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Kite line winding under tension


kitedoc

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What can you do with a large kite in a strong breeze which has swung out over the ocean or very rough terrain ?

Walking the kite down with a carabiner is  out, unless you plan to walk along the ocean floor or up and down hills, rocks and scrub.

In Adelaide our solution, thought of by one of our Kite club members, is to use a boat winch, the sort you mount onto a boat trailer to wind the boat in.

You need to have some slack in the kite line initially to ensure the line can hold on the drum of the winch and then hand wind the line in, ensuring you have anchored the wind securely.

What other ways are there to do this ? What have you used ?

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What can you do with a large kite in a strong breeze which has swung out over the ocean or very rough terrain ?

Walking the kite down with a carabiner is  out, unless you plan to walk along the ocean floor or up and down hills, rocks and scrub.

You don't have to walk towards the kite, you can walk along the beach - could take a few of you with a pulley and long strap so several people can get hold of it..  That's assuming the beach is pretty clear of onlookers of course!

 

You need to have some slack in the kite line initially to ensure the line can hold on the drum of the winch and then hand wind the line in, ensuring you have anchored the wind securely.

There's the trick.  If the wind suddenly comes up and you're not prepared for it, how do you get slack in the line so it can be attached to something like a winch?  Something like a cam cleat perhaps?  I use a standard type cleat to secure my line and I can secure it under a little tension, but it would be very hard to do if a seabreeze came up while I had the 5m Kapfoil up.P1020322.thumb.JPG.bb3b1f35ca4848fd5976a

 

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Thanks, jhn.

I will get a photo of what one of our members uses.

essentially it is a small board of marine ply with two sets of spring cleats attached ( marine stores the cleats have the saw tooth pattern) with rope guidelines either end.

it holds lines such as 500 kg spectra through from the top guide, one set then second set of cleats and lastly guide at the bottom so a section of loose rope can be there for a winch or for adjusting the line length before tying off the single stringer.

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