Kiteosomatic

A GULP of the Kool-Aid this time

2012-02-11T23:32:00.000+09:00

Long weekend off; that is, we don't have to work Saturday :-/ so we're up in Hamamatsu. I should really know better, I never get much joy from the beach here... anyway here's the story.

Wind was up-ish, waves were down; thought it might be worth breaking out the Infinity... I'll get to see what it's like up the top-end anyway. Cross-off is a bit of a worry though but nothing ventured and all that. Will try out my new Mako 150 too happy joy! Thanks Buzz!!!

Pumped the kite up and set up, easy self-launch. Hmm bit twitchy - probably the wind shadow. And the direction changes. And the gusts. Oh well - nut up. Got in the water - not too cold, good ol' Hyperflexx! Up and riding easily, that's good. Depower some - oh a bit gusty. Yes gusty. OH SHIT GUSTY! yoink off you go down-wind then, as fast as you can... rode the shocks out but aren't having fun. A few half-assed jumps but it's survival mode out here...

And aren't going upwind either :-/ give up, land the kite, pack up the bar and walk back up the beach... I was out on the water for over an hour but it felt like 5 minutes :o

Lucky I got off the water when I did too - the walk up the beach was made worse by an epic headwind... damn Hamamatsu! :(

More thoughts on the Infinity... (relative to today and the usual caveats apply)
• Good pull when it was being worked but I didn't have a lot of joy parking and riding it... tide, current and wind (and new board?) working against me though so we'll see on the lake...
• Vicious bastard when it's over-powered - certainly not as much of a buffer out the top-end as the SLE kites eg. my Xbows; I have never felt so dangerously and uncontrollably over-powered for a very long time indeed! It was a real handful trying to land too and the DISASTER of a QR didn't help.
What I'm talking about is how punchy it got when over-powered but still pulled a lot... Cab's IDS may be for "learners" or "old men in golf pants" but it works to take a battering but not haul on you - I know when I absolutely have to change out my Xbow for a smaller size because the kite is twitchy and jerking when totally depowered... but isn't pulling me off the water :o
Twitchy and rough in the gusts and shifts, lots of flapping and stalling - I'm guessing it's the three-strut design... lots of 'canvas' to flap about. Compared with 7 on the Xbow - I'm beginning to see a pattern here, and why Dimitri says 20 knots is the top end limit! So 30 knots NOT good :D
• Definite rear-line flyer - needs the tension there to keep it under control and on the boil. Feedback is handy (not dropping out of the sky) but it's not taxing - although I was wearing thick gloves, I didn't get the forearm pump I've had from the 16m Xbow.
• Landing from the safety - easy! I was worried cos I've never done it before (except on the FSr) It dropped down onto the LE then sat up on the wing tip at the edge of the window. I reached up and pulled the upper flying line and it gradually came back into the window then down onto the LE and sat there... in 30 knots :o

Weather was a nightmare - here's why... cross-offshore to cross-onshore; I got readings of 10 to 20 knots with average around 14 at the water's edge, JMA read 12 to 14 with gusts to 30!!!

Moment of the Day was getting out on the new board. Oh and not dying. Always good, that.

What I learned today...
• Epic Infinity v2 likes 8psi. I know cos I measured :D
• Mako will be awesome when I get used to it!
• New kite and board make a tough combination for riding in rough weather :-/
• Just cos the waves aren't breaking doesn't mean they aren't towering over your head doesn't mean they're not powerful. And big...! Did I say big? Cos they were big.
• Season has started! Wetsuit FTW! Maybe I need a 5mm this year... push the envelope! Roger that, milli vanilli chilly willy!
• That quick release has got to go - when I tried to land, I couldn't release it with my left hand at all and only just managed with the right - What. The. Fuck.
• Walking sucks.

A sip of the Epic Kool-aid

2012-01-29T22:36:00.000+09:00

It is with utmost gratitude for the over-whelming generosity of Matt (aka WaterManFitness) that I now have a very nearly brand-new Epic Infinity V2 to play with for a while :o Thanks again Matt!

So this'll be an ongoing review type posting about the kite and how I get along with it. After all the hype we get on the forums, it's great to get my hands on the thing and get a closer look at it...

First the easy stuff to 'review'.

The Bag
... is large and easily handles a kite that is loosely folded and wasn't squeezed totally empty of air. I think if you strapped, vacuum-packed or spent some time on it, you travel with the Infinity and 1, maybe 2 smaller kites in the bag.
... is well designed. With a full length pocket for the bar with a draw-cord on the top, that secures the stuff from flapping around catching on things like the Cab bag & bar does. There's a loop/strap setup on the other side for the pump. The zip on the front of the bag is small 'gauge' which looks easy to break... I like big chunky ones. There's a large pocket on the top of the bag, probably big enough for a sweater or jacket to be stashed. Plenty of straps to carry boards and cinch up the contents tight.
... is graphically pleasing.
... includes a 'day' bag or lightweight bag to take to the beach. Made of the same kind of material as the Peter Lynn sand bags, it has a draw-cord top, shoulder strap and a zip at the bottom so you can carry the kite with the spars inflated.

The Bar
... has knurled grips like the Ozone bars; nice for the fingers.
... has an odd, bulky trim system but it works fine.
... has a stopper ball that should work nicely. It also keeps the safety line separate so that'll please some people.
... is acceptable overall but seriously—for a bar that costs the same as a North or Cabrinha bar and at least 1/3 as much again as the Switch bar, it's over-priced for what you get IMHO. Especially considering that it...
... has a QR. Read below :-/

The Kite
... is deep blue with minimal graphics; yellow struts with the Epic pattern thingy on it.
... has a simple bridle made of regular amsteel and... rings for the sliders. Rear pig tail is unfinished length of that stitched stuff FSer used for bar leader lines on the Speed2 etc. Hmm.
... has a small diameter LE and struts; remind me of my 13m Xbow I guess. The struts themselves have quite a severe dog-leg in them - I guess that adds to the canopy profile for effective apparent wind building. Interesting.
... is made of regular kite material, more like my 2011 Cabrinha's - whatever that is. Doesn't feel as heavy as the Cab stuff, and not as light as the 2012 Slingshot kites I've fondled.
... is made adequately - I'd like to see that seam on the LE taped; the rubber bumpers that cover the bridle attachment points should IMHO be ditched and the saved weight used to beef up the dacron on the contact bumpers on the spars.
... has regular valves. Yikes, seriously? OMFG after using Cab's Sprint system forever, going to these tiny little things is a real work-out. Do. Not. Like. Also, the little velcro strap has a bungy to keep the valve plugged. Eek.
... was probably under-inflated and was all floppy like I'm not used to a kite being. I blame the effort required to pump it up and just giving up on it. Will use a gauge next time. ALTHOUGH it occurs to me that if you want to increase strength with thin-wall tubing, you increase the diameter - which explains why the Crossbows are more rigid... and have a fatter LE. Will see notice how this affects relaunch.

