Psycho saves a session

Forecast looked crappy but I thought I'd give it a shot anyway. Supposed to be good from 10-12 then falling off...

Got down the lake about 10, sorted out my Speed3 21 bar and lines then noticed the wind had picked up so I hauled over to the lake...

Inflated the 17 cos I really wanted to ride it, but it just wasn't co-operating. Contemplated going to the effort of tuning the 21 bar but just unpacked the Psycho4 19 instead...

I can get up on a plane but it's not enough to ride upwind. Spend a half hour or so, riding and walking before it picks up and holds steady enough to goof off and still get upwind.

Having a good time! Rotations of all kinds and even get into foot-outs! Land a few too :) but not really enough height for anything but a quick whip-it-out, like a flasher in a public park.

Towards the end of the session, I try out the Mako. Seems so skittish when compared to the 'door! Carves like a beast... but I just struggle to get up wind. Land the Psycho and put up the Flite again, back on the 'door. Meh... not going upwind enough and I'm tired and feeling burnt, so I call it a day.

Not bad for what was a crap forecast!

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Moment of the day was actually 2 - a big, fat, long stare backwards at the horizon on a back-roll; and a big, fat, slow-as front-roll.
Mood of the session was bemused annoyed satisfied.
It sucks when you want your lost board :(

Weather was reported as 8-14-7 knots, gusts to 20; 16˚C at 41%.
Wind felt like a rip-off - looked and felt like we should have been rocking but it was, at best, just powered.

What I learned today...
• Magic wind season is over :(
• Miss my 'radical :(
• REALLY need sunblock :( I am a tomato bobblehead.

• Mako is so loose and bouncy but DAYUM does it carve like a knife!
• Flite just HANGS at the top of the jump, and you just hover - will be a good board-off kite.
• Psycho has so much lift at the top but really pulls downwind a lot, it seems...
• The old Flydoor straps need to be on the widest setting...
• Front rolls are getting better; as are back-roll transitions.
• Did a foot-out on my "off-side"... man that felt WEIRD!

Bye bye, Flyradical?

Forecast was for awesome picking up to OMFG at 3pm so I thought I could toddle down to the lake just after lunch, set up at a relaxed pace and work up to going bat-shit crazy out there...

Got there about 1-ish, decided on the 10m Crossbow but took both boards over to the lake... hand trouble walking upwind with them though :o got changed and waddled over... gloves but no boots and a nice, new, red t-shirt to start the day.

First half hour on the water was great; huge airs and plenty of hang time. Then the wind dropped right off so I came in and had a drink, stood around for a bit, waiting. It piced up so I went out again, but it wasn't as strong so I just enjoyed some rotations and medium airs.

Another lull, so took another break. Went out when it picked up again and was having a great ol' time!

Wind direction was ll over the place again... at one point, we were riding straight out into the waves and then heading back in right behind them, dropping in over the top of the waves - neat!

Then I went out the other side of the river, to enjoy the sharper waves for boosting off... borked a landing and managed to drop my kite right on top of a fucking buoy - black and moldy on a dark green lake; didn't even see it. So while I'm trying to get the fucking thing out of my power lines, I lost my board. My hook knife has gone missing so I dumped the kite and hand-over-handed and cleared my lines. Am now downwind of the rock wall - try to body-drag past it but give up and just walk over it. While I'm standing on the top, I look around for my board but I can't see it at all :(

The body-drag from hell back to the beach... Miyachi goes for a walk down the beach to look for my board, I walk over the bridge to spot from a height but can't see shit, captain!

Go back out on the Flydoor but despite getting closer to the trees than I should, I can't see anything on the shorelines. Wind is dropping again so I call it a day... and get packed up just before it starts raining on me as well.

Drive up and down the river looking but no luck. Le sigh... Miyachi can't go up the river in his boat so if it's up there, it's gone, it seems...

And to top it all off, my knee is killing me... nuts.

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Moment of the day was any of the boosts in the gusts... yeehaw!
Mood of the session was aw yeah! aw ok! aw no!
It sucks when you lose your board because of fucking fisher-assholes.

Weather was reported as 20 to 15 knots, gusts to 30. 11˚C at 57%.
Wind felt like crappy 20%, gravy 60%, and epic 20%.

