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.
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.
No comments:
Post a Comment