The purpose of learning to body drag upwind is two fold. Firstly, whenever you come off your board you’re going to find yourself downwind of it. To prevent yourself losing boards or at the very best having to return to the beach every time you fall off it, you need to be able to body dragged up wind to retrieve it.
The ability to body drag up wind is also vital from a safety point of view. Once you can body drag up wind you can happily get yourself back to the point where you launched from whether you have a board on your feet or not.
Squeezing The Soap
Upwind Body dragging is very simple in theory and the principle is very similar to that of squeezing a bar of soap between your hands. Think of one hand as the pull from the kite and the other the resistance offered by your body against this pull. The result of these 2 opposing forces on the soap is that it shoots out in a perpendicular direction to both forces.
You are the soap.
To get yourself into the one-handed body dragging position you firstly need to change the angle of your body. Rather than just following the kite as we have been doing up to now you’ll want to change the angle of your body to resist the pull of the kite. It is this resistance which will “pop” you out in an upward direction.
Roughly speaking to start with, your body should be angled just about 10° up wind to start with. Once you have turned your body to this angle you need to turn onto your side. One of the commonest mistakes of upwind body dragging is that people stay lying on their stomach. At this angle your body provides only a small (in most cases!) area of resistance against the kite. By turning on your side (as most of us are wider in this dimension) you’re able to provide more resistance against the pull from the kite. Lock your legs out as stiff as a board and point your free hand in the direction you are going to give yourself extra grip in the water.
The kite should be as low in the window as you can manage (45 degrees is fine for now) and de powered, so it sits far forward in the window. You may want to trim the kite to aid this. Now the pull of the kite and your intended direction of travel are as close to each other as possible. The kite should also be still. Every time you move the kite it generates power, this power will pull you up and out of the water and downwind whenever it can. By keeping the kite still we reduce its power to a minimum and keep its angle close to our intended direction of travel.
If It Feels Like You’re Drowning…You’re Doing It Right
It’s very simple to know whether you’re upwind body dragging correctly as when you are, you will feel like you are drowning. It is a horrible sensation which I’m afraid to tell you doesn’t get much better with time. Often the worse it feels the more upwind you are going, so dig in and get it done.
The time a lot of people lose a lot of their upwind progress is when it comes to turn. Firstly you should be keeping your runs fairly long, as a guideline I would suggest a minimum of 20 m each to reduce the amount of turns you need to make. When you do come to turn, de power the kite fully and move it slowly across to the other side, keeping as much as your body in the water as an anchor as you possibly can. As soon as the kite is in position on the new side resume the upwind body dragging position and carry on. Many people try to get the turn done as quickly as possible and bring the kite rapidly from one side of the window to the other, this generally has the effect of lifting you out of the water and downwind, undoing all the good work you’ve just done.
Practice this until you can at least exit the water at the same point that you enter if not slightly higher.
Once you are back at the beach having mastered this, walk back up the beach with the kite at 45 degrees but this time try to use only one hand to control the kite.
If the kite is on the right hand side of you, you should fly it with your left hand, if the kite’s on your left, use your right. This way you have much more room to manoeuvre and don’t end up constricting yourself by having your elbow fighting for space with you hip. Your hand should be in the middle of the bar with your fingers being split between the index and 1st finger (or 1st and 2nd finger depending on what you find more comfortable). I like to have 3 knuckles on the ‘up’ side of the line with my index finger straight and my thumb opposing it underneath the bar. If at any point you feel yourself losing control of the kite go back to controlling it with 2 hands.
The idea of flying the kite 1 handed is that you do not have much leverage over the kite and so cannot move it too much. Whilst flying the kite with one hand we are attempting only to hold it in position, we do not want to move the kite too much with one hand and indeed if you find the kite moving quite a bit you will most likely have to go back to 2 hands to hold it in place or arrest its movement. For this reason make sure the kite is still at 45 degrees with 2 hands on the bar and then when you’re happy the kite is stable move to control it with just one hand.
NOTE: If at any point you lose control of the kite whilst flying it one handed immediately go back to control it with 2 hands.
OK so you’re happy steering using the kite whilst in the water and flying the kite 1 handed whilst on the beach. From here we can move on to combine the 2 in yup you guessed it, flying the kite 1 handed in the water.
The principle behind this is exactly the same as when we are flying one handed on the beach. With one hand on the kite you cannot move the kite too much (which actually helps in this exercise where we are trying to keep the kite still) This means if at any point you do lose control of the kite whilst in the water immediately go back to 2 hands to bring the kite back under control.