What I learned today...
• When you really need something and you don't have it... it's bad.
• Somehow, Turkey can get his lines wrapped around mine even though my kite was on the ground.
• Should probably have put my cell number on the board... now I think of it, I could have melted it into the grab-handle. Doh!
• Love the little kites!
• I'm doing something to really hammer my right knee, but not the left. Seems to be not letting the knee flex enough...
• Boards that are white and blue quickly become invisible, especially at eye level on the water.
 The next one(s) are going to be bright and garish.
• Possible replacements... my mind goes straight to Switch, Naish, Underground/Axis and Cabrinha.
• Now, go I go for the same size or slightly bigger? Certainly won't be going smaller...

What happened to spring?

Awesome forecast and awesome wind all day. Hauled ass to the beach; launched the kite just after 5pm I reckon. Put the 13 up (even though Miyachi thought I was mad) and left 20 meter long skid marks down the beach, just self-launching and getting it to zenith. Sheeting in sent me hovering downwind... this is going to rock!!!

Get on the water, tack, tack away for the shore, set up for a jump and... oh FFS the wind has dropped off. And so it went for the rest of the session - on and off wind, never quite delivering the goods :(

A few good boosts and elevator rides, some front- and back-rolls, some good rotation transitions but lots of gusty annoyance.

Still better than nothing!

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Moment of the day was finally getting a decent boost.
Mood of the session was rah bah har.
It sucks when the wind is gusty like a night after the curry and beer.

Weather was reported as 16 to 15 knots, gusts no more than 30 at 9am :-/ 9˚C, 54%.
Wind felt like 10 to 20 knots, gusts to 25. Perhaps - cos I was trimmed for full power and it wasn't a thing.

What I learned today...
• Glad I had my gloves with me - could have done with boots too... was chilly!
• In fact, it still is chilly - bloody put the heaters away too soon :-/
• Seems I've been resorting to edging up too hard to set up jumps... use the back fin more, eh.
• Want a Razor...

Great day for a swim

Noticed at 4 the wind was up, so postponed after-work work and rushed to the lake. "Ooh it's too strong I'm getting my 7" everyone told me, so I took my 15 and 13 over to the lake. I knew we'd only get an hour of cracking wind before it wimped out and I was looking forward to go stratospheric on the Speed3 :)

Launched fine, powered up real good - should be intense! Tack out with the Flyradical (only brought one board to the beach) with the CrazyFly straps* on... first tack only but I narrowly avoid 2 people turning without looking behind themselves and almost riding into me. Nice long tack out the marina end of the beach, set up a small jump to test the weather, no problem. Redirect and SPROING the kite is gone. I pop up out of the water and the kite is down, the bar is missing a steering line.

Great, the same place I had to swim in from with the 21 :( the lake is drifting south, parallel to the beach... I wrap up the lines* and try to keep hold of the board* cos that's shooting off down the beach towards Kusatsu. Thought I could make 'our' beach but the drift is pushing me at the retaining wall that's bristling with bamboo. I opt to go with the drift and take it to the marina beach... naturally, I get tangled up and have line wrapped around my foot but better yet, the buoy that marks the retaining wall has snagged some line too - neat! Then the kite is being pushed away from the beach cos of the 'reflection' of the waves off the shore - I revert to towing it in. Get it drained, out of the water, wrapped up* and then hump it back to the club house.

Back to the beach, I inflate and launch the XB 13... powered but I know the wind is dropping.

Some good boosts for a while, then some ok ones, then it's gone and I'm trying sent front- and back-rolls... lame.

Ride till dark with So and pack up when I can't see the waves. Tough making ground back to the beach but we get there in the end. Interesting session!

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Moment of the day was the solitary good front-roll that felt so good - knees up mother Brown!
Mood of the session was worried worried worried - too much wind? gonna make the beach? not enough wind?
It sucks when shit breaks on the first tack.

Weather was reported as 18 to 8 knots, gusts to 24. 14˚C at 44%.
Wind felt like 30% powered, 70% barely-powered :(

What I learned today...
• The CrazyFly footstraps are easier to adjust, stay tight longer and hold well, but still shift around and dig into my feet :(
• Holes in your t-shirt are great for snagging the bar ends when you try to wrap your lines up :(
• Contemplating putting my reel-leash back on the harness for when I have to self-rescue and the board wants to run away or wrap itself up in the kite
• Much easier to handle a wet 15m than a soggy 21
• Whipping your knees up on front-rolls really seems key... and you need a good amount of power

Lawn mowing but laughing

There was supposed to be wind today. It was even blowing a bunch in Ryuo so I headed off to the lake with high hopes... only to be disappointed when I got there. The surface was broken but there were very few white caps - looked like that time I arrived from Osaka so decided to head over with the P4 19 cos hey - what else am I going to do?

Seems So and Turkey have nothing better to do either - So on his 12 and Taki on a 9 FFS!

