Plonking in the Rain

Wind looked good this afternoon but there was supposed to be rain with it. The skies looked clear though so I thought I'd risk a quick ride between jobs. Got to the lake and it looked ok! Naturally, as soon as I'd pumped up the 16m Crossbow, it started raining again ... but that didn't stop me! Another guy was there - haven't thought up a name for him yet - but he lurked out at the club house, watching through the gap in the trees until the front arrived (see below).

Hit the lake about 4:30pm and was just powered on the 'bow & Flydoor, riding around getting blasted in the eyes by the rain. Worried about a soggy kite too ...

Then the wind dropped a bit so I stood around and waited, watching the front as it approached. It's stopped raining now too - sweet! Jumped on the water just before it arrived and BLAM I'm powered! Switch to the Flyradical but it's not consistent enough for that so I go back to the Flydoor but now I'm at the upper limit of the kite - it's twitching and bucking so it's over 25 knots! Time is running out though so I just ride ...

Miyachi has hit the lake and so has the Guy-with-no-name so it's just the three of us ... bust out the back-rolls and they're all fine - some are sweeter than others though, big fat flat-on-my-back spins; blast some big jumps but the old harness is groaning and creaking which gives me the creeps; try some front-rolls and they're awesome!

Decide sunset has arrived although I can't see the sun - it's getting dark. As I stand around on the beach trying to decide how to best land the kite by myself and the loop of rope at the anchor point (where has the clip gone?!?!) Miyachi comes in and offers to catch my kite, which he does then I land him. I'm rolling up the lines when I hear the local speaker bing-bonging the 6pm chimes - sweet, I'll easily be in time for work!

Moment of the Day might have been surfing downwind on my own wake after a heel-to-heel sliding transition but it just couldn't compare with the back-roll transition plus down-loop to fully power out of it! Kind of an accident, as I hadn't intended to loop the kite but I needed the speed and just sort of went for it and didn't get spanked :D so it was cool as shit!

Wind speed was recorded as only 4 to 12 knots while I was on the water and 20 knots gusts but that was bull cos I KNOW the Xbow won't let me ride in less than 14 and it gets ugly over 25 ... which it did. I was being a plonker again.

What I learned today ...
• How to double-team a kite landing: Miyachi put his kite at the edge of the window, walked back to mine that was standing on its tip and pulled it over into the smilie position - I ran upwind and grabbed the kite then landed him. Looked pretty easy at his end too ... hmm, wonder if you can launch from that position?
• Actually throwing the lower-half of my body around to spin the board under me - works good.
• Finesse for front-rolls - initiate the roll (contorting toward your heading and looking behind you) as the kite passes the zenith so you're pretty much guarenteed to roll; then redirect to whip you around the last part of the rotation. Maybe :o
• Trust the gust - rig smaller. I would have lost maybe 10 more minutes only.
• STILL can't cope with the Flyradical - feels so wrong down there, skittish and not hugging the water like the 'door :(
• Shouting "AHOY!" when you nail that front-roll is probably a bit mental.

Uno mas

Same forecast as yesterday but I spent all day checking the webcam at Locus, scrutinizing the single frames we would get due to the internet slow-down ... no white-caps at all :( not looking good. I decide to swing past the lake anyway ... which was just as well, cos there was wind!

Out comes the Speed3 again; I measure 10 to 12 knots - is it going to do what it did last night, I wonder? Uncle No-relaunch tells me it's less wind than yesterday ... we'll see ...

Wind holds steady and builds a bit ... I start riding straight tacks back to my starting spot then the wind picks up and I have spare space downwind to jump and play silly buggers! Big fat slow back rolls - and I even start doing front rolls again. Managed a double front roll but muffed the landing ... total fluke though!
Getting plain ol' jumps down good, thanks to kitejohan on YouTube ... felt like I got dropped on a couple, and I think it's cos I'm not redirecting aggressively enough.

Oh it was just after I got onto the water that I felt something give in the harness ... I thought a strap had slipped so I reached down to tighten it and ... the entire strap pulled out into my hand! I thought may be it had rotted away but no, the end was cut clean. I secured the strap and kept riding :D
When I got off the water, it appeared that the top straps for the spreader bar have been secured with only the cosmetic stitches that join the two dissimilar material of the harness, instead of the box stitch I can see on the bottom straps and in photos on the internet :o yikes! Have emailed Dakine ...

On the other hand, the strap that came apart on the Flydoor is holding up ok!

