How Difficult is it to Relaunch Your Kite if it Falls Into the Water?

Water Relaunching of a Kiteboarding Kite_1

Since we like to use (and to enable our students and customers to use and enjoy) the very Best Kiteboarding kites in our Kite Beach Cabarete Kiteboarding School, we'll use for this tutorial example the Nemesis HP (A Best Kiteboarding Kite):

Kiteboarding Kite Water Relaunching (Performing a water-start):

The Nemesis HP kite boarding kite has a ‘built-in’ re-launch capability.
This is due to the curved shape of the wingtips and the geometry of the VP2 bridle.
If your kite’s leading edge is down in the water, simply depower your kiteboarding kite via the trim strap, then pull and hold either of the back lines to start the relaunch process.
Your kite will taxi across the wind window, eventually rotate upwards into an upright position, and then your kiteboarding kite will await relaunch.
Kitesurfing Kite Relaunch (water-start) is actually performed when you pull backwards on the bar side that corresponds to the upwards facing wingtip of your kite.

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As your kite boarding kite is relaunching and rising out of the water, be careful not to pull all the way in on the bar.
If you pull all the way on the bar, this could oversheet the kite and cause it to fall backwards into the water…
Instead, as your kiteboarding kite begins to lift out of the water, push out on the bar a little to allow it to breathe.

In lighter winds, it may be to your advantage to use your kiteboarding board to create some additional resistance to the pull of the kite
The kiteboarding board also enables faster relaunch, and speeds the kite, taking an upright position at the edge of the wind window.
Once you're in this position, simply adjust the bar and steer the kite, launching it upward.

Both of these are advanced kiteboarding kite relaunch techniques mentioned below are only recommended for experienced kiteboard riders.

Hot Launching Your Kite Boarding Kite

With the kiteboarding kite resting on its trailing edge in the water, with its weight partly supported by the struts, it is possible that the kite may accidentally ‘hot launch’ at some point downwind of you in the power zone.
As soon as the kite powers up, you must push out on the bar, sheeting out the kite, front-line load only.
The rear lines must not have any tension until the kite is safely in the neutral zone, which, in this case would be overhead at the zenith.

Reverse Launching of a KiteBoarding Kite

When the LeadingEdge of the kite is downwind on the water (with the kite's wingtips closer to you and the c-shaped center of the kite farthest away from you), you can create a reverse draft.
Use the rear kiteboarding kite lines on the trailing edge, so that it will cause the kite to hover up backwards.
If both rear lines of the kite are pulled with even tension, the kite will hover up, evenly balanced.
If one rear line is released a few inches, the kite will spin around in the opposite direction and start to redirect.
So be prepared to flip the bar and sheet-out the kite to reduce powering up the kite in a downwind position, and crashing it back into the water.

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The Kitexcite kiteboarding and paragliding center in Kitebeach Cabarete, Dominican Republic is the primary kiteboarding school in the area and the only Best Kiteboarding School and authorized retailer on Kitebeach, Cabarete Dominican Republic.
Stefan Reuther, the Kitexcite founding manager, was the first kiteboarder on Cabarete and first kiteboarding instructor in entire Caribbean.
Call Stefan: +1(829)962-4556 or Skype: Kitexcite-Stefan
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Check out our accurate Cabarete wind weather forecasts and kiteboarding conditions.