Here, have some of mine - I've got plenty! :D Mwa-ha-ha-haaaa!
Skivved off work an hour early and went to the lake. Forecast was for 12 knots so it was another Silberpfeil day. Unpacked, checked the steering setting doohickey and found one side was on 'standard' the other was on one step towards soft :o fixed than then side launched (less sketchy than usual!) and got onto the water about 4pm.
What do you call it when you're cutting through other people's wake at 45° and going way upwind of them? Well, whatever it was, that's what I was doing :D Got out to the K-zone about 100m from shore and started playing around ... the wind was steady for a while, then dropped a little and for the second time in 2 days, I was the only one riding. From my vantage point out on the lake, I quite enjoyed watching little guys walking back up the beach with big directionals tucked under their arms and their biggest kites struggling to stay in the air. I cackled and giggled while soaring over the waves in endless hops. I composed threads to laugh at PMU in my head and sang songs about how great having a Flysurfer is. Yeah, I had a good time.
Finally, the wind dropped right off and I was riding, but going downwind a little and was headed for the beach ... when the white caps are just starting seems to be the useful bottom end for the 'pfeil, how ever many knots that is! Those who usually watch me walk weren't even getting up on a plane, while I coasted into the beach doing little jumps ... do I sound smug and self-satisfied? Cos I am :D
About 20 minutes before sunset (5:50pm?) I called it a day and waited for people to move their kites off the beach so I could land and pack up. Fuckin' awesome, yet another cool days riding I wouldn't have had, if not for the white monster!
What I learned today ...
• You CAN kind of ollie the board by standing up straight then stomping on the back foot. Works better if you carve a little upwind first.
• Kite is MUCH better behaved with both the WAC (?) lines set to 'standard' instead of just one. Bar forces eased up a bit too - or maybe my muscles are just bigger :D
• To get a fast turn in, keep the bar sheeted in a little - but not too much!
• It's so easy to get speed out of the Silberpfeil! Sheeting in drops the kite towards the water a little and drops it back into the powerzone then just point the board downwind a touch and away you go!
• The Silberpfeil really is an easy kite to fly; it's hard to believe just how much power it's got!
• Toeside riding is nearly impossible in light wind - I just can't edge properly either is probably not helping.
• My new favourite thing to do is stretch right out, lean wa-aaay back and drag my head in the water :D flat water riding WOOHOO!
Checked the weather report ... 8 to 10 knots according to them, I'm guessing up to 12.
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Massey Ferguson called - they want their tractor back
Took the Silberpfeil down the lake after work ... set up and launched in what felt like 12 knots - whatever it was, I wouldn't have wasted time launching the 'bow. Just checked the weather report, which reckoned 10 knots. It was sketchy either way.
Hot launch, pulled the LE up and let it sit for a bit then walked back and it wanted to fly so I let it go up. Half-inflated and it still dragged me off downwind! The center section inflated very rapidly but more of the tips stayed uninflated* until they popped out - I'd say over all, it inflated faster but at different rates :D I let the kite fly to the zenith ...
Well bugger me!
Off I go, sailing through the air downwind waggling my toes at the ground. Kite collapses above me and so begins an entertaining 5 minutes of groundhandling tests :D managed to loop the tip through the bridle at one point but also managed to untangle it. Really wants to overfly the window and collapse; gotta work the brakes hard. Decided I'd be better off on the water ... if I could keep my feet on the ground!
... grabbed the Flydoor and hit the water. Ok Armin, where are you hiding the Massey Ferguson in all that white cloth? Chug chug chug I got hauled along by the tractor in the sky despite the wind being so low ... I almost felt guilty - I shouldn't have been riding! Again I had the bizarre experience of watching kites fall out of the sky and 50kg riders having to walk and I'm working hard to keep an edge against the power and am hauling ass upwind :o
Point board, hips, knees, toes, anything else I can, upwind hard, straight out to "my" zone, about 100m from the beach. Thought I'd play silly buggers and sent the kite up to 12 hard and jumped :D oops I got yanked off the board and went soaring! Body dragged nicely well upwind to the board.
Wind kept dropping and finally I had to admit defeat and walk about 50m up the beach - wind was probably 6 knots, no white caps or waves and the flag was limp. I kept an eye on the horizon as another front made its way in ...
Jumped back in the water when that front arrived a few minutes later and now I'm thinking 15 knots or maybe a little more. Would've been "meh" on the 'bow but I'm cooking on the Silberpreil! Have another good 1/2 hour play time, have to watch the gusts cos they're trying to send me skyward. Again I'm having to do strange things to go downwind back to the beach - at one point, I just stood bolt-upright on the board and let the kite pull me downwind (slightly!) like I was riding a travelator :D load'n'pop was easy and when moving the Silberpreil wasn't so inclined to collapse. Vigorous sending induced long floaty hang times ...
Thought it was going to rain so made a dash for the shore. Stood around for a bit trying to figure out how to land without FDS then noticed Miyachi so called for a landing - good man! I think I've got him trained on foils :D he grabbed the tip then pushed it to the ground, I joggled over and sanded the tip ...
What a kick-ass kite! Light wind session are saved - roll on next summer! Only an hour or maybe 75 minutes, but half of that was saved by the Silberpreil!
What I learned today ...
• Be heavy on the brakes on the land and don't piss around. Get into the water ASAP.
• Actually likes more brake input when flying.
• Tough workout for the arms but is easy to work. If you have to work it, the wind is TOO light! Park it baby yeah!
• Easier to roll the tips downwind to the center ... rolling into the wind is tough.
* all comparitive statement are relative to my ol' Speed 1.5 17m
Hot launch, pulled the LE up and let it sit for a bit then walked back and it wanted to fly so I let it go up. Half-inflated and it still dragged me off downwind! The center section inflated very rapidly but more of the tips stayed uninflated* until they popped out - I'd say over all, it inflated faster but at different rates :D I let the kite fly to the zenith ...
Well bugger me!
