Forecast yesterday was promising 16 knots from the north so I was looking forward to a good evenings play time. Had to wait for the grounds keeper to clear off so I launched the Cult from the riverbank to see if it would be enough for the wind that was/wasn't there. Well ...
I must have been a sight to see - parked kite at the zenith, arms were jerking up and down like a puppet on a string. Like rap dancer waving their hands in the air cos they just don't care. Like Scotty flicking the "engine on/off" switch to get back at Kirk for sleeping with Uhura ... you get the picture. So I do some stunting to pass the time ...
Ok Mr Dingleberry the park nazi has finally gone, so I pull the board out of the boot (trunk for our Yankee brethren) and move myself onto the soccer dirt strip.
Whee what fun - it's gusting from like 0 to 30 knots and the wind is all over the place, northeast at one end, northwest at the other. Doing the herky-jerky to get rolling then running totally out of steam in the middle, working it through then get mad power roll in right as I'm heading straight at the open door of the porta-potty on one side or the power lines on the other. The Cult is stalling all through the power zone and going completely flat like a sheet of paper then powering up like it's a JATO rocket.
Despite all that, I had a bit of fun.
And guess what? You CAN jump with a 3.5m kite! Send the kite up from just above 9 or 3 as fast as you can and yes, even my fat arse goes sailing through the air! I thought that was all very amusing and laughed heartily until the Cult lifted me and the board right off the ground - when the kite was at zenith! That's when I knew it was time to pack up ...
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Cor(e) Blimey!
Took the newly arrived Core 6.7 out tonight, ostensibly to set it up and parapack it nicely ... but despite the Crappy wind, it flew real nice and pulled good so I got the board out of the car and got some riding in!
Big surprise; I'd say there was maybe 3-6 knots and I know I would've been walking the Rebble backwards to keep it in the air. So despite the Crappy wind, it flew real nice and pulled good so I got the board out of the car and got some riding in! Mixed bag of carving turns; some half-hearted others powered - my timing needs a little work! Good fun slides, even in the Chicken Gravy wind!
The Core is a lower aspect ratio kite, sorta short and fat like the Vibe and unlike the longer, thinner Rebble.
I'm using Peter Lynn long handles and 20m 200/100kg lines. In that light wind, it flew slow but steady and reacted well to pull turns and brake only turns. Turns as good as the Rebble even though it's bigger and probably holds more speed through the turn too.
Good solid pull through the window, kind of reminded me of the Ace with it's non-stop steady power supply; the Rebble is sorta jerky as it comes into the power and takes off in comparison.
I stalled it several times trying to jump with it, which I put down to lack of wind and me sending it too far to the edge of the window ... we'll see how it goes in a little more wind.
Compared to the Blade III 6.6 I had, it's a lot less of a handful in the lighter winds; launches easy with a little backwards walking and fills quickly, going up to zenith and sitting there quite happily. Unlike the Blade, which in the same or slightly stronger winds, had to be yanked off the ground and turned to one side to trick it into launching then kept on the move or it'd stall when it got to zenith. That may well have something to do with just how light the Core is, compared to the Blade; newer, lighter materials maybe.
Anyway, it's a bloody good kite and looks like it'll turn a session of Crap into Chicken Gravy.
Big surprise; I'd say there was maybe 3-6 knots and I know I would've been walking the Rebble backwards to keep it in the air. So despite the Crappy wind, it flew real nice and pulled good so I got the board out of the car and got some riding in! Mixed bag of carving turns; some half-hearted others powered - my timing needs a little work! Good fun slides, even in the Chicken Gravy wind!
The Core is a lower aspect ratio kite, sorta short and fat like the Vibe and unlike the longer, thinner Rebble.
I'm using Peter Lynn long handles and 20m 200/100kg lines. In that light wind, it flew slow but steady and reacted well to pull turns and brake only turns. Turns as good as the Rebble even though it's bigger and probably holds more speed through the turn too.
Good solid pull through the window, kind of reminded me of the Ace with it's non-stop steady power supply; the Rebble is sorta jerky as it comes into the power and takes off in comparison.
I stalled it several times trying to jump with it, which I put down to lack of wind and me sending it too far to the edge of the window ... we'll see how it goes in a little more wind.
Compared to the Blade III 6.6 I had, it's a lot less of a handful in the lighter winds; launches easy with a little backwards walking and fills quickly, going up to zenith and sitting there quite happily. Unlike the Blade, which in the same or slightly stronger winds, had to be yanked off the ground and turned to one side to trick it into launching then kept on the move or it'd stall when it got to zenith. That may well have something to do with just how light the Core is, compared to the Blade; newer, lighter materials maybe.