So back into the water and simply repeat the last exercise with one hand. Start to body drag and when you moving along in one direction with the kite stable at 45 degree move from 2 hands down to one hand with the same grip we had on the beach (ie kite on the left use your right hand and vice versa). When you want to change direction go back to 2 hands bring the kite through 12 o’clock onto the other side of the window, stabilise the kite and then move to one handed flying.
Again practice this exercise until you’re happy you can control the kite in both directions one handed.
So we move onto our first lesson in the water. Before you take another step make sure you’ve read and fully understood the previous lessons. Humans are not designed for the water so make sure you understand what your about to get yourself into before attempting it.
The aim of body dragging is to use the kite to pull us torpedo like (or at least flapping, half drowning fish like) through the water. Once you actually “get it” it’s really easy and very enjoyable but it does take a little faith to master it.
Before You Go
Before you actually launch your kite and head to the water identify your downwind marker. This is a point visible from sea level that will serve to remind you to get out the water at this point. This should preferably be about 200m downwind and well upwind of any obstacles/hazards but will obviously depend on the beach you’re working from. My preference is for many short runs rather than fewer longer ones as they mix things up and give you a chance for a bit of a break.
Now you need to identify a point of no return. That is another marker around 100m downwind of the downwind marker that marks a point by which if you have not managed to make it out of the water by here you should simply pop your safety and self rescue in. Again the exact positioning of this point will depend on your beach but should be at least 200m upwind of any hazards.
Even if there are no hazards it is a good idea to have a point of no return marker just to ensure you don’t end up 3 miles downwind, it does happen, body dragging can be exhilarating when you get it!
Body Dragging
Having fully checked the wind direction, wave height, forecast and done a risk assessment (you have read those lessons haven’t you?) launch your kite and make your way to the water. Walk yourself out until you’re about waist depth. Now keel down (gently) in the water, this should bring you to about chest/neck deep. Doing this too violently in light winds will have the effect of pulling the kite down towards you, which can de stabailise it in the sky and leave you without control for a few critical seconds as the kite resets.
By kneeling down you’ve done 2 things. Firstly you’ve made your ‘take off’ easier by meaning that when you move forward into the body drag position you have less distance to move and so will de stabilise the kite less. Secondly you have reduced the distance you need to travel out away from the beach.
Proximity to the beach is our friend at the moment and all these next exercises are made a lot easier if you can simply stand up if something goes wrong and start again.
So you’re kneeling down in the water (hopefully not too far away from the beach). Now fly the kite to 12 o clock and hold it still. Next you need to gently lean forward into the superman position letting all contact with the ground go and floating in the superman position underneath the kite.
This part takes a little faith. Mainly because, especially on light wind days, it can be difficult to believe that the kite will hold you up out of the water…believe me it will.
Common Errors
There are several common mistakes that people make at this point:
Swinging Your Legs Around In Front Of You Into The Sitting Position
This one is fairly common especially on a first run, people often simply do not feel natural going into the superman position, usually caused by the (healthy) fear of your head disappearing under the water as you lean forward.
Have faith. Even underpowered on light wind days, the kite will hold you and your head out of the water. The reason we go to the superman position is because from here your legs act as a keel, keeping you straight in the water and providing you a level of stability.
As soon as you bring your legs under you into a sitting position this keel disappears and you tend to spin under the kite, often ending up upside down underneath the kite with no idea of which way is left or right…this inevitably leads you to pulling the bar the wrong way…hard.
If you do find yourself in this position just let go of the bar and start again. If the kite crashes its good relaunching practice. Either way releasing the bar gives you the time to sort yourself out again and avoid embarrassing and potentially painful encounters with the beach
Jumping Forward into the Water
Once you start to lean forward you are actually pulling the kite down with you as you fall.. On light wind days, this can have quite an effect on the kite especially if you really jump into the body drag. It is to minimise this movement that we kneel down before starting to body drag. By lessening the distance we need to ‘fall’ forward we lessen the disruptive movement on the the kite as the lines go tense and then slacken again as you bob back up to the surface.
Not Having The Kite Still At Take Off & Under Steering The Kite
Now you are in the water the physics of flying the kite change slightly. On the beach when you fly the kite, by simply leaning back you are able to provide resistance against the pull of the kite and so prevent yourself from chasing the kite downwind every time the kite gains the slightest power.
