Have you ever been out kiteboarding, crashed and had the kite roll? If this happened to you then you probably had inverted lines. Another situation where this may happen is on the beach. If lines are not set up right on the beach, then a line or two can be inverted. There are other instances like a drift launch where this situation may happen. There are two options we recommend for inverted lines.
Option One: Fly The Kite Home
The safest option for inverted lines is to fly the kite like normal and land it to someone on the beach. A common misconception is that a kite with inverted lines will not fly. It may feel a little bit weird but the kite will still fly like normal. If you invert your kite on the water, go through a normal water relaunch. Get the kite to the edge of the wind window to assess the situation. If the kite flys normal, then fly the kite back to the beach. Land the kite to someone and walk your lines out.
Option Two: Juggle The Bar
The second option is to juggle the bar. This is an advanced maneuver and can be dangerous. This requires you to unhook your safety leash and pass the control bar through various lines to fix it. You want to choose when you do this carefully. We recommend attempting this in lighter winds to learn. The stronger the wind, the more dangerous this is.
Situations To Try This
The best situation to attempt this is if someone is holding your kite. If something goes wrong, you can signal them to land your kite. We recommend trying this on your own if you’re slightly underpowered and in shallow water. The stronger the wind, the harder it is. Deep water makes it even more difficult to juggle your bar.
How To Fix Inverted Lines
The first thing you want to do is get the kite to the edge of the wind window. The edge of the wind window has the least amount of power and is the safest place. Next you want to visualize how the lines are. What line went through which line. You want to know how the lines go through before attempting to fix it. Unhook your safety leash and undo your chicken loop. A key point throughout bar juggling is to hold the center lines. Holding the center lines prevents the kite from powering up. Depending on the situation, you may have to put the entire bar through the center lines. When you put the bar through and spin the bar, you’ll have to spin the floaties on the bar end. Make sure the outside lines do not wrap around the bar when spinning the bar. Holding on to the center lines will prevent the kite from suddenly powering up. Once your lines are untangled, hook back in and fly like normal.
Been in this situation and want to learn how to juggle the bar? Take a quick advanced lesson with us and we will teach you how to safely juggle a bar!