How's it fly, Mister?
... quite nicely actually! Medium to light bar pressure, and it seems to fly off the rear lines - in fact, how it feels at the bar reminds me of an arc... hands need to be wider than the Xbows for easy one-handed turns.
... easy self-launch and -land, just grab the center line and down she comes. Nuff said.
... turns quick & smoothly and makes power through the turns easily - non-stop scuds down the beach! But it's still a big kite - I don't think the turn rate is anything like the claims of "turns like a 12m!" that I've heard :( certainly not quicker than my 13.
... good pull, a real tractor when it's on the boil - can't wait to get it on the water!

Do Not Like
... the QR that is a horror show :o (It's a Blade part too which puts me off even thinking about a Fat Lady!) The QR has a very inconsistent feel and release load, and even at it's 'easiest' to release, it's still a struggle to overcome the friction of the locking clip. Often, I can't release it with my left hand; the one with the wrist I broke a few years ago and still has a weaker grip than the right... I'd hate to be out in the cold with numb hands and have to bail! Total fail. One good thing to say about it - I buried it under the sand, jammed sand every where I could but it still released... about the same as normal. Which meant it nearly required 2 hands! Replace it with a Switch QR for $30.
... its rotor-head for unspinning the lines that sticks terribly when it's loaded. See the solution above if it bothers you.
... the tendency to fall out of the sky on a slack bar that is, IMHO, more pronounced that my 16m Xbow due to the fewer struts, enhanced turning speed and need for tension on the rear lines. 'course, I could be wrong ;) or just lazy about keeping it in the sky.

All with the usual caveats - IMHO, for me, at my level now, at this time and place ;)

Winds from 2 to 4pm were 11 to 14 knots with gusts to 21 (2:30pm). It was bloody cold - less than 4°C...

Last one is a good one!

2012-01-08T21:30:00.000+09:00

Last day in NZ and the forecast looked good on internet, but the estuary truly delivered an epic blow! I'd gone thinking I might be able to get out on the 13m Crossbow and MAYBE the Flyradical - but as it turned out, I was over-powered in the gusts :) good times! Anyway ...

Got to the estuary about 3pm, well before high-tide (5pm-ish) but people were out so I thought rather than sitting in the car waiting, I'd just get into it! Was a bit worried about using the 13 cos it was quite windy, but no major problems and it allowed me to get away from the shallow water cos I was able to go right upwind into the deeper water.

First move of the day - back-spin transition - resulted in a face-plant :D but I kept at it and got into my groove. Nice big jumps, easy rotations when the wind wasn't gusting and great riding to be had! Had some plays with toe-side riding but it's so tough with that seat harness! Did some silly 'slides' with the board - too much fun! Managed to do a kind-of pop from toe-side but that's tough too.

After a while I got a bit tired and started making mistakes, trying to over-do the jumps - I set up for a big jump and got a great boost but ... I've over-cooked the launch and whip around 360° on the way up :o sphincter goes epileptic but I've come right around to face downwind at the zenith of the jumps and do a full rotation on the way down again (somehow I've managed to control the kite so the jump is 'normal') and rather than wiping out badly, I narrowly miss riding away ... a small splash down. Phew! Check my shorts!
I take it a bit easier from then on and let the kite do the work ...

Got to get home for a BBQ with the family so I wrap it up feeling tired and fulfilled. Great end to the trip!

Moment of the Day is a tough call cos the whole session was pretty epic. There were a few front-spins that were pretty awesome though ...

Weather was epic. Survival mode in the worst gusts but mostly it was having fun then fighting hard to boost huge ;) in the gusts. The locals were on 8m kites, or maybe 10m at the end of the session. Wind was a bit punchy at the start but got a bit more consistent as the time passed.

What I learned today ...
• 13m Crossbow is a total Swiss Army knife of a kite ...
• Managed to make a propeller of the kite :-/ crashed it during a transition, got a bridle looped over the kite the wrong way ... I was worried it would take off as it started spinning but it spun into the water, then I succeeded in unwrapping and and kept flying - lucky!
• Don't try too hard on the jumps.
• It's amazing what you can get away with sometimes.
• It's amazing what small cock-ups can really hurt.
• Don't open your mouth to say OH crap when you crash - estuary water tastes real bad.
• Don't hold your breath on jumps ... can you believe it?
• 720-amour Sharks float very nicely :)

Flysurfer saves the day again!

2012-01-06T16:42:00.000+09:00

Forecast looked bearable and at 2pm, the wind looked nice out at the in-law's house so I hit the estuary for high-tide around 3:30pm ...

Looked fine to begin with - me and a german guy hit the water on 13m kites and I was on the Flyradical, but very soon I went to the Flydoor then gave up on the LEI all together - simply not enough wind for fun, even in the gusts. Was pretty amazing to be riding at all though - hoorah for flat water!

As I came in to land the Crossbow, Sam turned up and went out on his 14m Rise ... he was barely holding ground. I looked at the horizon, thought about the forecast (wind falling after 4pm) and decided to break out ol' Relentless.

Good decision! Oh yeah baby, nicely powered! Big jumps ... then bigger jumps then OMFG it went up. Then up again. Then up again and right at the top I looked down and went ... fuck ... what do I do now? So I just hung on and ended up splashing down. What fun!

Wind slowly dropped off so I was reduced to boosting in the gusts, then doing rotations in the gusts, then working the kite just to get back to the shore. I gave up and packed up. Must have got on the water about 2:45pm, got off about 5:45. Nice!

Moment of the Day was looking down from the zenith of that monster jump :D comes in only just ahead of actually clicking to how to do really good back rotation transitions!

Weather was lousy. Epic dropping to crappy but man when it was good it was really good!

What I learned today ...
• I need to learn what to do when the gusts lift me directly up on a jump and I've lost all forward momentum ... plop!
• When the kite is moving back over the zenith is the time to do the back-spin rotation so when it pops out in the new direction, it pulls you in the erm new direction.
• Same goes for back- and front-spins - do 'em lazy and use the redirect to yoink you out of it!
• It seems they work best when you aim for most of the rotation then use the kite to finish ... oh isn't that what I said just above?
• The new Flyboards binding is crap. So many times it went bung on me. What's wrong with velcro?
• Wide stance on the 'door is the shiznit.

That was AWESOME!

2012-01-04T19:14:00.001+09:00

Wind looked good all the way out the other side of the city so I dutifully waited for about the right time for the tide then headed off ... looks like a 13m day! Out comes the mid-sized Crossbow but what board? Dunno, take both ...

