A.M, P.M ... I is a addict

Went down to the lake beach this A.M and took my new (used) Flysurfer Speed 1.5 17m with me ... was supposed to be 8 knots but as usual with weather predictions here, there was actually bupkis. I set up, stood around, watched the lake, tried to find north to make a sun shadow compass, gave up & went back to the car for my cell phone cos ... I had to be home to shower and leave for work at 1pm.

A breath of wind started to tickle my fancy around 11:15am so I thought what the hell, let's try to launch.
First attempt was a fail so I reset (dragged the kite downwind and laid it out again) and had another shot. It went up a bit, inflated a bit, I yanked on the center lines a bit and finally, up it went!
Holy shit what a long, thin kite! And holy shit I can't believe it's flying in this sweet FA wind! I'm moving it around constantly but it's turning ok and is actually pulling as it flies across the window! Amazing! I'd guess it'd be about 5 or 6 knots - the long grass is just stirring and the flag is hardly moving ... I keep flying and by about 11:50am the wind has picked up enough (8 knots :D ) that I finally get an idea of the potential of this kite ... astounding! Should be entertaining when it's in it's range!
Back-stall landed it and popped the safety, untangled the bridle and picked all the dead vine out from the twists it had created in the bridle lines grr. Packed up, went home, went to work.

Wind has picked up so I rushed home after work finished at 5pm and grabbed my Synergy 15 and the North Sumo board. I'm looking at the wind and thinking eek, the 15 might be too big when I hit the water at 6:30pm but it ain't :( I'm getting up fine, good blast of speed but I can't keep moving after the first power dive. I get a few runs that are ok and one good one, but just can't get my groove on. Better than going home and sitting in front of telly though!

It's actually my first ride on the water with any Synergy ... quick review.
It turns just fine, much faster than the big LEIs I've used even the 2010 North Rebel that is supposed to be hot poop. Swoops around real nice, very fast kite - I even nose dived it once when I took my eyes off it and left my hands on the bar. I'm betting the 19 will feel more like the 14 - 16 LEIs ...
I didn't like the feel on the bar - couldn't really feel the depower/power point like I like, hard to tell when I was over-trimming the bar, but I can sort that out with the bridle settings. Or maybe the straps.
The bloody safety is a menace - popped off on me when I was flailing around in the water, could only guess it got nudged by my shorts or a roll of fat - so I turned the red hat upside down. Highly recommended and thankfully I could do it at the beach. Like so ...


from Arc Setup FAQ

Could have done with more power so should have used the 19 or fiddled with the center strap, but there wasn't time to land and meddle - sun went down at 7:30pm. The Sumo is only 155x41 or something so I should have taken a bigger board. Was going to take my new Spleenes but sissied out - they're so pretty!
Hoo boy does it jump?! Sending it up to park it at the zenith after a failed start or two (or six) often had me rising out of the water. Before I packed it up, I did some jumping on the beach - bloody epic, without any real effort. Of course, there was no camera :/ Doing that actually gave good feedback through the bar - send kite, sheet in, feel power and POP you're in the sky! Maybe my hands just aren't educated yet?
As with all my arcs, easy to land and launch on my own. Lovely.

So ... what did you do with your day?