Any ideas/suggestions how to self-rescue after a failure of the main kite bladder (the bloody thing popped in mid air, like a balloon)? The best I could manage was to use two still inflated struts as "masts" to support and expose one of the kite panels to the wind. This proved, however, to be a slow (90 minutes), ineffective (a nearly straight downwind drift) and arduous way of getting from South-Passage back to Lancelin.
(P.S. Nog eens hartelijke dank aan Joris (?) en je vriendin voor het hulp gisteren)
As we all know the ideal self rescue looks like this:
Even with a completely deflated leading edge I have still always been able to get some sort of sail happening like this one, even if it is smaller or more downwind than you would like (but certainly not straight downwind).
Maybe try exposing less of the sail to the wind?
At worst, if some of the struts are still inflated pack the whole lot down and paddle it back in (note hat assiting the upwind line 
):
The last one works well for places where down wind self rescue is not an option, but then again we simply don't kite in those places do we... 
Roll the kite up, wrap your harness around the kite and paddle like a surfboard, much quicker when LE is damaged, or if the wind has swung offshore.
Yeah, I had to go with Option C above last week, after bursting the leading edge which then proceeded to fill with water during the self rescue pack/roll up. With the struts still inflated it wasn't too difficult paddling in.
A note to all those riding kites that have shut-off valves for the struts (e.g. Cab kites) - probably a good idea to close the valves before you start your session as you never know when you might burst a leading edge. In this instance there'll probably be no air left in the struts by the time you get to your kite and you don't want to have to paddle in a completely deflated, water filled kite.
I could fly my Ozone cat some weeks ago back to shore with a deflated LE (faulty valve)... using only the bridal and the 3 inflated struts. I could not use my board but it body dragged me to shore without crashing... yes it was making some funny dance-like moves up there but fortunately did not crash. I was the most surprised. Anyone had similar experience?
