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Light Wind Kite Relaunch

Relaunching your kite in light winds is one of the neat tricks every kitesurfer should have in their quiver. Especially if you kitesurf in Scotland where wind can drop to next to nothing even on a perfect day.

Also, light-wind kitesurfing has its own perks, especially with large-enough kite. Not only you get the beach mostly to yourself but also lighter days in Scotland often equal sunny days too. Having a decent light-wind specific kite helps a lot. I personally use a 15m Cabrinha Contra that gets me up and going in about 11 knots on a twintip board and below 10 knots on a strapless surfboard. Light wind kites are also easier to relaunch in marginal conditions thanks to having a lighter construction.

During our lessons we cover a basic relaunch in typical conditions. However, if you kite in lower wind speeds adding a few elements will help you a lot. As Blake in video below explains it all comes down to 3 simple steps:

  1. Make sure your kite is deep inside the wind window. That’s where the most wind is and you’ll need to use everything you have to get the kite airborne again.
  2. Roll the kite on its back. To do that pull hard on your front lines or, if you’re in really shallow water run quickly towards the kite. It will flip onto its back. This helps the wingtips to catch more wind and flip the kite quicker onto its side.
  3. Pull on your “upline” and get it up in the air. Make sure not to pull too hard though so the kite won’t backstall and fall back into the water. It’s all about finding the right balance but with some practice I’m sure you’ll find the best way of doing this.

Watch the video below for more guidance and get out there!

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