In the water this no longer applies. Every bit of power you put into the kite results in you being dragged in that direction through the water.
Once inertia is overcome you will move towards the kite. Because you are a heavier object than the kite once you start to move your momentum is greater and so you will carry on moving towards the kite until friction slows you down again. This means that every time you move the kite you actually move a little bit towards it. This results in a bit of slack going into the lines which makes the kite more sluggish to respond to your steering. Simply put you need to steer harder whilst body dragging in the water to get the same result you would expect on the land.
This is often noticeable if, when you start to body drag, the kite is already moving. As you are now moving towards the kite from the word go, there is already slack in the lines and trying to steer the other way takes a lot more steering than you are used to, having grown accustomed to flying the kite on the beach. I would recommend you to take off and keep the kite still at 12 o clock for a count of 3. Then once your happy and the kite has stabilised from the take off with tension in the lines, start to move the kite gently back and forth.
Into The Deep Blue
Once you happily dragging along behind the kite simply start moving the kite gently left and right. Noticing how you can steer yourself by doing so. Your goal here is to simply keep the kite in the sky. A good tip here is not to bring the kite too close to the edges of the window (close to the sea) as (especially on light wind days) you will find it difficult to bring the kite back up again.
Beware at this point, you will be moving fast even though it’ll probably feel as though you aren’t moving at all. Make sure before you start to body drag that you remember to look for your down wind marker…remember when choosing it, it has to something that will be visible from sea level. make sure you stick to it, you’ll most likely get there a lot faster than you think.
To get yourself back to the beach simply point the kite in that direction and hold it there until you are back on dry land. If conditions are right hopefully you’ve managed this entire exercise without ever moving out of standing depth. I realise this is an ideal, but it makes things much safer and gives you a bit more confidence if you can stay close to the shore.
Once back on dry land keep the kite flying at 45 degrees, de-powering the kite if you need to and walk back up to your start point using both hands to control the kite. Giving yourself a big pat on the back.
Changing Direction Whilst Body Dragging
This time we are going to concentrate more on using the kite to steer you. So head out exactly as before. Once you’re actually moving, use to kite to steer you in zig zags, left and right to your exit point.
At this point we want long steady pulls in either direction (while not getting too far away from the beach). So bring the kite down to one side and try to hold it in position at 45 degrees so you are heading away from the beach. Hold the kite still and after a decent amount of time (I would suggest a minimum of 10 seconds) slowly bring the kite through the 12 o’clock position and bring it down to 45 degrees on the other side. You should now be dragging back towards the beach. Again try to hold the kite still until you get far enough back in and then repeat the process heading out again.
You should now be confident to steer yourself both in and out from the beach, if not repeat the exercise until you are. Being able to control your direction is absolutely essential to keep yourself and others safe. DO NOT move on from this lesson until you can body drag in your chosen direction comfortably for at least 20 meters…preferably a lot more.
Relaunching the kite from the water can be more of an art than a science at times, but there are some general rules that, if you follow them, will have you up and riding again in no time (most of the time!).
For the first part of this guide I will assume that you are attempting this on a fairly waveless dayor at least a day of smallish/less powerful waves. As the wave height increases there are an increasing amount of aspects you need to be aware of which we will look at in the second section, “Ever Decreasing Circles of Mastery.”
As soon as the kite crashes your first priority is to ensure there is tension in the lines (this may mean a quick bit of swimming/splashing about on your part). As long as there is tension you have control of the kite, if the lines are slack the kite will simply respond to whatever the wind and waves tell it to do, and often they will tell it to misbehave terribly, drifting in to the power zone and then inexplicably powering up, being flattened by waves and other actions that will leave you cursing.
Once you have tension in the lines, it is, (in theory) a simple case of steering the kite either left or right using the bar. Have patience, this may take a while. Slowly the kite will start to walk around to one edge of the wind window. Currents and waves will have an effect on this and you may find relaunching one way is considerably easier than the other.
All things being equal however, we recommend you always relaunch the kite on the beachward side of the window. This way you are being dragged back towards dry land. To start with or on a difficult day, relaunching your kite can take a while, if you’re relaunching on the seaward side you can find yourself miles out without realizing it before you get the damn thing back in the air.
Keep steering the kite in the same direction until it walks itself around to the edge of the wind window and slowly starts to rear up onto its side towards the normal launch position.
