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 ...