Kitesoul Magazine #2 English Edition

120TECHLineshow adding 5-10m extensions,radically increasesyour wind window,giving you unthinkableupwind angles comparedwith standard lines. Theresult is catching a waveevery 3 minutes ratherthan one every 20.Another interesting ideawould be to use long lineswhen you are underpowered:let’s say youare riding your 10, butVENTOyou are having problemsgoing upwind... You don’thave a 12...Darn! Well justadd 5-10m extensionsand it will be like goingout with an 11 or a 12, tryit!Again: you are doing freestylewith your smallestkite, but it is too reactive...When you rotate thekite immediately goesinto kiteloop and ...Wellyou know how it feels tobadly land a kiteloop…just add 5m extensionto increase the reactiontime of the kite, this wayit will be more controllableand manoeuvrable.Last but not least: youlike surfing waves butgoing out with your 12scares you a bit? Set upyour 9 with long linesand you are done! Try it!Kite trimmingYou should periodicallycheck the length of yourlines and pigtails.The lines, with wear andtear, tent to overstretchand this can affect theway your kite flies. It’strue that many manufacturerssell low-stretchlines, thanks to the inventionof tougher materials;however this simplymeans that modern linesstretch 5cm instead of20cm... Well, that’s alreadyquite something!Choose your lines carefullybecause some lines(usually front-lines) mightoverstretch after afew hours of use and thiswill negatively affect theperformance of your kite.