First epic session of the year!

First one at the Home Beach, anyway...

Yesterday had a front or something come through and brought big wind with it - but also a bunch of rain. Despite being forecast to stop raining in the PM it kept right on raining so I came home instead and went out this afternoon.

Took an hour off work, arrived about 3:30pm and got changed... dragged the Flydoor, Mako and Crossbow 13 and Speed3 21 over to the lake - wind was a little up'n'down so kite choice was tough. I opted for the S3 21 and the Mako and it was a good choice - fully trimmed out for power and I was ju-uuust over-powered but loving it!

Just me, Miyachi and erm that other guy there - they're both on surfboards and 7.5 and 10m kites...

Noodled around a bit to 'warm up' then started launching jumps... oh my-yyyy they're all over the place - to someone watching, I bet the launches looked like I got tazered :( messy. Can't figure that board and the water out... got a few epic jumps in, but most were ugly. Best results seemed to be from moderate upwind carve and then just jumping up with both legs - the usual pop from the Flyboards just didn't work ... I think :D

Back-spins worked fine but water is too cold to risk front-spins heh. Wind is dropping and I'm not going upwind easily enough to make up for the massive downwind drift of the jumps, so I swap to the Flydoor. Wow, it's totally like getting on a lump of wood :o smooth riding and edging upwind easily but it's SO HEAVY feeling! Jumps are a little easier to launch but I've still messed myself up but good I think...

Miyachi and the other guy have disappeared already, so as the sun sinks towards the horizon I call it a day... a great day too!

Moment of the Day again has to be either that one perfect huge jump I remember clearly or realizing that I've gotten to grips with the Mako... well riding it at least!


Weather was reported as 7.6 falling to 6 knots - utter bollocks. It was more like 13°C too, not 7. 61% humidity - I have no idea about that :D
My best guess - 10 to 15 knots, gusts to 20... I was powered but reverse landed fine, then just walked hand over hand down the lines to secure the kite... can't do that in big wind and can just drop the kite and walk to it in 6 knots!

What I learned today...
• A week and a few degrees C makes a huge difference in comfort - road sign said 13 and my hands weren't cold at all. I could probably get away with 3mm boots too.
• Simply wearing boots make my feet hurt :(
• The Mako is a nimble, light board.
• The 'door is a plank :o
• I'm weak in the legs after a few weeks off - burning thighs!
• Over-sending the kite causes me to spin around backwards - finally confirmed after all these years! But get it right, and it's fun swinging around under the kite and BUTTAH smooth landings result.
• Flysurfer Speed3 has MASSIVE usable wind-range!

First skunkage of the year

:-/

Forecast looked great, out-the-window looked great so I came home at lunchtime to get my wetsuit, harness etc.

Got to the lake at 4:30pm... wind seemed a bit low so I set up Ol' Relentless. Jump in the water on the Mako... tack out, tack back aw crap going way downwind... longer tack out and BUGGER the wind has died and I'm out in the river mouth. Had to body drag back over the river wall, avoiding the trees etc and walk down the beach.

Change to the Flydoor and one tack out, one tack back and the wind has gone again :(

Get out, wait around for a while then pack up. Bollocks. At least there's a hot shower this time...

Weather was recorded as 16 knots at lunch time then 12 at 3pm, falling to 5 at 5pm... and it was lully - the other two guys kites kept falling out of the sky and the 21 kept sliding down the window. Naturally, the wind picked up to 12 knots again after dark. And now it's snowing. It was between 2 and 3°C too...

What I learned today...
• Winter can still bring crap weather.

Nutting up!

Wind was up and it was warm (ish) where I was so I thought I'd head out to the lake for the first session of the year at Locus. Forecast was good; wind didn't look so great though so I didn't get my 10m from the house...

Got to the club house and nobody else was there. Wind was cold making my ears go numb, clouds covered the hills over the other side of the lake which means it's snowing so I thought "Nah!" and got back in the car to go home... as I approached the other way of getting to the club house, I thought "Sissy!!!" at myself and turned the car back around.

Suited up, grabbed my 13m 'bow and the Mako and waddled over to the lake. Bit chilly in the already damp wetsuit (should have hung it up to dry after Saturday :-/ ) but I'm sure I'll warm up with the pumping.
Setting up with gloves on wasn't too difficult and by about 4pm, I'm getting into the water. Bit cold eh :)

Plenty of power, little gusty and I'd have been happier on the 10m for sure but I'm feeling ok. Mako goes upwind nicely but the water is choppy as hell, all over the place! Carves great through the erm carving turns, really locked in and surfy feeling... or at least, how I imagine a surfboard must feel!

Try some jumps and it's all over the place. Water isn't the best, wind is gusty and I'm rusty so it's a pretty mixed bag... a few refreshing face-plants wake me up and I get it under control. Seems the Mako is a very stiff board and you can't 'ollie' it like I do my other Flyboards. Will work on that some more...
Did a solitary back-roll but a blast of icy water down the back of the wetsuit puts paid to that.

Enjoying my ride but my hands have become two unfeeling lumps - time to head back to the shore...

Got another nasty surprise when I got back to the club house, eagerly anticipating a hot shower - no water. At all. Not even cold water to rinse the sand off... WTF Miyachi!!!

Moment of the Day was realizing I can ride in those conditions, still have fun and not freeze to death. 5mm wetsuit and decent gloves (and maybe a hoodie thing) means I might be able to ride almost year round :o

Weather was reported as 8.6m/s (17.2knots) from 4 to 5pm with gusts up to 24knots. It was also 4.6°C, falling to 3.6 when I packed up. Obviously, the colder, denser air of winter means I need to size down my kite selection...

What I learned today...
• 4°C is kiteable which means most of winter is doable... with the right gear.
• NeoGear work gloves are not the right gear. At least, the naval camo ones aren't. My old ones are but have too many holes now... will try to find some more. The bike shop has $30 gloves that might be good too but $30 versus $10 for the NeoGear - I know where I'm shopping first!
• Want 5mm suit and hoodie.
• HyperFlex gear rocks! Seriously, $80 3/2mm wetsuit in winter and I'm cold but only notice it when I stop moving. Or get wet :D
• Mako is going to be a great board - very surfy feel to it and it carves like a knife!
• I think the Mako is very stiff - and I think for jumping, I prefer a flexible board. We'll see - I might need to learn the new technique before I moan too much more :D
• Crossbows are awesome. Even when over-powered they're still super-stable!

A GULP of the Kool-Aid this time

Long weekend off; that is, we don't have to work Saturday :-/ so we're up in Hamamatsu. I should really know better, I never get much joy from the beach here... anyway here's the story.

Wind was up-ish, waves were down; thought it might be worth breaking out the Infinity... I'll get to see what it's like up the top-end anyway. Cross-off is a bit of a worry though but nothing ventured and all that. Will try out my new Mako 150 too happy joy! Thanks Buzz!!!

Pumped the kite up and set up, easy self-launch. Hmm bit twitchy - probably the wind shadow. And the direction changes. And the gusts. Oh well - nut up. Got in the water - not too cold, good ol' Hyperflexx! Up and riding easily, that's good. Depower some - oh a bit gusty. Yes gusty. OH SHIT GUSTY! yoink off you go down-wind then, as fast as you can... rode the shocks out but aren't having fun. A few half-assed jumps but it's survival mode out here...

