Now for some wind to try it out ... should be interesting cos the power lines on my Rebble are stretched to buggery and I don't want to risk my crisp Core or the insane Ace ...
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
DIY crossover bar
Too much time on my hands due to a lack of wind so I made this out of some spare parts ... consists of the Naish bar from my Zero4 bar and line set, Wipika depower line and trim straps on the brakes, Airush chicken loop, Harken 900kg pulleys, Mystic handlepass leash QR and some Q-power leaders that I went a bit mad splicing loops and knots into.
Now for some wind to try it out ... should be interesting cos the power lines on my Rebble are stretched to buggery and I don't want to risk my crisp Core or the insane Ace ...
Now for some wind to try it out ... should be interesting cos the power lines on my Rebble are stretched to buggery and I don't want to risk my crisp Core or the insane Ace ...
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Flysurfaholic!
Another low wind session with the Speed ... 8 to 12 knots, I'd guess - the water on the lake was white-capping and that means there's ju-uuust enough wind for me to ride with my biggest kite and board.
Lots of hard working of the kite, fighting the lulls and waiting for the gusts. Had some good runs but every single one ended in a WoS of various lengths. I did manage to avoid washing up on the other half of the beach though! I'm at the stage where as long as I get some semi-powered riding in, I'm happy. So erm I'm happy.
As I was packing up, the sky lit up with the most stunning oranges and brilliant reds and startling blues ...
As an aside, my bits to repair the Shockwave and an Ozone Access harness arrived from Kent of awindofchange.com last night - super sweet! Better finish building my cross-over bar for the fixed bridles ...!
Lots of hard working of the kite, fighting the lulls and waiting for the gusts. Had some good runs but every single one ended in a WoS of various lengths. I did manage to avoid washing up on the other half of the beach though! I'm at the stage where as long as I get some semi-powered riding in, I'm happy. So erm I'm happy.
As I was packing up, the sky lit up with the most stunning oranges and brilliant reds and startling blues ...
As an aside, my bits to repair the Shockwave and an Ozone Access harness arrived from Kent of awindofchange.com last night - super sweet! Better finish building my cross-over bar for the fixed bridles ...!
Monday, June 21, 2010
No wind at Maisaka - The Movie!
Had the weekend off work so we went to Hamamatsu.
Hoped to catch some sea breezes and get out on the water, but the weather didn't co-operate. Spent some hours on Maisaka beach soaking up the fresh air and playing with my Flysurfer.
It was very borderline to even keep the kite in the air, but for a few minutes the wind picked up just enough to do some silly jumps. Video when it finishes uploading.
Noticed Nick-san had a buggy in his shed beside his shop, big ol' Bigfoot tyres on it ... hoping to rent it off him next time we're there are there's not enough wind to kiteboard. The beach is too soft for an ATB but it'd be a good opportunity to have a go on a buggy.
Hoped to catch some sea breezes and get out on the water, but the weather didn't co-operate. Spent some hours on Maisaka beach soaking up the fresh air and playing with my Flysurfer.
It was very borderline to even keep the kite in the air, but for a few minutes the wind picked up just enough to do some silly jumps. Video when it finishes uploading.
Noticed Nick-san had a buggy in his shed beside his shop, big ol' Bigfoot tyres on it ... hoping to rent it off him next time we're there are there's not enough wind to kiteboard. The beach is too soft for an ATB but it'd be a good opportunity to have a go on a buggy.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
More jollies
Skivved off work early to hit the beach.
Went home, got changed, loaded up the car, drove out, parked, humped my gear across the road down the steps on to the beach, unpacked my Synergy - damn, I've brought the 15 instead of the 19!!!
The forecast was for 5m/s falling to 4m/s from 3pm to 9pm. So about 8 to 10 knots.
Hmm ... I had put the Flysurfer Speed 1.5 17m in the car (just in case) so I humped my ickle Synergy back across the road and got stuck into the Speed.
Well. A bit of a finicky monster, in my beginners opinion. Slow turning, twitchy on the trim (I stalled it a lot), real knife-edge of powered or under-powered in these wind conditions but once you get over that hump (12 knots?) and can park and ride - man, what a ride! Boy is that thing fast! And I swear, even my idiot arse going further upwind faster than the little locals. Unfortunately, I spent a lot of time trying to work the kite to make some power and going wa-aaay downwind.