Anyway, it's a bloody good kite and looks like it'll turn a session of Crap into Chicken Gravy.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
Pansh ... it's Chinese for "Drawn and Quartered"
... or maybe just "Pull your arms from body or throw you into sky, your choice suckah"
Had a few sessions with this monster so far, this being about the fourth.
My little beach at club Locus had good clean onshore winds that would be Crappy on any other kite but were Gravy for the Ace this afternoon, so I thought I'd see how my DIY pulley handles worked. And maybe have a setup and test flight for the Core 6.7 that just arrived!
The Ace flies much better on a back-strap (and no doubt, a harness) so you can take all the power through your body and then use the brakes by hauling on the bottom of the handles. This is, not surprisingly, much more effective than trying to fly it like a regular fixed bridle kite on handles.
The pull is just so relentless through the power zone as the kite moves slowly from one side of the window to the other ... massive long scuds downwind! You've got to keep an eye on it though cos it'll race to the edge of the window and collapse if you don't stop it, resulting in at best a near total collapse or at worst, a bow-tie. Thankfully, the small amount of wind needed to fly the Ace means you can just drop the handles and sort the kite out without worries of it flying away ... have to watch it rushing to the zenith too; didn't like it for pendulum jumps cos it's so slow to turn and unless I got it right, would collapse at the end of the jump too. Keep it moving though and you're rewarded with monumental pull.
The DIY pulley handles work nice.
I modified my old Rebble 5m handles, which were strangely an inch longer than the Ace 12m handles. Had no idea about leader line lengths so gave it a generous amount for the brake leader through the pulley. Again, they work best with the harness as you take the power through the back-strap and just steer with the brakes, hands at the bottom of the handles. It'll turn on a wing tip quite crisply, or very near to it.
Thoughts on the pulley handles ...
The closer the knot is to the handles, the less throw you seem to get on the brakes but it's easier to pull.
The kite seems less fussy about the relative lengths of the brake lines but they need to be longer or the pull on the brakes is reduced.
The pulleys seem to limit the amount you can actually pull the brakes too: unlike on regular handles, you can't stall the wing tip by hauling the brakes all the way back. The way the pulleys seem to work, when you've used up all the travel in the brake leader but keep pulling on the handle, it actually pulls the power line too, like you're doing a pull turn with a good dollop of brakes on. So far, this is a good thing; and you can still back-stall the kite fine ...
We'll see if the pulley handles are actually the best option, need to do more testing versus regular handles.
Didn't even get the Core out of the bag, got distracted by the monster Ace! Probably just as well, cos the Core looks brand-spanking new (thanks Ripsession Kites!) and the beach is somehow very dusty so kites, shoes, pants etc end up filthy.
Had a few sessions with this monster so far, this being about the fourth.
My little beach at club Locus had good clean onshore winds that would be Crappy on any other kite but were Gravy for the Ace this afternoon, so I thought I'd see how my DIY pulley handles worked. And maybe have a setup and test flight for the Core 6.7 that just arrived!
The Ace flies much better on a back-strap (and no doubt, a harness) so you can take all the power through your body and then use the brakes by hauling on the bottom of the handles. This is, not surprisingly, much more effective than trying to fly it like a regular fixed bridle kite on handles.
The pull is just so relentless through the power zone as the kite moves slowly from one side of the window to the other ... massive long scuds downwind! You've got to keep an eye on it though cos it'll race to the edge of the window and collapse if you don't stop it, resulting in at best a near total collapse or at worst, a bow-tie. Thankfully, the small amount of wind needed to fly the Ace means you can just drop the handles and sort the kite out without worries of it flying away ... have to watch it rushing to the zenith too; didn't like it for pendulum jumps cos it's so slow to turn and unless I got it right, would collapse at the end of the jump too. Keep it moving though and you're rewarded with monumental pull.
The DIY pulley handles work nice.
I modified my old Rebble 5m handles, which were strangely an inch longer than the Ace 12m handles. Had no idea about leader line lengths so gave it a generous amount for the brake leader through the pulley. Again, they work best with the harness as you take the power through the back-strap and just steer with the brakes, hands at the bottom of the handles. It'll turn on a wing tip quite crisply, or very near to it.
Thoughts on the pulley handles ...
The closer the knot is to the handles, the less throw you seem to get on the brakes but it's easier to pull.
The kite seems less fussy about the relative lengths of the brake lines but they need to be longer or the pull on the brakes is reduced.
