kitesurfing leading edge repair

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[spock]

hi
i have been kitesurfing for a while and have had my fair share of tears /rips etc on these kites.as you kow these kites cost in the region of £1000 for one kite.rather than send mine off for repair all the time i was wanting to start making repairs myself by sewing and making pro repairs.

i dont have a machine and never used one but catch on quick and handy with things hands on.does someone have a video/video link even for purchase which demonstrates how to fix kitesurf leading edges or shows a sample of something similar.

the leading edge on a surf kite is a long shaped dacron material tube shaped and also has a bladder which inflates in order to make the leading edge form a hard firm tube.

basically i have had a rip in it and dont know how a sewing machine works by stitching it without coming through the other side .i dont even know if anyone will make sense of what i am saying and maybe this is a completley stupid question and has an obvious and simple answer.i just dont know it.

any help would be greatly apprecitted

thanking you
connor maguire
www.connormaguire.com

[inewham]

No first had experience of inflatable LE's personally but I think you'd need to unstitch the LE where it attaches to the front of the sail, then you could repair the tear from both sides then re-stitich it back on to the sail.

[sugarbaker]

I also have no experience with inflatable leading edge kites, but I can wager a guess that this portion of the kite was originally stitched inside out, then inverted to hide the seam. After completing the leading edge, I believe it is then attached to an inside out sail, then inverted again to have all the seams on the inside of the kite (this is what I've seen on some inflatable edge kites).  Getting a seamless repair could be considerably harder than making a functional repair that had some visual flaws. 

If the tear is near the end seam of the kite: Rather than stitch over the tear itself, I would see if I could remove the bladder... turn the leading edge inside out to the point where the tear was, and use some adhesive mylar repair tape on the tear.  the other option is if the leading has a large enough inner diameter that you could put it on the sewing machine like a pant leg (I doubt this will work, as the LE is probably too small).

If you have pictures of the damage, it may be easier to work out a solution.  Best of luck.

[indigo_wolf]

i have been kitesurfing for a while and have had my fair share of tears /rips etc on these kites.as you kow these kites cost in the region of £1000 for one kite.rather than send mine off for repair all the time i was wanting to start making repairs myself by sewing and making pro repairs.

i dont have a machine and never used one but catch on quick and handy with things hands on.does someone have a video/video link even for purchase which demonstrates how to fix kitesurf leading edges or shows a sample of something similar.

thanking you
connor maguire
www.connormaguire.com

Please don't take any offense...

If the tear is minor (an inch or so and certainly less than 2 inches not crossing any seams), you can use these instructions to effect repairs:
Leading Edge Repair With FiberFix, GluFix and KiteFix Self-Adhesive Dacron

If it is anything more, I would seriously consider having the repair professionally done.

Is the prospect of shipping the kite the primary reason for wanting to do the repair yourself?

If you are near the A2 near Holywood, KitesurfWarehouse is just down the road from you and does repairs.  The person to contact would be Darren.  He is also on the UK based powerkite forum, www.kitecrowd.com as dbinit.   Depending on where exactly you are located, you might be able to drive the kite to the shop.

Unlike repairs to a dual line sportskite, repairs to an LEI kite carry some safety concerns if they are not done correctly.

In addition, if you ever decide to sell the kite, resale value will be greatly impacted by DIY vs Professionally repairs (with paperwork), especially for something like the leading edge bladder pocket.

ATB,
Sam

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