Points of interest ...
Tightened the lower harness straps with both hands. This helped stop the harness riding up my bum.
Nearly had said harness yanked off though when I bailed (trying to drag my bum in the water - don't ask why cos I don't know either) and got spun around and I was sorta upside down. Not fun. Thought my pants were going with it.
Mistook my landmark on the shore and ended up further down the beach than I should have been. Couldn't get upwind well and ended up on the "other" beach. Walking back up the shore, I had to jump over a canal-thing to get back to our beach. Oops.
Getting good at riding over the waves - that's fun :)
Many Walks of Shame, a few ride out and returns. Oh well :(
The water gets colder the further out from shore you are. It's a sweet, sweet thing on a hot day!
Nose-dived the kite a few times but reverse launched it no worries! Nice, I like that.
Back-stall landed the kite easily too. Nice, I like that.
Right arm is crippled - the bracioradialis is bloody painful ... not used to the work! Not nice, I don't like that.
So basically I learned that if the regular local riders are doing the WoS then I've got no show of riding. Still better than sitting in front of telly though!
EDIT : just looked at the Yahoo! weather here that also gives the data of what was ... apparently, it was 4m/s to 3m/s ...! 6 to 8 knots! No wonder I was walking :D
Went home, got changed, loaded up the car, drove out, parked, humped my gear across the road down the steps on to the beach, unpacked my Synergy - damn, I've brought the 15 instead of the 19!!!
The forecast was for 5m/s falling to 4m/s from 3pm to 9pm. So about 8 to 10 knots.
Hmm ... I had put the Flysurfer Speed 1.5 17m in the car (just in case) so I humped my ickle Synergy back across the road and got stuck into the Speed.
Well. A bit of a finicky monster, in my beginners opinion. Slow turning, twitchy on the trim (I stalled it a lot), real knife-edge of powered or under-powered in these wind conditions but once you get over that hump (12 knots?) and can park and ride - man, what a ride! Boy is that thing fast! And I swear, even my idiot arse going further upwind faster than the little locals. Unfortunately, I spent a lot of time trying to work the kite to make some power and going wa-aaay downwind.
Points of interest ...
Tightened the lower harness straps with both hands. This helped stop the harness riding up my bum.
Nearly had said harness yanked off though when I bailed (trying to drag my bum in the water - don't ask why cos I don't know either) and got spun around and I was sorta upside down. Not fun. Thought my pants were going with it.
Mistook my landmark on the shore and ended up further down the beach than I should have been. Couldn't get upwind well and ended up on the "other" beach. Walking back up the shore, I had to jump over a canal-thing to get back to our beach. Oops.
Getting good at riding over the waves - that's fun :)
Many Walks of Shame, a few ride out and returns. Oh well :(
The water gets colder the further out from shore you are. It's a sweet, sweet thing on a hot day!
Nose-dived the kite a few times but reverse launched it no worries! Nice, I like that.
Back-stall landed the kite easily too. Nice, I like that.
Right arm is crippled - the bracioradialis is bloody painful ... not used to the work! Not nice, I don't like that.
So basically I learned that if the regular local riders are doing the WoS then I've got no show of riding. Still better than sitting in front of telly though!
EDIT : just looked at the Yahoo! weather here that also gives the data of what was ... apparently, it was 4m/s to 3m/s ...! 6 to 8 knots! No wonder I was walking :D
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Back to Square One
There was wind again today but rather than heading down to the park for landboarding, I thought I'd toddle down to the beach. Forecast said 10 knots steady, building to 12 well after dark. Not enough for a big session I thought, maybe I'll have a play with the Speed and see how it goes, should be good to get a handle on it in the water.
Got home loaded the car with the Airush Square One (177x49!!!) board, the Speed 1.5 17 and the Synergy 19, just in case. Arrived at the beach and it was cooking! Seems it was more like 15 knots but I couldn't be bothered fishing out my wind meter so I just hit the beach.
Synergy inflated easily but had a bit of a hairy launch; it dumped the sand from the wing tip and slid downwind before going up, giving a good magic carpet scud. Can't figure out why it did that - I probably wasn't at 45ยบ enough.
I had the center strap in about 25%, tips right out and the VPC knots in the second space 'out' or down from the TE pigtail.
