Oh My Goodness! a Newbie!
Yup! have Buggy, have Kite, Done first 'Walk of Shame' (first of many I'm sure) just need a few hints / pointers from the 'Pro's
Former adrenaline junkie, though prone to relapses and lapses of judgment hence my appearance here!

Coming up to Muriwai with said buggy in mid July if anyone feels the desire to go for a blat! (no 'setting-up' of the newbie!)

welcome 64frog. what is the kite and buggy you have? where to you reside in nz? what do you need a hand with?

hahah!! check out the video in the murawai thread bullfrog, thats our locle spot!! your in for a treat...

Hi Plummet!

Kite is a Peter Lynn 'Rebble' 5m, (there is also a 15m Wipika hydro11 just incase I need to get totally insane! ) buggy is a Peter Lynn XR+ with extended back axle, bigfoot front forks and 3 x ribbed 16/650/8" tyres. What do I need a hand with ... I have ridden it once ... and had one walk of shame! not good odds really?hoping to let loose down major beach like Muriwai (have just lined up an airstrip here in central north island for practicing!)

hey bullfrog..first thing you need to do is fit a hardwire from kite directly to buggy so your arms arnt having to take the load, this will massivly improve your chanches of getting upwind.

like this

airstrip in central north island>? i'm listening. i might have to put it on my list. you might also want to put the blue balls buggy bash on your to do list. its 4,5 july at raglan. therel be lots of buggiers to give you hints.

northernal321 wrote:


Erm... maybe not for a newbie right away. Back strap or seat harness with a quick release pulley definitely. At least until you get familiar with what to do with a kite before getting flipped and dragged face first in the sand or grass with a buggy stuck on top of you.

I would advise not to use a harness for the time being it is harder work onn the arms but i think you get a better feel from the kite after all you learn to fly the kite standing up and without a harness. I would also get a smaller kite like 3m as well as 5m without a harness becomes overpowered really quickly and you find that there days with moderate winds that you just can't get upwind.

Going back to kite flying are you a competent flyer. i.e. You know what the wind window is, You know where the power zone in the wind window is. You can fly set up and launch solo and assisted, You can fly straight lines through the window avoiding the power zone and then through it and can control the kite throughout no been dragged uncontrolably accross the field. You fly figure of 8's with up turns and down turns, you can turn using the brakelines as well as yaw turns(pulling like you do on a two line kite) and you can land the kite safely. If not spend a little more time out of the buggy until you feel more confident about you flying skills because the better your flying the easier it is to see were you are going wrong in the buggy. Most people are good enough flyers after only a couple of hours to get into the buggy for their first goes.

Another reason i say not to use a harness at the mo is that you learn to fly without first off so when you get into the buggy the only thing you have changed is the postion you are flying as far as control goes the other aspect is you are moving. Once you feel like you can control the kite enough to get in the buggy i would choose a route that is at 90 degrees to the wind that way going and coming back is more or less the same but this will depend on wind direction and the site. Do short runs therefore if you do have to do the walk of shame its a short one 100m or so should do it. its very good practice over a short distance as you use all the skills necessary in those short runs. Once you can do short runs you can go for longer runs as your skills and confidence grow.

Thats about all i can help with at the mo without seeing how you buggy in person, i hope this helps. But get down to see the Auckland Crew it'll be worth it and if your ever in Chch give us a shout and we'll get you sorted though summer is best as winter is very hard to get out on the buggy's as the wind in mainly southerly and there are very few sites in the city suitible for those winds.

Anyway thats my rant

fair enuff on all points, its worth mentioning hardwiring isnt dangerous if you dont go out on a windy day, you can still pull the plug and let the kite go on the saftey just like you let go with your hands..simple as that...rexton ONLY learned with a hard wire and is already a compitent buggier after 2 months...tha fact is that it allows you to relax and think instaed of worrying about getting yanked around or even out of the buggy compleatly, its very relaxed learning and thats important, and it also stops it hurting, wich i found to be a major learning advantage as i could spend many more hours in the seat.

Really helpful skypirate, (like the name, my grt grt grandfather was a pirate!) i can fly reasonably well, solo take off, reverse take off, brake steering etc learnt the wind window the hard way! (doing a flying demo in front of 300 local kids in 30 knots ... oops!) gotta miss the bbbbdue to work commitments, but looking towards moose meet labour w/end?

oh yeah, I'm 6'3" and 130 kg (plenty of on board ballast shall we say!) good momentum, not so much sprinting!

whats the bit your struggling with?
once you got flying sorted and are in the buggy, its worth learning how to stop, because it can all get away on you pretty quick....the best thing to do it fly around with the kite at zeneth and just "dip" it into the wind to pick up a bit of power and speed then back to zeneth, just keep dipping for speed. practice just turning upwind with the kite at the top or "very" slightly behind you as a brake so you can stop, once you get this sorted you will feel more like you have control.you can always put your feet down but then how do you steer?
once you get the hang of zenething and steering upwind to scrub momentum off you can start putting the kite a bit more and more behind you and reall create a bit of drag, but be carefull, this is how you get yanked out or the buggy.
once you learn how to slide the back end out you do skid stops, just like handbrake turns, and with all 3 wheels skidding you stop very easily, this is the best was to stop and scrub off speed, but is a while away yet.
how is your tacking?