Kite is pulling a little... water start was sink, sink, sink, plan, then take off on the 5th sine. OMG I'm going! Had to do a big of a walk but on the way up, it picks up a teeny bit so I'm off again - and riding upwind!!!

Noodle around some. Hmm, the wind has picked up a little more - upwind is super-easy... wonder if I could ride the Flyradical?

I can! But there's still not enough wind to boost so I work on my rolls.

Wind drops off again, swap back to the Flydoor and keep doing rolls but there's just not enough wind.

Pack up in the dark again, all alone. Light wind, lawn mowing but it was ok anyway.

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Moment of the day was sneaking in the last, nice front-roll before the wind completely died.
Mood of the session was heh har hum.
It sucks when the lots of wind forecast doesn't really arrive.

Weather was reported as 10 to 15 knots, gusts to 26 (LOL) 9˚C at 68%.
Wind felt like 8 to 12 knots with gusts to 15. Just powered enough to get upwind with one, maybe two stunts per tack.

What I learned today...
• Sometimes you don't have to be flying to the moon to be having fun
• Working SUUUUUUUUUUUUCKS
• Looking forward to getting my S3 21 back - thanks John at powerzonekitesports.com!
• Need to wash socks and undies

Ridden hard and put away wet

Not good for kites but what can you do?

Miyachi said it'd be a good session today so I left my gear hanging up last night and made my way to the lake at about 4:45 today. Hoping for another 15m session :)

Started well, was great for about 20 minutes then the wind dropped. Came and went in gusts so I stuck it out while the other 2 packed up. Then a front came in from the NW and it picked up a bit again.

So I started out doing some ok jumps, then got into sent back- and front-rolls, then tried some actual kite loops (with a Speed3!!!) and then went back to rolls and jumps. Tried some heli-loops but couldn't make them work.

Started raining as the sun set so I called it a day. Good session, worth the effort despite the less than stellar wind and the rain.

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Moment of the day was a big phat sent front-roll. Felt all proper-like.
Mood of the session was yargh bah mah-mah.
It sucks when you have to pack a wet kite.

Weather was reported as 14-10-12 knots, gusts to 24 and 10˚C at 61%.
Wind felt like ok powered to under-powered (but holding ground) to blah powered. If it was truly 10 knots, then bloody good job S3 15 and Flyradical!

What I learned today…
• The S3 15 isn't a looping machine :D it (or I) seem to loop in the lower half of the window. I'm only just getting off the water so perhaps the kite doesn't have the time to climb back up the window and catch me…
• It's a hell of yank downwind. Or rather, backwards and sideways—it reminds me of the feeling when you send the kite back to like 10, or launch off a wave before the kite is all the way sent.
• Can't see how you can Darkslide like that. Attempted some not-jumping loops but it just felt so wrong :-/
• Really shouldn't slam the kite—it's not an LEI, don't just let go the bar fool!
• Wore gloves and boots and I'm glad I did: still had cold hands for a wee while.
• Get your knees up on front-rolls, redirect when you're facing the wrong way but when you feel the kite pull stop pulling on the bar.

Lucky epic session!

GPV forecast a change of weather around 5pm today, so I played the odds and headed down to the lake from work... at least I'd get an idea of how long it takes. 20-25 minutes, by the way.

Standing on the beach talking to Miyachi, he reckoned nothing would happen. I agreed and was about to head home when the wind started to shift. Thought I'd give it another 5 minutes... and spotted white caps rolling in. Decided to wait around and see if the wind is going to stick around. It did so I hauled ass back to the car to gear up. Looked about right for the S3 15 and the Flyradical... fingers crossed!

Quick set up so I'm first on the water :) after a few tacks, the wind has a fit and gets all nasty... got me a bit worried but it settles down so I go back to jumping like a nutter :D ooh good ones today! Several "Yeehah!" moments!

Now I encounter a new problem... I'm having problems timing and controlling the redirects and landings. Not cos I'm useless, but cos they're so high I'm swinging around and dragging the kite in front of me before I really want it over there! So I use some downloops to control it (otherwise the kite just tacos) but that's freaky cos the kite is going right back into the powerzone. Simply sheeting in and holding it doesn't seem to work consistently either... I might have to learn how to helicopter loop properly :o

Anyway, the jumps were great fun! We rode until dark - could hardly see the waves by the time we gave up and came in. Thankfully, Miyachi was there to land my kite for me; the wind had picked up and it would have been an interesting landing if I had to do it solo!