The pulleys seem to limit the amount you can actually pull the brakes too: unlike on regular handles, you can't stall the wing tip by hauling the brakes all the way back. The way the pulleys seem to work, when you've used up all the travel in the brake leader but keep pulling on the handle, it actually pulls the power line too, like you're doing a pull turn with a good dollop of brakes on. So far, this is a good thing; and you can still back-stall the kite fine ...
We'll see if the pulley handles are actually the best option, need to do more testing versus regular handles.
Didn't even get the Core out of the bag, got distracted by the monster Ace! Probably just as well, cos the Core looks brand-spanking new (thanks Ripsession Kites!) and the beach is somehow very dusty so kites, shoes, pants etc end up filthy.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Time flies when you're having fun
Went to my park last night - forecast was for 8m/s and there was certainly wind, but unfortunately the grounds-keeper was still in his little hut till 5pm so I had to wait about 50 minutes before I could set up. Hummed and harred the whole time whether or not I should actually get out of the car cos it was cold, I was tired and didn't have my pads.
The wind was crappy gusting to gravy for my 3.5m Cult so I packed it up and pulled out the Rebble. That shifted the wind range into gravy gusting to stupid, but mostly epic.
For once though, the gusts were treated to an attitude of patient disdain rather than my usual fear and trembling, as they try to rip my arms from their sockets and stretch my fingers. For the extended gusts, I even threw caution to the wind and tried some jumps ... had some real good ones too, sort of hovering and hanging in the air.
Has some nice riding too although the park was soggy and I had to keep an eye on the kite to stop it collapsing in the silly gusts. Did some carving turns and a bit of upwind riding toe-side. Only once got gusted to over-powered on the board and was heading for a park bench, but didn't panic and even made a nice power-slide to stop, if I do say so myself!
So I'm glad I got out of the car and got nearly 2 hours kiting in! I'm sore today though ...
The wind was crappy gusting to gravy for my 3.5m Cult so I packed it up and pulled out the Rebble. That shifted the wind range into gravy gusting to stupid, but mostly epic.
For once though, the gusts were treated to an attitude of patient disdain rather than my usual fear and trembling, as they try to rip my arms from their sockets and stretch my fingers. For the extended gusts, I even threw caution to the wind and tried some jumps ... had some real good ones too, sort of hovering and hanging in the air.
Has some nice riding too although the park was soggy and I had to keep an eye on the kite to stop it collapsing in the silly gusts. Did some carving turns and a bit of upwind riding toe-side. Only once got gusted to over-powered on the board and was heading for a park bench, but didn't panic and even made a nice power-slide to stop, if I do say so myself!
So I'm glad I got out of the car and got nearly 2 hours kiting in! I'm sore today though ...
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
Words of wisdom
"I gave up on wind speeds... its either crappy, gravy, epic, or stupid... in that order" -- Drewculous
Back on the landboard
Supposed to be big wind coming through today but too cold to get in the lake ... forecast said 20 knots at 8ºC!
Thought I'd check out the place where we play hockey in Kosei, next to Yasu River ... we play in the carpark (inline hockey) but there's baseball/soccer fields down the other end. Despite it being the middle of the week, when I arrived there were some people playing baseball on the hard-pack dirt area. So I had a go on the grass area.
Wasn't sure of this locale for landboarding because of the topography of the area. Probably won't use it much cos it's a long way from home and is packed on the weekends but holidays might be ok. Anyway, the wind was good but it was gusting too much for the Rebble - when I got picked off the board and went sailing through the air downwind, I decided to break out the Cult. Much better!
Got some good fast powered-up rides in, which felt really nice on the grass ... it's comforting to know I'm not going through the cheese grater if I fall off! I'll have to take pictures of my usual surface so you know what I mean ...
Anyway, the wind dropped after maybe 2 hours so I packed it in. Good way to spend my last day before I go back to work :)
Thought I'd check out the place where we play hockey in Kosei, next to Yasu River ... we play in the carpark (inline hockey) but there's baseball/soccer fields down the other end. Despite it being the middle of the week, when I arrived there were some people playing baseball on the hard-pack dirt area. So I had a go on the grass area.
Wasn't sure of this locale for landboarding because of the topography of the area. Probably won't use it much cos it's a long way from home and is packed on the weekends but holidays might be ok. Anyway, the wind was good but it was gusting too much for the Rebble - when I got picked off the board and went sailing through the air downwind, I decided to break out the Cult. Much better!
Got some good fast powered-up rides in, which felt really nice on the grass ... it's comforting to know I'm not going through the cheese grater if I fall off! I'll have to take pictures of my usual surface so you know what I mean ...
Anyway, the wind dropped after maybe 2 hours so I packed it in. Good way to spend my last day before I go back to work :)
In Thailand, too!