Checked the trim ... trimmed right out, being lifted onto tippy-toes - there's plenty of wind! It's cross onshore, from the north east so we'll be heading away from the beach with plenty of room downwind.
Got in the water with the board, dive the kite and ZOOM I'm off! Awesome!
Kite is still trimmed for de-power so I'm trying to grab the trim strap but I end up getting skittled by the waves. Trim the kite out, body-drag to the board and dive ZOOM and head back towards the beach.
Big ol' Walk of Shame, I'm almost at the other end of the beach. Damn but it was warp speed out there!
Back into the water, dive the kite and ZOOM I'm off again.
Paying more attention to course and trying to keep the speed down. Much easier heading into the waves than with them, I seem to end up further upwind although I'm bouncing off the tops of waves and making a few unintentional jumps as I get the timing "wrong" - sending the kite up to 12 as I reach the crest of a wave. All my jumping on the beach seems to have paid off though cos I actually managed to land most of them :D felt great!
Another long Walk of Shame ...
Back out again, really trying to edge hard. I'm still doing the foil thing and hanging onto the bar, tying to power up through that. I put more weight into my harness and lean back ... this time, when I get back to shore there a much smaller Walk of Shame!
And it gets better!
My last few runs as the sun sets after an hour and a half on the water (where did the time go?!?) I'm actually getting right back to my starting point! I'm going upwind!!! Well sort of. But we're getting there and I'm learning to control my speed, work the kite to get board speed when I need and basically having a great time!
Only real problem - bloody harness! For a seat harness, it really thinks it should be an armpit harness :O riding up so far I couldn't reach the trim strap and I thought I might never be able to fish it out of my arsehole. Going to have to REALLY haul those straps in tight, I guess. Not comfy.
Classiest dismount of the day goes to me - coming back to the shore, I sent the kite up fast and when it lifted me, I sheeted in and let my feet come out of the foot-straps and gliding onto the shore for a perfect touchdown :) probably a bit silly but I was psyched and just let rip! Then I noticed my left wrist and the massive scar and didn't do it again :D
Great evening, bit of a surprise cos I didn't think the wind would be so good!
Got home loaded the car with the Airush Square One (177x49!!!) board, the Speed 1.5 17 and the Synergy 19, just in case. Arrived at the beach and it was cooking! Seems it was more like 15 knots but I couldn't be bothered fishing out my wind meter so I just hit the beach.
Synergy inflated easily but had a bit of a hairy launch; it dumped the sand from the wing tip and slid downwind before going up, giving a good magic carpet scud. Can't figure out why it did that - I probably wasn't at 45ยบ enough.
I had the center strap in about 25%, tips right out and the VPC knots in the second space 'out' or down from the TE pigtail.
Checked the trim ... trimmed right out, being lifted onto tippy-toes - there's plenty of wind! It's cross onshore, from the north east so we'll be heading away from the beach with plenty of room downwind.
Got in the water with the board, dive the kite and ZOOM I'm off! Awesome!
Kite is still trimmed for de-power so I'm trying to grab the trim strap but I end up getting skittled by the waves. Trim the kite out, body-drag to the board and dive ZOOM and head back towards the beach.
Big ol' Walk of Shame, I'm almost at the other end of the beach. Damn but it was warp speed out there!
Back into the water, dive the kite and ZOOM I'm off again.
Paying more attention to course and trying to keep the speed down. Much easier heading into the waves than with them, I seem to end up further upwind although I'm bouncing off the tops of waves and making a few unintentional jumps as I get the timing "wrong" - sending the kite up to 12 as I reach the crest of a wave. All my jumping on the beach seems to have paid off though cos I actually managed to land most of them :D felt great!
Another long Walk of Shame ...
Back out again, really trying to edge hard. I'm still doing the foil thing and hanging onto the bar, tying to power up through that. I put more weight into my harness and lean back ... this time, when I get back to shore there a much smaller Walk of Shame!
And it gets better!
My last few runs as the sun sets after an hour and a half on the water (where did the time go?!?) I'm actually getting right back to my starting point! I'm going upwind!!! Well sort of. But we're getting there and I'm learning to control my speed, work the kite to get board speed when I need and basically having a great time!
Only real problem - bloody harness! For a seat harness, it really thinks it should be an armpit harness :O riding up so far I couldn't reach the trim strap and I thought I might never be able to fish it out of my arsehole. Going to have to REALLY haul those straps in tight, I guess. Not comfy.