And aren't going upwind either :-/ give up, land the kite, pack up the bar and walk back up the beach... I was out on the water for over an hour but it felt like 5 minutes :o

Lucky I got off the water when I did too - the walk up the beach was made worse by an epic headwind... damn Hamamatsu! :(

More thoughts on the Infinity... (relative to today and the usual caveats apply)
• Good pull when it was being worked but I didn't have a lot of joy parking and riding it... tide, current and wind (and new board?) working against me though so we'll see on the lake...
• Vicious bastard when it's over-powered - certainly not as much of a buffer out the top-end as the SLE kites eg. my Xbows; I have never felt so dangerously and uncontrollably over-powered for a very long time indeed! It was a real handful trying to land too and the DISASTER of a QR didn't help.
What I'm talking about is how punchy it got when over-powered but still pulled a lot... Cab's IDS may be for "learners" or "old men in golf pants" but it works to take a battering but not haul on you - I know when I absolutely have to change out my Xbow for a smaller size because the kite is twitchy and jerking when totally depowered... but isn't pulling me off the water :o
Twitchy and rough in the gusts and shifts, lots of flapping and stalling - I'm guessing it's the three-strut design... lots of 'canvas' to flap about. Compared with 7 on the Xbow - I'm beginning to see a pattern here, and why Dimitri says 20 knots is the top end limit! So 30 knots NOT good :D
• Definite rear-line flyer - needs the tension there to keep it under control and on the boil. Feedback is handy (not dropping out of the sky) but it's not taxing - although I was wearing thick gloves, I didn't get the forearm pump I've had from the 16m Xbow.
• Landing from the safety - easy! I was worried cos I've never done it before (except on the FSr) It dropped down onto the LE then sat up on the wing tip at the edge of the window. I reached up and pulled the upper flying line and it gradually came back into the window then down onto the LE and sat there... in 30 knots :o

Weather was a nightmare - here's why... cross-offshore to cross-onshore; I got readings of 10 to 20 knots with average around 14 at the water's edge, JMA read 12 to 14 with gusts to 30!!!

Moment of the Day was getting out on the new board. Oh and not dying. Always good, that.

What I learned today...
• Epic Infinity v2 likes 8psi. I know cos I measured :D
• Mako will be awesome when I get used to it!
• New kite and board make a tough combination for riding in rough weather :-/
• Just cos the waves aren't breaking doesn't mean they aren't towering over your head doesn't mean they're not powerful. And big...! Did I say big? Cos they were big.
• Season has started! Wetsuit FTW! Maybe I need a 5mm this year... push the envelope! Roger that, milli vanilli chilly willy!
• That quick release has got to go - when I tried to land, I couldn't release it with my left hand at all and only just managed with the right - What. The. Fuck.
• Walking sucks.

A sip of the Epic Kool-aid

It is with utmost gratitude for the over-whelming generosity of Matt (aka WaterManFitness) that I now have a very nearly brand-new Epic Infinity V2 to play with for a while :o Thanks again Matt!

So this'll be an ongoing review type posting about the kite and how I get along with it. After all the hype we get on the forums, it's great to get my hands on the thing and get a closer look at it...

First the easy stuff to 'review'.

The Bag
... is large and easily handles a kite that is loosely folded and wasn't squeezed totally empty of air. I think if you strapped, vacuum-packed or spent some time on it, you travel with the Infinity and 1, maybe 2 smaller kites in the bag.
... is well designed. With a full length pocket for the bar with a draw-cord on the top, that secures the stuff from flapping around catching on things like the Cab bag & bar does. There's a loop/strap setup on the other side for the pump. The zip on the front of the bag is small 'gauge' which looks easy to break... I like big chunky ones. There's a large pocket on the top of the bag, probably big enough for a sweater or jacket to be stashed. Plenty of straps to carry boards and cinch up the contents tight.
... is graphically pleasing.
... includes a 'day' bag or lightweight bag to take to the beach. Made of the same kind of material as the Peter Lynn sand bags, it has a draw-cord top, shoulder strap and a zip at the bottom so you can carry the kite with the spars inflated.

The Bar
... has knurled grips like the Ozone bars; nice for the fingers.
... has an odd, bulky trim system but it works fine.
... has a stopper ball that should work nicely. It also keeps the safety line separate so that'll please some people.
... is acceptable overall but seriously—for a bar that costs the same as a North or Cabrinha bar and at least 1/3 as much again as the Switch bar, it's over-priced for what you get IMHO. Especially considering that it...
... has a QR. Read below :-/

The Kite
... is deep blue with minimal graphics; yellow struts with the Epic pattern thingy on it.
... has a simple bridle made of regular amsteel and... rings for the sliders. Rear pig tail is unfinished length of that stitched stuff FSer used for bar leader lines on the Speed2 etc. Hmm.
... has a small diameter LE and struts; remind me of my 13m Xbow I guess. The struts themselves have quite a severe dog-leg in them - I guess that adds to the canopy profile for effective apparent wind building. Interesting.
... is made of regular kite material, more like my 2011 Cabrinha's - whatever that is. Doesn't feel as heavy as the Cab stuff, and not as light as the 2012 Slingshot kites I've fondled.
... is made adequately - I'd like to see that seam on the LE taped; the rubber bumpers that cover the bridle attachment points should IMHO be ditched and the saved weight used to beef up the dacron on the contact bumpers on the spars.
... has regular valves. Yikes, seriously? OMFG after using Cab's Sprint system forever, going to these tiny little things is a real work-out. Do. Not. Like. Also, the little velcro strap has a bungy to keep the valve plugged. Eek.
... was probably under-inflated and was all floppy like I'm not used to a kite being. I blame the effort required to pump it up and just giving up on it. Will use a gauge next time. ALTHOUGH it occurs to me that if you want to increase strength with thin-wall tubing, you increase the diameter - which explains why the Crossbows are more rigid... and have a fatter LE. Will see notice how this affects relaunch.

How's it fly, Mister?
... quite nicely actually! Medium to light bar pressure, and it seems to fly off the rear lines - in fact, how it feels at the bar reminds me of an arc... hands need to be wider than the Xbows for easy one-handed turns.
... easy self-launch and -land, just grab the center line and down she comes. Nuff said.
... turns quick & smoothly and makes power through the turns easily - non-stop scuds down the beach! But it's still a big kite - I don't think the turn rate is anything like the claims of "turns like a 12m!" that I've heard :( certainly not quicker than my 13.
... good pull, a real tractor when it's on the boil - can't wait to get it on the water!

Do Not Like
... the QR that is a horror show :o (It's a Blade part too which puts me off even thinking about a Fat Lady!) The QR has a very inconsistent feel and release load, and even at it's 'easiest' to release, it's still a struggle to overcome the friction of the locking clip. Often, I can't release it with my left hand; the one with the wrist I broke a few years ago and still has a weaker grip than the right... I'd hate to be out in the cold with numb hands and have to bail! Total fail. One good thing to say about it - I buried it under the sand, jammed sand every where I could but it still released... about the same as normal. Which meant it nearly required 2 hands! Replace it with a Switch QR for $30.
... its rotor-head for unspinning the lines that sticks terribly when it's loaded. See the solution above if it bothers you.
... the tendency to fall out of the sky on a slack bar that is, IMHO, more pronounced that my 16m Xbow due to the fewer struts, enhanced turning speed and need for tension on the rear lines. 'course, I could be wrong ;) or just lazy about keeping it in the sky.

All with the usual caveats - IMHO, for me, at my level now, at this time and place ;)

Winds from 2 to 4pm were 11 to 14 knots with gusts to 21 (2:30pm). It was bloody cold - less than 4°C...

Last one is a good one!

Last day in NZ and the forecast looked good on internet, but the estuary truly delivered an epic blow! I'd gone thinking I might be able to get out on the 13m Crossbow and MAYBE the Flyradical - but as it turned out, I was over-powered in the gusts :) good times! Anyway ...

Got to the estuary about 3pm, well before high-tide (5pm-ish) but people were out so I thought rather than sitting in the car waiting, I'd just get into it! Was a bit worried about using the 13 cos it was quite windy, but no major problems and it allowed me to get away from the shallow water cos I was able to go right upwind into the deeper water.

First move of the day - back-spin transition - resulted in a face-plant :D but I kept at it and got into my groove. Nice big jumps, easy rotations when the wind wasn't gusting and great riding to be had! Had some plays with toe-side riding but it's so tough with that seat harness! Did some silly 'slides' with the board - too much fun! Managed to do a kind-of pop from toe-side but that's tough too.

After a while I got a bit tired and started making mistakes, trying to over-do the jumps - I set up for a big jump and got a great boost but ... I've over-cooked the launch and whip around 360° on the way up :o sphincter goes epileptic but I've come right around to face downwind at the zenith of the jumps and do a full rotation on the way down again (somehow I've managed to control the kite so the jump is 'normal') and rather than wiping out badly, I narrowly miss riding away ... a small splash down. Phew! Check my shorts!
I take it a bit easier from then on and let the kite do the work ...

