Self-Rescue : A Beginners Guide

You will be faced with situations where you are unable to kite back to the beach. If your kite is still in the air, you can body drag back to the beach, even in very light/heavy winds. If your kite is in the water and you can not re-launch it, you will have to self-rescue. Stay calm and treat the situation with respect, even if it’s your 100^th time self-rescuing. Do not let kite lines wrap around your body, especially your hands and your feet. People have drowned because they become tangled in the lines and cant get their legs free to tread water. The self-rescue can help you travel at 60 degrees off the wind, meaning you will still be going downwind, but at enough of an angle to get you back to the beach in side-shore conditions. If the wind has moved off shore, signal for an assisted rescue (from another kiter or from the Coast Guard).

Getting to the Kite

First we need to get downwind to the kite. We want to keep tension on a single line as we do this. Pick a line and wrap it three times around your bar, ensuring that this line will remain the shortest. Begin wrapping all the lines around the bar together from here on as we make our way towards the kite. Pull and wrap, pull and wrap. Once you get 10ft from the kite, wrap the lines a few times across the bar (rather than around it) to lock the lines in. If you have your board with you, either leave it on your feet as you do this, or sit on it like a surfer.

Using the Kite

Now we are at the kite with the bar and lines wrapped up and secured. Set the bar and lines into the canopy, behind the leading edge (by the center strut) so they have a place to rest, you should have about 10ft of slack to do this. Hook your arm around the leading edge, or lay across it, at the center strut. You can set the board, fins up, onto the canopy across the struts. Grab the bridles so you can fold the wingtips into a C-shape. Hold the kite in a C-shape and get your weight onto the leading edge. The kite will begin to pull you towards shore. You can use one hand as a rudder as if you were body dragging.

Emergency Action

Your first concern should be your own safety. Your gear is replaceable. If you find yourself at risk of becoming tangled in your lines, or if you are at risk of line burns on your hands due to heavy conditions, you best option may be to completely separate from you kite. Make sure you have your board with you for floatation! Never eject from your kite without some means of flotation. Should you decide to eject, make sure you are clear of all lines, disconnect your leash (and attach it to the board), drop all lines, disconnect your chicken loop (or eject), and swim free of the rig on your board. Attempt to recover your kite once safe on land.