Awesome session, despite the nasty herka-jerk moments; sometimes it pays to wait another few minutes, eh! Only a short session - 90 minutes max! - but I packed in as much air-time as I could :D

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Moment of the day was watching as the wind changed direction by 180˚ and the front rolled on in :)
Mood of the session was oh ooh yargh!

Weather was reported as 14 to 18 knots, gusts to 25 :D 11˚C at 70%.
Wind felt like 15 to 20 knots with gusts to 25. How about that for a coincidence? Unstable but perfectly powered... when it wasn't trying to rattle my teeth out.

What I learned today...
• Redirects on big jumps... tricky. Needs work.
• Taco'd the kite a few times too, mostly recovered them though. Seemed to be when it went too far upwind (cos I'd gone downwind under it) and I sheeted right out and I rode at the kite on landing. The problem being that if you keep the bar sheeted in during the jump... well I forget now but it didn't work. But if you sheet out at all, the kite zooms across the window and taco. Annoying.
• At least the relaunches were easy, despite some attempts by the kite to bowtie. Good.
• I think I did a backloop transition by accident! Trying to wiggle the kite back when still way up there and just kept pulling. It was a bit messy but I didn't slam... hmm.
• Sometimes, if you sheet out on the way down, you drop like a rock (nice negative Gs!) but can catch the kite as it whips across but before it slams into the edge of the window... and land light as a feather. Whee!

Surprise soul session in light wind

Had to go to Osaka for an annoying visit to a mendacious clinic, so hauled ass back to Shiga to see what was what on the lake about 4:30. Turned out, not very much but Junkie Sensei was doing OK so I trotted back to the car to gear up...

Run, fat-ass, run!

Into the suit, no time for boots or gloves! Light wind out there, so I took the P4 19 and the Flite over to the lake. Wife was with me so she carried the camera... and got some footage of me faffing around.

Well, it's bloody light. The occasional white cap and foot-high chop... Junkie Sensei is going upwind ok though, with his Turbine. Time is of the essence so I unfurl the Psycho4 19. It's due for a test run since I set the mixer to 0 -0.5 -1 (I think) and this'll be the first time out since it went over the trees (also I think). Barely enough wind to inflate it, so it's going to be a messy launch. And it is...

But it get up and it's pulling ok... might get some downwinder walks in though. Out onto the water...

Ride, fat-ass, ride!

Crikey! Actually feeling a little freaked out by just how grunty it is in the "gusts", as I take off like a rocket and struggle to edge against the kite, then realize I probably haven't checked the relative line lengths. Trim it some to cope... Well, going upwind is easy! Kite seems stable too - let's play! Edge it and send it...

Fly, fat-ass, fly!

Woof, not bad! Nice jumps for such light wind, I'm amazed! Back-rolls are big and floaty. Front-rolls are off though... man, for a non-light wind kite the 19 is actually doing rather well in the light wind! I clown around some for the camera... then the wife wimps out cos it's cold. Junkie Sensei has gone home, so I'm all alone.

Drop the kite once, and it lays on the water tip-on-tip, with a bit of a bend in the middle... think I'm going to have a swim, cos when I start trying to work it out, it makes like it's not going to open up at all in this light wind. I try an arc-style recovery and manage to open the center of the kite and get it LE down, but it'll only rise a meter or so off the water. Drop a line and it comes around - phew!

Swim, fat-ass... no not this time.

Enjoy myself for a bit longer, but the sun has set behind the hills (although it's still light) and the wind has dropped - I'm having to work hard and careful to get back upwind. So I call it a day... 90 minute session, which I wasn't expecting and was amazed to be riding at all! Good ol' Flysurfer!

Movie coming... eventually.

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Moment of the day was what felt like a massively high back-roll :)
Mood of the session was wha-? whoa!
It sucks when you fly the kite wrong.

Weather was reported as 4–8 knots, gusts no more than 12 (2am)! 17˚C at 44%...
Wind felt like 10 to 15 knots

What I learned today...
• The P4 19 is a beast. Seems sensitive to it's state of tune though.
• Big ol' back rolls are easy. Like, as big as a regular jumps big. Yikes!
• Don't need gloves or boots when it's been 17˚C all day.
• Front-rolls need more commitment and skill than on the Flite.
• Don't dive the kite straight down after a jump - riding towards it and sheeting out is what causes the tip-to-tip clamming.
• If you go for a down-loop transition, when you redirect the kite sheet out to send it right across the window, and when you can feel it start to pull from the side, haul on the bar for the loop. Makes a big fat loop with more constant speed and pull, with much less faffing with the bar.
• Really seems to me that Flysurfers need a firm hand on the bar...
• Gotta go over it again and check the lines.