to both the power lines and brake lines simultaneously which makes it unique. With a normal bar it seems you're losing brake control, and the more popular option is to simply use handles for full four-line control. Is there a method to hook into a harness while using handles?

get handles use a strop line between them....get use to it static and add board...problem solved

Hi guy's

Again, thank you for the response. I'll try taking the 4m Kite out in more wind and see if that changes things - other then that I guess PHREERIDER is absolutly right, more practice :D

A Depower kite is definatly on the wishlist, but £700-800 vs. £112 for the Turbo bar is still a huge difference.
But that said, short of bying a bigger kite, handles seams to be the best option. What size FB Kite, and model, would you reccommend as the next ?

So far I have Ozone Octane 4m and Flexi Rage 2.5M - and need something bigger for the lighter winds.

Best Wishes
/Thomas

Yes, I think more wind will make all the difference.

I probably should have said the cost of the Turbo will go a long way to buying another kite.

Pretty sure you can buy respectable depowers used for more like around 400 Euro? Going from the North American prices on here.

If you are going Fixed Bridle I would suggest you look at 6m minimum for low winds. Much more and you get a gap in your quiver? If you have room to run then maybe even larger ? If jumping is your goal I would shop for a used Twister or Blade .

http://www.powerkiteforum.com/viewthread.php?tid=28456#pid27...