Off I go, sailing through the air downwind waggling my toes at the ground. Kite collapses above me and so begins an entertaining 5 minutes of groundhandling tests :D managed to loop the tip through the bridle at one point but also managed to untangle it. Really wants to overfly the window and collapse; gotta work the brakes hard. Decided I'd be better off on the water ... if I could keep my feet on the ground!
... grabbed the Flydoor and hit the water. Ok Armin, where are you hiding the Massey Ferguson in all that white cloth? Chug chug chug I got hauled along by the tractor in the sky despite the wind being so low ... I almost felt guilty - I shouldn't have been riding! Again I had the bizarre experience of watching kites fall out of the sky and 50kg riders having to walk and I'm working hard to keep an edge against the power and am hauling ass upwind :o
Point board, hips, knees, toes, anything else I can, upwind hard, straight out to "my" zone, about 100m from the beach. Thought I'd play silly buggers and sent the kite up to 12 hard and jumped :D oops I got yanked off the board and went soaring! Body dragged nicely well upwind to the board.
Wind kept dropping and finally I had to admit defeat and walk about 50m up the beach - wind was probably 6 knots, no white caps or waves and the flag was limp. I kept an eye on the horizon as another front made its way in ...
Jumped back in the water when that front arrived a few minutes later and now I'm thinking 15 knots or maybe a little more. Would've been "meh" on the 'bow but I'm cooking on the Silberpreil! Have another good 1/2 hour play time, have to watch the gusts cos they're trying to send me skyward. Again I'm having to do strange things to go downwind back to the beach - at one point, I just stood bolt-upright on the board and let the kite pull me downwind (slightly!) like I was riding a travelator :D load'n'pop was easy and when moving the Silberpreil wasn't so inclined to collapse. Vigorous sending induced long floaty hang times ...
Thought it was going to rain so made a dash for the shore. Stood around for a bit trying to figure out how to land without FDS then noticed Miyachi so called for a landing - good man! I think I've got him trained on foils :D he grabbed the tip then pushed it to the ground, I joggled over and sanded the tip ...
What a kick-ass kite! Light wind session are saved - roll on next summer! Only an hour or maybe 75 minutes, but half of that was saved by the Silberpreil!
What I learned today ...
• Be heavy on the brakes on the land and don't piss around. Get into the water ASAP.
• Actually likes more brake input when flying.
• Tough workout for the arms but is easy to work. If you have to work it, the wind is TOO light! Park it baby yeah!
• Easier to roll the tips downwind to the center ... rolling into the wind is tough.
* all comparitive statement are relative to my ol' Speed 1.5 17m
Monday, September 27, 2010
Silberpfeil
Some pics of the new and (hopefully) low-wind session-saving Flysurfer Speed 2.5 19m Silver Arrow ...
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Just cos they call it a typhoon
... doesn't mean there's a bunch of wind :( just powered enough to ride but the rain put too much of a damper on things so I packed up and came home.
What I learned today ...
• Can drive on local roads to Machiya and it's just as fast as the highway ... and it's free!
• Wet kite sucks ... trying to dry it now but very paranoid about psychotic neighbors.
• The ocean is a much nicer place to ride when you can cope with waves!
What I learned today ...
• Can drive on local roads to Machiya and it's just as fast as the highway ... and it's free!
• Wet kite sucks ... trying to dry it now but very paranoid about psychotic neighbors.
• The ocean is a much nicer place to ride when you can cope with waves!
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Hopeless in Hamamatsu
Not enough room in the car to take a board but forecast for no wind anyway so that was fine ...
I did, however, take my new Navigator bar that arrived from Ricardo of ripsessionkites.com like, 10 minutes before we were due to leave - perfect timing! - and also took the Synergy 19 & 12. Just in case.
Friday was crap. Saturday had some wind though ... and MASSIVE waves that had been whipped up by the passing typhoon - thank god I didn't have a board or I might have tried to get out there :D unpacked the 19 and set up with the Navigator bar ...
Coming from weeks of LEI flying, at first I found the bar pressure heavy and the turning slow ... until I got back into Arc Mode - a little sheeting in and pulling the bar will whip the kite around nicely. Get some speed into it to keep it lively. Don't sheet in too far for too long ... ah yes, know I remember! Soon had the Syn 19 whipping around nicely! Some great scuds and jumps but really, the wind was still too light ... maybe 12 knots at most. Good to test the light wind annoying habits of the arc on the Nav bar though ;) spent about 2 hours noodling around.
Landing the kite by trimming for power, flying slow as I could to the edge of the window and stalling the kite, then letting it power up a tiny bit and bouncing back until it was directly downwind, the unhooked and dropped the bar ... perfect flagged landing, no twisting!
To review the Navigator ...
• Well designed bar; nice attention to little details, like the recessing the line tidy bungy loops & being able to change the bar size.
• Safety through the center of the chicken loop - awesome!
• The Ozone Megatron-esque safety - awesome! Although looking at the leash that has the Zero7 red hat, I'm wondering if the Zero7 bars couldn't be modded like that ...
• Double depower line, spinning head and cam cleat trim - very nice, works well and should be bullet proof, although I'm a little worried about the result of long term stress on the spinning heads erm spinning parts - we'll see. A mile of depower.
• Bar foam felt weird - too smooth ... I like the rougher Zero7 foam better ... and the foam around the depower line's metal runner through the bar seems poorly trimmed - like a bit of an afterthought. I'm betting it'll get mangled pretty soon and be a moot point though. I preferred the bolder colours of the Zero7 too ... the curved line through the foam is not just a design element; it's harder than the other foam and gives you a good feeling for where you park your hands. Meh, I know what I mean ;)
• Power lines have the V some way up the lines, with the front line safety kind of like the Zero4 ... seems to work nice - the kite flattened out a lot less in moments of low airspeed and held a stable shape much better in turns etc. Perhaps a bit more responsive to turning inputs when not moving compared with the Zero7. Kite can still invert though, when I intentionally flew it fast past the edge of the window at about 11 o'clock (I was trying to get the kite as out of shape as possible to see how much of a difference the bar made) ... the kite sank down and inverted to land LE down and I depowered then walked toward the kite to flip it over - no problem. Also, just once, the kite went to the RHS of the window and stalled and the safety line fell through the metal ring and the kite REALLY started to get out of shape ... as it was out over the breakers (beach was narrow today) I jerked the center line to recover it. So I think it's a good thing.
