Kite Repair, Paraglider Repair, WingFoil Repair

Kites repaired properly return to flawless performance and look great.
You might even want to show them off.

WindFire Designs provides a complete service for kite repairs and paraglider repairs of any kind. We have restored thousands of soft wings to perfect performance. We repair paragliders and all other ram-air foils and handwings too.

When your wing is with us, we proceed with care, precision, and fast turn-around times. Our decades of knowledge, skill, and our specialized sewing machines allow us to line up and repair kites fiber-for-fiber. WindFire Designs kite repair means zero performance loss.

Start the process here.

Current turn-around time:
1—2 weeks — Updated August 2024

At WindFire Designs, we thrive on details, and consistency is paramount. We are two people, Tim Elverston, and Ruth Whiting. We have been professionals in kites since 1994.

The core principles behind WindFire Designs Kite Repair Service:

• All repair work by WindFire Designs is guaranteed forever.
• Dimensionally perfect within <1mm
• OEM fabrics, threads, needle
  gauges, and stitching patterns
• Fast service with personal attention.
• Over 20 years of kite design,
  building, and repair service experience.
• UV resistant materials that will never
  gather sand or mildew.
• Techniques that preserve and comply with
  the natural dynamic shape and
  stretch of flying fabric structures.
• Good will, customer-oriented
  pricing and payment policies.
• Most important, we love
  what we do everyday.

If you are unsure about the repairability of your kite, simply email us a few pictures showing the damage and we'll let you know. If the kite was in good condition prior to the damage, it's almost certain that it's worth repairing.

Rush repairs:
Go ahead, rush us. Write "Time Sensitive" or something equally witty on the ouside of the box. Normally we can meet any deadline without any extra labor charges.

Call us and talk to a human:
352 219 4269 — Generally answered by Tim

Contact us

How to have your kites serviced
by WindFire Designs:

1: Print or fake our WindFire Designs Repair Ticket

2: Allow the kite to dry and shake off loose sand

3: View our checklist

4: Pack the kite in a smallish box

5: Ship to WindFire Designs

Above, a damaged slightshot, carefully repaired by WindFire Designs

Below, a North Rebel with what was, a very sad wing tip.

A customer sent us the image [above left]. It was a perfect restoration when finished.

Below is an image of one of our sewing needles. It's a marvel of engineering actually. Take the opportunity to study the shape the next time you see one.

We use a bonded polyester thread that's resistant to ultraviolet. We change gauges of both needles and threads to fit the various situations found on every kite.

Frequently asked questions

Aesthetics:

We repair kites one way—with very fine work. A repair that is done well goes hand-in-hand with one that also looks good. We have developed all kinds of techniques to deal with the most difficult situations. There is more information below, and on our various blogs about this. Don't hesitate to ask specifics about your situation.

Bridles for kites and Paraglider Bridles
(line/tension system) repairs:

Yes, we fabricate and repair all kinds of high performance tension systems and line elements for kites and paragliders.

Payment:

Please email us to discuss payment options. You'll find our customer-oriented policies are both easy and unusually generous. All advice is free. If you are not completely satisfied with our work, we'll do it over, or refund the cost, it's that simple.

Cost:

Some damage looks bad, but is relatively easy to repair. The flip side? Some looks simple but takes longer due to the position in the structure. Our prices relate only to the time we spend on your repair. We have no minimum charge.  The price range of repairs is generally between $25 and $180. Our customers often tell us that our prices are extremely reasonable—we intend to keep hearing that.

Kite Bladder Repairs

Minor damage to kite bladders

We repair some kite bladders in place, without the need to remove them at a minimal charge.

Unrepairable bladders

Otherwise, we will order and install bladders for standard prices on the parts required, plus some labor to install.

For about 20 years we have provided kite repair services for Florida and the entire United States. We also regularly service kites from Canada, Mexico, Hawaii, and nearly all of the islands that surround Florida like the Florida Keys, Tobago, and Puerto Rico. We repair a lot of kites from the "East Coast kiting meccas" like Miami, Clearwater, Jupiter, West Palm Beach, Ft. Lauderdale, Datona, St. Augustine, Jacksonville, Tampa and Clearwater. We are continually receiving repairs from new places, and we are always amazed by how wide-spread the world's kite flyers are.

Yes! We repair your brand of kite! Not only that, we have probably seen exactly the same damage yours has. We repair any, and all brands of kites. Cabrinha, Best, North, Wainman, Liquid Force, RRD, Ozone, Flexifoil, Wipika, Slingshot, F-One, Naish, Gaastra, GK Sonic, Peter Lynn, you name it we repair it. Of course the reason is that from a fabric construction point of view, they are all essentially the same to us.

About our techniques

Attention to micro details is what makes a good kitesurfing kite repair.

Below are some photos showing before and after damage and our repair of this Slingshot 15. This one lives in Vermont. Anyway, as you will see this was essentially two repairs in one. First, the canopy was ripped, which traveled from the leading edge all the way down to the trailing edge. This is actually a very common way in which kites fail and we see it happen to every brand of kite on the market. To repair a rip in a kite canopy like this, we first line up every single fiber along the path of damage.

If you look closely at ripstop damage, you'll see the tiny clues we use. It may sound like too much work to line up every fiber, but the cool thing is, a perfect repair is actually easier and faster than whacking it back together like a yokel. Once the edges of the rip are back in place we add cloth and sew the perimeter of the patch. All transitions and corners are rounded and blended for strength first, but also for cosmetics.