Moment of the Day has been forgotten again but I remember it was something simple and when I thought about writing this section, I remember it was going to be something clever like "Moment of the Day was not the effortless back rolls or the long, floating front rolls but something it's just the little things like ..." and that's what I forgot. It was probably just the fact that I spent the whole time riding, from 4:30 to sunset at 6-ish while EVERYONE else (except for the Master of Disaster on the raceboard) had to walk - even Taki on his 14m North and directional ... all hail Armin!

Wind speed I can report accurately this time ... 5 knots at 4pm building to 15 at 6pm with gusts to 20! I never felt overpowered on the 21 and remember the gusts only as a twitch of the bar ...

What I learned today ...
• Perhaps I do need to redirect more aggressively ...
• Speed3 21 doesn't turn much slower my 16m Crossbow but requires more muscle in the turns. Or so it seems anyway!
• Front rolls need an assist from the kite ... so far. But are do-able.
• Should probably replace the lines, FLS line and depower line ... and learn how to wax!
• Such as stable kite! I'm being more aggressive with it and doing worse things with regards to riding towards it etc but the worst shape I've managed to get it into, have been both tips tucking while it was perpendicular to the water ... then it just powered up again when I sheeted in! I'm lovin' it!

EDIT : here are some pics of what happened - on the left, the failure and on the right the yet to fail ... single row of cosmetic stitches holding the upper straps in o_0 I'm surprised it lasted this long!

 

UPDATE : After a month of trying to sort out a Japanese distributor, Dakine Hawaii has sent me a replacement 2011 harness in green ... good job! Better fit for me too, dunno why!

Tune up success

Gah, internet has been flaky in this area for the past few days ... so I couldn't post this and I forgot the details :o Basically ...

Wind measured 10 to 12 knots as I arrived, so of course I unpacked the "cable park in a bag" and the 'door. Good chance to test out the retuning of the lines ... all is good! No backstall and it's not dropping me in the jumps!
Wind falls off to 6 knots by the time the sun has set ... I do one more run, try a jump then walk 1/2 of my downwind tack back up the beach. It seems the Speed3 21 has improved my low-end over other peoples ...

Moment of the Day has been forgotten :(

Wind speed was recorded as 12 knots falling to 6 as I measured too ...

What I learned today ...
• Speed3 needs to not backstall.
• I could probably add in some backstall then trim it out to see if the above is correct.

First time on the 21

Forecast looked promising in the morning, but as it does so often in summer, it had changed by lunch time. I thought I'd go down the lake and have a static play with the Speed3 21. When I arrived, the competition was still on but there was no wind - everyone was standing around … waiting. There was a wind meter up on a stick too - reading less than 5 knots.
Waited around for a while and the wind picked up to 5 to 6 knots - the race boys tried to do their thing but it was a bust … summer winds are gutless. 17m Edges were falling out of the sky.

Patience is a virtue and it paid off - the thermal moved in around 4pm. As soon as I saw the "blow line" moving in, I got changed and grabbed the Speed3 21 and my Flyboards ... headed down the other end of the beach and set up ...

Side launch, kite goes up fine, takes longer than the Speed2 to fill ... I was expecting that. No drama otherwise. Hit the water ... oh here we go, it's like the Psycho4 - wants to backstall when the bar is hauled in. Needs to be sheeted out to be allowed to accelerate ... it feels like the Silberpfeil but it's not. Walk a bit, wind picks up a bit, it gets better.

A kiter is way the hell out west on the lake and is in trouble - I can see him winding up his lines so I head back into the beach, tell Soh to get help and walk past the windmeter for a quick shufti ... 12 knots pretty steady. I'm easily going upwind on the Flydoor.

I keep riding, feeling my way with the new Speed. It's fast - damn fast! Builds a lot of speed, probably easier than the 2 ... I'm out-pacing everybody. I turn that speed into upwind angle ...
Try out some jumps ... load'n'pop are orbital maneuvers. Back rolls turn into multiple spins - there so much lift! I even land some front rolls cos I've so much time to get around ...
Big jumps ... I get the hang time but on the way down, the kite is backstalling and I'm being dumped into the water. If I time the redirection right, the moving kite makes more lift for a gentle landing but something seems wrong here ... something needs a tune!

Doing front rolls on the Flydoor proves to be a too much for the crappy Flyboards straps - I rip the right foot strap out of the mount ... have to ride in strapless on one foot. Feels odd but I handle it ok :D swap to the Flyradical and whaddya know - it's no problem to ride! I'm making upwind easy and it's fun to throw around.

Sun is starting to set so I call it a night. Reverse land the kite - no problems, nice soft touch down - and my new FSer buddy helps me secure it. We have a chat and he takes photos of the only 21 in Japan :o Good day, glad I went ...!

