How do you guys/gals prefer to land your foils in strong winds? I normally just back them down with the landing strap, but in strong winds it doesn't work so well. There seems to be lots of residual power even when my kites are anchored to the brake strap. Of course weighting down the trailing edge works good, it's not possible after you been riding and want to come to a stop. Do most of you just cut it to the primary safety? Here is a video clip of what I mean. I just got done skiing, landed my kite and anchored it to an ice screw by the brake strap. As you can see it wants to keep powering up until I can run over and grab the kite to secure it.

http://youtu.be/L2kd77Pbtfo

the few times i used the safety, (since removed it) its typically a grand mess , and in high wind without help...you need a plan.

the solid anchor!, starting with kite at 12, then walk to edge guiding kite by back line . sometimes its sketchy , 20-25 mph and my 12m definitely hoping somebody shows up!

i have hooked the bridle with anchor at the edge and let flag, it works but can stress lines , and requires very stable behavior right at the edge and sometimes in high wind can be difficult. they catch and lay out really quick and the let go is difficult to time and with high damage potential is high. the arcs would lay out so nicely never had issue with them even heavy air

but 95% of the time reverse it down <20 and if its more (and i've choosen a foil) i have a pretty serious anchor/catch plan in place .

with skis ??? , depends on how easily you can get to the kite

My Gin foils have 5th line safety that I use when wind is very strong .... but most of times I park kite on edge of wind window and pull rear line very quickly to flag out kite ( if parked on right side pull right rear line ) ... Always using gloves and never raping lines around you hand and ready to pull safety if something goes wrong .... If it is a big kite you need to reach out very far few times very quickly to pull as much line as length of your kite .... it is a pain to do with my 19m ... then walking to the kite when holding this single line and putting some snow on that edge of kite to get it ready to start from side of wind window ( almost like you do with Arc kites )

On your video kite is going crazy because is flying on rear lines . You can learn how to anchor you kite perfectly in light winds by landing your kite with trailing edge down and pulling brake strap in and out until you get it to right position ( kite sitting on a ground with leading edge and about 30% of kite above ground ) then adjust brake strap to meet with your chicken loop at anchor point .

Thanks for the ideas guys:bigok: I like the idea of bringing the kite to the edge of the window and grabbing a line to quickly flag it. Might have to give it a try next time out. That's one thing I used to love about arcs, they were great to flag on a single line after you were done flying. Not a single bit of power left. Both my Frenzies have 5th line safety's and the couple times I've used them it made somewhat of a mess. Totally kills all power but kinda made a tangle.

Might try Kober's technique next time the wind is lightish...

Safeties on foils aren't the most useful things...

With the Flysurfers, in really strong winds, I get an assistant :D I've trained a couple at my local. When solo, depends on the wind...

Backstall straight down from zenith, unhook. Hand over hand with the lines to the kite, grab a tip and lay it out.

In stronger winds, but I slide it down the edge of the window, backstall and let it slide downwind then same as above.

I can get away with the hand over hand in all but nuking winds. If it's too much I just release one set of lines and it's just like a safety landing, including the twists

Also, heard of someone anchoring the kite like an LEI and walking up a steering line successfully too, but haven't had the moxie to try it myself.

Another one is staking the landing line...

Forgot to mention .... When pulling line walk or run ( depending on size of kite ) towards the edge of window .... so when kite is completely flagged out is directly downwind of you ... Otherwise it will start rolling towards center of wind window and mess up your lines .... On hard icy surface its a bit better because it will slide instead of rolling ...

If this is common stick some rebar in your ice screw and a pool noodle on that. Then drop your kite and back it up on the bar and let it taco back.
Some folks use the front of their truck but that can get messy.

Quote: Originally posted by Bladerunner

If this is common stick some rebar in your ice screw and a pool noodle on that. Then drop your kite and back it up on the bar and let it taco back. Some folks use the front of their truck but that can get messy.

Holy Cow Blade! That's ingenious! I can Taco my kite without having to pull the safety. Then I can simply pull it off the pole when I want to re-launch. Sounds pretty simple and effective. Obviously something that only works when the ice is thick enough. I'll have to try this one also. Thanks

The rebar/pool noodle idea has been used at Ivanpah as well. Seems like the Israeli guys were the first ones to do it. Even works to do a side launch in higher winds. It can also help minimize putting your kite down on the dusty lakebed.

Ched, are you using any ice screws?

Quote: Originally posted by Feyd

Ched, are you using any ice screws?

Yep, pretty much always use an ice screw. Matter of fact that's what its anchored to in my video clip :D

Alternative to the pool noodle/rebar, you can also go wide/stiff PVC

Quote: Originally posted by BeamerBob

The rebar/pool noodle idea has been used at Ivanpah as well. Seems like the Israeli guys were the first ones to do it. Even works to do a side launch in higher winds. It can also help minimize putting your kite down on the dusty lakebed.

Yes, I got this method from Ivanpah. Works real good.