One of the first things that you will learn in the kitesurf course will be how to launch and land your kitesurf . The launching of your kitesurf must be done with an assistant and with some knowledge about the wind window because it is one of the most dangerous phases when flying a kite. Since if we are not in the correct position with respect to the wind, we can suffer a drag. We must find a place free of obstacles and people to do it in the safest way.
How to Launch your kite
To take off the kite we will need an assistant. The first thing we must do before launch the kite is to see which direction the wind is coming from. The line between the kitesurfer and the assistant holding the kite must be perpendicular to the wind (around 90º against the wind) (always from the leading edge facing the wind ).
Before everything we will connect our safety leash to the security line in the chicken loop and connect the chicken loop to our harness. First we should stand a few meters outside the wind window (the kite is always more towards the wind than we are).
Before giving the signal for the take off we must check that all the lines of the kite are untangled. Being placed out of the wind the kite canopy (fabric) will find itself flapping like a flag. Once verified that all the lines are well connected and free we will move those meters towards the wind to enter in the wind window at 3 or 9. The moment we are at the takeoff point we will feel the tension of the kite in the harness and the kite canopy will inflate and stop flaming. This is when we will give the assistant the signal to release the kite and we will launch the kite.
Just before the launch we will check that the chicken loop is well connected to the harness since sometimes when it loses tension it slips out a little and with the kite in the air it slips out of the chicken loop and can be very dangerous.
We should always be alert in case something strange happens and we must release the bar and activate the safety system (quick release).
One of the most common beginner mistakes is that when they take off the kite they pull too much of the bar with 2 hands. It is very important while the kite rises, raise the bar a little to prevent the kite backstalling behind .
Here we leave you an explanatory video on how to take off the kite in shallow water. In the sand we will follow the same steps.
How to Land the kite
Landing the kitesurf is much easier than launching.
The first thing we must do is check that there is no one where we want to land the kite and do the signal for the landing assistant. We will send lower the kite as slowly as possible along the edge of the wind window to the ground. When the assistant has held the kite by the center of the leading edge, we will walk a few meters towards the kite to remove the tension from the lines and avoid that it pushes the assistant and it is easier for him to leave the kite in the sand in a parking position .
Once landed, we will put sand on both sides of the central rib near the leading edge to avoid that the wind can take the kite with the lines and cause an accident.
Video Landing the kite