For a while it's just me on the water and maybe a few other guys ... started out on the Flyradical but the wind dropped so I went back to the Flydoor. Picks up again and it's rocking on the Flyradical! So I stay out for as long as I can but the legs are giving out on me ... but it's too much fun - I don't want to stop!

Had a great time and really felt in 'the zone' busting out front- and back-spins, jump and spin rotations ... awesome! Also got some big ol' jumps too which is also fun :D getting much better at setting up, executing and - more importantly - landing them! Even when I have to disco dance to get my feet under me and facing the right way :D
Front-spins still require concentration and focus though ... got spanked a few times and it was trying to do them.

As I got off the water, I counted 20 kiters out there! Brendan had arrived too and he went upwind like a little rocket, miles away from the shore - good for him!

Moment of the Day is pretty hard to pick - lets just say the whole freakin' day! Getting really smooth with the back-spin transitions, getting a bit of air on them too ...

Weather was epic. Awesome wind and flat water I mean, what more could you ask for?

What I learned today ...
• Faster kite means things have to happen faster - or slower. I can't do a back-spin transition to a simple dive turn on the smaller kite - goes over the zenith too fast and shoots out to the edge of the window, so I have to loop it ...
• Jump transitions - I need to do more work on them ... I think the key is holding the kite at the zenith until you reach the peak of your jump then dive it hard on the way down ...
• Ok this is important ... foot straps and mounting positions aka stance width.

I used to have the Flyradical on the widest cos hey, that's how I like my Flydoor. Turns out I actually like the 'radical better with the normal stance - requires less squatting over the back foot, seems to rail better and jumps the same.

Now compare that with the Flydoor ... I liked the widest stance; the board was easy to ride, went upwind fine and didn't feel like a big board under my feet. Today, I went back to the normal width stance and OMFG why is there a log on my feet!?!? Horrid, totally different board - felt like it weighed a ton, wouldn't pop at all and just felt like a giant boat under me, no fun at all ... went upwind a little better though. Not enough to prevent me from going back to wide stance ...

• The Relationship Between Depower and Jumping
(Or how I learned not to get pulled off my edge when 'powered'.)

Once the wind picked up at the end of my part of the session, I was having problems keeping the board loaded until I wanted to jump. It wasn't until I talked to Sam that I realized that what I was doing when I was doing it correctly ( :D ) was sheeting out more as I sent the kite. When I kept the bar in, I couldn't hold the power and would pop off early ... so, when more is more, then less is more.

Now that's in the front of my mind, I should like, totally rock, dude! ;)

• Tide times on www.swellmap.com, which are for Lyttleton, are off by about an hour or so ...

Light, gusty but fun

2012-01-03T17:16:00.000+09:00

Sneaky session!

After the squash game fell through, went down the estuary to see what it was like - but the tide wasn't in :( went for a drive and when I came back, it looked much better. Nobody else here though ... hmm. Oh well why not ...

Out comes the very big guns. Just powered, holding ground ok and trying some jumps and rotations ... bit gusty but powered enough for some B-I-G jumps - mega-hang time! The kind that you go WOOHOO on the way up then land and remember there's only a foot of water under your fins ... oops. Had people in the carpark and on the side of the road going woohoo! too which was kind of cool :)

Rode about 2 hours then gave it up as my legs were getting tired. Sam said "Well you looked powered - I'll have a shot after I finish my lessons!" :) hope he had fun!

Moment of the Day was, for once, not landing the biggest jump I think I ever down nor even the feather-soft landings I get from the Flysurfer but was, in fact, the rather stylish back-roll transitions I can do now - get a bit of a loft in the middle and they feel real nice :D

Weather was pretty crappy ... powered in the gusts, where were often, and holding ground - just - in the interim. A couple of drop outs left me worried.

What I learned today ...
• More sunblock, jackass!
• A little more leg action and a slower kite across the zenith give for a nice big back-roll transition - whee!
• Refining the jumps ... don't try too hard. Don't over-edge the board. Don't use too much body-english. Don't redirect the kite too soon ...
• Don't land heavy with weight over your toes - hurts my ankle ... better to land heavy on the heel!

New Year light wind session

2012-01-01T21:09:00.000+09:00

Wind looked ok but lacked any punch. Rode around for a while, making the most of the estuary's flat water but struggled to go upwind much at all - had to body-drag at one point just to make the beach! Which was a shame, because the wife's parents had come down to have a look ... "Ooh that looks like a nice peaceful hobby!" was the comment of the day!

Testing, testing ...

2011-12-29T10:32:00.001+09:00

Took the Speed3 21 out to the estuary park to check it out post-wash ... everything seems fine, no broken lines - it's looking increasingly like either I had the bar backwards or there was water in the wing and I was too sissy to pull the bar hard. Or there was a tangle in the bridle I couldn't see.

Anyway, running backwards across the field three times before I got enough air in the kite to get it in the very not much wind (2 knots?) and put it through a few turns and whatnot ... went flawlessly.

Now waiting for the replacement bridle parts to arrive ...

Just enough!

2011-12-28T23:00:00.000+09:00

Sam promised a cracking session ... didn't live up to it :( just enough wind to ride around for bit, holding ground on the big Xbow (hadn't test-flown the Speed3) so when Brendan couldn't relaunch 10m Switchblade, I went out to try to give him a hand.

Man, fast little kite! Offered my 13 or 16 but he declined so we had a chat ... then the wind came up!So I did some more riding - just me and Sam.

A few nice big jumps and some good rotations and transitions ... chatted with Sam as he packed up and enjoyed the sunset. Nice guy!

Moment of the Day was the guys laughing at my 16m then getting skunked fnar-fnar!

Weather was not very much indeed ... maybe 15 knots? Very flat water though!

What I learned today ...
• Flat water makes a huge difference!
• Weather is supposed to turn tomorrow - rain and no wind :(

Light wind love then let down

2011-12-27T23:00:00.000+09:00

Late tide tonight - think we got it sussed so I arrived at 5:30pm then set up ... got on the water about 6. Started on the Flyradical but the wind was dropping ... all the guys on 10s got off the water and I tried to ride my Flydoor but it wasn't happening.

Asked around, Sam though the wind would keep dropping so I pulled out the really freakin' big guns - good ol' Relentless. Had a chat with the guy who I would come to know as Brendan - he's learning and was desperate for a ride so set up anyway ... Fixed the bridle, put it in the air to many "OMG that's hooj kite!" type comments.

