Hi Guys,

I'm contemplating on starting out with unhooking soon and learning basic moves like a railey, rolls, etc..

Apart from just manning up to go on with it, got any advice to help with the learning curve? What are some basic moves that I should plan my progression on?

What are some potential kitemare scenarios can I expect from unhooking fails?

While leashed suicide, is there a disadvantage/safety issue with attaching my leash to my spreader bar as opposed to the sliding ring that's on the rear of my harness? I don't plan on doing any handlepasses (yet) so I don't see how this sliding ring will really benefit me. Maybe I'm missing something here.

Lastly, are skills learned unhooking somewhat related and/or transferrable to hooked-in riding (ie freestyle)?

Thanks a bunch.

there's a lot of how-to's out there, so i thought i'd throw in some uncommon tips

- use your smallest bar, i cut down my bars to 14" for small to med kites, and 15" for large kites. what this does is help keep the kite from unwanted/accidental redirection.

- change the chicken loop on your bar to either a medium or large size

- remove the donkey dick, or get a spreader bar donkey dick (rare and hard to find)

- start the learning process by riding way upwind, then when comfortable unhook and ride a long distance slightly downwind. learn to both edge out the gusts, and to bear off downwind to kill the power of gusts.

- learn to unhook with 9m or larger kites first.

- i set up my line lengths so i don't have to trim the kite everytime to unhook.

just a few - hope that helps.

have fun

leashing suicide refers to attaching your leash right to your chickenloop. doesn't matter where it goes to on your harness.

basically when you botch a trick and drop the bar, your kite will stay flying and not do some funky safety line flag out shit.

just to add to what chenzo said, make sure you've got your pop dialed hooked in first. go really hard to and get some gayley's* in too. yeah, they look retarded, but you need to have that much pop to do tricks unhooked.

also, you're going to crash a lot. and sometimes the crashes hurt. don't get discouraged, just giv'ner.



*gayley = hooked in railey

Thanks.

I'll use my smallest Cab bar meant for my 7m. The chickenloop is medium size and the donkey dick I think is removeable.

As for popping hooked, I'll start working on these. I just always thought that there's limited hooked-in tricks that I can try when popping so I usually mess around more with going off kickers as opposed to a real pop.

And regarding gay-leys, I'm not a big fan of them. They do look awkward and having the kite pull you off the waist really limits a proper railey body positioning (ie going horizontal). I s'pos it'd help huge if I keep the kite lower so I'd be less dangly.

With good pop you can huck a gaylee with your body tweaked out past horizontal and board over your head. You need to get this kinda pop to toss out a good raley. Also commits to muscle memory throwing the board back underneath you. Try em with the kite lower so you launch with horizontal speed rather than vertical loft.

Unhooked since your kite is fully powered you will have to edge to control your speed. Bare off downwind directly towards your kite and you'll lose speed edge against it slightly and you'll pick up speed. If shit gets hairy (too fast and too powered) just let go of the bar and grab the chickenloop with both hands hook back in recover the kite and ride away hooked in and depowered.

It get's a bit tricky trying to co-ordinate your speed control load and pop between waves, while unhooked and maintaining a less than suicidal speed. I'm still about 50/50 in other locations on a trick that I have dialed in Oli. So may want to start in a flatwater spot throwin your first few raleys (the first jump you'll learn) or try the cable park The water is BUTTER flat and let's you get a feel for your pop. you have no choice but to ride unhooked here. The sensation of bearing downwind (toward the cable) and edging to gain speed is exactly the same as while kiting and the pull is nice and consistent.

Once you start trying to jump unhooked you're gunna fly over the front of the board a lot, and smack your balls a lot (possibly more than usual) make sure you've got something on that lowers the momentum.

Good points being made.

One more vital tip I forgot is to test your kite leash. What I mean is clip it to a fixed object like a fence post or something, and with your harness on, put all your weight on it aggressively. Basically just test it to see if it will break, or if you have a quick release that is prone to premature release. Some leashes out there are garbage for unhooking purposes, and I always check my leash for a partially unseated QR prior to a sesh.

Can someone try to explain the load and pop while hooked in thing? I've tried to feel for that elastic springy feeling but I just never get it and I can get more air just jumping off a wave. I've been doing all my hooked tricks by sending the kite slightly!

sirhc wrote:

QUOTE:
Can someone try to explain the load and pop while hooked in thing? I've tried to feel for that elastic springy feeling but I just never get it and I can get more air just jumping off a wave. I've been doing all my hooked tricks by sending the kite slightly!

I'll try, perhaps you will find my input valuable as I have just learned how to achieve decent pop hooked in w/o sending the kite.

They key moment for me was to bear off downwind slightly, this would allow the kite to drift deeper into the window and I'd gain some speed. Immediately after, I would edge hard upwind and release all the tension of the kite moments before it starts to dissipate. As I release my edge and pop off the water, the front edge of my board is facing almost directly upwind.

This has been the base of all my rolls and raileys. I was always determined to learn wakestyle tricks without sending the kite. My pop is nowhere near the level it needs to be to do handle passes, as I do not launch myself 2-3m into the air, however a popped backroll is not a problem for me.

Hope this helps a bit!

deeds90 wrote:

QUOTE:
sirhc wrote:

QUOTE:
Can someone try to explain the load and pop while hooked in thing? I've tried to feel for that elastic springy feeling but I just never get it and I can get more air just jumping off a wave. I've been doing all my hooked tricks by sending the kite slightly!

I'll try, perhaps you will find my input valuable as I have just learned how to achieve decent pop hooked in w/o sending the kite.

They key moment for me was to bear off downwind slightly, this would allow the kite to drift deeper into the window and I'd gain some speed. Immediately after, I would edge hard upwind and release all the tension of the kite moments before it starts to dissipate. As I release my edge and pop off the water, the front edge of my board is facing almost directly upwind.

This has been the base of all my rolls and raileys. I was always determined to learn wakestyle tricks without sending the kite. My pop is nowhere near the level it needs to be to do handle passes, as I do not launch myself 2-3m into the air, however a popped backroll is not a problem for me.

Hope this helps a bit!

where is your kite while you load? is 45 to low?

No higher than 45, perhaps slightly lower at times.

thank you!

This looks like good practice! Just be prepared for the impact.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4J6gHkX9y08

As a side, here are a bunch more handle passes. It was filmed at Presque'ile earlier this year.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DsvB-xnv30Q

Of course this is getting a bit more advanced...

So this post inspired me to start trying to ride unhooked and for the last couple of weeks I tried at first with my TT then worked on my strapless surfboard. This past weekend I tried jumping and raleys, certainly don't have it dialed in yet but thought I would share my attempts. The second one on here is a major screw up which left me pulling weeds and untangling my lines for over an hour with the help of a friendly beachgoer. But I still find the footage entertaining.
https://vimeo.com/45040684

I enjoyed that, well done and good timing!

It's been a solid triple set a long beach!