White Bear Lake

pete168 · Post by **pete168** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 4:05 pm

Today was the day to be at White Bear Lake! The winds were out of the SW at 12-16, when I first got there around 9am Scott was already in the parking lot getting his gear ready. The lake had a nice inch of new snow that had bonded to the ice so the skis and boards could get a grip. The east and west ends of the bay were pretty steady, but when you passed by the opening between the points...hold on! I'm not sure what the gusts were getting up to, but I clocked a 41.5mph pass on my GPS using a Slingshot B6!

Tried several times to make it past the points, but may have needed stiffer skis to hold a line (or smaller Kite). Good to ride with you Scott. I left at 12:30. By that time there were 5 kiters cruising the lake.

Pete168

Dave Z · Post by **Dave Z** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 6:33 pm

Gusty out there today! Good crew for mid-afternoon. Mike W clocked 47 mph today on his 10M Turbo D. The bows are amazing - I was able to hang onto my 12M Rapture.

We packed up when the rain started to fall. Excellent riding surface today.....hopefully the Weather Gods will afford us a few more sessions before we switch over to liquid - Hudson Marina's gettin' there

SCOTT RIDOUT · Post by **SCOTT RIDOUT** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 7:24 pm

Really nice to meet you today Pete, it was a great day, really gusty but managable on a 12m TD. It was allot of fun and I swear you were going much faster than the 41 mph your GPS clocked you were hauling across the lake!! I don't think I have ever went as fast on a snowbaord before in my life other than today and that even includes snowbaording down hill! I was in total control though even through the gusts, amazing kite!

I do have one question though for anyone who does have a TD slingy, in high winds how in the heck do you self land the darn thing, it just does not want to land? Now it makes me wonder how to land it in the water too by myself?

Mike W · Post by **Mike W** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 8:03 am

Good question, Scott. There is no good way to self land without assistance with the stock setup. Word has it that Slingshot will be sending out a kit so that you can attach a safety to one of the power lines to kill the kite completely. I think is involves a couple of steel rings and a bit of line. Contact SS customer service for more info. about the kit.

steveb · Post by **steveb** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 3:55 pm

Scott, don't know if it will work but try pushing the stopper out as far as it will go and push the bar out. If the lines get slack enough the kite may come down.
I'm guessing but this is one of the safeties cab uses, once those lines go slack the kite just comes down and lands in the relaunch position. Grab a line and flag the kite.What I don't know is if the TD has enough slack but it's worth trying because it works well.

Mike W · Post by **Mike W** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 5:10 pm

Steve, that sounds like it could be a bit hairy in strong wind. In light wind it is easy to fly the kite to side of the window, put it down, and yank a power line. In stronger wind, the kite does not want to flip down on the LE. Are you suggesting a full depower at that point? If so, it would seem like the kite might flip on its back, which would not be good. Even if the kite ends up cleanly back in relaunch position, it is not easy to reel in a power line if it is windy-- especially without gloves in water. Does pulling on a steering line flag the kite without flipping it around?

I have been thinking that it would be great to have a "kill switch" for strong wind. Apparently, the folks at SS have had similar thoughts.

SCOTT RIDOUT · Post by **SCOTT RIDOUT** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 5:28 pm

With the stopper ball deal, I do have it all the way out it does not matter, when you let the bar all the way out or even eject the kite and have the leash the kite only just depowers on it's LE, the problem is really just getting the darn thing down and dead some how, it self launches too good really. Normally I run it to the outside of the window and then take the upside steering or power line and give it a pull and it would fall on it's wingtips and the wind would then hold it down while I run to it and put my board on it to weight it down, it's the getting it down for it to sit there while you approach it that is hairy because it wants to relaunch by it's self?

Julia · Post by **Julia** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 6:01 pm

That's funny. I seem to have no problem getting the kite to land upside down. At least when I don't want it to!
That was an issue for me at Milly on Saturday. If the kite (12m TD) landed upside down due to operator error, it was very difficult to get it flipped over in low wind. But, that's another topic all together.

steveb · Post by **steveb** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 6:09 pm

The kites must be set up differently, cabs you just push the bar past the stopper and they glide nose down out of the sky, totally depowered.
Thats why I thought it would work for the TD...Sorry.

SCOTT RIDOUT · Post by **SCOTT RIDOUT** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 11:03 pm

Julia it does not land upsidedown it lands nose first, the problem in higher winds meaning winds at 16 and above it's very difficult to get it to lay down to stop it from flying, I would like to see it demostrated once?

Mike W · Post by **Mike W** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 1:40 pm

Scott, I still have not figured out how to paste pictures into these messages, but here is a photo of the new TD bar with the kill switch:

http://www.kiteforum.com/phpbb/viewtopi ... 1&start=10

I rigged something similar on my 10TD using a steel ring. I hope to try it tomorrow.

Tom L · Post by **Tom L** » Wed Mar 15, 2006 3:11 pm

Even in heavy winds I am able to land my Xbow nose into the wind by vigorosly yanking on the topside front line (when its at the edge of the window). I have to yank in a lot of line and do it fast. In the water the Xbow can be flagged using a front line, and it will not re-launch. On water or snow, if it is really windy you really can't let go of the line you are using to flag the kite, without risking the kite re-launching. So you pretty much have to walk up that line, to secure the kite. Gloves are a must. In lighter winds, it's much easier.

I'm not sure if any of this applies to the TD, but I would think it would, as they are supposed to very similar in design.

I guess I should add that until you get the kite down wind of you it will have more propensity to relaunch, so this is easier done on water, as the kite will drift down wind pretty quick. On snow it may be bit harder.

Another idea is if you can get the kite straight down wind of you on it's nose in a regular relaunch position, you can get the kite to roll over on it's back the same as if it is flagged by a 5th line. You then would have to walk to the kite holding the 2 front lines or maybe all 4. My Xbow will sit in this position but it is precarious as I think it could take off in reverse.

These bow kites do not like to sit on the ground so it is going to take some creative experimentation to develop some new techniques for self landing & launching. I've figured out some that work for me, but it appears that they may not work on other bows. Good luck Scott.