Powered! on the 'radical. Boosting to the moon! Front-spins, back-spins, transitions no worries! Wind is still dropping and jumps cost me too much ground upwind so I get back on the 'door. More big jumps then ... in the middle of a transition, something goes "sproing!" and the bar flies out of my hands ... I pull it in and check the CL - all seems well ... huh, maybe I popped it off when over-sheeting or something. Kite is soggy and tangled, I untangle it but it seems LE heavy and doesn't want to relaunch. I get it in the air and it arcs across to the RHS and I *think* there's something wrong up there, so I release to safety and self-rescue ... oh nuts I'm way the hell across the other side of the estuary from the car park and launch beach and downwind is the road that's only a meter or so from the water - can't go that way ... I'm in for a lo-ooong walk ...

No wait - Brendan has come to my rescue! We haul the kite on the curb, tie it up and he gives me a lift back to the carpark - cheers dude! "I so want one of them!" he says!

Check the kite - nothing seems wrong ... WTH did I just cause all that hassle cos I had the bar in my hands backwards or what?!?!?! Fu-uuuuu ...

Got back to the wife 90 minutes later than I was supposed to ... she was worried :D

Moment of the Day were all the people me watching me riding and playing in "no wind at all" :) FSer wins! Flawless victory! Except for the erm ...

Weather was SFA. Probably 10 knots when I messed up.

What I learned today ...
• Self-rescue with the big foil is fine - sure you have bridles floating around ... but I'd have the same problem on the Crossbows anyway. And it floats just fine. Too bloody well, in fact - if it had deflated at all, it would have been much easier to handle LOL
• Arriving 2 hours before the tide turns is perfect.
• Take yer bloody cell phone with you, jackass!

Boxing Day blast!

2011-12-26T22:00:00.000+09:00

Headed out to the estuary early to figure out the tides ... peak was due at 6:40pm and we arrived about 4. The lads went out on the water early though, in only a few inches of water. I waited patiently until the water had reached the shore then set up my 13m. Big wind! Didn't even bother with taking the Flydoor to the edge of the water :)

Bit gusty, from a tad underpowered to overpowered but big fun all the same. Lots of nice big jumps, some rotations and a lot of wipe-outs ... epic!

Moment of the Day was getting some long toe-side runs in ... so hard to do in a seat harness though! That was good, but the back-spins that got a bit of height on them take the win!

Weather was lots. Probably 25 to 30 knots I reckon but still, almost no chop!!!

What I learned today ...

• The Flyradical works best with the foot straps in the center position - it's just a whole lot less twitchy!

• Should have brought my 10 ... wasn't jumping that well because the kite was so depowered.

• Estuary is pretty bloody good!

Xmas on the ocean

2011-12-25T17:40:00.001+09:00

In between opening Crimbo pressies and Xmas dinner, went to the beach to take advantage of low tide ... well that was the only time I could get out of the house and the tide was out and the estuary is closed so well, what can you do?

There was a bit of wind and I know that the sea breezes pick up later so I went for the Crossbow 16 and Flydoor. Pumped up on the grass area at the North Beach Surf Club and then locked the car and dragged it all down the beach.

Wind was a bit light, bit tough doing anything but holding ground for a long time; riding the flat water between waves and then trying hard to get upwind.

Then I dumped the kite in the surf and had to walk in to shore cos it had inverted then folded in half and refused to pop back into shape ... could've recovered that easy if it was a foil!

Took the opportunity to change the settings on the bridle - moved it to the 'faster steering' setting ... I like it. A tad faster steering, a little more bar pressure for turning but less for sheeting in.

Wind has picked up so I'm having more fun, jumping, crashing, splashing around ... nice day!

Bumped into the guy with the hair from Groundswell, who tried to have a windsurf - no good for him as the wind was all 'up' above wave height ...

Moment of the Day was discovering the different bridle settings were worth landing the kite for.

Weather was guessing again ... I would have said it was about 15 knots when I got there and got up to about 20 when I got off, but the guy with the hair said it was more like 10 to 15 at most ... I got the feeling that there was quite a gradient though!

What I learned today...
• Steering settings are better on "light" ... so far.
• Ocean is a whole other kettle of fish here - wind drives up much bigger waves than Machiya - more like Hamamatsu but they break further from shore.
• Seems that the Xbow likes to be turned as fast as possible and the dived up or down the whipped back around. Medium speed turns just bleed power but very slow sines are ok. How about that then.
• One application of sunblock is not enough :(

Shaken, not stirred!

2011-12-23T23:38:00.000+09:00

Landed in Christchurch, New Zealand yesterday about 5pm ... went to the in-laws and crashed.

Got up the next morning and did a little business in the morning, then picked up the rental car. I went out to the beach alone to check it out - Estuary park looks awesome, nice grass area to set & launch and maybe landboard - then came home and started loading some gear into the car.

I'd just started rustling up the wife to come with me when the first earthquake hit - 5.8 on the Richter and 20km away to the NE and 8km deep. A good 'un! We had a few after-shocks but we jumped in the car anyway and headed back to the estuary - flat water awaits!

Got to the estuary and the tide wasn't properly in. Wind was cold and well up - I hadn't brought either my smaller Xbow or my wetsuit. As we were talking to another couple, another quake hit - 6.0 and only 10km away, 6km deep! Very violent, both the wife and the other couple got thrown to the ground ... I managed to keep my feet though - boarder skillz!

Had tons of daylight left and although I had to drive across the city, it takes very little time thanks to good drivers and road design. So we went home and got the 13m Xbow and wetsuit ...

Lots of liquifaction around the eastern suburbs, water and mud welling up ... gonna be heartbreaks out there today.

Got back to the estuary at 6pm and hit the water with the 13 and the Flydoor. Nicely powered, just comfy and having fun! A bit rusty - some messy jumps and rotations. Tried out the Flyradical but not enough wind. Go back to the 'door ...

Good session, I had fun and LOVED the flat-water! So nice to ride ... must get in some practice on toe-side while I can!!! Bit short, I could have done with another hour I think ...

Went home, had a souvlaki on the way and then enjoyed more quakes throughout the night ...

EDIT: Plummet gave me a link to a good weather site here - http://www.swellmap.com/surfing/new-zealand/new-brighton-beach

Moment of the Day was the flat-water riding! So smooth, so easy ...

Weather was I don't know. Felt like 15 to 20 knots. Probably 20°C but the wind was quite cold. I was comfortable in the wetsuit - until I had to take it off :o

What I learned today ...
• Flat-water is great! Easier to build up speed and hold it working the kite (duh!) but still not a magic pill for being a fattie ... everyone else was on 10's or 11's, and I was on a 13m bow kite and a huge board :(
• Shallow water is a bit freaky ... especially when the tide goes out :o
• And when the tide is out, it's time to stop - or the bottom will grab your board and stop you.
• Mud is just nasty.
• It gets everywhere and is hard to wash off.
• It's both easier and harder to boost off flat-water cos there are no waves-as-launch-ramps but there are no waves-as-brakes either ...
• I think I'm right in saying that shallow water runs smooth when there's nothing on the bottom ... those were the spots my fins touched down first!
• I hate Macs.