• Line extensions ... hmm, not sure. By that I mean, not sure if I'd notice a difference :D
• Adjustable stopper is pretty good but I'm wondering how much utility it'll actually provide ...
• Didn't like : heat shrink = LOL ... nuff said!
• Didn't like : the big ugly knot that's hidden under the neoprene booty that covers whatever is going on behind the cam cleat ... nasty! Spoils the smooth lines :)
• Didn't like : like I said, the wishy-washy colours ... FIRE TRUCK red and BOTTOMLESS PIT black please!
Great bar, looking forward to piling the hours on it ... again, massive thanks to Ricardo at ripsessionkites.com (yes I'm pimping!) for the excellent service and taking care of me!
PS. Wife called the courier and they just delivered my Speed 2.5 19 Silver Arrow! Now to unwrap ... OMG it's Christmas!
I did, however, take my new Navigator bar that arrived from Ricardo of ripsessionkites.com like, 10 minutes before we were due to leave - perfect timing! - and also took the Synergy 19 & 12. Just in case.
Friday was crap. Saturday had some wind though ... and MASSIVE waves that had been whipped up by the passing typhoon - thank god I didn't have a board or I might have tried to get out there :D unpacked the 19 and set up with the Navigator bar ...
Coming from weeks of LEI flying, at first I found the bar pressure heavy and the turning slow ... until I got back into Arc Mode - a little sheeting in and pulling the bar will whip the kite around nicely. Get some speed into it to keep it lively. Don't sheet in too far for too long ... ah yes, know I remember! Soon had the Syn 19 whipping around nicely! Some great scuds and jumps but really, the wind was still too light ... maybe 12 knots at most. Good to test the light wind annoying habits of the arc on the Nav bar though ;) spent about 2 hours noodling around.
Landing the kite by trimming for power, flying slow as I could to the edge of the window and stalling the kite, then letting it power up a tiny bit and bouncing back until it was directly downwind, the unhooked and dropped the bar ... perfect flagged landing, no twisting!
To review the Navigator ...
• Well designed bar; nice attention to little details, like the recessing the line tidy bungy loops & being able to change the bar size.
• Safety through the center of the chicken loop - awesome!
• The Ozone Megatron-esque safety - awesome! Although looking at the leash that has the Zero7 red hat, I'm wondering if the Zero7 bars couldn't be modded like that ...
• Double depower line, spinning head and cam cleat trim - very nice, works well and should be bullet proof, although I'm a little worried about the result of long term stress on the spinning heads erm spinning parts - we'll see. A mile of depower.
• Bar foam felt weird - too smooth ... I like the rougher Zero7 foam better ... and the foam around the depower line's metal runner through the bar seems poorly trimmed - like a bit of an afterthought. I'm betting it'll get mangled pretty soon and be a moot point though. I preferred the bolder colours of the Zero7 too ... the curved line through the foam is not just a design element; it's harder than the other foam and gives you a good feeling for where you park your hands. Meh, I know what I mean ;)
• Power lines have the V some way up the lines, with the front line safety kind of like the Zero4 ... seems to work nice - the kite flattened out a lot less in moments of low airspeed and held a stable shape much better in turns etc. Perhaps a bit more responsive to turning inputs when not moving compared with the Zero7. Kite can still invert though, when I intentionally flew it fast past the edge of the window at about 11 o'clock (I was trying to get the kite as out of shape as possible to see how much of a difference the bar made) ... the kite sank down and inverted to land LE down and I depowered then walked toward the kite to flip it over - no problem. Also, just once, the kite went to the RHS of the window and stalled and the safety line fell through the metal ring and the kite REALLY started to get out of shape ... as it was out over the breakers (beach was narrow today) I jerked the center line to recover it. So I think it's a good thing.
• Line extensions ... hmm, not sure. By that I mean, not sure if I'd notice a difference :D
• Adjustable stopper is pretty good but I'm wondering how much utility it'll actually provide ...
• Didn't like : heat shrink = LOL ... nuff said!
• Didn't like : the big ugly knot that's hidden under the neoprene booty that covers whatever is going on behind the cam cleat ... nasty! Spoils the smooth lines :)
• Didn't like : like I said, the wishy-washy colours ... FIRE TRUCK red and BOTTOMLESS PIT black please!
Great bar, looking forward to piling the hours on it ... again, massive thanks to Ricardo at ripsessionkites.com (yes I'm pimping!) for the excellent service and taking care of me!
PS. Wife called the courier and they just delivered my Speed 2.5 19 Silver Arrow! Now to unwrap ... OMG it's Christmas!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Catch a typhoon by its tail
Big blow forecast for the P.M. Nothing in the morning so I kept checking the live cam ... nothing ... nothing ... kites! Jump in car! Rush to lake! Take anemometer to the shore! Crikey! 20 knots solid, gusting to 30 ... probably better not unpack the Crossbow 16 then :( and can't use my arcs cos I have no bars!
Waited for Miyachi of Locus to get back to shore then asked to borrow a small kite off him. He lent me an F-One Bandit 11 ... bit rough going from arcs to FSers to one-pump Crossbow then to separate strut inflation on the Bandit! Got my brain around it, set up and launched.
So started an epic session. Lots of fun. Lots of wind. Lots of crap in the water and what suspiciously looked like a couple of fencing posts! Wind was cool, water near the river mouth was full of soil and cold, the rest of the lake was still warm.
