Pimp Yo Kite - The Kiteboarder Magazine

Pimp Yo Kite
Connection Points: Most kites give you the option to tune the feel
of the kite by changing the front or back line connection points. If
you want the kite to respond slower, move your rear lines forward.
This is especially helpful for wakestyle riders. If you look closely,
you’ll see that most kites
have at least two different
connection points for your
front lines. Your kite will produce
more power if you move
your front lines back. Of
course, this comes at a cost
as the kite will be a little more
sluggish since, for you aerodynamic
junkies, it is running
at a higher angle of attack,
and generally it will be a little more difficult to go upwind. With
some of the new hybrid kites, this change may be the difference
between your kite being more bow styled (when you are on the
forward connection) to acting a little more like a traditional C-kite
(on the back setting). In this case, you won’t notice the negative
effects mentioned of the aft setting.
Kook Proof Connectors:
Every kite should have kook
proof connectors, not because
you don’t know how to rig your
lines, but because it’s easy to
make mistakes when you are
rigging your kite as fast as you
can. They are easy to make
out of little pieces of spectra.
Most common is to put knots
at the end of your front lines
and loops at the end of your
back lines.
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Fix the Holes: Check your kite
for little nicks, scrapes, and
holes. You can fix anything under
two inches long yourself. Leave
anything over two inches for the
professionals at the sail loft. Go
buy some sail repair tape and
always keep it with you. A tiny
cut can become a huge tear if
left alone. Place the tape on both
sides of the kite, and round the
corners of the tape to keep them from peeling off. If you don’t like
white repair tape all over your kite, go buy a set of colored markers
and color the tape to match your kite.
Keep it Clean: Never put your
sandy kite back in the bag. This is
like throwing sheets of sandpaper
in with it. Take it home, inflate it
on the grass, and hose it down.
Don’t put it in the bag until it
is completely dry. A wet kite in
the bag will produce mildew
and mold. If you don’t want the
colors to fade, spray 303 onto
a sponge and evenly apply it to
your canopy as needed. Don’t
overdo it!
Lube: If your kite has pulleys, go
buy a can of McLube Sailkote.
Keep your pulleys clean and
spray them and the line that runs
through them often. This will keep
them working well and extend the
life of your bridles.
Pimp Yo Bar
Make Sure Your Lines are Even!
People often forget that your lines
shrink and stretch as they age. You
can’t drive a race car if it pulls to the
right, and you sure as hell can’t learn
tricks to blind when your kite is all
over the place. Kites are designed
to fly with all lines the same length
coming off the bar (that’s why those
pigtails on your kite aren’t the same length on the leading and trailing edge).
This is especially important when you have a 5th line bar, after a particularly
windy session or when your gear is a year old. Make sure all lines are the
same length, and then adjust the nose line on the kite so there is little to no
tension. Tie your leash to a tree or other solid object and then hook the end
of your lines to your leash clip. Grab the bar and pull lightly to make sure all
or your lines are exactly the same length. Hooked up to the tree, it is easy
to see if one line is coming slack sooner than the others. After you are done,
hook up your kite and fly it at neutral. If properly balanced, your kite will sit
steadily above your head without pulling either left or right.
Stopper Ball: Add a stopper ball to
your chicken loop above and maybe
even below the bar. Putting a ball
above the bar prevents it from getting
away from you short armed riders.
For those rippers killing it unhooked, it
keeps the kite flying more like a fixed
four line kite. If you get an adjustable
ball or bar set-up, then it is easy to ad-
just the amount of chicken loop in your setup so you can go from the waves
(with lots of chicken loop play) to wake style on the flats. You long armed
apes may like a stopper ball below the bar (or a bigger harness loop). A ball
below the bar will prevent the kite from oversheeting, even if you unhook.
Simplify: Keep your bar simple and clean. If you still
have a fixed loop on your bar, take it off (unless you ride
a fixed bar). If you still use a shackle, get rid of it. The
use of the donkey stick makes shackles not necessary,
plus shackles are goofy looking and can be dangerous.
Shackles belong on sailboats, not kites.
Can you reach? If you are short, you probably have
to bend at the waist when you depower your kite. This
is not good form. Change out your harness loop for a
smaller one so you can keep your back straight, even
when you depower. If you are really tall, you might
want to get a longer harness loop, so you don’t look
like T-Rex when you hold the bar in at full power. If you
are short like Riccitelli, you can add extensions to your
depower strap so you can reach it.
Make ‘Em Last: If you make spectra pigtails for your
lines, they will last twice as long. This will protect the
sleeves from wearing through, and you probably need
to buy spectra anyway to make kook proof connectors.
Borrow a candle from your girlfriend and rub it on your
chicken loop. The wax will protect the line from chafe.
Don’t use surf wax. It will actually collect sand and
make the line wear faster.
Bucky Ashcraft shows us how
to pimp yo ride with Texas pride.
Lens: Ryan Riccitelli
Tag It: Some people paint their kites to customize them. For
example, Bucky Ashcraft painted a Texas Flag on his kite with
acrylic spray paint. We do not know the long term affects, so
please use at your own risk. As a minimum, you should definitely
tag your name and contact information on your kite. A permanent
marker works really well.
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