No joy

2011-12-04T17:19:00.000+09:00

Forecast looked great ... wind failed to deliver :(
Got literally 2 tacks out then it all packed in. I gave up and went and stood by the fire on the beach ...

Ride 'em cowboy!

2011-11-20T22:11:00.001+09:00

zOMG the northerlies all wind stopped on Saturday but—praise Allah!—picked up with a vengeance on Sunday! I skip lunch and hit the beach at 12 …

Can't get a handle on the wind—looks fierce and we're supposed to get up to 20 knots. I take the Speed3 12 and Crossbow 16 to the lake beach, and of course both boards. Seems there's a Slingshot dealer here today—hauling a heap of kites and boards. I bet he doesn't ask if I'd like to try them :D

Set up the Speed3 12 and do some little jumps on the beach—easily powered! Get in the water … can't get up on a plane and worse, I can't hardly body-drag back to the beach :o WTF?!?!

Stand around a bit, glaring at the horizon … then pump up the 16. Rig it, get a launch from—I suspect—a newbie who, when I look down to walk around The Mistress of Disaster's kite, does something odd and I look back up to see him getting lobbed over my Speed3 :o he missed it and didn't hurt himself … a feat he repeated later in the day when I happened to see him ride into the beach and wipe-out on the sand!!!

So I get the kite in the air and check the trim—hmm, massively over-sheeting, the tips are bending in! I trim it out totally but it's still bad. I land the kite to reset it but now the wind is way back up so I give up and go out on the Speed3 12 and the Flydoor.

Better. Powered now and making jumps and giving myself a beat-down—can't time them right with this small, fast kite. There's massive chop on the lake and you have to ride out through it, almost directly into it—it's like riding the whoops in the moto-x :o Tough to do any tricks or jumps though cos the waves're short period but tall and there's not a lot of flat water around.
Man this kite is fast—and likes to back-stall :( tough job working it through the lulls … occasionally over-powered and I switch back to the Flyradical but it's too hard to keep it moving. After a big lull, I go back to the Flydoor for the rest of the session. Back-spins and jumps only!

Problems of the day (a new section?) are the fruits on directionals who carve and slash the waves—but never look behind them. I try to give them a wide berth but they make it difficult—and equally tough is when you're hurting for power! So that's annoying … worse is Uncle Never-Relaunch who rides directly at me with his kite at 45° and wont move it—if I stop and zenith my kite, he'll cut my lines; if i cut upwind, we'll probably bodily collide and fuck-knows what'll happen to the kites; if I cut downwind, I'll probably hit the beach cos I'll be super-powered with the kite near the water; and if we hold our courses and with kite raised or lowered, we'll probably still collide. Wanker.
So I send the kite back hard the other direction, can't ride it out and end up submarining for a bit. Uncle never noticed :-/ Solution? Dunno, I need to check the angles next time it happens :o
… at least The Mistress of Disaster stayed outa my hair—silly bitch couldn't get off the beach and spent all day walking back'n'forth :D

It was quite a long session but I (mostly) enjoyed it. Packing up 2 kites sucked though … I was the last one on the beach, in the dark.

Moment of the Day was—you guessed it—the jump that I popped a bit earlier than usual and then went all big and floaty … and under control.

Weather data got laid down thusly … at 12pm we had 15knots at 16°C/72% and it dropped to 13knots at 14°C/65% around 3 before coming back up to 15knots again. Peak gust was 32knots around 5pm … seems pretty close to me—I did measure it as 10m/s before I tried to ride the first time. I labelled the wind as 'crappy' cos it was up and down and spent a lot of time pissing me off—although I did get some riding in.

What I learned today …
• I'm leaving the water too late … I had to hurry things along in front of a wave and jumped before the kite had got to the top of the zenith and I went higher and longer and more controlled than ever. I guess "when you feel the upward pull" doesn't mean "leave the pop til the kite is overhead" … of course, it could have been a fluke :D I'll keep testing …
• I'm in dire need of a haircut … filthy hippie. Wet hair in the eyes sux0rz.
• Starting to prefer the 'radical over the 'door … more fun to ride and I'm adapting to the position better. Bouncing over chop is a bit tough though. Mako should be interesting!
• Speed3 12 is an interesting beast—you can work the ass off and not really get anything out of it. Seems to have to carefully milk it until it's really got some speed in it … or maybe I just need flat water!
• Dive the kite, gradually sheet in and hold it sheeted as you redirect it back up and gradually sheet out—seems to stop the tips from tucking and (with the right amount of bar pressure) you can keep power in a very flat kite. Hmm, wonder if it'll work on the LEIs …
• Forgot to add—I also think I'm edging too hard and killing the kite. I think I been watching too many wakestyle videos or something!

Frustrated? Not me!

2011-11-13T21:30:00.000+09:00

Sunday means I've got all day to kite ... started out the morning with a quick blast on the newly repaired Duke - back to full power, smooth-running and no stalling! - and eyed up the webcam and forecast for the P.M. ... hmm, just enough time to nip out for a nice lunch. Hurried the wife up through desert when the wind picked up around 1pm and headed off to the lake.

We got white-caps! But there are guys on their big kites and they only just look powered ... both boards and Ol' Relentless go across to the beach. After I put on the new straps from Flysurfer ...

You'll remember the straps broke on the Flydoor? I took pics, sent them to FSer and 2 days later I got an email not from the guy I sent them to, but from someone else who explained he was on holiday. And I still got a response within 2 days! Gave them my address, and 2 days later they shipped out new straps. A few days after that, they arrived in Japan.
Customer service win! Good on you, Flysurfer!

A brief review ...
The new straps are the 2012 FSer design - still pulling a strap to adjust but there's a different buckle in there so it moves easily and freely. The older straps seem a bit more plush but the newer ones are MUCH easier to fit better against your foot ... in fact, when I took my feet out of the straps at the end of my session, they were dry - and warm!
Like I said, very easy to adjust, even on the move.
The only problem I had was the doohicky inside got flopped around the wrong way or something, and the strap wouldn't hold its position ... quick fiddle on the water and sorted. Hmm, better watch that ...

Anyway. Set up the 21 ... urk, looks a bit grubby :( laid it out for a side launch but bloody Soh has run his lines out right next to the kite - I can't unwind my lines until he launches. Him, or Uncle Junkie. I use the free time to pre-inflate the kite ... I get it so pre-inflated that I don't even remember waiting for it to completely fill :D when I finally get to launch, that is ...

