Odd looking forecast for the afternoon ... light wind then a big peak at 5pm-ish. Worth a look ...
Head down to the lake after a long day at work, arrive about 4:20. Looks like another 16m Xbow day; hoping the peak won't kill me but the low is looking 21m worthy. Hmm, hope I made the right call!
Get out on the 'radical for a bit and although I'm struggling for about 10 minutes, the wind picks up and it's good fun.
Feeling pretty good and my loop-transitions are working nice, so I try a 'proper' kite-loop ... heh, it works but only well enough that I get shot at the water :D I'll take that landing on my ass ... hehehe! Not so successful but the boys on shore might get a giggle. Will try that again with a smaller, faster kite!
So back to the our regularly scheduled program - trying to jump as high as I can, front and back rolls ...
Wind drops off so I switch to the 'door ... then it drops WAY off and I'm fighting to get upwind at all, without playing silly buggers - stuck at the end of the beach, about to get pushed onto the marina beach if I dont watch it!
And then I manage to drop the kite TE down and it gets swamped - frantic hauling in of the center lines gets the kite over onto the LE and relaunched ... phew! That's the same spot I had to swim in with the S3 21!
The wind has picked up a little and Soh has arrived ... we keep on riding, working hard to get upwind until the sun has well and truly set behind the hills. Nice long session! Left Locus at 8pm :)
Mood of the Session was amused.
Moment of the Day was actually as simple as getting all the way back upwind to where I started, without having to walk!
Weather was recorded as 8-12-5 knots from 4pm to 7pm; 22°C at 73%, gusts no more than 18 knots.
Wind felt like I was briefly over-powered, mostly slightly under-powered and for a short time, thought about walking.
What I learned today ...
• When self launching, make DOUBLY sure that the slackest steering leader isn't wrapped around the bar :o a gentle loop into the grass ... thank god for IDS!
• Need to watch some videos on YouTube about How to Loop Properly LOL
• Too many front loop transitions on the starboard tack = twisted lines :o
• If I had the 21 up, I would have probably been shitting my pants for a half hour, enjoying myself for the rest. Cest la vie.
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