Got to get home for a BBQ with the family so I wrap it up feeling tired and fulfilled. Great end to the trip!

Moment of the Day is a tough call cos the whole session was pretty epic. There were a few front-spins that were pretty awesome though ...

Weather was epic. Survival mode in the worst gusts but mostly it was having fun then fighting hard to boost huge ;) in the gusts. The locals were on 8m kites, or maybe 10m at the end of the session. Wind was a bit punchy at the start but got a bit more consistent as the time passed.

What I learned today ...
• 13m Crossbow is a total Swiss Army knife of a kite ...
• Managed to make a propeller of the kite :-/ crashed it during a transition, got a bridle looped over the kite the wrong way ... I was worried it would take off as it started spinning but it spun into the water, then I succeeded in unwrapping and and kept flying - lucky!
• Don't try too hard on the jumps.
• It's amazing what you can get away with sometimes.
• It's amazing what small cock-ups can really hurt.
• Don't open your mouth to say OH crap when you crash - estuary water tastes real bad.
• Don't hold your breath on jumps ... can you believe it?
• 720-amour Sharks float very nicely :)

Flysurfer saves the day again!

Forecast looked bearable and at 2pm, the wind looked nice out at the in-law's house so I hit the estuary for high-tide around 3:30pm ...

Looked fine to begin with - me and a german guy hit the water on 13m kites and I was on the Flyradical, but very soon I went to the Flydoor then gave up on the LEI all together - simply not enough wind for fun, even in the gusts. Was pretty amazing to be riding at all though - hoorah for flat water!

As I came in to land the Crossbow, Sam turned up and went out on his 14m Rise ... he was barely holding ground. I looked at the horizon, thought about the forecast (wind falling after 4pm) and decided to break out ol' Relentless.

Good decision! Oh yeah baby, nicely powered! Big jumps ... then bigger jumps then OMFG it went up. Then up again. Then up again and right at the top I looked down and went ... fuck ... what do I do now? So I just hung on and ended up splashing down. What fun!

Wind slowly dropped off so I was reduced to boosting in the gusts, then doing rotations in the gusts, then working the kite just to get back to the shore. I gave up and packed up. Must have got on the water about 2:45pm, got off about 5:45. Nice!

Moment of the Day was looking down from the zenith of that monster jump :D comes in only just ahead of actually clicking to how to do really good back rotation transitions!

Weather was lousy. Epic dropping to crappy but man when it was good it was really good!

What I learned today ...
• I need to learn what to do when the gusts lift me directly up on a jump and I've lost all forward momentum ... plop!
• When the kite is moving back over the zenith is the time to do the back-spin rotation so when it pops out in the new direction, it pulls you in the erm new direction.
• Same goes for back- and front-spins - do 'em lazy and use the redirect to yoink you out of it!
• It seems they work best when you aim for most of the rotation then use the kite to finish ... oh isn't that what I said just above?
• The new Flyboards binding is crap. So many times it went bung on me. What's wrong with velcro?
• Wide stance on the 'door is the shiznit.

That was AWESOME!

Wind looked good all the way out the other side of the city so I dutifully waited for about the right time for the tide then headed off ... looks like a 13m day! Out comes the mid-sized Crossbow but what board? Dunno, take both ...

For a while it's just me on the water and maybe a few other guys ... started out on the Flyradical but the wind dropped so I went back to the Flydoor. Picks up again and it's rocking on the Flyradical! So I stay out for as long as I can but the legs are giving out on me ... but it's too much fun - I don't want to stop!

Had a great time and really felt in 'the zone' busting out front- and back-spins, jump and spin rotations ... awesome! Also got some big ol' jumps too which is also fun :D getting much better at setting up, executing and - more importantly - landing them! Even when I have to disco dance to get my feet under me and facing the right way :D
Front-spins still require concentration and focus though ... got spanked a few times and it was trying to do them.

As I got off the water, I counted 20 kiters out there! Brendan had arrived too and he went upwind like a little rocket, miles away from the shore - good for him!

Moment of the Day is pretty hard to pick - lets just say the whole freakin' day! Getting really smooth with the back-spin transitions, getting a bit of air on them too ...

Weather was epic. Awesome wind and flat water I mean, what more could you ask for?

What I learned today ...
• Faster kite means things have to happen faster - or slower. I can't do a back-spin transition to a simple dive turn on the smaller kite - goes over the zenith too fast and shoots out to the edge of the window, so I have to loop it ...
• Jump transitions - I need to do more work on them ... I think the key is holding the kite at the zenith until you reach the peak of your jump then dive it hard on the way down ...
• Ok this is important ... foot straps and mounting positions aka stance width.

I used to have the Flyradical on the widest cos hey, that's how I like my Flydoor. Turns out I actually like the 'radical better with the normal stance - requires less squatting over the back foot, seems to rail better and jumps the same.

Now compare that with the Flydoor ... I liked the widest stance; the board was easy to ride, went upwind fine and didn't feel like a big board under my feet. Today, I went back to the normal width stance and OMFG why is there a log on my feet!?!? Horrid, totally different board - felt like it weighed a ton, wouldn't pop at all and just felt like a giant boat under me, no fun at all ... went upwind a little better though. Not enough to prevent me from going back to wide stance ...

• The Relationship Between Depower and Jumping
(Or how I learned not to get pulled off my edge when 'powered'.)

Once the wind picked up at the end of my part of the session, I was having problems keeping the board loaded until I wanted to jump. It wasn't until I talked to Sam that I realized that what I was doing when I was doing it correctly ( :D ) was sheeting out more as I sent the kite. When I kept the bar in, I couldn't hold the power and would pop off early ... so, when more is more, then less is more.

Now that's in the front of my mind, I should like, totally rock, dude! ;)

• Tide times on www.swellmap.com, which are for Lyttleton, are off by about an hour or so ...

Light, gusty but fun

Sneaky session!

After the squash game fell through, went down the estuary to see what it was like - but the tide wasn't in :(  went for a drive and when I came back, it looked much better. Nobody else here though ... hmm. Oh well why not ...

Out comes the very big guns. Just powered, holding ground ok and trying some jumps and rotations ... bit gusty but powered enough for some B-I-G jumps - mega-hang time! The kind that you go WOOHOO on the way up then land and remember there's only a foot of water under your fins ... oops. Had people in the carpark and on the side of the road going woohoo! too which was kind of cool :)

Rode about 2 hours then gave it up as my legs were getting tired. Sam said "Well you looked powered - I'll have a shot after I finish my lessons!" :) hope he had fun!

Moment of the Day was, for once, not landing the biggest jump I think I ever down nor even the feather-soft landings I get from the Flysurfer but was, in fact, the rather stylish back-roll transitions I can do now - get a bit of a loft in the middle and they feel real nice :D

Weather was pretty crappy ... powered in the gusts, where were often, and holding ground - just - in the interim. A couple of drop outs left me worried.

What I learned today ...
• More sunblock, jackass!
• A little more leg action and a slower kite across the zenith give for a nice big back-roll transition - whee!
• Refining the jumps ... don't try too hard. Don't over-edge the board. Don't use too much body-english. Don't redirect the kite too soon ...
• Don't land heavy with weight over your toes - hurts my ankle ... better to land heavy on the heel!

New Year light wind session

Wind looked ok but lacked any punch. Rode around for a while, making the most of the estuary's flat water but struggled to go upwind much at all - had to body-drag at one point just to make the beach! Which was a shame, because the wife's parents had come down to have a look ... "Ooh that looks like a nice peaceful hobby!" was the comment of the day!

Testing, testing ...

Took the Speed3 21 out to the estuary park to check it out post-wash ... everything seems fine, no broken lines - it's looking increasingly like either I had the bar backwards or there was water in the wing and I was too sissy to pull the bar hard. Or there was a tangle in the bridle I couldn't see.