Hit the water with the Flydoor although I think there's enough power to get 'radical. Oh wait no there's not ... enough to ride but I'm fighting to get upwind. Wind slowly picks up though and although it's lully, I'm jumping and having fun, in between working it upwind away from the beach.

A brief rant ...
Mistress of Disaster at it again. Why does she insist on riding a 9m kite and using a wake-style board in less than 10 knots? It's not like she can land the handle-passes she's trying to do within 2 feet of the shore anyway. So she rides out from the shore into me, forcing me to stop dead and zenith my kite. Later, I'm riding out 30m behind but maybe 10m upwind of her when just stops dead in the water - I turn downwind to ride under her kite but EVEN THOUGH SHE SEES MY KITE she still dives her kite to change direction - FFS you moronic bitch.
Denace the Menace is at it again. Drop that bloody kite on my Speed3 and I'll chop it up. If you can't fly a kite without being told when you need to sheet-out or -in, perhaps you need more lessons :o
Ok I'm done.

Wind still drops off so much that even I have to walk ... wait for the wind to come back as I can see the "blow line" off in the distance. I does, so I ride again. This time on the Flyradical cos the winds up. Then the winds down so I ride out the rest of the day on the 'door.

Legs are getting sore - I guess it's been a 3-hour ride! - body is getting tired so I call it a day, even though we got maybe another 30 minutes of day light ... I've had a great session! But when I bump into Soh in the carpark, he says that he was frustrated today.

Dude ... get yourself a Speed3 ;)

Moment of the Day is starting to fall into a pattern ... either the nice massive jump, totally under control and with perfect redirection for extended float with the super-smooth and totally controlled landing ... or riding past all the suckers walking back up the beach ;)

Weather data for the session has got to be total hogwash - 2 to 7 knots? No way. Peak gust of 15 knots at 6:30pm ... I'm betting it was 6 to 12 knots, average around 10 with the good wind at 14.

What I learned today ...
• Dunno if it's correct, but send the kite and, when you feel you've reached the peak of the jump, redirect with a slight sheet-out then hold the kite there at 1 or 11 - you'll feel extra float - then as you start to drop, redirect the kite to ride away smooth.
• Even Uncle Junkie on the Turbine and directional gives up a few knots of low-end to me and the 'door/21 combo ... nobody else comes close except for Uncle with the Slingshots ... man, he must weigh about 15kg - he's the light-wind master!

Semi-skunked

2011-11-08T09:18:00.000+09:00

Had to work right up until the buzzer today, but thought I'd hit the lake anyway to see if it's worth it any more - sun is setting really early now, winter is on its way.

Got to the lake about 4:30pm and ran across with the Speed3 21 and the 2 Flyboards ... sun was touching the hills when I'd finished setting up :( wind seemed ok, hit the water with the 'radical. A couple of tacks, but I don't have the power. Onto the 'door.

A little better, do some spins and jumps but the wind is dying right off ... wait a bit, ride a bit ... give up, pack up.

Moment of the Day was getting riding at all ... it was pretty light. The jumps and spins were the icing.

Weather data for the session was listed as 12 falling to 9 knots at 14°C and 60% humidity. Sounds about right, although I'd guess the wind lulled to around 6 knots ... a few slogs back into shore, barely on the water.

What I learned today ...
• Starting to get cold ... my feet were chilly for the first minute or so until I had to do some work.
• Probably still got enough light for an hour's worth of riding, packing up in the dark - if the wind co-operates.
• Thrust-bearing works fine on the 21 ... doesn't unspin as easily as the 12, guessing cos it's under more load - will keep a closer eye on it.
• Packing the big Speed up in the dark is annoying ... bloody thing likes to spit its bridles out all over the place. Wish the bag was longer too.
• I should be less anal-retentive about packing my gear up :D

Every day is a kite day!

2011-11-07T21:30:00.000+09:00

Miyachi had promised after the skunkage on Sunday, that the weekdays would be great. And I have to work ... took an hour off work and headed down to the lake at 3pm. Wind looked good all the way down, I asked Grandpa what he thought I should ride, he said my biggest kite. I looked at the enthusiastically flapping flag and took my 16m Crossbow over to the beach.

Pumped up like a mad-man, jumped in the water and ... Precious! Walkies! Soh was barely riding upwind and Uncle No-relaunch was packing up and The Other Uncle on the surfboard was underpowered and Mr Too Cool for School was standing on the beach trying to keep his too cool teeny kite in the air. I stood around for a while, waiting for the gusts to come in but they never did.

It was sort of spitting, but it stopped so I checked the sun (couldn't see it behind the clouds) but figured I had another ½ hour or so ... Bring out ol' Relentless!

Oof, barely moving at first but after a few close encounters with the shore, the wind picks up just a tad and I'm off having fun! Throw some desperate back-spins to test out the thrust-bearing mod on the S3 21 bar - perfect again! - then I get a little more wind so I'm trying to jump. Neato! Bit of a lully patch, then as the sun starts to set, the wind really picks up and I'm having great fun! Is getting dark though ... better think about heading in ... try one last back-spin but land on the side of my face - schLAP! ow.

Packed up in the dark - 2 kites, that sucked - but the low clouds were glowing with the lights of the endless cities so I could actually see better than the nights that have been clear!

Moment of the Day was the big fat jump while the little guy with the 9m LEI couldn't even keep it in the air neener-neener ... the best thing about it was going up, swing in front of it, redirecting it and feeling it lift me again, then a perfectly timed dived when I came it to land ... but-tah!

Weather data for the session recorded the wind as 12 to 16 knots at 16°C and 77% humidity. Which is total horse-hockey cos I couldn't even get planing on the 21 at some points. It may have picked up to those in the gusts, but it was lulling to less. By the time I packed up, it was solidly 16 - but too dark to ride :(

What I learned today ...
• You can still back-spin in light wind if you REALLY put the effort into leaping and spinning.
• I'm getting better at feeling and timing my jumps. Maybe.
• Farting in a wetsuit is just as nasty as peeing in one. Perhaps nastier, cos it's an unpleasant surprise when you unzip the suit.
• Grandpa is pretty spot-on with his wind/kite observations for me ...

A small update

2011-11-04T16:09:00.001+09:00

Slow day at work - went through and added sizes to all the kites I've used in the tag cloud ... should prove to be more interesting. For me, at least.

Summer 2011 - The Movie!

2011-11-03T23:06:00.002+09:00

And just in case YouTube screws my awesome soundtrack, here's the Vimeo link - http://vimeo.com/31545138

DIY - Infinity bar pimpin'

2011-11-02T22:54:00.002+09:00

Also known as the thrust-bearing mod. The following video from 10 seconds on shows the goal of what we want to achieve ...

