So Who’s going to come out with retractable kite lines so that we can downwind on 7L boards ?
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I tried it with a born kite, the vertical bar configuration doesn’t work beyond a few feet of line.
(I’m entirely with you on this idea though)
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I wonder if bungee placed in the lines can work. Just enough tension to recoil when going down wind .
That might only get us double the line length of current parawings but its a start!
I’d be happy with kite style bars controls since I ride parawings with a harness anyways
Takedown system is in an iteresting idea as well. Pulling the wing into a little pouch attached to the bar maybe
See about 3min in for how it works on a sailboat. That sail is 15m2 and probably way thicker material
Here’s my idea. PVC pipe on the bar that you hold while you “reel” in the kite lines. There’s a kite line wrapped horizontally around the two kite lines to help the lines wrap around the bar. This would work with a two line ram air style kite. While on your strong side veer slightly downwind to let a little tension off the lines and reel in the lines. Pack down would be similar to the Parawing once the kite it close enough to you.
@TooMuchEpoxy thoughts?
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I got you covered. I’m dismantling and repurposing my wife’s window blinds right now.
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- to the spinnaker sock idea, a “reefing” line system that accordions the kite together (see snow kites- flysurfer “b safe”/ ozones 5th line), would work well for the rapid retraction. how to retract into a bag/sock would be next hurdle.
looks like ensis has employed a similar method via the center line in their Roger