Moment of the Day was discovering the the Speed3 had so much lift that 'regular' back rolls turn into multiples ... no it wasn't - it was doing a big, fat, slow, lazy front roll and landing perfectly, riding away like a champ!

Wind speed was recorded as 7.4 knots to 8.8 with a gust of 16.2 - you and I know that ain't right cos I saw the wind meter at the shore line about 4:30pm. If the wind meter was wrong then it was pretty good outcome for the Speed3!

What I learned today ...
• Speed3 makes more lift than the 2 but has a little less bottom end.
• That might be just my inexperience with the Triple Depower.
• Seems to backstall really easy ... even when jumping - I got dumped outa the sky as the kite stalled. That ain't right.
• So I need to check line stretch and might just be my inexperience with blah blah blah
• Just cos only 2 people are kiteboarding, doesn't mean that the competition is over - stay out of the zone.
• The above is embarrassing.

Gusty, lully and a comp

So we got wind again. Was supposed to be best from 2pm so I headed down the lake about 1. There was the competition on so they'd taken over the best half of the beach with HORDES of kites OMG there must have been 40 there!

I shuttled my gear down the other end of 'our' beach - long walk through deep sand with 2 boards and 2 Crossbows!!! Delighted to see another Flysurfer rider there, with a Psycho4 12 laid out and a Speed3 15 in the sky! Felt a bit of a traitor for not having my 21 with me :D Guy also had a Flyrace and when the course racing started, he whipped out a S3 19 DLX and went upwind like ... well like nothing I've seen before. He came in second cos he made a bad start ... looked to me like he was 100m behind the pack at the horn :o
Stood around thinking of what to set up, and the wind picked up. Put up the 13.

Good call. Gusty as hell but got some fun in. Landed some schwee-eeeet back rolls, boosted a few big jumps but it was again so punchy that it wasn't much fun ... at least there wasn't as much crap in the water and the sun was warm! There was enough wind for me to get out on the Flyradical for a time too ... such a different board! So much spring in it too, I'm starting to appreciate it more - popped off the water for a backroll but the board boinged me around for a double that I ALMOST landed ... need a TON of weight on the back-foot though!

Wind dropped off and I had to walk back to our spot. Waited around for a while and eventually the wind picked up. I pumped up the 16 and went to work on that. A shorter session but the wind was more consistent so it was more fun ...

Probably spent as much time waiting as riding but it was nice to be out again!

Moment of the Day was being the only one out on the water cos it was too windy and busting a huge fat air with hours of hang-time in the middle of the competition zone ... take that!
Or maybe meeting another FSer :D

Wind speed was recorded as 13 knots falling to 8 with gusts up to 29 knots :o

What I learned today ...
• Flyradical has a lot of pop.
• Flysurfer Speed3 19 and Flyrace - there is simply no competition for upwind angle OMFG it was amazing to watch!
• Time to wear wetsuit ...

Gusty much?

Finally! We got some wind at the lake ... typhoon dragged, deposited or dropped some wind on us so I'm not complaining.

Got to the lake at 4 - right in the middle of the wind drop off. "Oh it was great at 1 and 2pm ... you shoulda been here then!" yeah no duh :-/ Didn't look like much had happened but I'd gone to the effort of putting on my wetsuit for the first time this season so ... everyone was pumping up bigger kites so I set up the 16m Crossbow. Just as I'd finished sorting it all out, the wind picked up again. Put the kite out and headed out, feeling powered.

Ooh yes, feeling very powered. After a bit, I had to totally depower the kite. I had moments of thinking "Aw crap I'm going to have to swim in aren't I?" and other moments of "Aw crap I'm going to get lobbed and I'll end up in the next county over won't I?" :o it was a bit like that. In between survival mode, I tried to do my thing. Boosted a few cracking good jumps, did some nice back-rolls but the wind felt too twitchy to try anything iffy. Got yoinked a few times randomly too which is always fun. Surfed a few waves ... had a great time. Stayed out till the sun set ...

Moment of the Day was boosting a big fat air in the middle of a gust and just sitting up there, looking around. "Ho hum nice view ... better not land on the pointy stick oh it's ok I'm floating way past it!" :D

Wind speed was recorded as 14.8 knots to 16.2 average ... with gusts up to 29.8 :o no wonder the 16 was misbehaving!

What I learned today ...
• Crossbow has mad wind range.
• I don't like using the 16 in more than 25 knots.
• Gusts suck.
• Unless you can use them to boost to the moon.
• It's time for the wetsuit.
• Back-rolls are mastered - get to work on the front-rolls, sissy!

