Kite Surfing Safety - Coping with Wind Speed Problems
Wind speed problems are just some of the nuances in Kite Surfing. One day you'll experience heavy winds; next day you will encounter slow winds that are, without a doubt, frustrating.
Heavy winds can be handled using some tools that slow down the speed of your kite. These tools are Wah Pads and Air Brakes or Wind Tamers. Wah Pads are triangular shaped strips of gauze which are placed on the inside belly of the kite. Velcro is used to attach the spreaders, disabling the removal of spars from the kite.
Air Brakes or Wind Tamers, on the other hand, are similar to Wah Pads. Air Brakes are also strips of gauze attached to the kite particularly between the flying lines and the bridle.
With regards to the effectiveness of the two in the aspect of precision performance, Wah Pads are more effective than air brakes. Air brakes, precision performance aside, do slow down the speed of the kite by a few mph.
Aside from using Wah Pads or Air Brakes, you can also slow down your kite by weighting down the flying lines. Heavier lines such as the 300 lb or 500 lb spectra can be used instead of the 75-150 lb spectra.
Corollary, if you want to make your kite as light as possible in the air, try using lighter and shorter lines up to 50 lb lines. You can get away with the top spreader. Remove it, and you'll be assured that your kite will be light and ready to fly.
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