Classiest dismount of the day goes to me - coming back to the shore, I sent the kite up fast and when it lifted me, I sheeted in and let my feet come out of the foot-straps and gliding onto the shore for a perfect touchdown :) probably a bit silly but I was psyched and just let rip! Then I noticed my left wrist and the massive scar and didn't do it again :D
Great evening, bit of a surprise cos I didn't think the wind would be so good!
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Old dog, new tricks
After looking at the weather, forecasts and wind station data all day and humming and harring, I decided to go home after work, grab the kites and head back out. 10 knots was forecast, wind stations reported abut 4m/s so it should be good ...
... and it was! Well-powered on the Rebble with exciting gusts! Did some toe-side riding, carving (psch!) turns and practiced my slides ... and got my first ever boo-boo on a landboard - all this time riding, all this lack of talent, all the hairy things that have happened but I've yet to actually fall off, let alone hurt myself on a landboard until today - cant' be trying hard enough :D Went for the big slide but hit a very hard, smooth patch of dirt, losing grip under my back foot and I sort of plopped down onto that bum cheek but managed to graze my outside calf on the other leg. Pretty feeble effort : comparing the discomfort of the trifling graze to driving home with stinky socks - the socks are far more unpleasant.
Anyway, it was one of these slides that nearly put me on my bum, I thought "Hey I almost went the whole way around to toe-side ... hmm ..." and whaddya know, I can now slide around to toe-side then carve a turn back to heel-side! Well, kinda ... I imagine it looks like a hippo trying to ballet dance on skateboard but I get around ...
... and I got something else to practice now! Level up!
... and it was! Well-powered on the Rebble with exciting gusts! Did some toe-side riding, carving (psch!) turns and practiced my slides ... and got my first ever boo-boo on a landboard - all this time riding, all this lack of talent, all the hairy things that have happened but I've yet to actually fall off, let alone hurt myself on a landboard until today - cant' be trying hard enough :D Went for the big slide but hit a very hard, smooth patch of dirt, losing grip under my back foot and I sort of plopped down onto that bum cheek but managed to graze my outside calf on the other leg. Pretty feeble effort : comparing the discomfort of the trifling graze to driving home with stinky socks - the socks are far more unpleasant.
Anyway, it was one of these slides that nearly put me on my bum, I thought "Hey I almost went the whole way around to toe-side ... hmm ..." and whaddya know, I can now slide around to toe-side then carve a turn back to heel-side! Well, kinda ... I imagine it looks like a hippo trying to ballet dance on skateboard but I get around ...
... and I got something else to practice now! Level up!
Sunday, June 6, 2010
A.M, P.M ... I is a addict
Went down to the lake beach this A.M and took my new (used) Flysurfer Speed 1.5 17m with me ... was supposed to be 8 knots but as usual with weather predictions here, there was actually bupkis. I set up, stood around, watched the lake, tried to find north to make a sun shadow compass, gave up & went back to the car for my cell phone cos ... I had to be home to shower and leave for work at 1pm.
A breath of wind started to tickle my fancy around 11:15am so I thought what the hell, let's try to launch.
First attempt was a fail so I reset (dragged the kite downwind and laid it out again) and had another shot. It went up a bit, inflated a bit, I yanked on the center lines a bit and finally, up it went!
Holy shit what a long, thin kite! And holy shit I can't believe it's flying in this sweet FA wind! I'm moving it around constantly but it's turning ok and is actually pulling as it flies across the window! Amazing! I'd guess it'd be about 5 or 6 knots - the long grass is just stirring and the flag is hardly moving ... I keep flying and by about 11:50am the wind has picked up enough (8 knots :D ) that I finally get an idea of the potential of this kite ... astounding! Should be entertaining when it's in it's range!
Back-stall landed it and popped the safety, untangled the bridle and picked all the dead vine out from the twists it had created in the bridle lines grr. Packed up, went home, went to work.
Wind has picked up so I rushed home after work finished at 5pm and grabbed my Synergy 15 and the North Sumo board. I'm looking at the wind and thinking eek, the 15 might be too big when I hit the water at 6:30pm but it ain't :( I'm getting up fine, good blast of speed but I can't keep moving after the first power dive. I get a few runs that are ok and one good one, but just can't get my groove on. Better than going home and sitting in front of telly though!