Stock bar uses a big brass washer (BBW) and then a jam nut on a nyloc nut to hold it all together. The problem with this is that it doesn't rotate very freely so although the bar is cleverly designed so that, after a rotation, you untwist the flying lines by spinning the bar then untwist the double depower rope when you sheet in. Unfortunately, the tension on the BBW et al is such that the depower rope gets chewed up - if you use it in the appropriate method. You can untwist by hand but that sucks.

Here's an exploded view of Holden's needle bearing mod. It shows the setup nicely. The CL is connected to the black thing, the red hat and spring go onto the T-tube that has the double depower line looped around it.

Melting candle wax into the line (more on that at a later date, perhaps) helps keep it slippery; grease or other gunk down there is an option too but washes away and perversely attracts gunk and grit. IMHO the best option is simply to make the bar spin more freely.

Various teflon washer, ceramic or needle-bearings have been suggested but the greatest results have been obtained from using thrust bearings such as the MTBS-816 from here http://torquetrans.com/thrust-bearings/ss-metric-thrust-bearings.mgi ... be aware that they ONLY use UPS and shipping 1lbs (454g) of 8 sets to Japan was going to cost me $85 :D For $12, I got them to ship to a buddy in the US (thanks stetson!) and he sent them here ... for $2.59.

The problem - kinda - comes in putting it all together ... I went a bit mad with my digital calipers trying to work it all out.
Originally, the BBW + jam nut + nyloc nut = very close to 15mm. Breaking it down, the BBW is 0.75mm, jam nut is 6mm and the nyloc nut is 7.5mm.
The thrust-bearing stack (washer-bearing-washer) is 5mm tall. If you try to use the original stainless steel nyloc nut, you have to find a 1.5mm jam nut! Obviously no good.

You can't ditch the BBW cos it covers the pin that holds in the CL. And it's an odd diameter, something like 23mm so if you wish to drop a washer from the bearing stack and use a big stainless washer, then you - or rather, I - have to grind down a big stainless steel washer (BSSW) of 25mm diameter and bore a hole in the middle for the M8 thread of the bar doohickey. I wrecked a drill bit and over-heated and warped the washer I was experimenting on ... oops. So that bit is possible, at any rate. That leaves you with having to find only a 4mm jam nut ... get busy with a vise and file!
Solution 1 : grind and drill your own BSSW, use bearing-washer, file down a stainless nut to 4mm and use the OEM nyloc nut.

Less demanding of elbow grease is the option I tested the other day ... I bought the only little bag of nyloc nuts I could find in hardware stores in Japan and simply bolted it onto the stack above the BBW. The nyloc nut though is not (or does not look like) stainless steel, maybe zinc coated or something. It's also taller than the OEM nyloc nut at 9mm and the lip at the top where the nylon ring is, is taller than the OEM nyloc nut - if you wanted to file this down, you'd end up with a very slim hex part.
Solution 2 : keep the BBW, use the full thrust-bearing stack, add the M8 non-stainless nyloc nut ... and some thread-locking compound.

Those are the two options that most appeal to me - you could also use 2 short M8 stainless nuts or file them down a bit ...
Solution 3 : BSSW, 2/3 thrust-bearing stack, 2x filed down M8 nuts.

I'm of the opinion that so long as the thrust-bearing is doing its job and spinning freely the torque on the solitary nyloc nut is minimal and easily secures the rig ... and some thread-lock for paranoia! So I'm of the opinion that for ease of install and use, Solution 2 is the best option. Only time will tell if the components hold up to the water and work-out ...

Also, I prefer a nyloc nut on the end of the stack because, as you can almost make out in the pictures below, tightening the T-tube doohickey so the end of the thread stays in the nylon ring should stop it eating up the FLS line. One other thing to note too is at the other end of the CL and QR gubbins ... with the original setup, there's a bit of slack in there - the black CL holder has free-play on the T-tube. I think this is necessary because the welds on the stopper for the spring stand proud, and if it was all tightened up snug the black CL holder couldn't spin freely. It's also handy because it'll let the holder move around and should enable grit to be washed out of the bearing stack.

Someone put a thrust bearing at the end of the black tube but that's totally necessary I reckon as when the CL is under load, it's pulling the CL holder down and the kite is pulling the T-tube up - the only stress will be ... exactly where the thrust bearing is!

Here are the pics of what I've got. Crappy cell phone cos I can't find memory cards/chargers/batteries for the cameras at home that can do a proper macro.

After all that I bet you want to know how it all works? Well, it's bloody sweet! Spins perfectly, very smooth. Easy to untwist lines - too easy in fact! My first few uses, the bar spun so easily that my reactions hadn't accounted for the smoothness and I'd grabbed the bar backwards ... PLOP drove the kite into the water!

What pretty much happens is that the depower line simply untwists itself when you spin the bar to untwist the lines. An added bonus is that the bits rotate with the bar, so the CL stays square on your harness while the bar moves around ... neato! Well worth all the hassle involved of getting the bits ...!

Showing off on Halloween

2011-10-31T22:18:00.000+09:00

Winds up, I'm off to the lake - left work at 3pm. Forecast was good all day but the hourly data wasn't up to much. So it was a good thing I left early cos I got a half-hour of nicely powered riding, then maybe another 40 minutes of grabbing it in snatches ...

Started out on the Flyradical with the Speed3 12, partly because there was enough wind and primarily because I wanted to test out my thrust bearing mod. So I was having a great time. Still very back-stally, bit of trim sorted that ... must still be the bottom end of it's range. Having good fun though, works ok to keep planing.

There's a couple taking photos on the shore ... we all start hamming it up for them :D pity we won't get to see the pics!

Soh has arrived and coincedentally I'm sure, the wind has dropped off so I get onto the Flydoor. Have more success working the kite through the lulls but it's still not really enough wind. Soh keeps riding but he's not doing much either, even though he's on his Havoc 14 - he said afterwards that he bought his 7! I guess the weather didn't live up to it's promises at all ...!

I packed up just before sunset.

Moment of the Day was the first big jump on the Speed3 12! That didn't result in me being dropped like a stone :o

Weather data for the session; recorded wind strength was 18 knots at 19.5ºC & 68%, falling to 10 knots at 18.3ºC & 73% from the NNW. Gusts to 26 knots at 3:30pm.

What I learned today ...
• The 12 is a back-stalling ho when the wind drops. I'm thinking that cos the kite is small, it's easy to over-power it at the bar ... have to see if what I remember as being the same on the LEIs is accurate.
• Also, you need to be easy on the sheeting when riding and jumping - especially careful on the redirect or you get dropped like a rock.
• I think the S3 12 will start working for me from about 16 knots with the Flydoor and I'll be well powered by 20. So I'm guessing the range for me will be 16 to maybe 30 with a sweet spot at about 22.
• That means I DO need a 15!
• Bearing mod - works great! More later ...
• CrazyFly straps are ok but not as supremely comfortable as the FSer ones ... no reply yet on my moan to them.
• Keeping the kite moving rather than just sheeting in and hanging on make the best jumps - send it, redirect it properly, drop it hard for a touch-down.
• More wind needed. I think the Speed3 12 will do to replace my Crossbow 13 easily and is probably more akin to a 14m LEI ...