Something to beware of at this point is that the kite can start to set itself into this relaunch position well back of the edge of the window, i.e. when it is still close to the power zone, with the result that if it relaunches here you will be flung forward. This is especially likely to happen in strong winds or where the kite is being “assisted” with the launch by a strong current or waves. If you’re in deep water with loads of space this type of launch can be fun, if not, we suggest sheeting the bar out slightly while continuing to steer the kite.
At this point you are simply going to launch the kite as you would from the beach, with one major difference. Because the bottom panel of the kite is likely filled with water it has the tendency to suck the kite down back onto (and under) the surface. This means you will need to apply more steering than normal to release the kite. To do this you’ll normally need to have the bar pretty far in to really provide the leverage and power to get the kite to empty this water out. However if once the kite is free of this water you keep the bar in, the kite will simply stall backwards, dead fish like, into the water, or worse, loop round the power zone and force you to do an impromptu and very undignified impression of superman.
For this reason as soon as you see that the kite is about to release from the water, let the bar out fairly quickly (but still in a controlled manner) while maintaining the correct amount of steering to bring the kite upwards towards 12 o’clock. This will prevent the kite from back stalling and allow it to relaunch just as you would from the beach.
Breaking it Down – Decreasing Circles of Mastery
The Cheat Method
Release the bar (with both hands) push it away from you and reach down and grab the outer line closest to the edge of the window that you want to relaunch the kite (if you’re not sure which one this is, either of the outside lines will do to start with, if the kite starts steering the wrong way simply use the other one!). Aim to grab the line about 30 – 50 cms up the line (30 – 50 cms away from where it attaches to the bar).
Then holding the line between forefinger and thumb, GENTLY pull it (back) towards you and (up) over your shoulder (the same shoulder as the hand that you are using). This will give you extra leverage that will enable you to get the kite in to the launch position much faster.
The key here is be gentle, think of smooth Tai Chi movements not boxing jabs as you attempt to relaunch the kite this way.
As soon as the kite releases from the water, release the line. If you hold on to the line for too long the kite will spiral round and either back stall, or worse, loop round and crash back on to the water). Once you’ve released the line, grab the bar again with 2 hands and voila…you’re good to go!
While attempting to relaunch, the kite must be full of wind
Watch for the wing tips collapsing or the trailing edge near to the wingtips folding down over the canopy. This is normally a sign that the kite is in the wrong position to launch (i.e. too far upwind), there’s not enough wind to relaunch or, more often, that you are pulling the line too hard…release the line slowly until the kite refills with air and then gently pull it back over your shoulder. By doing this you should ensure that the kite remains full of wind and starts to roll onto its side in to the launch position. If the wingtips fold in again, then release the line and start again…think of the line the same way you would a clutch in a manual car…squeeze on the line, don’t yank, this is not a fight, it’s a caress!
Use the Waves
In shore break you can use the white water to prop the edge up (be careful as if the wave is too big it will swallow the kite and suck it down). As the white water is approaching give the kite a little extra steer to allow the water to pass underneath it. The added resistance of the water against the leading edge can (if you’re lucky) force the kite further up into the relaunch position and make it easier to lift off the water.
In the same manner you can also use the current. If you attempt to relaunch in the opposite direction to that in which the current is running, the kite encounters more resistance. This again can force it into the relaunch position early and make relaunching it that much quicker…again beware of doing this if you’re massively overpowered as the kite will be launching that much closer to the power zone.
Bigger Waves
In big waves speed is key…if you can give the kite a quick tug on one line and get it out immediately it will make your life a LOT easier. Once the waves swamp the kite, it becomes much more tricky to relaunch. However once it has been swamped it pays to take your time, sometimes just by letting it get hit by another wave it can reform and ready itself for relaunch.
A trick that can be useful if the kite has crashed directly downwind of you is to use one line to massively oversteer the kite, thus causing it to drop on to its back. Then pull (I would suggest with some enthusiasm) on the 2 centre lines to pull the kite out of the water directly downwind of you. I would recommend this for experts only as if it goes wrong it leaves you in a VERY vulnerable position for when that next wave comes rolling in.
If the waves are big and you are being dragged behind a kite caught in a wave, then be ready to release. This will protect you and your kite. In big waves you should ALWAYS be ready to release and be very happy with your safety release. Being towed underwater by a kite that has been caught in a wave is not fun, neither is watching said wave punch through the canopy of your kite because you are providing a counterweight to its force.
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