Impressed with the 11m - had it trimmed for almost 100% depower and didn't really give it any more until about 3pm when the wind dropped a bit. I must have stumpy arms cos I end up trimming all my bars so I can lean back and sheet it without over-powering ... and there was certainly plenty of wind! And the kite made good power, hardly had to be worked at all! The Bandit was a bit twitchy in the gusts and later on, it started to distort the leading edge after I got used to the power and started throwing it around. Had some good fun with jumps and stuff and did what I feel to be my biggest, longest jumps to date ... on an 11m kite!
Started out on the Flydoor with my GoPro on the Kitehero fin mount but the battery died (forgot to charge it) after 20 minutes. Had fun on that then decided there was enough wind to make the effort of carrying the Rip Plus to the shore ... bit of a difference to the 'door but got up and riding and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon on the Plus.
That was, until about 4:30pm. Had just fallen over, got the board back on my feet and dived the kite when there was a crack and the bar flew away ... uh? Pulled the bar back in and discovered the hardware on the chicken loop had snapped!!! Somehow got back to shore and packed up. Miyachi said not to worry about it but I'll slip him some money when I get a price for it ...
What I learned today ...
• If your harness is giving you a wedgie, you don't need to stop kiting to adjust it! Just fall over head-first downwind with the kite powered ... the water pulls the harness out of your ass.
• Kitehero fin mount probably isn't designed for heelside fins - knocks the camera around A LOT ... pity, cos the Flydoor only has heelside fins. I have about 10 minutes video of my board's top deck.
• Rip Plus is a fun board, stiffer than the door so it pops better. Needs so much wind though. Don't like the footpads and the stance feels funny after the 'door.
• Everything is easier with more power :) jumps are easier to do too!
• I need my arcs!
• Needed my rashgaurd for the extra warmth too - the water (in spots) felt cold and the wind chill is noticeable.
• Miyachi is a great guy!
Waited for Miyachi of Locus to get back to shore then asked to borrow a small kite off him. He lent me an F-One Bandit 11 ... bit rough going from arcs to FSers to one-pump Crossbow then to separate strut inflation on the Bandit! Got my brain around it, set up and launched.
So started an epic session. Lots of fun. Lots of wind. Lots of crap in the water and what suspiciously looked like a couple of fencing posts! Wind was cool, water near the river mouth was full of soil and cold, the rest of the lake was still warm.
Impressed with the 11m - had it trimmed for almost 100% depower and didn't really give it any more until about 3pm when the wind dropped a bit. I must have stumpy arms cos I end up trimming all my bars so I can lean back and sheet it without over-powering ... and there was certainly plenty of wind! And the kite made good power, hardly had to be worked at all! The Bandit was a bit twitchy in the gusts and later on, it started to distort the leading edge after I got used to the power and started throwing it around. Had some good fun with jumps and stuff and did what I feel to be my biggest, longest jumps to date ... on an 11m kite!
Started out on the Flydoor with my GoPro on the Kitehero fin mount but the battery died (forgot to charge it) after 20 minutes. Had fun on that then decided there was enough wind to make the effort of carrying the Rip Plus to the shore ... bit of a difference to the 'door but got up and riding and enjoyed the rest of the afternoon on the Plus.
That was, until about 4:30pm. Had just fallen over, got the board back on my feet and dived the kite when there was a crack and the bar flew away ... uh? Pulled the bar back in and discovered the hardware on the chicken loop had snapped!!! Somehow got back to shore and packed up. Miyachi said not to worry about it but I'll slip him some money when I get a price for it ...
What I learned today ...
• If your harness is giving you a wedgie, you don't need to stop kiting to adjust it! Just fall over head-first downwind with the kite powered ... the water pulls the harness out of your ass.
• Kitehero fin mount probably isn't designed for heelside fins - knocks the camera around A LOT ... pity, cos the Flydoor only has heelside fins. I have about 10 minutes video of my board's top deck.
• Rip Plus is a fun board, stiffer than the door so it pops better. Needs so much wind though. Don't like the footpads and the stance feels funny after the 'door.
• Everything is easier with more power :) jumps are easier to do too!
• I need my arcs!
• Needed my rashgaurd for the extra warmth too - the water (in spots) felt cold and the wind chill is noticeable.
• Miyachi is a great guy!
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
Then Shang Tsung says - The Movie!
Forecast looked iffy but thought I'd try anyway. Went to the lake and pumped up the kite, waited around, talked to So, launched the kite, fought to keep it in the air, tried to ride a few times to test the board mount for the GoPro, waited around a lot ... no joy today.
What I learned today ...
• The self-land technique - the one that doesn't involve pulling the safety. I might have it sussed ...
• I really need that Speed 2 19m ...!
• Need to red Loctite the bolts on the board :(
What I learned today ...
• The self-land technique - the one that doesn't involve pulling the safety. I might have it sussed ...
• I really need that Speed 2 19m ...!
• Need to red Loctite the bolts on the board :(
Sunday, September 19, 2010
I'm the man!
Forecast looked passable from 3pm so I headed down to the lake at 2pm ... set up and sat around for a while waiting for wind. Guess I hit the water about 3pm and for a change, I had the GoPro with me.
Wind was a bit iffy and I lost ground downwind trying to keep board speed up ... wind eventually picked up though and I started making my way upwind. Then I started to show off all the silly shit I've been doing recently :D Once I got comfortable though ... seemed to take a while to find my rhythm or timing whatever and I fluffed up a lot of attempts at doin' stuff.
I did manage to pull off a couple of aerial transitions on the first attempt (one for each direction change) but then couldn't get it working after that ... not really enough power in the wind to ride toeside so I didn't bother much with that. Just had fun load'n'popping everything I could.
Stayed on the water till dusk, packed up in the dark and dragged my weary ass home. Great day!
What I learned today ...
