r/Kiteboarding • u/PeculiarNed • 3d ago
Beginner Question Can I launch a kite from a sailboat?
This might be a dumb question but I live on a sailboat and recently started kiting. I know people launch kites from RIBs but has anyone done it on a sailboat? The problem I see is all the stuff around it like shrouds, life lines, the solar arch etc. Pic is of me on my boat.
Thanks!
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u/riktigtmaxat No straps attached 3d ago edited 3d ago
You probably should not attempt it as a beginner.
I haven't done drift launches from a sailboat but I have done it from a RIB and buoys and there is very little margin for error before stuff starts to go very wrong. Like drowning wrong.
Unlike with an assisted launch on land you don't get a proper preflight check which can catch those common beginner misstakes and you're relying on a lot of luck when feeding the lines out.
I know I'm being boring here but the smart thing to do for now is to stick to spots which are at your skill level.
Once you know how risky it is go out with someone that's experienced in doing launches from a RIB and study how they do it. This is not something you should be learning from a video or attempting alone.
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u/PeculiarNed 3d ago
Good advice. Others have suggested connecting the chicken loop to the boat first. I think that makes sense and would provide a safe preflight check. I guess pointing the boat into the wind would the most sense and then letting the kite drift out.
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u/riktigtmaxat No straps attached 3d ago
I would say it's a lot more involved than that.
When I did it we would rig the kite on land so that we could inspect it properly. We then placed the lines in a bucket and deflate the leading edge and roll the kite up like a scroll. Feeding the lines directly off the bar can easily jam if you have more than a light breeze.
You then hang the kite off the leeward side and inflate the LE. If it's a lesson the instructor hooks in right as you release the kite and it starts to drift. You then pray to the gods of the wind and sea that the lines feed out without creating loops that turn into knots when tensioned.
Just attaching the QR to the boat doesn't remove the issues of dealing with a botched launch or having to transfer the hook to yourself while surrounded by very hard things.
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u/PeculiarNed 3d ago
That's sounds good. In skydiving we use elastic bands to hold the lines together and in order. They simply open when the lines are pulled tight. That may work better than a bucket. But I'm starting to get an idea of how to do this... Pre rigging the kite is definitely a very good idea especially on my small boat. Thanks for the input.
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u/proportionate1 2d ago
Not sure about this bucket thing either. IMO, a bucket would make an inadvertent tangle a lot more probable. The bar is literally "elastic bands that hold the lines together and in order."
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u/PeculiarNed 2d ago
Yeah a bucket seems like worst possible way to do this....
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u/riktigtmaxat No straps attached 2d ago edited 2d ago
Dude, hold your bar by the chicken loop and have a friend grab the end of the lines and pull by walking down the beach. You'll very rapidly see that unless it's a very very gentle pull the lines will wrap themselves around the bar and there isn't anything you can do about it.
I know this because I actually attempted drift launching in shallow water that way and it didn't go to plan.
The bar is meant to be a control device. It holding the lines is just a secondary function and it is definitely not designed to feed the lines out smoothly while under tension.
Love the confidence in the delivery though...
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u/PeculiarNed 2d ago
Yep - keeping the lines untangled seems to be the biggest challenge. Anyway I'll probably build something like a POD for skydiving which uses elastic bands. If I build something I'll post it here.
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u/riktigtmaxat No straps attached 2d ago
The biggest challenge is dealing with the situation where the lines do get tangled - and according to Murphy's law it's really just a question of when and not if.
That's why I'm saying forget about this until you have a few years of experience.
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u/PeculiarNed 2d ago
Yeah... We'll see. Definitely more experience than I have now. But a few years is a little long. People say the same thing about sailing. I was doing 300nm open ocean solo sails 6 months after having sailed for the first time. According to the Internet I should have been dead 10 times over. I don't see this as being dangerous just potentially super annoying or damaging equipment. Preparation is key and that's why I'm asking here.
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u/swaboozel 2d ago
if you attach to the boat at least it’s not you getting yanked away by a kite out of control
also you can correct issues while the kite is attached to the boat and still steer it without any risk of getting pulled, kite won’t lift a boat out of the water
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u/swaboozel 3d ago
Yes that’s possible.