Second gusty session in a row

Typhoon caused havoc on the weekend and it's still messing my wind up ... gusty as hell and the wind rose and fell all afternoon. We had 17 knots at 2pm but that had fallen to 14 by the time I got to the lake after work at 4:30-ish. I hummed and harred about what kite to put up. It continued to drop so I went with the Speed2 19 and the Flyradical. Good choice to start with ...

Nicely powered, good riding ... board feels too light under my feet still but gets around nicely for back rolls. The solitary front roll I did was nice too - good rotation, clean landing ... I need to do more of them. Cos it was Back-roll Central out there - doing them non-stop.

Also did the longest hang time jump I've ever done! Not the highest, but I floated around so long I had time to think "... what do I do if I don't come down? When should I redirect? Now? If I redirect too soon, will I overfly the kite? Perhaps I should try a grab ... oh no it's ok now I'm coming down ..." Great fun!

Wind had fallen a bit so I grabbed the Flydoor and kept riding ... and kept riding. The herd had thinned out - Freestyle Chick from Hamamatsu & Lil Grom and his pops were there too, on top of the regulars - and there was only the 2 of us out there. So I didn't have to work so hard upwind to clear them and relaxed and had fun until the sun set ... I was the last one on the water again ;)

Oh and ... have to take a break because I used up my supply of swim shorts - the storm blew my favourite pair into the garden (must get them!) and I've been using regular ol shorts but that leaves things flapping in the breeze. I go commando you know.

Moment of the Day was busting a big, fat, lazy back roll and STOMPING down my feet to hit the landing - I'm sure it doesn't get better than that!

Wind speed was recorded as 12 to 9 knots while I was there, with a gust to 22. Probably accurate as that's what it felt like. The Speed was nothing but gravy!

What I learned today ...
• So long as you get your feet down and the board between you and the kite, you can land and ride off from any jump no matter how twisted up you are.
• Need to send the kite more for front rolls at the moment - I don't have the speed or technique perhaps to just throw down off the lip of waves.
• A little bit of send for back rolls makes them seem more controlled and gives time to spot the landing and stomp it down.
• What I remembered today was getting my knees up and leaning back in the big jumps! More control.
• There's a beginners 'freestyle' contest soon - Soh said I should enter but a. I'm crap and b. I don't want to compete any more - except against myself, my abilities and the weather.
• Unless the above was to get me a sponsorship deal :D

Better 'n nowt

Bah humbug. Back to work ... waste of my kiting time, that is. Had an early start though and got to the lake at 4pm. Wind looked good, but Miyachi said it was up and down. I took the 16 and 13m Crossbow over the road, as well as my Flydoor and the Flyradical with the adjusted footpads and straps.

Measured the wind at the shore line and it was good (see below) and had me second-guessing my choice of kite. I ended up putting my trust in GPV and going with the 16, trusting that the wind would drop off - it did and it was a good decision.

Added the GoPro to the line mount ...

Just-powered on launch, riding crosswind only cos the wind had dropped by the time I'd finished setup. Tried to do 3 back rolls in the light wind - only just possible on the 3rd attempt! Wind picks up after a couple of tacks though and we're off! Comfy for a while then we get some more and it's good fun - big jumps! Try some front rolls ... no joy. Splash down, lose the board ... not working today! And alas, the GoPro seems to have turned itself off  :(  in the end I only got 13 minutes of footage and missed some really good bits ... damn it!

Wind is up and down ... gusty as hell! Have to walk a few times in the lulls and in between got battered a bit.
Got onto the Flyradical for a bit at the end of the session - the moved footpads are better, much less spray to the face although I can still feel it hitting my back leg. Also like the feel of the footpads further up my foot better too. Board still feels skittish underfoot ... I need more time on it :( problem is, I can only ride it when I'm over-powered on the kite I have up! Feels too light under foot too - like it's not there :D

Wind was dropping again and had a fight to keep the kite in the air and get back to shore ... so I decided to call it a day. Must have been just after 6pm ...

Moment of the Day was throwing a good sized back-loop, pulling with my back hand and not getting spanked :D

Wind speed was recorded as 5m/s falling to 4m/s at 7pm with gusts of 12m/s. My trusty $10 eBay anemometer recorded 6 to 10m/s when I arrived at the beach and it went up and down from there. There was one point when I was like "Oh crap I might have to land the 16" but that lasted on a few minutes ... so I feel it was averaging 7-8m/s.

What I learned today ...
• The water is starting to cool off ... I'm still fine in shorts'n't-shirt though.
• Back-rolls are mastered :D well, riding up a wave/chop versions are - I need to move on to flat-water boosts.
• Front-rolls ... need work!