• Aerial transitions are possible but I'm not sure how I did it :D
• It's a hell of a workout, kiteboarding is! Thighs were burning, arms are pumped up ... I'm going to suffer tomorrow O_o
• I need a 16Gb SD card cos I missed some of my best slams when the 8Gb was full after only 2 or so hours :(
• Footstraps annoy me - they don't seem to stay tight. Need to figure out how they work :o
Wind was a bit iffy and I lost ground downwind trying to keep board speed up ... wind eventually picked up though and I started making my way upwind. Then I started to show off all the silly shit I've been doing recently :D Once I got comfortable though ... seemed to take a while to find my rhythm or timing whatever and I fluffed up a lot of attempts at doin' stuff.
I did manage to pull off a couple of aerial transitions on the first attempt (one for each direction change) but then couldn't get it working after that ... not really enough power in the wind to ride toeside so I didn't bother much with that. Just had fun load'n'popping everything I could.
Stayed on the water till dusk, packed up in the dark and dragged my weary ass home. Great day!
What I learned today ...
• Aerial transitions are possible but I'm not sure how I did it :D
• It's a hell of a workout, kiteboarding is! Thighs were burning, arms are pumped up ... I'm going to suffer tomorrow O_o
• I need a 16Gb SD card cos I missed some of my best slams when the 8Gb was full after only 2 or so hours :(
• Footstraps annoy me - they don't seem to stay tight. Need to figure out how they work :o
Flabby Starfish and the Chicken-flavoured Gravy - The Movie!
Rescued from a dying drive, here is the crappy movie I had to rebuild from scratch - twice. I don't think it improved with age ...
Friday, September 17, 2010
Weather forecast fail
Wagged work and hit the lake ... forecast was for good wind all afternoon so was looking forward to nearly 3 hours riding before I had to pack up and go to work in the evening.
Well ... wind was sweeping over the hills to the northwest, rather than down the length of the lake from northeast which made it quite gusty. Like, worried about involuntarily taking flight to worried about the kite falling out of the sky and having to swim. Really weird, the waves were huge (for a lake) and the wind sounded and felt like it was blowing, but the kite wasn't making power. Rode it out, working the gusts to keep up speed until the wind dropped right off. I managed to ride back to launch site - sorta - then waited on shore for about 10 minutes until the wind picked up enough to ride.
Got another hour of riding in just powered ... got 'aggressive' with some 'jumps' and enjoyed that. Then the wind dropped right off again and didn't want to come back up so I gave up - it was almost time to pack up anyway!
Glad I skivved off early or it would have been a bit of a waste of time ... looking forward to my Speed2 19 SA arriving - should solve the slogging problem!
What I learned today ...
• You CAN land light as a feather - just requires paying attention to where the water is and where your feet are ;)
• Sometimes, I get a real dumb on and can't get my stance right and nothing feels good. Other times, I am style and grave and speed. Go figure.
• Same goes for jumping, turning and carving for either direction 0_o can go left and jump but 10 minutes later I can't even get off the water ...!
• It is REALLY annoying when, as you're getting off the water to pack up, your kite falls from the sky and gets sand dumped in behind the struts and soaked >:(
Well ... wind was sweeping over the hills to the northwest, rather than down the length of the lake from northeast which made it quite gusty. Like, worried about involuntarily taking flight to worried about the kite falling out of the sky and having to swim. Really weird, the waves were huge (for a lake) and the wind sounded and felt like it was blowing, but the kite wasn't making power. Rode it out, working the gusts to keep up speed until the wind dropped right off. I managed to ride back to launch site - sorta - then waited on shore for about 10 minutes until the wind picked up enough to ride.
Got another hour of riding in just powered ... got 'aggressive' with some 'jumps' and enjoyed that. Then the wind dropped right off again and didn't want to come back up so I gave up - it was almost time to pack up anyway!
Glad I skivved off early or it would have been a bit of a waste of time ... looking forward to my Speed2 19 SA arriving - should solve the slogging problem!
What I learned today ...
• You CAN land light as a feather - just requires paying attention to where the water is and where your feet are ;)
• Sometimes, I get a real dumb on and can't get my stance right and nothing feels good. Other times, I am style and grave and speed. Go figure.
• Same goes for jumping, turning and carving for either direction 0_o can go left and jump but 10 minutes later I can't even get off the water ...!
• It is REALLY annoying when, as you're getting off the water to pack up, your kite falls from the sky and gets sand dumped in behind the struts and soaked >:(
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
On again, off again ...
Weather forecast was for 6m/s again so I hit the lake after school. Got down there, unpacked and set up by about 4:45pm but nobody was on the water - the half dozen or so other kites there were looking glumly at the horizon ...
Jumped in and had a quick run downwind but the wind died as I turned around and I ended up body dragging back up the beach. Tooled around on the beach with the kite in the air until it dropped in a lull ... reverse launched it and amazed the locals then kept waiting for the wind to pick up, which it did after a while. Everyone hit the water again and we got a few minutes powered up until the wind died off ...
At the end of that gust, I had the bizarre experience of riding upwind, well powered while everyone else's kites were literally falling out of the sky. I was running out of beach though so I tried to turn back the other way but lost power and had to walk back to shore. Floated around in the cool water waiting for the wind but it dropped so much my poor 'bow fell outa the sky. Pulled it onto the land and sorted it out.
Just as I finished, the wind picked up and Granpa the test pilot (he weighs about 45kg ...!) hit the water and then everyone jumped in! I self-launched the 'bow and hit the lake! Spent the rest of the time until sunset, maybe an hour, nicely powered and having fun. By fun, I mean playing silly buggers, crashing, getting lobbed, submarined and generally having a great time!
I was the last one off the water and everyone avoided my eye when I was looking for a landing, so I used an anchor and self-landed.
What I learned today ...
• Normal stance on the Flydoor is better - I can edge easier and the board flexes more (dunno if that is good!) and has more (easier to get at) pop.
• Self-landing with an anchor is technically easy but can be a bit fiddly.
• Reverse launching the 'bow is not only possible, but very easy. IF you have enough wind!
