Tethered Launching & Landing

Tethered Launching & Landing

Tethered Launching & Landing

Tethered launching & Landing: Video Transcript

In other KiteBud videos, we learned how to self-launch and self-land the kite without the use of a tether. When you kite alone in remote locations, tethered launching and tethered landing are often a great option and a great skill to have as a more experienced kiter.  The idea behind tethered launching is simple: attach your chicken loop to a very strong anchor, allowing you to position your kite at the edge of the wind window for launching and reverse the process for self-landing.

Before we start, let’s go through a basic checklist. For successful tethered launching and landings, You will need:

1)            A lot of space

2)            No obstacle and no people

3)            At least 15 knots of wind

4)            Steady (non gusty) winds

5)            Last and most important, you will need a very strong anchor

In this case, we are using heavy duty dyneema rope and a climbing carabineer attached to a bull bar. You can also use fences or even use a solid sand anchor.

No matter the type of anchor you use, if it can’t hold a few strong thugs using all your body weight, it’s simply not strong enough. Here’s an example of what happens when you use a weak anchor

Once you’ve established you have a strong anchor, plenty of space and clean enough wind, here is how to perform a tethered self-launch

With your kite setup with your lines downwind, perform a pre-flight check to makes sure your lines aren’t twisted.

Walk your bar towards your anchor and Attach your chicken loop to the anchor point.

Test the strength of your anchor once again from the chicken loop.

Put your bar down and Grab your kite. Flip it over and walk it perpendicular to the wind until your lines start getting tension with the kite at the edge of the wind window.

Walk downwind and position the kite as if you were holding it to help someone launch

Let the canopy fill up with wind until it stops flapping then let go of the kite and stay there observing the kite behavior.

If the kite stays there and doesn’t seem to move too much or want to bounce up and down, you can head over to your bar

Connect your safety leash first, then grab the chicken loop and attach it to your hook. You can then unclip the carabineer

Hook yourself in, and launch the kite!

To land the kite, simply reverse the process

Get close to your anchor and let your kite rest at the edge of the wind window

Let go of the bar and make sure the kite is resting down without bouncing too much

If necessary, use your trim strap to prevent the kite from bouncing up and down

Now hook the chicken loop to the anchor and put tension on the anchor line.

If you’re happy with the kite position, remove the safety

Walk over to your kite, grab it and walk towards your anchor to slack the lines

In the next video, we will learn how to self-land the kite without the use of a tether.