It's actually my first ride on the water with any Synergy ... quick review.
It turns just fine, much faster than the big LEIs I've used even the 2010 North Rebel that is supposed to be hot poop. Swoops around real nice, very fast kite - I even nose dived it once when I took my eyes off it and left my hands on the bar. I'm betting the 19 will feel more like the 14 - 16 LEIs ...
I didn't like the feel on the bar - couldn't really feel the depower/power point like I like, hard to tell when I was over-trimming the bar, but I can sort that out with the bridle settings. Or maybe the straps.
The bloody safety is a menace - popped off on me when I was flailing around in the water, could only guess it got nudged by my shorts or a roll of fat - so I turned the red hat upside down. Highly recommended and thankfully I could do it at the beach. Like so ...
from Arc Setup FAQ
Could have done with more power so should have used the 19 or fiddled with the center strap, but there wasn't time to land and meddle - sun went down at 7:30pm. The Sumo is only 155x41 or something so I should have taken a bigger board. Was going to take my new Spleenes but sissied out - they're so pretty!
Hoo boy does it jump?! Sending it up to park it at the zenith after a failed start or two (or six) often had me rising out of the water. Before I packed it up, I did some jumping on the beach - bloody epic, without any real effort. Of course, there was no camera :/ Doing that actually gave good feedback through the bar - send kite, sheet in, feel power and POP you're in the sky! Maybe my hands just aren't educated yet?
As with all my arcs, easy to land and launch on my own. Lovely.
So ... what did you do with your day?
A breath of wind started to tickle my fancy around 11:15am so I thought what the hell, let's try to launch.
First attempt was a fail so I reset (dragged the kite downwind and laid it out again) and had another shot. It went up a bit, inflated a bit, I yanked on the center lines a bit and finally, up it went!
Holy shit what a long, thin kite! And holy shit I can't believe it's flying in this sweet FA wind! I'm moving it around constantly but it's turning ok and is actually pulling as it flies across the window! Amazing! I'd guess it'd be about 5 or 6 knots - the long grass is just stirring and the flag is hardly moving ... I keep flying and by about 11:50am the wind has picked up enough (8 knots :D ) that I finally get an idea of the potential of this kite ... astounding! Should be entertaining when it's in it's range!
Back-stall landed it and popped the safety, untangled the bridle and picked all the dead vine out from the twists it had created in the bridle lines grr. Packed up, went home, went to work.
Wind has picked up so I rushed home after work finished at 5pm and grabbed my Synergy 15 and the North Sumo board. I'm looking at the wind and thinking eek, the 15 might be too big when I hit the water at 6:30pm but it ain't :( I'm getting up fine, good blast of speed but I can't keep moving after the first power dive. I get a few runs that are ok and one good one, but just can't get my groove on. Better than going home and sitting in front of telly though!
It's actually my first ride on the water with any Synergy ... quick review.
It turns just fine, much faster than the big LEIs I've used even the 2010 North Rebel that is supposed to be hot poop. Swoops around real nice, very fast kite - I even nose dived it once when I took my eyes off it and left my hands on the bar. I'm betting the 19 will feel more like the 14 - 16 LEIs ...
I didn't like the feel on the bar - couldn't really feel the depower/power point like I like, hard to tell when I was over-trimming the bar, but I can sort that out with the bridle settings. Or maybe the straps.
The bloody safety is a menace - popped off on me when I was flailing around in the water, could only guess it got nudged by my shorts or a roll of fat - so I turned the red hat upside down. Highly recommended and thankfully I could do it at the beach. Like so ...
from Arc Setup FAQ
Could have done with more power so should have used the 19 or fiddled with the center strap, but there wasn't time to land and meddle - sun went down at 7:30pm. The Sumo is only 155x41 or something so I should have taken a bigger board. Was going to take my new Spleenes but sissied out - they're so pretty!
Hoo boy does it jump?! Sending it up to park it at the zenith after a failed start or two (or six) often had me rising out of the water. Before I packed it up, I did some jumping on the beach - bloody epic, without any real effort. Of course, there was no camera :/ Doing that actually gave good feedback through the bar - send kite, sheet in, feel power and POP you're in the sky! Maybe my hands just aren't educated yet?
As with all my arcs, easy to land and launch on my own. Lovely.
So ... what did you do with your day?
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