• Today would have been a good chance to test the 'bow and the Speed side-by-side ...
Jumped in and had a quick run downwind but the wind died as I turned around and I ended up body dragging back up the beach. Tooled around on the beach with the kite in the air until it dropped in a lull ... reverse launched it and amazed the locals then kept waiting for the wind to pick up, which it did after a while. Everyone hit the water again and we got a few minutes powered up until the wind died off ...
At the end of that gust, I had the bizarre experience of riding upwind, well powered while everyone else's kites were literally falling out of the sky. I was running out of beach though so I tried to turn back the other way but lost power and had to walk back to shore. Floated around in the cool water waiting for the wind but it dropped so much my poor 'bow fell outa the sky. Pulled it onto the land and sorted it out.
Just as I finished, the wind picked up and Granpa the test pilot (he weighs about 45kg ...!) hit the water and then everyone jumped in! I self-launched the 'bow and hit the lake! Spent the rest of the time until sunset, maybe an hour, nicely powered and having fun. By fun, I mean playing silly buggers, crashing, getting lobbed, submarined and generally having a great time!
I was the last one off the water and everyone avoided my eye when I was looking for a landing, so I used an anchor and self-landed.
What I learned today ...
• Normal stance on the Flydoor is better - I can edge easier and the board flexes more (dunno if that is good!) and has more (easier to get at) pop.
• Self-landing with an anchor is technically easy but can be a bit fiddly.
• Reverse launching the 'bow is not only possible, but very easy. IF you have enough wind!
• Today would have been a good chance to test the 'bow and the Speed side-by-side ...
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Summer's gone
Forecast was 6m/s (12 knots) which usually means it's going to be a good time on the lake ... I guessed it was actually 15-20 knots, gusting to 25. Took 2 hours off work (got permission from the boss this time!) and hit the lake ...
Got there about 2:30pm, pumped up and got in the water ... there was only 2 others there but the rest of the crowd turned up a few hours later. Didn't really matter cos I went upwind hard and headed away from the beach; had the lake all to myself!
Had the board set to wide stance, thought I'd try it out ... find it a bit harder to edge and go upwind, just couldn't get the weighting as comfortable as before. Didn't spoil the fun though! Engaged in the usual silly playtime, trying to load'n'pop, carve turns, ride toeside etc.
Got a few nice lofty floaty jumps in and even (intentionally) redirected at the right time for the weightless landing ... most non-load'n'pop jumps were very messy though! Got dunked, lobbed, spun around and dragged ... all good fun! Put the kite in the water (for the first time) several times and it relaunched sweet, except twice - once it was directly downwind and I had to supply some input from the bar, the other time the steering line got wrapped up in lake weed under the water.
Wind was a bit gusty for a while, got quite violent at times - Hindenburged the kite in a lull but the wind came right back up after that so it relaunched fine. I stopped for a drink about 4:30pm and when I got back out on the water, the gusts had settled down. Rode until sunset, packed up in the dark - another 3 hours riding under the belt!
What I learned today ...
• A good load'n'pop is done crosswind, not upwind.
• Put the bloody donkey-dick in before trying to pull trim straps 0_o
• Much easier to carve turns and ride "waves" with power in the kite, pulling on my harness rather than just trying to glide around the turn.
• Wide stance is harder to hold down power.
• Need to Loctite the screws on the board's handle :-/
• Throw the kite around like an animal.
• Turns, be they sliding or carved, are best started with the kite low in the wind (about 45 degrees or a little under) and then sent straight back across.
• Even the monster 'bow floats around nicely so that playing silly buggers on the waves means the kite is always there and ready to pull, with a minimum of control input.
• Keeping tension in the lines by playing with board and body angle to the kite is interesting.
Summer's gone ... the solid Autumn winds are here (no more walking!) and though the temperature is still pushing 35 degrees, with wind chill makes it actually warmer in the water than on the board. Not that it was cold out of the water ...!
Got there about 2:30pm, pumped up and got in the water ... there was only 2 others there but the rest of the crowd turned up a few hours later. Didn't really matter cos I went upwind hard and headed away from the beach; had the lake all to myself!
Had the board set to wide stance, thought I'd try it out ... find it a bit harder to edge and go upwind, just couldn't get the weighting as comfortable as before. Didn't spoil the fun though! Engaged in the usual silly playtime, trying to load'n'pop, carve turns, ride toeside etc.
Got a few nice lofty floaty jumps in and even (intentionally) redirected at the right time for the weightless landing ... most non-load'n'pop jumps were very messy though! Got dunked, lobbed, spun around and dragged ... all good fun! Put the kite in the water (for the first time) several times and it relaunched sweet, except twice - once it was directly downwind and I had to supply some input from the bar, the other time the steering line got wrapped up in lake weed under the water.
Wind was a bit gusty for a while, got quite violent at times - Hindenburged the kite in a lull but the wind came right back up after that so it relaunched fine. I stopped for a drink about 4:30pm and when I got back out on the water, the gusts had settled down. Rode until sunset, packed up in the dark - another 3 hours riding under the belt!
What I learned today ...
• A good load'n'pop is done crosswind, not upwind.
• Put the bloody donkey-dick in before trying to pull trim straps 0_o
• Much easier to carve turns and ride "waves" with power in the kite, pulling on my harness rather than just trying to glide around the turn.
• Wide stance is harder to hold down power.
• Need to Loctite the screws on the board's handle :-/
• Throw the kite around like an animal.
• Turns, be they sliding or carved, are best started with the kite low in the wind (about 45 degrees or a little under) and then sent straight back across.
• Even the monster 'bow floats around nicely so that playing silly buggers on the waves means the kite is always there and ready to pull, with a minimum of control input.
• Keeping tension in the lines by playing with board and body angle to the kite is interesting.
Summer's gone ... the solid Autumn winds are here (no more walking!) and though the temperature is still pushing 35 degrees, with wind chill makes it actually warmer in the water than on the board. Not that it was cold out of the water ...!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
An unusual problem
All hail Ricardo at ripsessionkites.com! Right tool for the job and all that! Erm the tool being the Flydoor, not Ricardo by the way!
