Launch position by Thierry Bressure

Transcript

1. ›

   Safety position

   0:02

   In this lesson, I show how to go from a parked position to one ready for takeoff: from a kite with its leading edge on the ground and its tips in the air, to a kite with its tips down and its leading edge up. To start, you can use a stake to put the kite in its safety position: well in the wind, leading edge on the ground. Here my kite is flat, so I need to get it back under pressure in the wind. To do that, I pull the bottom lines toward me, the brakes, so it's under pressure as quickly as possible, and I step back to give it wind. You also need to help the wind get under the sail: small shoulder movements, or small alternating left-right arm movements, flex the sail and let the wind in underneath.

2. ›

   Handles on the stake

   1:28

   With the kite under pressure, I put the handles on the stake: I pass the handles behind the stake, leaving the bottom of the handles far out. This gives the kite a negative angle that drives it into the ground: it stays really pinned down. When I pick my handles up again, I make sure to keep the brake lines far out to hold that angle.

3. ›

   Turning the kite over

   2:22

   Standing up, I rotate the kite on itself to put the tips on the ground and the leading edge up. The way I laid it down, my right handle's lines run above the left handle's: to stand it up without a twist in the lines, I need to rotate the right wing, which is on my left. With the brakes released far out, the kite stays safe; I pull only the right brake, which gives that half-wing a positive angle and lifts it. Once the rotation is done, I remember to pull both brakes — or, as a memory aid, to push the fronts — so the kite keeps a negative angle in its new position, leading edge up. There wasn't much wind here, so I should have stepped back more. Some pilots say you need to “whip” a wing to stand it up; I find that inaccurate: it's simply a matter of giving a single half-wing a positive angle. Once the kite is in takeoff position, you can move on to the next lesson: launching it straight and landing it straight on its tips.