Simple Kitesurfing Self Rescue Procedure (The important points) 

Oh awesome! thanks James!

Thanks for making this! Super helpful.

Cheers thanks mate :)

Cheers thanks for the comment :) we'll cya in the next one ~Flukes Kitesurfing

Good to hear it helped!

Hey Teina, Thanks and yes, absolutely! in the surf as you say, it can get even harder is if the kite is being rolled/pulled at the ame time. add to the "fun" :)

cheers Damien! stoked to hear you've gotten into kiting and happy to hear you've found the channel helpuful! Let us know how you go :) cya out there ~flukes kitesurfing

Perfect! Enjoy the bar :)

Cheers mate happy to hear you're enjoying the channel :)

Thank Kay! Glad you liked it :)

Hey Rob, yeah, they can get expensive... Thanks for letting us know what you like to do! Personally, I prefer just to sit on the board, but always great to hear other ideas.

Hey Maxim, thats sounds like a bit of an ordeal so stoked it all worked out and great to hear that some of the tips came back to you out there and helped! Thanks for letting us know mate :)

Oh nice! Hopefully it helps a bit for next time too :)

Cheers thanks mate, glad you enjoy the channel

Cheers Valeria! stoked to hear you've found the channel helpful :) let us know if there's anything in particular you'd like to see next (open for requests haha) & we'll try and get to it in an upcoming video. Cya in the next one ~ flukes kitesurfing

Oh man! That's insane! Glad to hear it all went well. Like you say, in the water, it is really hard to keep track of all of the lines... and in a suit, VERY hard to feel what is going on.

Great thanks Silviu!

Nice! Glad to hear it :)

Thanks Jaeson!

Cheers Dan!

Thanks mate!

Nice one! Have fun out there!

Hey Reemoamez, thank, lad iots comin accross that way. and yes, the watre start is one we have planned for sure :)

That is awesome! Have fun!

No worries :) cya in the next one ~Flukes Kitesurfing

Glad it worked out :)

For sure! Glad it helped!

My pleasure! Hope it helps :)

Happy to hear :) thanks mate!

Cheers Chris appreciate the comment mate! ~Flukes Kitesurfing

thanks again :)

Prefect! Glad it helped fill in the gaps!

Yeah for sure! Best to understand the basics before you need it for real!

Hey Job, sure thanks for the suggestion we try and get that one made for you :)

Hey Alexis, glad you found it helpful! Do you mean so the board drifts behind you? I'd prefer to sit on the board, or put the board on your feet and sit back in the water while you wrap up your lines. I would not advise disconnecting your leash for any reason other than an emergency as you run the risk of losing your kite. :)

Thanks Jarco!

I like the method you describe. I would Think it’s the safest as well because u get to the kite quickly and that minimizes the risk. Both from drowning and also from the kite relaunching. I recently had a PRE mature chicken loop release and was forced to practice my self rescue. It had been at least 4 years and it was a good refresher. It’s also why I’m here watching this lads excellent description. I first hooked my leash to my board, then followed my centre lines to my kite. At that point I felt completely safe. I flipped the kite and then wrapped my bar and proceeded To sail to shore. I ve tried wrapping my lines like he describes, but it is very hard to do a good job and it’s exhausting!

Hey Luuk, Good question, I don't have a definitive answer for you, sorry. I don't do that personally, but I guess you can, the only issue might be that having the kite fixed for you at your harness hook, it might have more chance to pull tension on a line, make it hard for you to roll or move, get in the way while lying on the kite and sailing etc... Were when holding the bar it won't (you can let go or move it easily). The way I like to do it is to rest the bar on top of the canopy tucked near the leading edge. Hope that helps. Luke

Hey Daversj, yes, thanks for the comment, that is actually a really important point and one that I plan to make a video on... "When do you decide to actually self rescue?" as you say, self rescue is not always the best way to get back to shore, most of the time, the best thing to do is just sit there and let the kite slowly drift you in (once you have toggled it into the correct position) so I couldn't agree more :) Thanks, Luke

wind direction may change, so just avoiding shitty situation may not help sometime. I'm newbie and happy that watched this video. Thanks a lot.