There was some wind forecast for the afternoon so I loaded the car before work and made a bee-line for the lake at the stroke of 4 ... got there about 4:30 and setup as fast as I could ... felt like about 15 knots and sunset is due about 6pm - haul ass! Pump that bitch and run into the lake!
Oh sweet gravy!
First thing I noticed was that after the thumping and pounding of the Square One, the Flydoor is like erm a big smooth soft thing! Edges sweet and goes upwind like a fucking rocket! Direct on-shore wind ... first run out from the beach, I was past the 150m marker when I turned ...! Back to the left then back to the right and by now I can hardly see the people at the bar end of kite lines :o
Usually, I just work as hard as I can to get upwind as far as I can, cos eventually, if I don't keep pushing myself, I end up on the beach again without even trying. So the Flydoor presents me with an interesting and unusual problem - I'm so far upwind and still heading out that I've got to figure out how to go downwind while riding a board ...! I'm all alone way out and have the lake all to myself!
So I start trying to carve S's downwind and discover that the Flydoor sinks like the Spleene Door did and I need to keep more board speed for that kind of thing, which means I have to keep my balance better and edge harder ... basically, ride more aggressively. Ok that's fun too! Forced me to be much more aggressive with kite and board but I'm loving it!
I'm a bit paranoid about jumping so I reigned that impulse in and barely get off the water but the board feel good! Gotta edge up hard for the load'n'pop - but I'm getting a better feel for that now too.
Riding toeside was tough cos the waves were up and the board is so fast I have to edge hard to keep the kite loaded. Worked on carving turns both ways and even tried a load'n'pop on the toeside but I only got around halfway then sunk and stalled the kite :D
The wind falls off as the sun goes down towards the hills, so I get to play with the low end of kite & board combo ... I reckon I've gained 4 knots on the bottom! I'm working the kite but I'm still making ground upwind WOOHOO I ride out the lulls and play with the gusts but it's time to pack up ... tried the technique off kiteforum.com that was posted recently and added another half-fold before 'rolling' and that worked much better!
Great session on a great board - going to have a lot of fun with that!
There was some wind forecast for the afternoon so I loaded the car before work and made a bee-line for the lake at the stroke of 4 ... got there about 4:30 and setup as fast as I could ... felt like about 15 knots and sunset is due about 6pm - haul ass! Pump that bitch and run into the lake!
Oh sweet gravy!
First thing I noticed was that after the thumping and pounding of the Square One, the Flydoor is like erm a big smooth soft thing! Edges sweet and goes upwind like a fucking rocket! Direct on-shore wind ... first run out from the beach, I was past the 150m marker when I turned ...! Back to the left then back to the right and by now I can hardly see the people at the bar end of kite lines :o
Usually, I just work as hard as I can to get upwind as far as I can, cos eventually, if I don't keep pushing myself, I end up on the beach again without even trying. So the Flydoor presents me with an interesting and unusual problem - I'm so far upwind and still heading out that I've got to figure out how to go downwind while riding a board ...! I'm all alone way out and have the lake all to myself!
So I start trying to carve S's downwind and discover that the Flydoor sinks like the Spleene Door did and I need to keep more board speed for that kind of thing, which means I have to keep my balance better and edge harder ... basically, ride more aggressively. Ok that's fun too! Forced me to be much more aggressive with kite and board but I'm loving it!
I'm a bit paranoid about jumping so I reigned that impulse in and barely get off the water but the board feel good! Gotta edge up hard for the load'n'pop - but I'm getting a better feel for that now too.
Riding toeside was tough cos the waves were up and the board is so fast I have to edge hard to keep the kite loaded. Worked on carving turns both ways and even tried a load'n'pop on the toeside but I only got around halfway then sunk and stalled the kite :D
The wind falls off as the sun goes down towards the hills, so I get to play with the low end of kite & board combo ... I reckon I've gained 4 knots on the bottom! I'm working the kite but I'm still making ground upwind WOOHOO I ride out the lulls and play with the gusts but it's time to pack up ... tried the technique off kiteforum.com that was posted recently and added another half-fold before 'rolling' and that worked much better!
Great session on a great board - going to have a lot of fun with that!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
It's Christmas
... my Flyboards Door XL arrived from Ricardo at ripsessionkites.com :o damn, it looks good! Bring the wind!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Blessings from Mother Lake
Forecast looked good Saturday so I got the wife to call the boss for our Saturday afternoon job and tell them I was "sick" ... I missed Friday night cos of work so didn't want to miss this and Sunday will be borked!
... this PC went tits up in the morning; I think it's due to the heat and looks like the memory - again! So I fannied around with that for a while, hoping to get one more look at the weather so I'd know when to hit the lake. No joy, so I relied on my memory (yikes!) and headed down at 2pm cos I seemed to remember 3pm was the sweet spot.
Set up, sat around, waited for the wind to pick up. It was looking good - 12 knots average - but I was hoping for more ... and I got it too! Hit the water at around 13 knots average and was up and riding (ah, thank you Mother Lake! So much better than the ocean!) but still heading downwind ... only just, had to do a little walking twice but on the third run out from shore, it was all on like Donkey Kong!
Epic session! Well-powered, I rode the Cab Crossbow and Square One upwind as far as I wanted ... then got stuck into progression!
Worked on controlling my speed with the board by edging upwind and shifting weight, rather than just depowering ... handy!
Practiced good stance ... but IMHO you gotta work your stance around to edge and weight-shift effectively, especially if you're trying to keep the speed down but want to keep power in the kite ... we'll get there!
Load'n'pop ... can you load'n'pop every wave you see? I tried. Even tried on the flat water between waves - see below ...
