KiteJan

What is a Bow Tie?

No not the kind of bow tie you wear around your neck!

This is the situation you sometimes get when flying a high aspect ratio foil kite (i.e. long and thin like a Ozone Razor) in less than perfect inland gusty winds - the sort of wind we often get around here.

The bow tie is when the end of the kite passes through the bridles in the middle of the kite and back round the other side, giving a rather pleasing, but very useless, bow tie shaped kite. I have found this to happen for two reasons:

1. Flying the kite too near the edge of the wind window (i.e. extreme left, right, or overhead) when the wind is very gusty - a gust will kind of knock the kite down and fold it over, often resulting in this.
2. Having to let go of the kite whilst using kite keepers (you do use kite keepers don't you?) - depending on wind and what you were doing often the kite ends up bow tied.

Low aspect ratio foil kites (i.e. short and fat such as the Flexifoil Bullet) aren't prone to bow tie as much - they are (usually) much more stable and gust resistant.

Usually there is no way of recovering in the air - you have to land, peg out the kite (you do have a peg with you don't you?), and sort out the twists. Just beware that if you untwist the wrong side you will get some strange crossovers in the bridle and/or lines - always check that the bridle and lines are clear before relaunching!

Bow Tie Examples

A classic bow tie from the back of a Ozone Razor 3.5

and the same bow tie seen from the front