Slingshot Fuel - repair of the canopy — before [above] and after [below]

Extremely fine quality kite leading edge repairs

The leading edge of this same Slingshot was also blown out. The rip traveled along the junction of the strut where it meets the leading edge. To repair this, we first have to open the leading edge and partially remove the strut. This has to be done in order to run the patch cloth under the strut to LE junction. Once the deconstruction is complete, we begin to heal the edges back together like we did with the canopy, using all the data that the failed fibers leave behind. Patch cloth is run with double layer on the interior of the leading edge tube, and single layer on the outside.

The layers of the cloth we add are balanced against the base thickness of the leading edge tube so that the finished repair is not too bulky or stiff. Every corner and transition is rounded and blended in with the structure for strength and cosmetics. Then comes the most important seam on any LEI type kite: closing the leading edge. We have spent years perfecting our technique for this. Sometimes we see work from other shops and this seam really separates those who know how to sew from those who don't. Every micro detail is accounted for and this yields a perfect finished shape with absolute restoration of strength.

The power of hiding a kite repair in plain sight

Below is a North Rebel with a blown out wing tip and the strut is separated from the canopy. It took lots of patience, but this North Rebel repaired perfectly.

Initially this wingtip had suffered an extreme force, causing a branching rip at the outer reinforcement of the canopy, and the rip also traveled along the leading edge, requiring us to open the leading edge sleeve, even though there wasn't specific damage to the sleeve itself.

After a couple hours time, we had chased every fiber down, and brought them back together with their previous fiber buddies. It was then a matter of adding the new cloth to bridge the rip along the meandering path, and then sewing the perimeter of that down. We then reattached the strut, which had completely separated during the failure.

About the people at WindFire Designs

Tim Elverston

Ruth Whiting

Tim Elverston has worked professionally as a kite designer and builder for 20 years. He disguises art as work so people don't notice. Read thoughts on repairing kites here.

Ruth Whiting, artist and wind worshipper, has 15 years experience in every aspect of professional kiting. Her work is careful, beautiful, and precise.

Customer feedback is one of the most important aspects of our business. We pride ourselves on being an exception to the "no news is good news" rule. Here are some reviews from our great customers.

On Dec 29, 2016, Hjörtur Eiríksson wrote:

Kite just arrived back.

I am so happy with your work. You are absolutely the best I have seen. Workmanship is fantastic and customer service too. I hope I do not have to do business with you again J - but if I do. It will be a pleasure!
Thank you and your crew so much Tim.

Best regards,

Hjörtur.

On Oct 18, 2012, at 2:04 PM,
Geoff Gibson wrote:

Tim, Just got my Kite. I am blown away. I told you I had spent my life in the sewing business, and am a fair amateur sail repair guy, when I can get my hands on a Zig-Zag machine. I have never seen such nice work on a repair.

The words craftsman, and artisan come to mind. It is virtually invisible if you are not looking for it. As an ex-sewing industry guy, I can see the extreme quality of your work. I was really pleased and excited when I pumped it up and checked it out.

Thank you for a wonderful repair experience. This is the first time I have ever had a kite repaired, and did not feel that it was diminished in appearance or performance.

Kindest Regards, Geoff

On Feb 20, 2012,
High Point Engineering wrote:

I got the kite back the other day; the repairs are superb. Extra care was taken to seamlessly blend the repair areas with the original areas: the stitching is the same pattern, size, and quality as the original, any replacement material was selected to match the original, the patches were place either on the outside or the inside of the kite so that the original logo was preserved. I have to look hard to see where the kite was damaged. I took the kite out the other day and it flew as well as it ever had. The work was done in a timely manner and at a reasonable price. I would recommend WindFire Designs to any friend that needs repair work! -John

On Jun 10, 2011,
j baker wrote:

Hey Tim, I just received the Octane that you repaired for me and it looks fantastic! It's real obvious that you take a lot of pride in what you do. I will highly recommend you to anyone I know for kite repair.

Thanks again for everything.
Best Regards Jeff Baker

On Mar 1, 2009,
Mike Gavin wrote:

Tim,

Thank you for the great service. I was very impressed by the way to conduct business. You will have all my future kite repair business.

Have a great year!!!
Mike Gavin

On Dec 15, 2010,
captain lenny wrote:

Tim.

Well the kite survives...
The test was a day of gale force wind down here in Key West. The kite repair survived, not to mention looking like it came straight from the factory....Thanks for the extra stitches around my patch job.

Thanks a bunch.......The guys on the water are all impressed with your work too.....
Thank you,
Captain Lenny

Read more testimonials here



Ruth repairs a bridle on a Flysurfer Speed 21m

Guide to other WindFire Designs content on the web

Blogs

Environmental policy

We attempt to have minimal impact on the environment. We often ship kites without using a gasoline vehicle. Read about it here.

WindFire Designs Circle Tools

WindFire Designs Circle Tools are made for beautiful circles. Specifically designed for countless uses, they provide elegant and precise utility.

Stainless steel, and made entirely in the USA, they are each hand finished here in our studio. Use them for all kinds of design, fabric, kite repair patches, wood work, and metal work.

A video from a long time ago—an afternoon in our old shop.

I was working on an Ozone Access [blog link] and paul fixed two Best Waroos. The camera was shooting a frame every 30 seconds. I then extended it out to four times the length. The music is a band called Strut from Asheville NC.

How to have your kites repaired
by WindFire Designs:

1: Print or fake our
WindFire Designs Repair Ticket

2: Allow the kite to dry and shake off loose sand

3: View our checklist

4: Pack the kite in a smallish box

5: Ship to WindFire Designs

To all our customers, Thank you.

All content on the WindFire Designs domain is © 2000 — © ∞