Have you ever had to do a self rescue while kiteboarding? Knowing how to kiteboarding self rescue is pretty important. What would you do if you are in the middle of the ocean and the wind dies? Or if you are stuck in the middle of a lake with one of your steering lines broken? Well, those are all situations where you would need to do a kiteboarding self rescue.
WHAT IS A KITEBOARDING SELF RESCUE?
A self rescue is basically something you would do if you are stuck in deep water, you are not able to fly your kite, and you want to go back to shore. You need to roll your lines on your bar, and use your kite as a flotation device, and as a sail to go back to shore. It might seem simple, but it can get complicated if you don’t know what you are doing.
WHEN DO I NEED TO DO A KITEBOARDING SELF RESCUE?
While kiteboarding, you need to do a self rescue if for any reason you are stuck in deep water, you are not able to fly your kite, and you want to get back to shore. Here are some examples of those situations:
-The wind dies.
-One of your line breaks.
-Your kite break.
-The wind is incredibly too strong.
-Etc.
HOW TO DO A KITEBOARDING SELF RESCUE
Doing a kiteboarding self rescue is pretty simple, but it can get messy if you don’t know what you are doing. For that reason, you should make sure that you practice it a couple times so that when you are in a real situation, you know what to do. Here are the steps on how to do a kiteboarding self rescue.:
-Quick release your kite using the chicken loop.
-Pull the line that has tension on it until you get to the bar. Note: When pulling the line, keep your thumbs toward you to ensure you can let go of the line at any moment without provoking any injuries and NEVER EVER wrap the line around your hands.
-Grab the bar and wrap the line that you just pulled on around the bar doing some figure eight. When you get too close to your leash, do two half hitch knots around the bar. Note: At that point, you should still have tension on only one line.
-Grab the four lines, wrap them around the bar doing some figure eight until you get close to the kite. Do two half hitch knots and put the elastic on the bar. Note: At that point you can let go of the bar because you should still be attached to the bar with your leash.
-Get to the side of the kite and flip it over.
-Get on the leading edge of your kite and grab the bridle of one side as well as the power line from the same side.
-Use your kite as a sail to get back to shore. Use the bridle and the power line to steer your kite in the direction where you want to go.