One of the best self-rescue videos I have seen - dealing with the board during self rescue would have been the cherry on the cake (perhaps by passing the leech through the handle or footstrap or similar. Well done!
if you're in deep water, manage your lines, get to the kite and flip it over, with one arm around the centre of the leading edge swim over to the board if it's nearby, then put the board on your feet and self-rescue back like that
I am a big fan of the described self rescue techniques and I used them a lot on the past. However I have done moved to a place with typically very large waves and a wicked large shorebreak that goes from too deep to stand to knee deep over about 2m distance. This means that if you are trying to come in holding a kite there is a strong possibility of you being swept into and rolled up in the kite itself. So it is not just lines you need to be careful of, the kite itself is a potential drowning trap. So I would like to add that when coming in with big surf rather ditch the kite when you enter the the surf zone and swim in. The surf will eventually beach your kite. Rather pay for a kite repair and live to kite again.
Great video mate. From experience I would say always keep the board on your feet. You can use it as a way of making drag or decreasing it. Helped me get it massively overpowered to come In between piers
We would always recommend not kiting in Offshore winds however even if the wind is cross off you can still use the Kite to sail back into the beach it just takes a lot longer. If the wind is totally offshore you've made a serious error of judgement with spot and condition assessment. In this instance I personally would be ditching gear and swimming in, always self preservation before equipment ;-)