Anyway, running backwards across the field three times before I got enough air in the kite to get it in the very not much wind (2 knots?) and put it through a few turns and whatnot ... went flawlessly.

Now waiting for the replacement bridle parts to arrive ...

Just enough!

Sam promised a cracking session ... didn't live up to it :( just enough wind to ride around for bit, holding ground on the big Xbow (hadn't test-flown the Speed3) so when Brendan couldn't relaunch 10m Switchblade, I went out to try to give him a hand.

Man, fast little kite! Offered my 13 or 16 but he declined so we had a chat ... then the wind came up! So I did some more riding - just me and Sam.

A few nice big jumps and some good rotations and transitions ... chatted with Sam as he packed up and enjoyed the sunset. Nice guy!

Moment of the Day was the guys laughing at my 16m then getting skunked fnar-fnar!

Weather was not very much indeed ... maybe 15 knots? Very flat water though!

What I learned today ...
• Flat water makes a huge difference!
• Weather is supposed to turn tomorrow - rain and no wind :(

Light wind love then let down

Late tide tonight - think we got it sussed so I arrived at 5:30pm then set up ... got on the water about 6. Started on the Flyradical but the wind was dropping ... all the guys on 10s got off the water and I tried to ride my Flydoor but it wasn't happening.

Asked around, Sam though the wind would keep dropping so I pulled out the really freakin' big guns - good ol' Relentless. Had a chat with the guy who I would come to know as Brendan - he's learning and was desperate for a ride so set up anyway ... Fixed the bridle, put it in the air to many "OMG that's hooj kite!" type comments.

Powered! on the 'radical. Boosting to the moon! Front-spins, back-spins, transitions no worries! Wind is still dropping and jumps cost me too much ground upwind so I get back on the 'door. More big jumps then ... in the middle of a transition, something goes "sproing!" and the bar flies out of my hands ... I pull it in and check the CL - all seems well ... huh, maybe I popped it off when over-sheeting or something. Kite is soggy and tangled, I untangle it but it seems LE heavy and doesn't want to relaunch. I get it in the air and it arcs across to the RHS and I *think* there's something wrong up there, so I release to safety and self-rescue ... oh nuts I'm way the hell across the other side of the estuary from the car park and launch beach and downwind is the road that's only a meter or so from the water - can't go that way ... I'm in for a lo-ooong walk ...

No wait - Brendan has come to my rescue! We haul the kite on the curb, tie it up and he gives me a lift back to the carpark - cheers dude! "I so want one of them!" he says!

Check the kite - nothing seems wrong ... WTH did I just cause all that hassle cos I had the bar in my hands backwards or what?!?!?! Fu-uuuuu ...

Got back to the wife 90 minutes later than I was supposed to ... she was worried :D

Moment of the Day were all the people me watching me riding and playing in "no wind at all" :) FSer wins! Flawless victory! Except for the erm ...

Weather was SFA. Probably 10 knots when I messed up.

What I learned today ...
• Self-rescue with the big foil is fine - sure you have bridles floating around ... but I'd have the same problem on the Crossbows anyway. And it floats just fine. Too bloody well, in fact - if it had deflated at all, it would have been much easier to handle LOL
• Arriving 2 hours before the tide turns is perfect.
• Take yer bloody cell phone with you, jackass!

Boxing Day blast!

Headed out to the estuary early to figure out the tides ... peak was due at 6:40pm and we arrived about 4. The lads went out on the water early though, in only a few inches of water. I waited patiently until the water had reached the shore then set up my 13m. Big wind! Didn't even bother with taking the Flydoor to the edge of the water :)

Bit gusty, from a tad underpowered to overpowered but big fun all the same. Lots of nice big jumps, some rotations and a lot of wipe-outs ... epic!

Moment of the Day was getting some long toe-side runs in ... so hard to do in a seat harness though! That was good, but the back-spins that got a bit of height on them take the win!

Weather was lots. Probably 25 to 30 knots I reckon but still, almost no chop!!!

What I learned today ...

• The Flyradical works best with the foot straps in the center position - it's just a whole lot less twitchy!

• Should have brought my 10 ... wasn't jumping that well because the kite was so depowered.

• Estuary is pretty bloody good!

Xmas on the ocean

In between opening Crimbo pressies and Xmas dinner, went to the beach to take advantage of low tide ... well that was the only time I could get out of the house and the tide was out and the estuary is closed so well, what can you do?

There was a bit of wind and I know that the sea breezes pick up later so I went for the Crossbow 16 and Flydoor. Pumped up on the grass area at the North Beach Surf Club and then locked the car and dragged it all down the beach.

Wind was a bit light, bit tough doing anything but holding ground for a long time; riding the flat water between waves and then trying hard to get upwind.

Then I dumped the kite in the surf and had to walk in to shore cos it had inverted then folded in half and refused to pop back into shape ... could've recovered that easy if it was a foil!

Took the opportunity to change the settings on the bridle - moved it to the 'faster steering' setting ... I like it. A tad faster steering, a little more bar pressure for turning but less for sheeting in.

Wind has picked up so I'm having more fun, jumping, crashing, splashing around ... nice day!

Bumped into the guy with the hair from Groundswell, who tried to have a windsurf - no good for him as the wind was all 'up' above wave height ...

Moment of the Day was discovering the different bridle settings were worth landing the kite for.

Weather was guessing again ... I would have said it was about 15 knots when I got there and got up to about 20 when I got off, but the guy with the hair said it was more like 10 to 15 at most ... I got the feeling that there was quite a gradient though!

What I learned today...
• Steering settings are better on "light" ... so far.
• Ocean is a whole other kettle of fish here - wind drives up much bigger waves than Machiya - more like Hamamatsu but they break further from shore.
• Seems that the Xbow likes to be turned as fast as possible and the dived up or down the whipped back around. Medium speed turns just bleed power but very slow sines are ok. How about that then.
• One application of sunblock is not enough :(

Shaken, not stirred!

Landed in Christchurch, New Zealand yesterday about 5pm ... went to the in-laws and crashed.

Got up the next morning and did a little business in the morning, then picked up the rental car. I went out to the beach alone to check it out - Estuary park looks awesome, nice grass area to set & launch and maybe landboard - then came home and started loading some gear into the car.

I'd just started rustling up the wife to come with me when the first earthquake hit - 5.8 on the Richter and 20km away to the NE and 8km deep. A good 'un! We had a few after-shocks but we jumped in the car anyway and headed back to the estuary - flat water awaits!

Got to the estuary and the tide wasn't properly in. Wind was cold and well up - I hadn't brought either my smaller Xbow or my wetsuit. As we were talking to another couple, another quake hit - 6.0 and only 10km away, 6km deep! Very violent, both the wife and the other couple got thrown to the ground ... I managed to keep my feet though - boarder skillz!

Had tons of daylight left and although I had to drive across the city, it takes very little time thanks to good drivers and road design. So we went home and got the 13m Xbow and wetsuit ...

Lots of liquifaction around the eastern suburbs, water and mud welling up ... gonna be heartbreaks out there today.

Got back to the estuary at 6pm and hit the water with the 13 and the Flydoor. Nicely powered, just comfy and having fun! A bit rusty - some messy jumps and rotations. Tried out the Flyradical but not enough wind. Go back to the 'door ...

Good session, I had fun and LOVED the flat-water! So nice to ride ... must get in some practice on toe-side while I can!!! Bit short, I could have done with another hour I think ...

Went home, had a souvlaki on the way and then enjoyed more quakes throughout the night ...

EDIT: Plummet gave me a link to a good weather site here - http://www.swellmap.com/surfing/new-zealand/new-brighton-beach

Moment of the Day was the flat-water riding! So smooth, so easy ...