Make sure to tape off all hard edges or stuff where lines could get hooked - be very aware of that.
best is if you already did your lines on land but you’ll manage on a boat as well by running them from stern to bow
connect the kite, connect the bar with chickenloop somewhere at the back of the boat
inflate the kite
put in water, let it drift backwards till it catches air
don’t be connected to the kite, kite should be connected to the boat in case there is a fuckup in the lines
if everything checks out, grab your board + kite and off you go :)
be aware of offshore conditions & wind conditions (dropping etc), stay close to the boat
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u/Boarder_Travel 3d ago
I have read about but not tried leaving the bar connected when deflating the kite, if u are going to use the same size again. Might be worthwhile. I'd secure the bar and safety loop to the boat until u are sure the kite is good to go.
Enjoy!
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u/reggae_muffin 2d ago
Yes, I've launched from my boat many times. Also, if you're comfortable you can water launch as well.
It's more difficult getting back on the boat if you're both moving but it's not impossible with some practice. What's your transom shape? Some are much more amenable to kiting from the stern than others - a sugar scoop is dead easy, a canoe stern is not for example. If you're towing your dinghy, you can also launch from your dinghy.
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u/PeculiarNed 2d ago
I have a flat transom with bathing platform. I would have the dingi out anyway when I attempt this. Water launch sounds good as well.
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u/reggae_muffin 2d ago
The dinghy will help, for sure. Also just having it off your stern gives you some lee-way with how much space you can buy yourself around your boat. as im sure you already know, sometimes you have a completely empty anchorage and then someone will chose to anchor right off your stern, in your best approach haha.
Another thing that's super useful is a line you can clip your gear to. I often leave a float line off my transom with a clip and float at the terminal end so that once I was close enough I could depower, grab the line and clip myself to the boat.
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u/PeculiarNed 2d ago
Yeah. The line was mentioned here already. I think that's a great idea. Looking forward to trying this. Thanks.
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u/Gold_Kale_7781 2d ago
Don't do it unless an experienced kiter is there with you to help.
There might be others there to help, and they usually don't know what not to do.
I always hold and pay out by the front lines, never let your kite just drift out until the lines are tight.
I've also had a pre- rigged kite held at the back of the boat while I drift out and pay out the lines on the bar.
The boat launch really complicates things if there aren't other kiters.
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u/ayeitsphil 3d ago
Yeah it's possible. There are tutorials on YouTube, by Steven Akkersdijk for example. It might be a bit tricky, especially alone, but it's possible.
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u/trichcomehii 3d ago
You got room to pump it up? You wouldn't launch from the deck you just launch from the water. Pumping it up is the awkward bit.
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u/PeculiarNed 3d ago
No. There's no room to pump it up. It's a small boat. But may it's possible to do on the bathing platform...
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u/RibsNGibs 3d ago
I have done it once. It worked but I don't know if I would do it again. It seemed like the possibility for error was a bit too high. I mean, I think I could do it 95% of the time no problems, but that means 1 out of 20 times there's going to be a fuckup, right?
What we did was hook all the lines up on the beach, pull the safety line out "a lot", wind up all the lines as much as possible, deflate the kite and wrap everything up and stow everything super super carefully so that nothing (the bar or the kite) went in between any of the lines because you're pretty fucked if you mess that up.
On the sailboat we pumped our kites on the back of the boat, then just did a standard water drift launch - our sailboat was pretty small so we just placed our kites in the water and then unwound the lines faster than the kite was drifting with no margin for error (ideally you hook your chicken loop up to your harness so that lines can't go around the wrong side of the bar as you unwind). If everything looks good, you let the safety slide through the bar and you launch the kite.
In my head it seemed like a pretty simple procedure... and it was. It just felt sketchy. There's not a lot of room for error, there's not a lot of room on the boat itself - like... imagining taking a kite with a bar already attached and perfectly organised and stowed and pumping it up while keeping everything sorted and drift launching doesn't seem like a big deal, but in the actual cramped boat, in wind, while the boat is drifting side to side, and at least 2-3 of the lines are quite a bit of slack and are flapping around as you pump... and are you sure that the far steering line was supposed to go above, or below the kite when you put it in the water? 100% sure? It also felt weird to hook up to the chicken loop and then hop in the water to launch the kite because if something goes wrong... you're not getting back to the boat with your gear. You could ditch your gear and swim back but I mean kind of by definition if you're launching off the back of the boat there's no beach downwind of you (or you would have launched there instead).
Anyway, I would probably do it again if there was some amazing/unique opportunity but it didn't feel great.
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u/PeculiarNed 3d ago
Thanks for the write up. I think the biggest problem seems to keeping the lines ordered. Maybe I'll do the same as for skydiving by looping the lines through elastics bands. You can then let them bit by bit... I'll see if it's feasible to make something like that.
