Self-Rescue Drill: Packing Down a Kite in Deep Water

The step-by-step pack-down every kiter should practise on a calm day before they need it. Most rescues our volunteers perform are for riders who were simply too tired to get back upwind.

The drill, step by step

Staying with your kit makes you far easier to spot, and it floats better than you do.

• Stay with your equipment
• Signal early, not late
• Carry a hook knife
• Tell someone ashore your plan

The best rescue is the one you never need because you came in ten minutes earlier.

Priya Nair, Gustline crew

Every drill ended with a short debrief on the beach, and each one was faster than the last.