Weather was I don't know. Felt like 15 to 20 knots. Probably 20°C but the wind was quite cold. I was comfortable in the wetsuit - until I had to take it off :o

What I learned today ...
• Flat-water is great! Easier to build up speed and hold it working the kite (duh!) but still not a magic pill for being a fattie ... everyone else was on 10's or 11's, and I was on a 13m bow kite and a huge board :(
• Shallow water is a bit freaky ... especially when the tide goes out :o
• And when the tide is out, it's time to stop - or the bottom will grab your board and stop you.
• Mud is just nasty.
• It gets everywhere and is hard to wash off.
• It's both easier and harder to boost off flat-water cos there are no waves-as-launch-ramps  but there are no waves-as-brakes either ...
• I think I'm right in saying that shallow water runs smooth when there's nothing on the bottom ... those were the spots my fins touched down first!
• I hate Macs.

No joy

Forecast looked great ... wind failed to deliver :(
Got literally 2 tacks out then it all packed in. I gave up and went and stood by the fire on the beach ...

Ride 'em cowboy!

zOMG the northerlies all wind stopped on Saturday but—praise Allah!—picked up with a vengeance on Sunday! I skip lunch and hit the beach at 12 …

Can't get a handle on the wind—looks fierce and we're supposed to get up to 20 knots. I take the Speed3 12 and Crossbow 16 to the lake beach, and of course both boards. Seems there's a Slingshot dealer here today—hauling a heap of kites and boards. I bet he doesn't ask if I'd like to try them :D

Set up the Speed3 12 and do some little jumps on the beach—easily powered! Get in the water … can't get up on a plane and worse, I can't hardly body-drag back to the beach :o WTF?!?!

Stand around a bit, glaring at the horizon … then pump up the 16. Rig it, get a launch from—I suspect—a newbie who, when I look down to walk around The Mistress of Disaster's kite, does something odd and I look back up to see him getting lobbed over my Speed3 :o he missed it and didn't hurt himself … a feat he repeated later in the day when I happened to see him ride into the beach and wipe-out on the sand!!!

So I get the kite in the air and check the trim—hmm, massively over-sheeting, the tips are bending in! I trim it out totally but it's still bad. I land the kite to reset it but now the wind is way back up so I give up and go out on the Speed3 12 and the Flydoor.

Better. Powered now and making jumps and giving myself a beat-down—can't time them right with this small, fast kite. There's massive chop on the lake and you have to ride out through it, almost directly into it—it's like riding the whoops in the moto-x :o Tough to do any tricks or jumps though cos the waves're short period but tall and there's not a lot of flat water around.
Man this kite is fast—and likes to back-stall :( tough job working it through the lulls … occasionally over-powered and I switch back to the Flyradical but it's too hard to keep it moving. After a big lull, I go back to the Flydoor for the rest of the session. Back-spins and jumps only!

Problems of the day (a new section?) are the fruits on directionals who carve and slash the waves—but never look behind them. I try to give them a wide berth but they make it difficult—and equally tough is when you're hurting for power! So that's annoying … worse is Uncle Never-Relaunch who rides directly at me with his kite at 45° and wont move it—if I stop and zenith my kite, he'll cut my lines; if i cut upwind, we'll probably bodily collide and fuck-knows what'll happen to the kites; if I cut downwind, I'll probably hit the beach cos I'll be super-powered with the kite near the water; and if we hold our courses and with kite raised or lowered, we'll probably still collide. Wanker.
So I send the kite back hard the other direction, can't ride it out and end up submarining for a bit. Uncle never noticed :-/ Solution? Dunno, I need to check the angles next time it happens :o
… at least The Mistress of Disaster stayed outa my hair—silly bitch couldn't get off the beach and spent all day walking back'n'forth :D

It was quite a long session but I (mostly) enjoyed it. Packing up 2 kites sucked though … I was the last one on the beach, in the dark.

Moment of the Day was—you guessed it—the jump that I popped a bit earlier than usual and then went all big and floaty … and under control.

Weather data got laid down thusly … at 12pm we had 15knots at 16°C/72% and it dropped to 13knots at 14°C/65% around 3 before coming back up to 15knots again. Peak gust was 32knots around 5pm … seems pretty close to me—I did measure it as 10m/s before I tried to ride the first time. I labelled the wind as 'crappy' cos it was up and down and spent a lot of time pissing me off—although I did get some riding in.

What I learned today …
• I'm leaving the water too late … I had to hurry things along in front of a wave and jumped before the kite had got to the top of the zenith and I went higher and longer and more controlled than ever. I guess "when you feel the upward pull" doesn't mean "leave the pop til the kite is overhead" … of course, it could have been a fluke :D I'll keep testing …
• I'm in dire need of a haircut … filthy hippie. Wet hair in the eyes sux0rz.
• Starting to prefer the 'radical over the 'door … more fun to ride and I'm adapting to the position better. Bouncing over chop is a bit tough though. Mako should be interesting!
• Speed3 12 is an interesting beast—you can work the ass off and not really get anything out of it. Seems to have to carefully milk it until it's really got some speed in it … or maybe I just need flat water!
• Dive the kite, gradually sheet in and hold it sheeted as you redirect it back up and gradually sheet out—seems to stop the tips from tucking and (with the right amount of bar pressure) you can keep power in a very flat kite. Hmm, wonder if it'll work on the LEIs …
•  Forgot to add—I also think I'm edging too hard and killing the kite. I think I been watching too many wakestyle videos or something!

Frustrated? Not me!

Sunday means I've got all day to kite ... started out the morning with a quick blast on the newly repaired Duke - back to full power, smooth-running and no stalling! - and eyed up the webcam and forecast for the P.M. ... hmm, just enough time to nip out for a nice lunch. Hurried the wife up through desert when the wind picked up around 1pm and headed off to the lake.

We got white-caps! But there are guys on their big kites and they only just look powered ... both boards and Ol' Relentless go across to the beach. After I put on the new straps from Flysurfer ...

You'll remember the straps broke on the Flydoor? I took pics, sent them to FSer and 2 days later I got an email not from the guy I sent them to, but from someone else who explained he was on holiday. And I still got a response within 2 days! Gave them my address, and 2 days later they shipped out new straps. A few days after that, they arrived in Japan.
Customer service win! Good on you, Flysurfer!

A brief review ...
The new straps are the 2012 FSer design - still pulling a strap to adjust but there's a different buckle in there so it moves easily and freely. The older straps seem a bit more plush but the newer ones are MUCH easier to fit better against your foot ... in fact, when I took my feet out of the straps at the end of my session, they were dry - and warm!
Like I said, very easy to adjust, even on the move.
The only problem I had was the doohicky inside got flopped around the wrong way or something, and the strap wouldn't hold its position ... quick fiddle on the water and sorted. Hmm, better watch that ...

Anyway. Set up the 21 ... urk, looks a bit grubby :( laid it out for a side launch but bloody Soh has run his lines out right next to the kite - I can't unwind my lines until he launches. Him, or Uncle Junkie. I use the free time to pre-inflate the kite ... I get it so pre-inflated that I don't even remember waiting for it to completely fill :D when I finally get to launch, that is ...

Hit the water with the Flydoor although I think there's enough power to get 'radical. Oh wait no there's not ... enough to ride but I'm fighting to get upwind. Wind slowly picks up though and although it's lully, I'm jumping and having fun, in between working it upwind away from the beach.

A brief rant ...
Mistress of Disaster at it again. Why does she insist on riding a 9m kite and using a wake-style board in less than 10 knots? It's not like she can land the handle-passes she's trying to do within 2 feet of the shore anyway. So she rides out from the shore into me, forcing me to stop dead and zenith my kite. Later, I'm riding out 30m behind but maybe 10m upwind of her when just stops dead in the water - I turn downwind to ride under her kite but EVEN THOUGH SHE SEES MY KITE she still dives her kite to change direction - FFS you moronic bitch.
Denace the Menace is at it again. Drop that bloody kite on my Speed3 and I'll chop it up. If you can't fly a kite without being told when you need to sheet-out or -in, perhaps you need more lessons :o
Ok I'm done.

Wind still drops off so much that even I have to walk ... wait for the wind to come back as I can see the "blow line" off in the distance. I does, so I ride again. This time on the Flyradical cos the winds up. Then the winds down so I ride out the rest of the day on the 'door.

Legs are getting sore - I guess it's been a 3-hour ride! - body is getting tired so I call it a day, even though we got maybe another 30 minutes of day light ... I've had a great session! But when I bump into Soh in the carpark, he says that he was frustrated today.

