Typhoon-powered Synergy

I did sneaked out of work at 10:15am and headed for the lake :D
Day 2 of the typhoon in the Pacific south of here, throwing up big wind but today the rain had cleared and the wind had eased off. A little. Got to the lake about 10:45am and checked the wind. Nukin' somewhat and probably way too much for the 16m Crossbow although I notice erm That Guy is out on his 15m Bandit.

I decide on a Synergy and as the wind was forecast to die off, chose the 19m ... you should have seen Auntie's eyes when I told her it was a 19!
Unpack, inflate, attach lines, try to launch and - Bowtie City, population me. WTF have I left the deflate zipper open or something? I manage to untangle bowties a couple of times, but it just won't open the wingtips when it gets into the air and now it's losing pressure and has done multiple twists. Leash the bar to a sand bag and untangle, check the lines. Meanwhile That Guy has landed his 15 cos he's over-powered ...

Trim in 1/2 way then try again - no worries to be launching! Ah, so that was the problem. Kite feels muy powered on the beach, should be a good session. Air temp on the roadside signs is 15 degrees C and of course the wind chill is healthy but the water still feels warm! Away we go, working the kite to get out from the shore - wind is directly onshore. Head out to the K-zone and start playing ...

Synergy is nicely powered; as I think it bloody should be, it's 19m of sail up in a large amount of wind! I guess but obviously I'm spoiled by the Cabrinha - bar pressure is ... substantial :D maybe I should stop trying to fly it like a Crossbow, muscling the bar in and hauling it around. I try to get into foil mode, turning the kite without sheeting in. Better. The arc was a good choice cos it's gusty as a mofo out here!

I'm not really feeling having to work the kite almost the whole time to make power and thoughts run through my head of selling all 3 Synergys :( Also, much harder to go upwind and keep the kite powered ... requires a lot of finesse on the bar and to not be choking it and keep the speed in it. Work it like you hate it goes through my head ...

Despite my struggles, I'm having fun - although I can't seem to jump as easy as I can on the 'bow. A few jumps are great but most are let-downs. One feels like about 5m or what I seem to remember as 5m from the view off the QEII diving board to the water ... but then the water at QEII was not rolling with whitecaps! One jump I guess I sent the kite properly and I went up like a fucking rocket WHEE! pity I didn't land it :D

Synergy on the Navigator bar flies nicely, and although it stills jelly-fishes when I "ride waves" or toddle off downwind, it's not as severe as with the Zero7 bar and there seems to be no chance of inverts.
The grip is grippy when wet although gets squeaky (WTF?) and I still prefer the Zero7 bar grip.
Depower on the cam-cleat is nice, that's a good change. I use it a little till I get used to the gusts and just ride them out, leaving the kite trimmed in just a smidge.
Spinning rotorhead thing is good too for the OCD in me to keep the safety line untwisted and clear.
Probably not related to the Navigator, but the kite went down at the edge of the window after I muffed another jump ... I'd just let go the bar totally. After get dragged a bit, my head popped above the water in time to watch the Synergy hit the water LE into the wind, tips clap together then literally bounce right back up into the air :D neat!

So, I got 2 and a half hours on the water in what GPV-weather.info tells me was 10-12m/s aka 20 to 24 knots but it had to be gusting over 30. Talking to Miyachi, he thought it was 15m/s gusting to 20 (30 gusting to 40 knots :o ) and he was looking at the live weather station feed from the windsurf club down the road. Most of the time, the Synergy 19 was powered fine but often required more board speed than I was comfy with in the conditions to really park'n'ride and I'm too lazy to work the kite that much ...

... mind you, with all that bar pressure and having to work the kite, it probably wasn't a bad thing cos it kept me warm. Once I got off the water and convinced Auntie to land the kite for me, I realized that my arms were cold as the rashguard was holding water in it's sleeves. Got back to the club house and had a quick shower and put my clothes back on and noticed how unbelievably cold my nuts were ... yikes.

What I learned today ...
• Trim in about 1/2 way when you try to launch the Synergy on the Navigator bar.
• Keep the Synergy moving and don't choke it by sheeting in hard when you want to go across wind.
• Don't sheet in when you want to turn the kite; just pull on that side and let the kite zoom through the turn.
• Be real aggressive with the Synergy when changing direction, flying lower across the window than you normally would with the 'bow or Silberpfeil.
• I guess like a C-kite you really have to work the board direction up- and downwind to keep speed up, you can't just sheet in and accelerate away ...
• Wear bloody sunblock you numpty! Ow.