Skip to content
KitesurfingOfficial

Unhooked · Advanced

Raley to Wrapped

See it in the Trick Tree

Raley to Wrapped is an unhooked raley that turns past toeside: the rider releases the front hand and lands heelside with the bar wrapped behind the back.

Also called: Shifty to Wrapped · Shifty 2 Wrapped · Shifty to Wrap

Prerequisites

Raley to Blind

Unlocks

313Back to Wrapped

Schools teach this differently

The two IKSURFMAG breakdowns teach different entries with different spin triggers: the raley entry keeps both legs extended and fires the rotation with a two-handed bar pull led by the head and shoulders, while the shifty entry winds up with the back foot lifted higher and further upwind, then fires by pulling the bar down towards the back knee while kicking that knee forward to meet it.

Ideal conditions

No source we cite gives a numeric wind range; IKSURFMAG's guidance is to attempt it not too powered, since committing to the extra rotation is easier when you are not lit, and to add trim if the kite stalls on landing.

How to do it

  1. 1. Set up on a broad reach

    • Trim so you are comfortable rather than lit; you commit to turning your back on the kite far more easily when you are not overpowered.
    • Park the kite just below 1 or 11. There is no air pass in this trick, so you can carry the kite slightly higher than usual and take some lift in place of power.
    • Check your leash hangs on the trailing-leg side before you unhook, so the bar has room to travel when you pass out of the wrap.
    • Unhook and bear away onto a broad reach with your hands centred on the bar and elbows tucked into your sides.
    • Drop your weight upwind of the board and back over the tail, front leg extended so the nose pushes out ahead of you.

  2. 2. Pop and pull

    • Stamp down hard off your back foot and extend that leg as explosively as you can; the front leg stays locked straight the whole way through.
    • Concentrate on straightening both legs into the raley, uncoiling like a spring behind the bar.
    • Pull the bar in hard with both hands. The pull draws you up towards the bar; lift your legs underneath your body and the bar so everything can rotate together.
    • Keep looking forward with your shoulders turned as if you were only going for toe side. The full rotation comes in the next beat.

  3. 3. Turn it past toe side

    • As you pull, release your front hand and lead the rotation with your head and shoulders, turning to look back over your shoulder.
    • Throw the free front hand around behind you to feed the spin.
    • Twist your bar-hand wrist down and around until the palm faces up, thumb pointing down and then back the way you came; this frees your front shoulder to keep turning and leaves the bar ready for the pass.
    • Keep that hand centred on the bar with the chicken-loop line running between your first two fingers.

  4. 4. Land wrapped, then pass

    • Touch down on a flattish board with your hips centred between your feet and a little weight on your toes.
    • Keep your chin up and eyes above the horizon; absorb the landing with your legs, balanced over the board.
    • Let the board glide out downwind towards the kite so no tension comes back onto the lines.
    • Reach around with your free hand and take the bar from underneath, palm up, then let go with the wrapped hand and unwind out of the arm lock.
    • Get both hands back on, hook in and ride off. For style points, ride wrapped for a few metres before you pass.

Common mistakes and fixes

Mistake

You pull the bar in first and only rotate afterwards, so your own hands block the spin and you stall around toe side.

Fix

Turn your head and shoulders away from the bar while you pull; the heave and the turn happen together, never one after the other.

Mistake

The kite climbs high behind you as you land.

Fix

You turned without pulling. Give a proper heave on both hands and bias the front hand so the same pull also steers the kite down.

Mistake

You bounce out on landing: too much weight over the back foot digs the tail in and corks you back up, or you break at the waist staring down at the bar.

Fix

Turn your head as well as your shoulders to look where you are going, keep your chin up with eyes above the horizon, and put some weight onto your toes.

Mistake

Not enough rotation, so you catch your heelside edge before you are round.

Fix

Wind up properly: get the back knee up and behind you, then pull the bar down and in towards that knee as hard as you can while kicking the knee forward to meet it. Without the hard pull there is no slack moment to spin in.

Mistake

The kite stalls as you touch down.

Fix

Trim more depower before the next attempt.

If it goes wrong

  • The moment to call it off comes before you turn your back on the kite. IKSURFMAG's Raley to Wrapped guide tells you to commit to the rotation and keep hold of the bar once you are in it, because letting go gets you nowhere and the bar is the thing your arm wraps around. Make the decision while you are still loading the edge.
  • If you are pulling out mid-attempt, MACkite's unhooked pop-to-blind lesson gives the exit for a rotation you are not going to finish: let go of the bar and ride downwind to recover.
  • When there is no landing left and you are going in, MACkite's last-resort move is to scoop out, throw your legs up and take it as a body flop into the water.
  • Back on the water and still unable to get hooked in, Session Sports teaches you to grab the chicken loop and let go of the bar. They write that this depowers the kite so you can bring the loop back to your spreader bar without it ripping you downwind.

Learn this with a coach, not from a page

This is a high-consequence move. The sources it is built from describe riders getting hurt on it, and every one of them teaches it as a step you earn rather than attempt. Get coaching, build up in stages, ride with people who can help you, and give yourself deep water and clear space downwind.

Find a certified school

Educational reference, not instruction. Kitesurfing is a risk sport: the steps here describe what named schools, instructors and technique libraries teach, and the page lists exactly which ones, but real conditions involve wind, gusts, water state, traffic and equipment behaviour that no written guide accounts for. Schools also teach justified variations — where our sources disagree, the page says so instead of picking one. Judge your own readiness, use the safety systems on your kite, and do not attempt a move because a page made it sound achievable. KitesurfingOfficial accepts no liability for the use of this information on the water.

Questions riders ask

What should I have on lock before trying a raley to wrapped?+

IKSURFMAG lists the Krypt, the raley to toe side done unhooked, as the only prerequisite for the raley entry. For the shifty entry they want a solid railey to blind on your other tack: if you can railey to blind on port, you should be able to shifty to wrapped on starboard.

How much power do I want?+

Less than you think. Committing to the extra 90 degrees and turning your back on the kite is easier when you are not too powered, and because there is no air pass you can carry the kite a touch higher and take lift instead of raw power.

Do I pass the bar in the air?+

No. You land wrapped with the bar arm behind your back and pass afterwards at whatever pace you like: reach around with the free hand, take the bar from underneath palm up, and unwind out of the arm lock. Riders often cruise a few metres wrapped first.

Where does it sit in the unhooked progression?+

BOUCH's tutorial calls it a simple trick that can be your first handlepass trick alongside the raley to blind, with grabs and landing variations to add once it is consistent. Kiteboarding St Petersburg names the shifty to wrap as the step before learning the 313.

The blind rotation scares me. What actually helps?+

Commitment is the named problem in the IKSURFMAG breakdown: you have to make yourself go once to find out the consequences are milder than they look. Commit to the rotation, keep hold of the bar, and ride out less powered so the decision costs less.

Keep reading

Sources

Every step on this page traces to the sources below. Where they disagree or stay silent, the page says so instead of guessing.