tips on looping SLEs?

jonah · Since 20 Jul 2006 169 Posts Hood River Stoked

I've been trying to downloop a Waroo in the middle of an air transition. So basically, I'm going into a jump (with very little forward speed.. hence a transition) by sending with one hand and then mid-air I'm pulling hard with the other hand to downloop the kite.

The problem is sometimes the kite stays nice and high during the loop and nothing crazy happens. But other times it loops down right into the power zone and I go rocketing downwind... even if the kite finishes the loop, i'm landing hard, fast, and body flat on the water.

I can't seem to tell when to start the loop. Some discussion on the Best kite forum says to start it before you reach the apex. Another thread says to start it after the apex. Any other factors that affect where the kite is during the loop? Should I start the kite higher or lower before sending it?

Is the technique different for regular loops (sending it, and keep sending it for the loop) versus downloops (sending it and looping back the other way)?

I'd really like to figure this out before i hurt myself with trial and error. Any advice is appreciated (but please only reply if you have direct experience with this on SLE kites).

Thanks!