In this how-to we will elaborate about the question: how to launch a kite for a kitesurfer?

We start by explaining the situation that occurs when you are standing on a beach where people are kitesurfing. In that case, you are the ‘kitelauncher’ when someone asks you help him/her.  After this, we elaborate on this question as if you were a rider that gets help from a kitelauncher (someone you ask to help you). At last, we explain how to launch the kite yourself, in case no one is around.

Enjoy reading!

This position comes with a lot of responsibility as you are the one letting go of the kite so you should also make sure that all is correct in order to avoid an accident.

First of all, you need to pick up the kite and put it in the launching position making the kite perpendicular to the ground, and the leading edge facing the wind, the interior of the kite should be facing its pilot. Loads of people often hold the kite and remain in front of the leading edge. You should avoid this by making sure you hold the kite by having your top hand pushing the kite on the back and the bottom hand pulling towards you. This way you have the kite completely secured, and you can stay behind the leading edge allowing for the kite to fly when it’s all ready.

You will be instructed to let go of the kite once the pilot makes a thumbs up it’s the signal to release but there are more things to consider. Lot’s of pilots don’t know how to position themselves correctly and give the thumbs up when the kite is not well placed causing a potential accident situation. So besides the thumbs up, that signals that the rider has made all his verifications and is ready for you to release, you should check two more things.

First of all, make sure the kite is not flapping, and all the sail is now filled with air. This is the most common mistake as often the rider doesn’t know how to position himself to make sure the kite will fly on launch. If you are given the thumbs up and the kite is still flapping do not let go of the kite and signal the pilot that the kite is not ready. When the kite is fully inflated you even start to feel some pressure from the kite that begins to want to move forward. The rider needs to move towards the wind direction to make the kite filled with air until this has been done do not let go.

The other thing you need to check is that the lines are not crossed. So take a quick look at the four lines and see if they all go straight to the bar without being tangled and that the pilot has the right hand on the right side of the bar (left should be on the red side). Often novice riders grab the bar incorrectly, and if you let go of the kite, the potential accident is high.

So once the kite is completely tense wanting to go, the lines are straight with no tangles and the rider has given the thumbs up you can now release the kite.

Once we enter the Level 2 – intermediate – I only recommend 2 students per instructor with one kite flying. Or if the place is cold just split the time of the lesson and teach each one independently. This for me ensures the optimal learning ratio. At this point, the student is going to enter the water for the first times. He will crash the kite and in a real situation have to deal with the relaunch, body drag and the board for the first times. The corrections and support of the instructor are crucial at this point. He can also coach the 2nd student once the first one is practicing. This way the 2nd student has time rest in between exercises. The 2nd student also acts as a supervisor and helper of the 1st. Giving him his point of view and helping him all the time. The lesson at this level is demanding physically and psychologically. A lot of new techniques are learned, and a lot of further coordination is required. So the mapping of the brain to coordinate the movements is critical. Since it’s only one kite flying I actually recommend the lesson is split by the 2 students, this some benefits but also some problems. The advantage is your lesson is half the time, and so you don’t get time to get cold as you are always practicing. You also lose the possibility to observe similar mistakes. My recommendation is that you take the lessons separately but observe a similar class to know what to expect beforehand.

Here you have two options depending on your location.

The first option is to find a fixed anchor and use your leash or a secondary leach to connect to the chicken loop. Once you have connected the chicken loop to a fixed point, you can be first your launcher, and you position the kite at the edge of the wind window at 3 or 9 positions to have the kite fully tense and ready to fly. Confirm the lines are straight and there are no tangles. As the kite is fully depowered as the bar is all up the kite will remain in the same place waiting for you to come and connect yourself to the kite. First, attach the chicken loop and become the anchor if you are using your leash. If you have a secondary rope put your leash first on the kite safety line and then connect the chicken loop to you. Once you have the kite on yourself, you can release the anchor point and launch the kite up to 45 degrees.

Another option that you have is to have the kite in the parked position, and you rotate to the usual launch position, as you need some wind you will keep on going to the wind direction making the kite enter the more powerful area to help it to become perpendicular to the ground. You support this by pulling on the upper line until the kite becomes perpendicular. This method is the most aggressive one for you and the kite as the kite will scratch the sand and will be launched in a more powerful area. It’s particularly important to make sure you don’t keep pulling the line once the kite is launched and also that you do not pull the bar. The kite will be much more in the power zone making this a more aggressive launch. It’s still the most commonly used one but it’s not the safest one, and it’s the one that doesn’t allow you to check the lines before launching so make sure you connected all correctly and that you also grab the bar in the correct position before launching using this technic.

So for each level of your learning progress, there are better ratios for learning in my opinion. These ratios could optimize price, but because of bad school practices and clients being unaware of these it’s hard to make a uniformed price list making it very hard to show these advantages. So in our case, we make all lessons one on one for 1:30 making sure you get the most out of the lesson time by making sure you only use your time learning.