Dude ... get yourself a Speed3 ;)


Moment of the Day is starting to fall into a pattern ... either the nice massive jump, totally under control and with perfect redirection for extended float with the super-smooth and totally controlled landing ... or riding past all the suckers walking back up the beach ;)

Weather data for the session has got to be total hogwash - 2 to 7 knots? No way. Peak gust of 15 knots at 6:30pm ... I'm betting it was 6 to 12 knots, average around 10 with the good wind at 14.

What I learned today ...
• Dunno if it's correct, but send the kite and, when you feel you've reached the peak of the jump, redirect with a slight sheet-out then hold the kite there at 1 or 11 - you'll feel extra float - then as you start to drop, redirect the kite to ride away smooth.
• Even Uncle Junkie on the Turbine and directional gives up a few knots of low-end to me and the 'door/21 combo ... nobody else comes close except for Uncle with the Slingshots ... man, he must weigh about 15kg - he's the light-wind master!

Semi-skunked

Had to work right up until the buzzer today, but thought I'd hit the lake anyway to see if it's worth it any more - sun is setting really early now, winter is on its way.

Got to the lake about 4:30pm and ran across with the Speed3 21 and the 2 Flyboards ... sun was touching the hills when I'd finished setting up :( wind seemed ok, hit the water with the 'radical. A couple of tacks, but I don't have the power. Onto the 'door.

A little better, do some spins and jumps but the wind is dying right off ... wait a bit, ride a bit ... give up, pack up.

Moment of the Day was getting riding at all ... it was pretty light. The jumps and spins were the icing.

Weather data for the session was listed as 12 falling to 9 knots at 14°C and 60% humidity. Sounds about right, although I'd guess the wind lulled to around 6 knots ... a few slogs back into shore, barely on the water.

What I learned today ...
• Starting to get cold ... my feet were chilly for the first minute or so until I had to do some work.
• Probably still got enough light for an hour's worth of riding, packing up in the dark - if the wind co-operates.
• Thrust-bearing works fine on the 21 ... doesn't unspin as easily as the 12, guessing cos it's under more load - will keep a closer eye on it.
• Packing the big Speed up in the dark is annoying ... bloody thing likes to spit its bridles out all over the place. Wish the bag was longer too.
• I should be less anal-retentive about packing my gear up :D

Every day is a kite day!

Miyachi had promised after the skunkage on Sunday, that the weekdays would be great. And I have to work ... took an hour off work and headed down to the lake at 3pm. Wind looked good  all the way down, I asked Grandpa what he thought I should ride, he said my biggest kite. I looked at the enthusiastically flapping flag and took my 16m Crossbow over to the beach.

Pumped up like a mad-man, jumped in the water and ... Precious! Walkies! Soh was barely riding upwind and Uncle No-relaunch was packing up and The Other Uncle on the surfboard was underpowered and Mr Too Cool for School was standing on the beach trying to keep his too cool teeny kite in the air. I stood around for a while, waiting for the gusts to come in but they never did.

It was sort of spitting, but it stopped so I checked the sun (couldn't see it behind the clouds) but figured I had another ½ hour or so ... Bring out ol' Relentless!

Oof, barely moving at first but after a few close encounters with the shore, the wind picks up just a tad and I'm off having fun! Throw some desperate back-spins to test out the thrust-bearing mod on the S3 21 bar - perfect again! - then I get a little more wind so I'm trying to jump. Neato! Bit of a lully patch, then as the sun starts to set, the wind really picks up and I'm having great fun! Is getting dark though ... better think about heading in ... try one last back-spin but land on the side of my face - schLAP! ow.

Packed up in the dark - 2 kites, that sucked - but the low clouds were glowing with the lights of  the endless cities so I could actually see better than the nights that have been clear!

Moment of the Day was the big fat jump while the little guy with the 9m LEI couldn't even keep it in the air neener-neener ... the best thing about it was going up, swing in front of it, redirecting it and feeling it lift me again, then a perfectly timed dived when I came it to land ... but-tah!

Weather data for the session recorded the wind as 12 to 16 knots at 16°C and 77% humidity. Which is total horse-hockey cos I couldn't even get planing on the 21 at some points. It may have picked up to those in the gusts, but it was lulling to less. By the time I packed up, it was solidly 16 - but too dark to ride :(

What I learned today ...
• You can still back-spin in light wind if you REALLY put the effort into leaping and spinning.
• I'm getting better at feeling and timing my jumps. Maybe.
• Farting in a wetsuit is just as nasty as peeing in one. Perhaps nastier, cos it's an unpleasant surprise when you unzip the suit.
• Grandpa is pretty spot-on with his wind/kite observations for me ...

A small update

Slow day at work - went through and added sizes to all the kites I've used in the tag cloud ... should prove to be more interesting. For me, at least.

Summer 2011 - The Movie!

And just in case YouTube screws my awesome soundtrack, here's the Vimeo link - http://vimeo.com/31545138

DIY - Infinity bar pimpin'

Also known as the thrust-bearing mod. The following video from 10 seconds on shows the goal of what we want to achieve ...

Stock bar uses a big brass washer (BBW) and then a jam nut on a nyloc nut to hold it all together. The problem with this is that it doesn't rotate very freely so although the bar is cleverly designed so that, after a rotation, you untwist the flying lines by spinning the bar then untwist the double depower rope when you sheet in. Unfortunately, the tension on the BBW et al is such that the depower rope gets chewed up - if you use it in the appropriate method. You can untwist by hand but that sucks.

Here's an exploded view of Holden's needle bearing mod. It shows the setup nicely. The CL is connected to the black thing, the red hat and spring go onto the T-tube that has the double depower line looped around it.

Melting candle wax into the line (more on that at a later date, perhaps) helps keep it slippery; grease or other gunk down there is an option too but washes away and perversely attracts gunk and grit. IMHO the best option is simply to make the bar spin more freely.

Various teflon washer, ceramic or needle-bearings have been suggested but the greatest results have been obtained from using thrust bearings such as the MTBS-816 from here http://torquetrans.com/thrust-bearings/ss-metric-thrust-bearings.mgi ... be aware that they ONLY use UPS and shipping 1lbs (454g) of 8 sets to Japan was going to cost me $85 :D For $12, I got them to ship to a buddy in the US (thanks stetson!) and he sent them here ... for $2.59.

The problem - kinda - comes in putting it all together ... I went a bit mad with my digital calipers trying to work it all out.
Originally, the BBW + jam nut + nyloc nut = very close to 15mm. Breaking it down, the BBW is 0.75mm, jam nut is 6mm and the nyloc nut is 7.5mm.
The thrust-bearing stack (washer-bearing-washer) is 5mm tall. If you try to use the original stainless steel nyloc nut, you have to find a 1.5mm jam nut! Obviously no good.

You can't ditch the BBW cos it covers the pin that holds in the CL. And it's an odd diameter, something like 23mm so if you wish to drop a washer from the bearing stack and use a big stainless washer, then you - or rather, I - have to grind down a big stainless steel washer (BSSW) of 25mm diameter and bore a hole in the middle for the M8 thread of the bar doohickey. I wrecked a drill bit and over-heated and warped the washer I was experimenting on ... oops. So that bit is possible, at any rate. That leaves you with having to find only a 4mm jam nut ... get busy with a vise and file!
Solution 1 : grind and drill your own BSSW, use bearing-washer, file down a stainless nut to 4mm and use the OEM nyloc nut.

Less demanding of elbow grease is the option I tested the other day ... I bought the only little bag of nyloc nuts I could find in hardware stores in Japan and simply bolted it onto the stack above the BBW. The nyloc nut though is not (or does not look like) stainless steel, maybe zinc coated or something. It's also taller than the OEM nyloc nut at 9mm and the lip at the top where the nylon ring is, is taller than the OEM nyloc nut - if you wanted to file this down, you'd end up with a very slim hex part.
Solution 2 : keep the BBW, use the full thrust-bearing stack, add the M8 non-stainless nyloc nut ... and some thread-locking compound.

