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Kite Etiquette, Safety issues, and keeping the
Stoke
When passing on the downwind-side of another kiter,
Keep your kite very Low (close to the water)
When passing upwind of another kiter, windsurfer, surfer,
ect.
Keep your kite very high ( way up in the sky ).
When riding near a beginner who is by themselves or with an instructor
stay as far away as possible and always expect the unexpected.
When landing your kite or getting rigged up to ride.
Keep your kite lines off of the lines of other kites.
BEFORE Jumping, check to be sure the area is clear downwind of you.
If you're on the beach and someone is approaching the beach and
tapping the top of they're head. They are signaling you to
assist with landing
their kite.
Always use a kite-leash. In other words: USE A
KITE-LEASH. Its important
that you have a way to completely kill the power in your kite in a split second.
The rider leaving the beach, going out, has right of way over
those riding in.
Give right of way to everyone else. ALL surfers, windsurfers,
kayakers, etc
Kites have excellent fast manoeverability and kite lines that can kill.
Don't fly your kite over the heads innocent beach goers. Kids, grandmas,
fisherman,
or anyone else that might be on the beach just doing their
thing.
You only think your in control. The fact is, you can be hit by an
unpredictable wind gust
or a kite line can break causing your kite to fly out of your
control.
Test your kite-leash safety system to make sure it works as designed.
If you have a control bar that uses a "stopper ball" on the line,
be sure
the kite can fully extend with the bar at the stopper.
Measure your kites wingspan, If the span is 20 feet. Set the stopper ball 20
feet
from the control bar. Now, if you decide to use this control bar on your
new
larger (longer) kite with a 28 foot wingspan, your kite WILL NOT fully depower.
If you use one bar with multiple kites, just rig the stopper for your longest
kite,
and it will work with your smaller (shorter wingspan) kites.
The new 5th line safety leash are gererally set with the stopper at 1/2 the
wingspan
length. Always TEST it BEFORE you need it.
Mentally rehearse triggering your quick-release safety system just prior
to
launching a few times. Just before I launch, I feel like a gun-fighter in
an old western
movie "ready to draw". In an emergency, you wont have time
to think about it, its needs
to become an automatic response.
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