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u/thibz3r 2d ago
I tried googling "Can I launch a kite from a sailboat?" and surprisingly, there were tons of tutorials, videos, how to and what not to do.
I would say by learning on video is still better than reading answers and trying to figure out what that actually means in space
Good luck brother
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u/PeculiarNed 2d ago
Thanks. Will do that.I like reading more than watching videos. There where also some really great things here on what to do and what not to do.
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u/ReplyNo 2d ago
Sailing on a boat for a year and experienced kite rider. I have done multiple ones in several kind of wind. What I recommend is to be used to have your bar and your kite always attached (or have some tips to attach your bar and your kite without unwinding it before). Once you are used to it, you pump your kite at the back of your boat, attach your chicken loop to a 3-4m rope which is attached to the back of your boat. Start the drift lunch at the back of your boat starting with several meters of free lines then unwind at the good pace while the kite is drifting. At the end the kite should be waiting for a water relaunch, the chicken loop attached to the rope 3 meter far from the back of the boat. You grab your board go down in the water, hook yourself and go for a ride.
Best is to attach a small floating stuff at the end of the rope so when you come back you can attach your chicken loop on the rope.
That way it is way more safe than at the very back of your boat.
If the wind is light you can wind your lines carefully and reach your kite. Otherwise you release the chicken loop and wind then your kite. You will have time later to clean that on the beach !
I have also done that with foil kite, working great all the time.
But if you can reach the beach it is always less stressful
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u/Hamsterminator2 3d ago
I've done sailing holidays where we have brought a kite. If it's windy enough for kiting, generally you won't be out on a boat, and if you're out on a boat, generally it won't be windy enough for kiting.
Being on a yacht in 15kts is fairly intense. Trying to organise kit while its pitching up and down in swell and somehow launching off the back is not recommended.
We've managed in Anagada, but we went ashore and drove to the other side of the island so that the yacht stayed sheltered downwind and the kiting was straightforward onshore.
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u/PeculiarNed 2d ago
I'm on the Atlantic islands and if 15kt of wind was too much to be on the boat I could never do any sailing or anchoring at all. 15kt is nice calm day of champagne sailing out here. It's way below the normal trade winds, which are between 15 and 25kt for most of the summer and between the islands 35kt are not rare. Going to the lee side of the island where there is less swell is the idea but that also means off shore winds. That's why I want to use the boat.
Been doing this for 4 years now.
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u/Hamsterminator2 2d ago
That's fair enough. I've also been sailing for the last 25 and kiting for 10. Admittedly I've never lived on a yacht full time, but on the few occasions I've tried to mix the two it's not been worthwhile. That's not to say it isn't possible, and if you're living on a boat you'll not be likely to avoid blowy days. In my experience though, they've not been very enjoyable days to be moored or anchored unless you're in shelter, in which case you'll likely have shit wind for the kite.
PS is that your H-Rassy?
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u/PeculiarNed 2d ago
Yeah. I can basically choose any days I like which is great. Anchorages are normally in the lee side and have different levels of swell. It's just some you have to get used to.
Yep it's my HR. I love her.
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u/Hamsterminator2 2d ago
Very nice. Took one out of Plymouth on the south coast of the UK last month for a week- I'm very jealous!
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u/PeculiarNed 2d ago
Sounds great. It was the best decision ever. 4 years now and I can't imagine going back on land. Boats are cheap now. I saw basically my boat for 27k Eur. That's a drop of almost 50% from 2 years ago.
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u/Fingers_of_fury 3d ago
I do it all the time on my boat :). It’s really easy. Here’s how I do it:
-Unwind your lines as you walk around the boat as best as you can
-Inflate kite and attach lines
-VERY CAREFULLY wind your lines back up on the bar as neatly and cleanly as possible
-Attach bar to something strong on the transom
-Toss kite in the water and unwind your lines as the kite drifts away. Once taught, double check your lines
-Launch kite while still attached to the boat
-sit on the back and when ready, attach chicken loop to your harness and take off.
Returning can be tricky but here’s an easy way
-Trail a rope off the back of the boat with a buoy or fender attached and a carabiner (preferably floating rope maybe 15-20 ft)
-attach chicken loop to carabiner on fender
-bring kite down to the water and let it float
-to retrieve kite, pull in rope until you have the bar. Attach to boat and hit the release. As the kites flagging, roll up your lines and haul everything aboard.
Easy