Ok lets not do that again!

Note to self ... pay more attention to weather maps.

Forecast looked groovy in the morning so I got to work early so I could leave early ... kinda have to this time of year. Got to the lake and it was borked - 6 knots. We're supposed to have 16. So I wait around to see if it picked up ... it didn't so I launched the 21.
Murphy's Law, it picked up right after that.

And how! It was gusty as hell too, from not enough for a fully powered Speed3 21 to too much for a fully depowered kite ... so basically, the whole wind range of the kite - and more! - in a single session!

I tried some jumps - they were massive ... but it was like the wind was playing with a kitten and a length of yarn, and I was on the end of the yarn - herky-jerky, up and down ... plop! Got to the stage where I could ride along barely moving, send the kite and go skyward like a rocket :D couldn't land them though ...

Didn't even bother with rotations or transitions. When I gave up on the jumps, I started riding the waves which was fun. Until one of them lobbed the board I had just fallen off into the back of my head :-/ saw it coming but couldn't do anything. CLONK!

Miyachi was on a lesson, so I waited till he was heading back up the beach and I went it to get him to land me ... fully trimmed, fully sheeted out and right at the edge of the window, I was fighting to keep the keep from dragging me down the beach.

Phew! Real "survival mode" riding!

Moment of the Day was making it back to shore alive and unbroken ... ok no it wasn't it was the MONSTER jump with 3 weeks of hang-time then the guy coming up to me afterwards and saying "Wow! Big jumps today!" \m/

Wind strength was recorded as 14 knots at 4pm, 20 knots at 5pm and 17 knots at 6pm ... with a peak gust to 30knots at 5:30 o_0

What I learned today ...
• The Speed3 has MOUNTAINS of depower!
• But it's best not to push your luck.
• However, it's good to know that I can survive almost anything the lake can throw at me.
• Board to the head hurts - wear a helmet.
• Current helmet doesn't fit so well - but a new helmet.
• Jumps need board speed to work properly.