Perfect, glad it helped :)

Really good question Roman, yes, it is to some extent. You can sail in the self rescue position, from directly downwind to across the wind. Downwind is easy enough, across the wind you can use your arm or board as a rudder much like body dragging. I find once in the position, I naturally go at around 45 degrees between downwind and across the wind by just simply lying there and holding the kite in position. I also believe (although have not experimented with this) that if you pull the arc smaller, you will go further upwind, and if you let it out, further downwind. If you try that, let me know if it works :) These videos are in the dominican republic :)

Flukes Kitesurfing Thanks mate for your quick response! Love your videos they are REALLY helpful! Keep it up! But you're aussie right? 😉

Hey no worries :) Sounds like you successfully self rescued & it's always good to practice once in a while for real :) Yes you're right, it's not possible to tack back upwind once you have self rescued & packed down in the water & are using the kite to sail back into the beach. You can choose which direction downwind to travel- port or starboard- whichever side the beach is on, but yes you will be travelling downwind to some degree. - too much drag in the water to make any upwind ground. Just do your best to use the kite as a sail & make your way back in to the beach :) which sounds like you did. Did this answer your question? All the best ~Flukes Kitesurifng

Hey yeah never heard of this either, you definitely want a stopper ball to be able to comfortably reach the bar after letting go.

Hey Nicola, while it is possible to pull in on the bridle while laying on the kite and get the perfect curve in the sail to tack slightly upwind, it's not easy and I would never really on my skill to be able to do that.. Normally you would not go out in offshore wind. But if you do, be prepared to follow the procedure here to get to the kite and wrap up the bar as seen in this video, and then paddle/swim back toward the shore with the kite in the smile position dragging behind you by the leash clipped to your harness. That said, again, avoid offshore wind conditions unless you are very confident to get back to the beach by swimming. Hope that helps :)

@@FlukesKitesurfing it helps a lot ! Thank you so much for the answer, I will practice to be confident in the water

@@Befric No probelm mate

As long as you have released the safely line before wrapping up the bar, the kite should not be able to fly with any significant power.. That said, in high winds the kite may lift up and down out of the water and even flip over etc with only the safely line secured, but shouldn't be able to generate much power. So in that event, you can keep wrapping up until you reach the kite even while its bouncing around. If it becomes to powered or uncomfortable, you might choose to release the kite completely, but that would be at your discretion taking all other factors into consideration. Hope that helps :)

Glad it helped. Yeah.. if the board is out there you just have to look for it. not much else you can do. :) When I have a issue theses days though, i always make a point to grab my board before i do anything else. then I sit on it.

Glad you made it in ok! :) Yeah this should be taught at the end of your first lesson in a IKO school. But no everyone teaches it unfortunately...

@@FlukesKitesurfing thanks :) yea unfortunately, would have been helpful ... Huge thanks for making this video! I'm gonna memorise it and practice those knots! 😊

As long as you can swim you should be ok. Just go to calm areas, and even better look for a lagoon for your lessons when you can stand up if needed :)

Sounds like you might need a new kite :) does it have a high Y? How would you want to ensure you're kite can no longer power up? -by shortening 1 line only. The kite needs equal line lengths to fly which is the principle behind the safety line. -you could choose just 1 of those centre lines to quickly wrap around the bar afew times, secure with 2 half hitches, then continue wrapping up all the lines. If both centre lines remain the same length the kite could still hold some power.. by significantly shortening just 1 of those lines and not both at the same time, you will ensure the kite can' t power up again. Be careful if its an older kite or bar :) Upgrading your bar can be a great, less expensive, way to update your gear.. ~Flukes Kitesurfing

​@@FlukesKitesurfing Thanks for the answer. It's an F-one Bandit 4 (2011) and does have a high Y. I think the Bandits had the same(ish) safety system until like 2017, so it can't be that much less safe than the 1 line flag kites? And there must be a way to self rescue on these, right? Is your suggestion (besides getting a new kite/bar) that I self-rescue on the combined center line up until the Y-connection, then wrap one of them quickly around the bar and secure with 2 half hitches? Don't I have to do a whole lot of wrapping to significantly shorten one of the front lines (like 3-4 meters)? Isn't there a risk of the kite powering up and starting to loop during this wrapping? Some people on forums say that a 1 line flag system is unsafe on the Bandit's as the bridle lines can get wrapped around the wingtip, resulting in death loops. Others say that you just need to forget about self rescue, ditch the kite and swim back to shore. What seems like the most reasonable safety measure to prepare and train for in case of an emergency?

