Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Skunked but productive ... sorta.

Looked like enough wind to try a ride on the web cam, so I trotted down to the beach. Got talking to Miyachi and it turns out that all the Naish gear at the club has been sent by Naish Japan to Locus so that the club is a Naish demo place. This includes Parks, Chargers and 3 2012 Venturi's ... so while Miyachi was setting up the biggest one for me, I went to the beach ...

No riding but I also had my anemometer with me so I have some data at least ...

Moment of the Day was getting the biggest Venturi set up just for me!

Wind speed was recorded as 4 to 6 knots. I concur.

What I learned today ...
• The Speed 2.5 Silver Arrow will fly in 1 to 2 knots but you have to work it. Basically, if you can feel the wind, the kite will fly.
• At 4 to 6 knots (solid average of 5 knots) you can get up on a plane but will lose it as you have to turn the kite to re-stroke. I'm thinking a high volume board with float will keep you rolling and let you build up apparent wind ... hence me bugging Miyachi about Venturi.
• That leads me to conclude that at 8 knots I can be riding downwind and by 10 knots holding a beam reach easily, probably going upwind. That my fat ass on the Flydoor XL.

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