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!