@@yrrahyrrah Hey mate, yeah the main thing to remember is the self rescue procedure is identical regardless of how many lines the kite flags on. You fire the safety and then wrap that line up on the end of the bar as in the video. This shortens the line (Lines in your case) so the kite wont fly. You then wrap all 4 lines as you move toward the kite. Being flagged on 2 front lines is not that bad, other than sometimes it might try and fly/pull a little more than 1 single line but it is highly unlikely the kite could fly on 2 front lines unless in extreme circumstances. To answer your other comments, 1. i'm not going to say that someone has not had a deathloop as a result of a single line flag because crazy things do happen..., but I would say that is highly unlikely. Normally the deathloop happens as a result of multiple factors. A bridal caught in the wingtip on a single line wont loop... it would also need some tension on other lines to loop... so normally that is in combination with a jam on the bar somewhere that has not allowed the safely line to thead correctly. Then it loops. but theses days all kites work on a single line safety which demonstrates its the safer method. :) 2. you need to asses the conditions to make a good judgement call here. If you break away from your kite completely you are now swimming.. and hard to see. A kite is a great inflation assist plus easy to spot by boats/planes should you need rescuing ect. Self rescue is much like sailing. get back to your kite and lay with it until you are safe back on the shore (you could effectively do this for hours safely, unlike swimming against a current for instance). The only exceptions that come to mind are if its more dangerous to be with your kite. That might be the deathlooping kite, wind that is blowing off shore and pushing you out to sea, big waves that could get you tangled in the lines. Other than that, id stick with the kite and drift into the beach. Its also safer for the people around you as there isn't a kite on the loose :) So to answer your question, this video is the best method to practice. :) hope all that helps.

​@@FlukesKitesurfing Thanks a lot for taking your time to answer yet again! It helps a lot to get an experienced kiters viewpoint. I truly appreciate it and your passion towards promoting safe kitesurfing with these videos. I will get out and try self rescue in very light winds and shallow water to start with this kite and gradually move towards stronger winds to see how hard the pull from the kite is being flagged from two lines. All the best!

Best to avoid offshore. Only advanced rides should go in offshore conditions. That said, simplified, you would do the same process (fast) and then swim/paddle in.

GUIDESPERSPECTIVE yeah certainly surprising how many “independent kiters” unfortunately don’t know how to do this. Hopefully schools do more to teach it or at a minimum they watch this and practice it at least once. :)

Same here!

Great Question :) Understanding how it all works can totally be confusing so you're doing great to ask the questions, try working backwards by asking yourself: How does the safety line work? & What would happen if I did NOT secure the safety line? (by wrapping it + 2x half hitches to secure) -The quick release works by flagging out the kite, shortening one line. With one line (the safety) significantly shorter then the other 3 lines the kite is unable to fly. -By FIRST wrapping that safety line and securring with 2 half hitch loop knots, you are ensuring the kite cannot reload with power. Does this help answer your question? ~Flukes Kitesurfing

Flukes Kitesurfing yes it does thank you my friend

haha mate where ever we seem to go to film there's also beach horses, I cracked up yesterday when i saw them trot past after seeing your comment yesterday haha.. In Cape Verde at the moment, keep an eye out for the new videos :) ~Flukeskitesurfing

Not me, gorgeous black horse too! & Awesome location!😅

Holy! Glad you made it back mate! I ow some people carry their waterproof phones theses days. Personally, i dont know that far out just in case something like that happens :)

@@FlukesKitesurfing I've gotten multiple rescues for a friend of mine with my signal mirror. Signal mirror has the advantage of being able to signal the closest boat, without a radio, and to show your location. This saves a lot of time and resources.

Many thanks Flukes for your great effort

Osman Sarı much harder in the water. That’s why it’s a good idea to practice it :)

@@FlukesKitesurfing yeaaa..and more better idea in water practice :)))

How did it go? You still alive?

@@pedhead yo bro!!! this is so funny I never check notifications but saw you replied! can't believe I was debating this two months ago it feels like I started 5 months ago! I did end up taking a few lessons and now I'm hooked. already own three kites, and 2 boards lol. me and my friends go all the time now and my 19 meter gets me out there and those super light days! so happy I committed and started. once u get by that first little learning curve its all fast progression from there! this sport is fucking awesome

@@Triniboyjesse thanks for the update! I'm in a similar spot, lessons are expensive but I've already been flying a 12 meter kite and trying to decide if I should try to add a board or take lessons. Well hopefully I will one day be able to say I love it too. It's super exciting just launching and landing the kite on the beach with on shore light wind.

@@pedhead I feel that! get a flat water spot like waste deep and try to add the board. if you are in a safe spot not a whole lot can go wrong! especially if you are already flying the kite you have a sense of what to do if something goes wrong. launching and landing is the most dangerous part!

A good one to know that's for sure :)