Those are the two options that most appeal to me - you could also use 2 short M8 stainless nuts or file them down a bit ...
Solution 3 : BSSW, 2/3 thrust-bearing stack, 2x filed down M8 nuts.

I'm of the opinion that so long as the thrust-bearing is doing its job and spinning freely the torque on the solitary nyloc nut is minimal and easily secures the rig ... and some thread-lock for paranoia! So I'm of the opinion that for ease of install and use, Solution 2 is the best option. Only time will tell if the components hold up to the water and work-out ...

Also, I prefer a nyloc nut on the end of the stack because, as you can almost make out in the pictures below, tightening the T-tube doohickey so the end of the thread stays in the nylon ring should stop it eating up the FLS line. One other thing to note too is at the other end of the CL and QR gubbins ... with the original setup, there's a bit of slack in there - the black CL holder has free-play on the T-tube. I think this is necessary because the welds on the stopper for the spring stand proud, and if it was all tightened up snug the black CL holder couldn't spin freely. It's also handy because it'll let the holder move around and should enable grit to be washed out of the bearing stack.

Someone put a thrust bearing at the end of the black tube but that's totally necessary I reckon as when the CL is under load, it's pulling the CL holder down and the kite is pulling the T-tube up - the only stress will be ... exactly where the thrust bearing is!

Here are the pics of what I've got. Crappy cell phone cos I can't find memory cards/chargers/batteries for the cameras at home that can do a proper macro.

 

After all that I bet you want to know how it all works? Well, it's bloody sweet! Spins perfectly, very smooth. Easy to untwist lines - too easy in fact! My first few uses, the bar spun so easily that my reactions hadn't accounted for the smoothness and I'd grabbed the bar backwards ... PLOP drove the kite into the water!

What pretty much happens is that the depower line simply untwists itself when you spin the bar to untwist the lines. An added bonus is that the bits rotate with the bar, so the CL stays square on your harness while the bar moves around ... neato! Well worth all the hassle involved of getting the bits ...!

Showing off on Halloween

Winds up, I'm off to the lake - left work at 3pm. Forecast was good all day but the hourly data wasn't up to much. So it was a good thing I left early cos I got a half-hour of nicely powered riding, then maybe another 40 minutes of grabbing it in snatches ...

Started out on the Flyradical with the Speed3 12, partly because there was enough wind and primarily because I wanted to test out my thrust bearing mod. So I was having a great time. Still very back-stally, bit of trim sorted that ... must still be the bottom end of it's range. Having good fun though, works ok to keep planing.

There's a couple taking photos on the shore ... we all start hamming it up for them :D pity we won't get to see the pics!

Soh has arrived and coincedentally I'm sure, the wind has dropped off so I get onto the Flydoor. Have more success working the kite through the lulls but it's still not really enough wind. Soh keeps riding but he's not doing much either, even though he's on his Havoc 14 - he said afterwards that he bought his 7! I guess the weather didn't live up to it's promises at all ...!

I packed up just before sunset.

Moment of the Day was the first big jump on the Speed3 12! That didn't result in me being dropped like a stone :o


Weather data for the session; recorded wind strength was 18 knots at 19.5ºC & 68%, falling to 10 knots at 18.3ºC & 73% from the NNW. Gusts to 26 knots at 3:30pm.

What I learned today ...
• The 12 is a back-stalling ho when the wind drops. I'm thinking that cos the kite is small, it's easy to over-power it at the bar ... have to see if what I remember as being the same on the LEIs is accurate.
• Also, you need to be easy on the sheeting when riding and jumping - especially careful on the redirect or you get dropped like a rock.
• I think the S3 12 will start working for me from about 16 knots with the Flydoor and I'll be well powered by 20. So I'm guessing the range for me will be 16 to maybe 30 with a sweet spot at about 22.
• That means I DO need a 15!
• Bearing mod - works great! More later ...
• CrazyFly straps are ok but not as supremely comfortable as the FSer ones ... no reply yet on my moan to them.
• Keeping the kite moving rather than just sheeting in and hanging on make the best jumps - send it, redirect it properly, drop it hard for a touch-down.
• More wind needed. I think the Speed3 12 will do to replace my Crossbow 13 easily and is probably more akin to a 14m LEI ...

Gusty again

Similar forecast as yesterday but it looked consistent all day, sitting at 8m/s ...

It's mah birthday so I left work early, at 3pm and hit the lake. Apparently, it wasn't early enough cos everyone told me that it was better before I arrived :(

Thought I'd play it safe and set up the Crossbow 13. Initially it was a good choice, I was having fun on the Flyradical but the big jumps were tiddlers and then the wind dropped so I got the Flydoor. Then the wind started gusting again like a mad man, up and down ...

And then I had to ride in strapless again o_0 goddam Flyboards footstrap broke again, this time permanently. I wasn't going to moan about the cosmetic breakages but this is becoming a trend! All I was doing was riding along when I felt it loosen up ... then when I went to tighten it, the buckle was already outside the cover :(

Got the Flyradical again and tried to go out, but it just wasn't working ... I might have had more luck with the Crossbow 16, I think :( oh well, next time.

Packed up early and came home before the sun had set :o not often that happens!

Moment of the Day was easily doing back-roll down-loop transistions. Of a sort ...

Wind strength was recorded as 15 falling to 12 knots ... yeah that explains it!


What I learned today ...
• If Fujii-san is powered on his 10, I need my 13. If he's not powered but still riding, I need my 16. If he's not riding, I need my 21. If he's doing all three in the same session, I need to give up and go home :D
• Buckle/pull straps on the Flyboards suck ... velcro is the only good idea IMHO. Because they're easier to adjust should be enough but as they require less force to do their thing, there's less option of being ripped off ...

EDIT : here's a pic of what happened to the strap. It could be fixed, but FSer is sending me a new one. Nice one!

Ok lets not do that again!

Note to self ... pay more attention to weather maps.

Forecast looked groovy in the morning so I got to work early so I could leave early ... kinda have to this time of year. Got to the lake and it was borked - 6 knots. We're supposed to have 16. So I wait around to see if it picked up ... it didn't so I launched the 21.
Murphy's Law, it picked up right after that.

And how! It was gusty as hell too, from not enough for a fully powered Speed3 21 to too much for a fully depowered kite ... so basically, the whole wind range of the kite - and more! - in a single session!

I tried some jumps - they were massive ... but it was like the wind was playing with a kitten and a length of yarn, and I was on the end of the yarn - herky-jerky, up and down ... plop! Got to the stage where I could ride along barely moving, send the kite and go skyward like a rocket :D couldn't land them though ...

Didn't even bother with rotations or transitions. When I gave up on the jumps, I started riding the waves which was fun. Until one of them lobbed the board I had just fallen off into the back of my head :-/ saw it coming but couldn't do anything. CLONK!

Miyachi was on a lesson, so I waited till he was heading back up the beach and I went it to get him to land me ... fully trimmed, fully sheeted out and right at the edge of the window, I was fighting to keep the keep from dragging me down the beach.

Phew! Real "survival mode" riding!

Moment of the Day was making it back to shore alive and unbroken ... ok no it wasn't it was the MONSTER jump with 3 weeks of hang-time then the guy coming up to me afterwards and saying "Wow! Big jumps today!" \m/

Wind strength was recorded as 14 knots at 4pm, 20 knots at 5pm and 17 knots at 6pm ... with a peak gust to 30knots at 5:30 o_0

What I learned today ...
• The Speed3 has MOUNTAINS of depower!
• But it's best not to push your luck.
• However, it's good to know that I can survive almost anything the lake can throw at me.
• Board to the head hurts - wear a helmet.
• Current helmet doesn't fit so well - but a new helmet.
• Jumps need board speed to work properly.

This one's for Marco

Noticed yesterday the forecast looked good so I thought I'd skip Mie and hold out for Locus today. Worked out fine! Wind was supposed to arrive at 3pm and it obliged for a change.

