You Can't Tune A Fish, But You Can Tune A Kite!

Get Your Lines Straight!
The number one “my kite’s flying weird” cause are line lengths. All it takes is a one centimeter difference and your kite’s going to behave oddly. There are two line length mishaps: polar and later.

Lateral Line Loss A kite’s lines are paired together as “front” load lines and the “back” steering / break lines. Lateral Line Loss simply means your lines are uneven (laterally across either the front, or the back). When one line becomes longer than the other, it decreases tension causing your kite to pull towards the shorter line. While lines can stretch over time or during a crash, lateral line loss also happens when a rider has a rigging error (i.e. the left rear line is on the second knot while the right one is on the first knot).

Front line lateral loss will have your kite leaning toward the shorter line side. You’ll notice a decrease in depower and turning. Your kite just won’t seem very responsive. Rear line loss causes your kite to turn very fast towards the short line, and very slow to no turning towards the long line. Either lateral loss will critically affect your kite’s precision and the ability to do what you need it to…when you want it to do it!

The Fix Get in the habit of checking your lines for equal length after every 5 sessions. Just connect them to one central point and lay them out together. Should you notice odd turning characteristics while riding, land immediately and check your connections for equal settings. Should one line have stretched out, you need to replace your lines.

Polar length differentiation happens when there’s an imbalance between your front and rear lines. It can cause oversheeting (too much rear line tension) or lead loss (not enough rear line tension). When there’s too much tension on a kite’s rear lines, you’re kite will “oversheet” causing wingtip flare and inducing more drag than the kite’s forward motion can handle. When oversheeted, kites can stall, drop or even fly backwards. When this happens, you’re raising risk levels as your kite can suddenly power up at any moment.

Lead loss just means you have so much tension on your front lines, your back lines are barely working, if at all. Without rear line tension, you’re kite loses steering and breaking control. Without these, wind will totally control what you kite does and where it goes. Very scary.

Good news is there are several things you can do to help prevent either Polar Length Differentiation scenario. The goal is to have your kite at maximum power only when your bar is fully pulled down to the chicken loop. On many current model kites, you can test for proper polar length simply by flying your kite up to midnight, and then pulling your bar down fully. If your wingtips flare in and your kite stalls, you need to increase rear line length. If nothing to little happens, and you find your kite hard to steer, you should likely decrease rear line length. Here’s how:

• Adjust power system The quickest and easiest way is to adjust your power system. When front lines shorten, you’re effectively increasing rear line length at the same time. Reverse happens when you let your front lines out.
  
  
• Alter line lengths This can be done by changing where your lines connect to your bar and/or kite. Most kites offer multiple attachment points either on kite pigtails, or on the leader line that connects the kite line to the bar. Adjust as needed. Be wary in adding any additional knots, as accuracy can be tough.

Slow the kite's Turning Speed
Did you know many pros fly their kites on the slow settings? This gives their kite more stability and allows more room for timing tricks. Most kites out there give you multiple rear line attachment options. Connection points closer to the kite’s edge increase the “leverage” distance to your front line attachments, hence increasing the kite’s steering speed. Try moving your rear line pigtails to the inside points. It will likely smooth things out.

Get More Kite DePower
Popular on today’s kite models are extra long center depower lines with a sliding stopper. With such a large “throw,” these models offer drastic depower, especially when you release the bar (helps reduce overpowered situations). But, if the “stopper” is set to low, the extra throw does nothing for you in emergency situations. If you bar has a stopper, try setting it at full arms length or more. This will give you more “on the fly” depower.

Add Faster Braking
Many current model kites have multiple leading edge bridle attachment options. By moving your font lines “up” the kite (close to the leading edge center), you’re giving the kite more “rocking” power (AKA tilt). With a high swing point, your kite has more room to moves up and down faster when pushing and pulling your bar. This increases how fast your kite will depower. It will also help prevent oversheeting (see above) and help keep your kite feeling smoother in gusty conditions.