In an Unhooked Kiteloop the rider unhooks from the chicken loop, pops off the edge and loops the kite behind them, so it drags them into a downwind landing.
Also called: unhooked kite loop
Prerequisites
Unlocks
Nothing in the tree needs this one yet — it stands on its own.
Ideal conditions
Learn in light to moderate wind with lots of open space, away from the beach in an onshore wind; the better you get, the more powered you can take it.
How to do it
1. Trim, park at 12, unhook
- Trim the sweetspot down until the bar sits just above the chicken loop, with even tension on front and back lines; the kite has to fly clean fully sheeted in, or it flares the moment you unhook.
- Bring the kite up to 12 o'clock or thereabouts before you unhook — much higher than the standard unhooking position of around 10:30 or 1:30.
- Bear away and chase the kite downwind for a beat to take the tension out of the lines, then pop the chicken loop off the hook.
- Keep your shoulders back and your eyes up. Looking down at the hook rolls your shoulders forward.
2. Fishpole grip and load the edge
- Let go with your front hand, reach under your back hand palm up, and grab the bar just behind it.
- Hold on tight and pin the bar in close to your hips; with both hands on one side the kite is already starting to move against your direction of travel.
- Drop back onto your edge, get your weight low and carve the board hard back upwind against the pulling kite.
- Stack a strong pop stance: shoulders back, bum low, hips over the back foot, front leg straight, board between you and the kite.
3. Pop early and take the yank
- Pop early rather than late: as you feel the kite start to pull, explode up off the water by violently straightening your back leg.
- Look over your hands and your rear elbow on takeoff. The pull comes from slightly behind and downwind, and seeing it arrive lets you brace for the yank.
- Keep the bar pinned in as close to your hips as you can through the flight.
4. Land downwind, then sort the kite
- Expect to touch down heading downwind, or even slightly back the way you came.
- Pull the bar in towards your hips so your feet swing down underneath you.
- Get the board out in front and land tail first, legs extending to soak up the hit. Ignore what the kite is doing until the landing is stuck.
- Coming in toeside, release your front hand to balance the touchdown.
- Only when you see or feel the kite climbing back up, grab the free side of the bar with your free hand.
Common mistakes and fixes
Mistake
Popping late, once the kite is already deep into its loop
Fix
Go early — early beats late on this one. Explode up the moment you feel the kite start to pull.
Mistake
Looking down at the chicken loop while unhooking
Fix
Keep your shoulders back and eyes up; looking down rolls the shoulders forward and puts your hips back, right when you need the edge.
Mistake
Dumping the bar the instant a crash starts, while the kite is still looping low
Fix
Hold on until the kite has turned back up, then release.
Mistake
Unhooking with the sweetspot trimmed too far from the chicken loop
Fix
Trim the sweetspot down next to the chicken loop; adjust the depower line, or move the pigtail attachments, so the kite flies perfectly with the bar pulled all the way in.
Mistake
Straightening the arms after unhooking so the bar drifts up into the depower zone
Fix
Tuck your elbows in close to your sides and keep your hands centred on the bar.
If it goes wrong
- Learn it in light to moderate wind, and add power only as you get better.
- Find lots of space and stay away from the beach in an onshore wind.
- Never learn this on a suicide leash. Attach the leash to a fifth line if the kite has one, or to the depower/bow attachment below the bar, with a working quick release.
- On a bow-style kite, make sure the bar stopper is not fixed in place, so the kite can depower if you lose the bar.
- If you are going down mid-loop, keep hold of the bar until the kite has turned back up before you release.
Learn this with a coach, not from a page
This is a high-consequence move — riders get hurt on it, and everyone who teaches it treats 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 schoolA KitesurfingOfficial tutorial — and no page replaces real instruction. Kitesurfing is a risk sport: real conditions involve wind, gusts, water state, traffic and equipment behaviour that no written guide accounts for. Good schools also teach justified variations — where a move is taught more than one way, this page says so instead of pretending there is only one. Judge your own readiness, use the safety systems on your kite, and never 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 be able to do before trying an unhooked kiteloop?+
You need a well-trimmed kite you can unhook from comfortably, the ability to pop at will, lots of space and a committed head. Coaching curricula file it as advanced material, taught after unhooked basics and fundamental pop tricks like the raley and s-bend.
How much wind do I want for learning it?+
Start in light to moderate wind; the better you get, the more powered you can take it. If unhooking itself is still new, Ben Wilson recommends drilling the unhook on the beach in around 10 to 15 knots first.
Where is the kite when I unhook?+
At 12 o'clock or thereabouts. That is the unusual part: standard unhooking parks the kite lower in the window, around 10:30 or 1:30.
What is the fishpole grip?+
Both hands on the same side of the bar. You release your front hand, reach underneath your back hand with the palm up and grab the bar just behind it, then hold tight and keep the bar close to your hips through the loop.
What leash setup is safe while learning this?+
Not a suicide leash. Run the leash to a fifth line if available, or to the depower/bow attachment below the bar, with a working quick release, and loosen a bow kite's bar stopper so the kite can depower if the bar gets away from you.
Stuck on this trick? Ask KSO AI and describe what happens when you try it.
Keep reading
Fact-checked
This tutorial was written by the KitesurfingOfficial editorial team and cross-checked against published instruction from the schools and riders below. Where good teachers differ, the page says so.