We jumped ship and spent spring break in Thailand; probably away about 10 days including traveling time. It was actually the wife's idea to go kiteboarding ...! We ended up in Hua Hin, a tourist town 200km south of Bangkok famous for it's beach and seafood. And the PKRA competition had just been through there too ...
We rented a condo in the Tira Tiraa building; lovely 2 room with kitchen, giant bed, cable TV etc and a swimming pool in the complex that we used every day. It was close to the main road and apart from the train, I thought it was nice and quiet.
Took my 15m and 12m Synergy and North Sumo 155x41 with me cos all the 'net guides or reviews I'd read about where we were going said "18 knots or more every day!" ... bah humbug. Nowhere near enough for even the 15!
We spent a few days wandering around town, checked out the beach etc, then I had 2 'lessons' (supervised rentals really) with the North Kiteboarding Club. Not enough wind either days for my lard arse to get up and going really, even with the 'superior' North Rebel 14m and North Phantom 154x45 board. Thought we'd zap on down to Pran Buri to have a look, supposed to be good. Much better wind there (although it had shifted to sea breezes so that probably helped) and I met Jay from Kiteboarding Asia and jacked up another 'lesson' for the next day. Walked up and down the beach for miles to have a look at the kiteboarders down near the village. Sleepy little town, could be a nice place to stay ... hmm.
Came back the next day, had a lesson with Laurent on a 16m Airush DNA I think and a Square One like my other board in Japan. Went pretty good, fairly massive downwinder! Got a ride back up the beach on the back of Laurent's scooter.
Decided to go back again the next day but the wife was bored so she stayed in town. Had a cracking day with an Airush Flow 15m and a Nobile something or other big fat wide board, 144x45 IIRC. Pop! straight up and riding! Still couldn't go upwind but had 2 fabulous long downwinders, maybe 2 hours each ... and a long walk up the road! Got a bit overpowered on the last run but was all good.
We had a great trip - some really good food was had, we got to eat lamb and decent gravy and onion rings and pizza and all the good things, cooked PROPERLY like we CAN'T get in Japan. And the kiteboarding was great, so I can recommend it as a destination. Pretty cheap place to stay too, although we spent a lot of money living it up!
It was a real let-down coming back into Japan, with their provincial attitudes and paranoia, after the lovely people we'd been around in Thailand ... but that's another story ...
Here's a compilation of video that Olivia made on her Sony Cybershot thing ... not to great but hey, it's a memory!
We rented a condo in the Tira Tiraa building; lovely 2 room with kitchen, giant bed, cable TV etc and a swimming pool in the complex that we used every day. It was close to the main road and apart from the train, I thought it was nice and quiet.
Took my 15m and 12m Synergy and North Sumo 155x41 with me cos all the 'net guides or reviews I'd read about where we were going said "18 knots or more every day!" ... bah humbug. Nowhere near enough for even the 15!
We spent a few days wandering around town, checked out the beach etc, then I had 2 'lessons' (supervised rentals really) with the North Kiteboarding Club. Not enough wind either days for my lard arse to get up and going really, even with the 'superior' North Rebel 14m and North Phantom 154x45 board. Thought we'd zap on down to Pran Buri to have a look, supposed to be good. Much better wind there (although it had shifted to sea breezes so that probably helped) and I met Jay from Kiteboarding Asia and jacked up another 'lesson' for the next day. Walked up and down the beach for miles to have a look at the kiteboarders down near the village. Sleepy little town, could be a nice place to stay ... hmm.
Came back the next day, had a lesson with Laurent on a 16m Airush DNA I think and a Square One like my other board in Japan. Went pretty good, fairly massive downwinder! Got a ride back up the beach on the back of Laurent's scooter.
Decided to go back again the next day but the wife was bored so she stayed in town. Had a cracking day with an Airush Flow 15m and a Nobile something or other big fat wide board, 144x45 IIRC. Pop! straight up and riding! Still couldn't go upwind but had 2 fabulous long downwinders, maybe 2 hours each ... and a long walk up the road! Got a bit overpowered on the last run but was all good.
We had a great trip - some really good food was had, we got to eat lamb and decent gravy and onion rings and pizza and all the good things, cooked PROPERLY like we CAN'T get in Japan. And the kiteboarding was great, so I can recommend it as a destination. Pretty cheap place to stay too, although we spent a lot of money living it up!
It was a real let-down coming back into Japan, with their provincial attitudes and paranoia, after the lovely people we'd been around in Thailand ... but that's another story ...
Here's a compilation of video that Olivia made on her Sony Cybershot thing ... not to great but hey, it's a memory!
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