TANGLED KITES
What exactly should you do when you tangle with another kiter ?
It really depends on the situation. The most important thing is to not panic and to communicate nicely with the other kiter so you both get out of the water without any injury.
In this post you will see my advices to approach your safety systems if you are not able to talk to the other kiter or you are not experienced enough to untangle the kites in the water.
Do you fear tangling with another kiter ?
HOW DO YOU TANGEL KITES WITH SOMEONE?
Tangled kites is probably the biggest fear for most kiters.
My name is Petar Pavlovic. I love sharing my Kitesurf Experience with you and in this blog we are going to talk about how to approach the situation when you tangle with another kiter.
Let’s see first why you would tangle with someone:
- If the spot is super crowded with other kiters, maybe you are riding in the teaching area surrounded with beginners
- or you and the other kiter are not following the right of way rules
- or you are just having fun with your friend.
These are the most common situations where I have seen kites tangle.
What to do when you tangle with another kiter?
It is very important to not start screaming and arguing with the other kiter because this would not solve any problem!
AVOID PANICKING IF YOU TANGEL KITES!
The main thing is to not panic and to communicate nicely with the other kiter because kites could be twisted in many different ways, which sometimes is not too difficult to untwist for an experienced kiter.
If for some reason you are not able to communicate with the other kiter or both of you are not experienced enough to untangle the kites, there are few steps you can follow in order to get out of this situation.
HOW TO SOLVE THE TANGLED KITES ISSUE?
Here is how I recommend to approach your safety systems:
- First of all, never touch the lines. Just let go of the bar and be ready to use the chicken loop quick release. It might happen that the kites just fall down on the side towards the beach. This situation would be perfect because you would be slowly dragged back to the beach without spending any energy.
- In case your kite starts moving without you touching the bar immediately use the chicken loop quick release and be ready to use your safety leash quick release. Luckily both kites loses the tension and you can slowly swim back to the beach.
- When for any reason after the first two safety systems your kite is still moving and generating power. Disconnect also your safety leash to loose your kite.
- In case you decide to try untwisting the lines, you want to avoid going right in the middle of them, but always try to get as close as possible of the bar of the other kiter.
- If some how you get any lines wrapped around any part of your body, immediately use your safety knife.
In order to avoid tangling kites, keep your distance with other kiters and follow the right of way rules which we are going to learn about in the next blog post.