Took the 12 and 21 Speed3's across to the beach and started out with the 12 up ... wind was up and down right on the bottom end, so I could get up for a bit but couldn't get riding. I wasn't alone. Then it started raining so I kept the kite up to dry it out once it stopped raining but it didn't happen. I pulled out the 21 instead.

For about 15 minutes I'll nicely powered with the Flyradical then the wind picks up and I just have to depower the monster foil. I've done something to the tip bridle on the LHS (knot) so it looks a bit odd. I play with the trim a bit today but basically, I'm consistently over-powered :D not a bad thing!

Make out with some jumps and rotations, all easy and fine. Get comfy, try some big jumps ... leaving the kite behind me works better - you can feel the rotation around the kite and feel when you need to redirect better. I reckon. Still got dunked a lot though!

Repeat ad infinitum. Rode on till dark. Had to hang around waiting for Miyachi to land me cos the beach was full of kites (two of 'em) and the wind was well up - sheeting-in meant I'd go for a hover :o

Moment of the Day was boosting that "big" jump and feeling what's going on up there and doing the right thing at the right time.

Wind strength was recorded as only 10 to 12 knots. That's ain't right!

What I learned today ...
• You can't carry your Speed3 down the beach by a wing tip - now I have to untangle it :(
• Don't listen to anybody else - decide on your kite size on your own.
• Speed3 21 has fantastic wind range. For me, anyway.
• The 12 is very fast across the window and makes some easy jumps ... it's going to be a monster!
• I need a 15 :D

An experiment

Supposed to be pretty good wind tonight and when I got to the lake, it looked like it was cranking so I thought I'd try out the 19m Charger, figuring it'd be about like my 16m Crossbow. Kinda.

Naturally, the wind fell away just as I arrived at the beach 0_o Mr Fujii was on his 10m SB but he was floudering, same with Soh on his 12m Havoc. Nuts.
Inflate the Charger easily, then launch ... huh. No tip clapping but it lurks about halfway up the window until I trim the front lines. Guess it needs more then ...

I try to ride in what I know is too light wind ... I reckon it's maybe 10-12 knots. I struggle to get up, slog downwind and walk back. Repeat ...
Everyone else gives up. Gusts are getting more on and off, they come through stronger though and finally I'm riding them out, throwing a few jumps and even a couple of back-rolls.

Daylight is fading but the wind is right up and I'm riding upwind ok, parking and riding some too. Charger works real nice when it's powered but for a 19 and me, that seems to be 16 knots plus. I'm betting the butter zone will be 18 to 26 knots.

I had a nice time, got to try the Charger finally and was happy enough with that!

Thoughts on bar pressure ...
This has been coming for a while.
I find that my 2011 Crossbow 13m is just right - not too heavy, not too light and I don't have stiff elbows or forearms at the end of a big session. Taking that as a base line ... add in some arbitrary numbers! :D
Let's consider the 2010 Xbow 16m which is a frightful thing. Bar pressure for turning is very light compared to sheeting in - it always reminds me of balancing a broom upright in the palm of your hand ... as soon as it's off-center, it's going. The kite happily whips around a turn but doesn't take much bar pressure to do so. Sheeting in when riding though - sweet baby Jesus wrapped in bacon strips! Forearm pumps, blisters, callouses ... like a teenager boy's palms! Let's call it sheeting pressure +7 and turning pressure +1 versus the 13. I can ride it for hours but I'm hurting the follow the day/week.
The Charger 19 has only slightly higher pressure for sheeting in but is easily held with one hand when trimmed right; even when it's not trimmed well, it's still pretty easy to hold. There's more pressure when initiating turns (naturally), kind of a springy feel and the amount of time you need to hold it is short - Charger turns faster than my Crossbows - but it would wear on you, if you had to work it all day. Let's say sheeting pressure +2 and turning pressure +3, compared to the very comfy 13m Xbow. I seem to remember the 15 being the same ... but the Synergy series having say, sheeting pressure +2 and turning pressure +4.
Flysurfer Speed3 21 is a big kite with a big bar that pulls like a big bad thing. But it's surprisingly nippy unless you insist on muscling it around like a over-steroided post-lobotomy rugby-player (is there any other type of rubgy player?). Bar pressure for sheeting is not too bad and neither is turning, although you have to hold it in the turn longer which gets tiring ... I'll assign sheeting pressure +1 and turning pressure +2 so long as you don't fight the kite - and yes, both the Charger and the Speed can be flown one-handed while riding. Speed2 19 I remember being just a touch more than the Speed3 - say +0.5 for each. Unity 12 I found to be the same as the big Speed3.
Ok nerd-fest over ...

Moment of the Day was simply parking and riding then launching jumps. And not getting pissed when I had to walk ... guess I was just in the right mood!

Wind strength was recorded as 10 to 12 knots with gusts to 20 - I guess that was when I was having fun with the park'n'ride ...

What I learned today ...
• Charger needs a lot of wind to pull easily :(
• You can whip it around but it doesn't help much if you're sinking.
• You CAN whip it around really fast but it's better to be smoother with it.
• The tendency for arcs to "flare" at the bottom of a tight turn is reduced with the Charger and Navigator combo but still occurs. It's more exaggerated on the side with the safety on it too, as the line slips through the ring ...
• Makes best power on the down stroke, close to the water and with pressure on the rear lines. Flies most consistently when levered around on the stopper ball.
• Jumps are more floaty than I remember with the Synergy, but that might just be that my technique has improved. The first one dropped me but the rest I redirected sooner and the landings were feather like. Only a couple of meters though :o

We are the Night Riders

We got skunked yesterday big time, so was dubious of the forecast today but headed down to the lake - even though it looked crappy all the way along the lake shore road ... looked better when I arrived, and Junkie Sensei was getting in the water so I suited up.

If the wind lived up to the forecast, we were going to get 16 knots ... I thought I'd risk the 21 and took both boards over the road. Wind was good when I launched, the kite pre-filled quickly and pulled well at the zenith. I jumped straight onto the Flyradical ...

Nicely powered! After a few minutes the wind picked up a little more and I was riding upwind just fine! Started trying out the tricks ... using the board more than the kite like Miyachi was talking about the other day. Nope, that sucks - can't land them except on my ribs or ass, or slam down so hard I tweak my knee and ankles - I like the way I do it much better :D
Try out his technique for jumps and realize that it's what the "How to go big" video was talking about - I was just being lazy or enjoying the air time and not thinking about what I was doing ...

Miyachi is out on the lake, riding strapless with his 14m RPM and Uncle No-Relaunch is warming up on the beach. Wind drops a bit and I'm still riding the Flyradical but not powered enough to do anything. I come in to grab the 'door but Uncle is having issues with his kite so I rejoin the pattern until he clears the beach. Ah, much better on the 'door!

When I try to throw a back-roll though DANG that board is heavy - have been spoiled by the 'radical! Further tries result in feet slipping out of the straps and messy things like that. I give up and go back to trying to jump as high as I can.

It's getting dark and I'm hoping to get Miyachi to land my kite again for me - he's getting so good at handling the foil now :D - so I keep riding until he heads in. Meantime, Uncle has dropped his kite and guess what - he can't relaunch it until it drifts onto the shore ... is it just that he's crap or the Naish kites he use simply don't relaunch? Yikes ...

Great session, packed up in the dark again - got about 90 minutes riding though!

Moment of the Day was popping to toeside then carving the transition back to heelside - I managed to time it all perfectly (accident!) and it was super-cool ... unfortunately, I couldn't repeat it :D

Wind strength (thanks Peter Frank) was measured at 5 to 12 to 7 knots from 4 to 6pm, with a gust of 16 knots at 5. 12 knots sounds about right; seems like then up is good for the Flyradical ...

What I learned today ...
• Still need to use the kite for front rolls, waiting until it's over-head to start the loop and don't forget - pull with the front hand when you spot your landing!!!
• Keeping the kite in the air when your head is underwater ... getting good at that. Pulling on the back hand to keep it up.
• Looping the big FSer is very possible and makes for some interesting transitions, jumps etc cos it builds monster speed through the turn! I am the Downwind Rocketship.
• Sending the kite at its own pace produces bigger jumps than trying to force it around.