Arrived at work early so I could still put in a full day but still skip out early. Got to the lake about 4:30pm and was a bit worried about the wind ... I only had the Silberpfeil in the car and I was thinking there was a bit too much wind for it. Forecast suggested 16 knots so it was in range but ...
... launched anyway :D bit strong but I'm not scared, I got hooj keewee. Great lofty paragliding on the beach by way of warming up :o hit the water, nicely powered.
Hit the water, motored upwind out to the K-zone.
Tried an aerial transition on my second turn and went swinging off under the kite, overflying and collapsing it ... doh! Great big tangled mess on the water ... started with a wingtip looped through the bridle, progressed to an invert, another tip looped through the bridle and another invert with a bowtie thrown in for good measure! Thanks to my experience with my foils on handles, I actually got it all untangled and relaunched, mostly by working the rear line(s). Seemed to fly fine so I kept riding :D
Got some toeside riding in which seems to need a lot of power on the FS, else it luffs. Wind was dropping off so went for more conventional riding. Started playing with sending the kite while jumping and trying to redirect, but it's a lot to coordinate for me at the moment. Dumped the kite in the drink again swinging under a jump ... and got it tangled up yet again! Got it untangled and launched before the guy who dropped his Helix could ... in fact, he had to drift into shore and get someone to help him :o now I think of it, I've never seen that guy relaunch that kite without help!
Kept riding till dark, and the wind was a bit up and down. Got really gusty just before sunset and had the unique experience of jumping, hovering then coming down to just touch the water before being picked up again! Whee! Also did some of my biggest jumps to date, landing and riding away from some of them too ... am getting enough hangtime to swing my legs around under me :o
Packed up as the sun slipped under the horizon and while paragliding on the beach, managed to bowtie the kite again ... dropped it to FLS, wrapped the safety around my board's grab-handle and laid the kite out, sanding the tip. Worked my way over the bridle and lines - no tangles (except for the twigs) ... groovy!
What I learned today ...
• Don't let the Silberpfeil overfly the window! So now silly tricks when you don't know what you're doing.
• It's easier to untangle/de-bowtie/uninvert the Silberpfeil with all it's bridling than it is to unmess an arc :o
• It's starting to get cold. Wind chill is noticeable - if I think about it! I'm usually having to much fun to notice :D
No comments:
Post a Comment