Occasionally, the pops got a bit carried away and I went soaring! Experienced my first 'hang time' jumps where I seriously floated at the apex instead of just paraboling back down. Rode out most of them too although it involved a lot of dangling under the kite and "Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!" from me ... even impressed the Master of Disaster who cheered as he went past!
Did some serious toe-side riding ... hurts my gammy hip and could only manage a beam reach at best but sliding back to heel-side was fun and carving around to the other direction was hawt!
Had a crack at carving heel to toe-side but have to slow down to slide around ... fun but loses ground.
Tried some load'n'pop spins to toe side too - fun but hard to get right.
Toe-side water starts - can do!
Got slammed and lobbed around a few times, even went flying a bit too :D aerial transitions - not as easy as they look!
Bloody good day! Out on the water for about 4 hours and my hands are killing me ... the rest of me is just stiff! Cabrinha bar is real hard eh ... so is packing the damn kite back in the world's tiniest bag :(
... this PC went tits up in the morning; I think it's due to the heat and looks like the memory - again! So I fannied around with that for a while, hoping to get one more look at the weather so I'd know when to hit the lake. No joy, so I relied on my memory (yikes!) and headed down at 2pm cos I seemed to remember 3pm was the sweet spot.
Set up, sat around, waited for the wind to pick up. It was looking good - 12 knots average - but I was hoping for more ... and I got it too! Hit the water at around 13 knots average and was up and riding (ah, thank you Mother Lake! So much better than the ocean!) but still heading downwind ... only just, had to do a little walking twice but on the third run out from shore, it was all on like Donkey Kong!
Epic session! Well-powered, I rode the Cab Crossbow and Square One upwind as far as I wanted ... then got stuck into progression!
Worked on controlling my speed with the board by edging upwind and shifting weight, rather than just depowering ... handy!
Practiced good stance ... but IMHO you gotta work your stance around to edge and weight-shift effectively, especially if you're trying to keep the speed down but want to keep power in the kite ... we'll get there!
Load'n'pop ... can you load'n'pop every wave you see? I tried. Even tried on the flat water between waves - see below ...
Occasionally, the pops got a bit carried away and I went soaring! Experienced my first 'hang time' jumps where I seriously floated at the apex instead of just paraboling back down. Rode out most of them too although it involved a lot of dangling under the kite and "Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!" from me ... even impressed the Master of Disaster who cheered as he went past!
Did some serious toe-side riding ... hurts my gammy hip and could only manage a beam reach at best but sliding back to heel-side was fun and carving around to the other direction was hawt!
Had a crack at carving heel to toe-side but have to slow down to slide around ... fun but loses ground.
Tried some load'n'pop spins to toe side too - fun but hard to get right.
Toe-side water starts - can do!
Got slammed and lobbed around a few times, even went flying a bit too :D aerial transitions - not as easy as they look!
Bloody good day! Out on the water for about 4 hours and my hands are killing me ... the rest of me is just stiff! Cabrinha bar is real hard eh ... so is packing the damn kite back in the world's tiniest bag :(
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
I can't get no satisfaction ...
... on that damned Square One - big long piece of poo. Alas! Poor Door, I knew him well :(
Went to Machiya today and muddled about in winds 8 to 14 knots ... could get small bursts of getting up and riding but even when nicely powered in a gust, that heap of crap I was standing on wouldn't even hold a beam reach let alone go upwind. Totally standing on the rear foot, leaning back edging up so hard that my lower legs dragged in the water and at best, the board just slid downwind. Spent a lot of time trying to ride through the shallow, flat water at the shore slowly, just trying to get back where I started :( then, of course, walking!
Naturally, everyone else there was riding miles upwind on smaller kites and boards ...! And just as naturally, I figured it was my poor board technique that was dragging me down, so I kept shifting my stance, weight and position etc etc ... what I really need is enough consistent wind to ride so I can figure the stance thing out. Watching vids is ok but they all seem to do it different!
Bloody sneaky little waves spent a lot of time knocking me off my feet when I finally got up and riding too - that got old real fast ... they'd be just a small lump then suddenly rise up and break on my lead foot, sinking it and me - I swear, they were doing it on purpose!
On rare occasions I did make some cracking launches off the face of waves ... whee!
Also, I really feel like I needed a large Speed too, maybe a 2 19m. Not 100% impressed with the LEI - sure everyone can launch/land it for me and it's fairly predictable, but it's tendency to fall to the edge of the window is bloody annoying and it just doesn't have the low end grunt my fat arse needs ... maybe I'll try a Zephyr or Dyno next year - we'll see if the new Flydoor gets me over that 12 knot hump ...
Went to Machiya today and muddled about in winds 8 to 14 knots ... could get small bursts of getting up and riding but even when nicely powered in a gust, that heap of crap I was standing on wouldn't even hold a beam reach let alone go upwind. Totally standing on the rear foot, leaning back edging up so hard that my lower legs dragged in the water and at best, the board just slid downwind. Spent a lot of time trying to ride through the shallow, flat water at the shore slowly, just trying to get back where I started :( then, of course, walking!
Naturally, everyone else there was riding miles upwind on smaller kites and boards ...! And just as naturally, I figured it was my poor board technique that was dragging me down, so I kept shifting my stance, weight and position etc etc ... what I really need is enough consistent wind to ride so I can figure the stance thing out. Watching vids is ok but they all seem to do it different!
Bloody sneaky little waves spent a lot of time knocking me off my feet when I finally got up and riding too - that got old real fast ... they'd be just a small lump then suddenly rise up and break on my lead foot, sinking it and me - I swear, they were doing it on purpose!
On rare occasions I did make some cracking launches off the face of waves ... whee!
Also, I really feel like I needed a large Speed too, maybe a 2 19m. Not 100% impressed with the LEI - sure everyone can launch/land it for me and it's fairly predictable, but it's tendency to fall to the edge of the window is bloody annoying and it just doesn't have the low end grunt my fat arse needs ... maybe I'll try a Zephyr or Dyno next year - we'll see if the new Flydoor gets me over that 12 knot hump ...
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