Gusty again

2011-10-26T07:52:00.000+09:00

Similar forecast as yesterday but it looked consistent all day, sitting at 8m/s ...

It's mah birthday so I left work early, at 3pm and hit the lake. Apparently, it wasn't early enough cos everyone told me that it was better before I arrived :(

Thought I'd play it safe and set up the Crossbow 13. Initially it was a good choice, I was having fun on the Flyradical but the big jumps were tiddlers and then the wind dropped so I got the Flydoor. Then the wind started gusting again like a mad man, up and down ...

And then I had to ride in strapless again o_0 goddam Flyboards footstrap broke again, this time permanently. I wasn't going to moan about the cosmetic breakages but this is becoming a trend! All I was doing was riding along when I felt it loosen up ... then when I went to tighten it, the buckle was already outside the cover :(

Got the Flyradical again and tried to go out, but it just wasn't working ... I might have had more luck with the Crossbow 16, I think :( oh well, next time.

Packed up early and came home before the sun had set :o not often that happens!

Moment of the Day was easily doing back-roll down-loop transistions. Of a sort ...

Wind strength was recorded as 15 falling to 12 knots ... yeah that explains it!

What I learned today ...
• If Fujii-san is powered on his 10, I need my 13. If he's not powered but still riding, I need my 16. If he's not riding, I need my 21. If he's doing all three in the same session, I need to give up and go home :D
• Buckle/pull straps on the Flyboards suck ... velcro is the only good idea IMHO. Because they're easier to adjust should be enough but as they require less force to do their thing, there's less option of being ripped off ...

EDIT : here's a pic of what happened to the strap. It could be fixed, but FSer is sending me a new one. Nice one!

Ok lets not do that again!

2011-10-25T07:45:00.000+09:00

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.

This one's for Marco

2011-10-23T21:57:00.000+09:00

Noticed yesterday the forecast looked good so I thought I'd skip Mie and hold out for Locus today. Worked out fine! Wind was supposed to arrive at 3pm and it obliged for a change.

Took the 12 and 21 Speed3's across to the beach and started out with the 12 up ... wind was up and down right on the bottom end, so I could get up for a bit but couldn't get riding. I wasn't alone. Then it started raining so I kept the kite up to dry it out once it stopped raining but it didn't happen. I pulled out the 21 instead.

For about 15 minutes I'll nicely powered with the Flyradical then the wind picks up and I just have to depower the monster foil. I've done something to the tip bridle on the LHS (knot) so it looks a bit odd. I play with the trim a bit today but basically, I'm consistently over-powered :D not a bad thing!

Make out with some jumps and rotations, all easy and fine. Get comfy, try some big jumps ... leaving the kite behind me works better - you can feel the rotation around the kite and feel when you need to redirect better. I reckon. Still got dunked a lot though!

Repeat ad infinitum. Rode on till dark. Had to hang around waiting for Miyachi to land me cos the beach was full of kites (two of 'em) and the wind was well up - sheeting-in meant I'd go for a hover :o

Moment of the Day was boosting that "big" jump and feeling what's going on up there and doing the right thing at the right time.

Wind strength was recorded as only 10 to 12 knots. That's ain't right!

What I learned today ...
• You can't carry your Speed3 down the beach by a wing tip - now I have to untangle it :(
• Don't listen to anybody else - decide on your kite size on your own.
• Speed3 21 has fantastic wind range. For me, anyway.
• The 12 is very fast across the window and makes some easy jumps ... it's going to be a monster!
• I need a 15 :D

An experiment

2011-10-19T16:02:00.004+09:00

Supposed to be pretty good wind tonight and when I got to the lake, it looked like it was cranking so I thought I'd try out the 19m Charger, figuring it'd be about like my 16m Crossbow. Kinda.

Naturally, the wind fell away just as I arrived at the beach 0_o Mr Fujii was on his 10m SB but he was floudering, same with Soh on his 12m Havoc. Nuts.
Inflate the Charger easily, then launch ... huh. No tip clapping but it lurks about halfway up the window until I trim the front lines. Guess it needs more then ...

I try to ride in what I know is too light wind ... I reckon it's maybe 10-12 knots. I struggle to get up, slog downwind and walk back. Repeat ...
Everyone else gives up. Gusts are getting more on and off, they come through stronger though and finally I'm riding them out, throwing a few jumps and even a couple of back-rolls.

Daylight is fading but the wind is right up and I'm riding upwind ok, parking and riding some too. Charger works real nice when it's powered but for a 19 and me, that seems to be 16 knots plus. I'm betting the butter zone will be 18 to 26 knots.

I had a nice time, got to try the Charger finally and was happy enough with that!

Thoughts on bar pressure ...
This has been coming for a while.
I find that my 2011 Crossbow 13m is just right - not too heavy, not too light and I don't have stiff elbows or forearms at the end of a big session. Taking that as a base line ... add in some arbitrary numbers! :D
Let's consider the 2010 Xbow 16m which is a frightful thing. Bar pressure for turning is very light compared to sheeting in - it always reminds me of balancing a broom upright in the palm of your hand ... as soon as it's off-center, it's going. The kite happily whips around a turn but doesn't take much bar pressure to do so. Sheeting in when riding though - sweet baby Jesus wrapped in bacon strips! Forearm pumps, blisters, callouses ... like a teenager boy's palms! Let's call it sheeting pressure +7 and turning pressure +1 versus the 13. I can ride it for hours but I'm hurting the follow the day/week.
The Charger 19 has only slightly higher pressure for sheeting in but is easily held with one hand when trimmed right; even when it's not trimmed well, it's still pretty easy to hold. There's more pressure when initiating turns (naturally), kind of a springy feel and the amount of time you need to hold it is short - Charger turns faster than my Crossbows - but it would wear on you, if you had to work it all day. Let's say sheeting pressure +2 and turning pressure +3, compared to the very comfy 13m Xbow. I seem to remember the 15 being the same ... but the Synergy series having say, sheeting pressure +2 and turning pressure +4.
Flysurfer Speed3 21 is a big kite with a big bar that pulls like a big bad thing. But it's surprisingly nippy unless you insist on muscling it around like a over-steroided post-lobotomy rugby-player (is there any other type of rubgy player?). Bar pressure for sheeting is not too bad and neither is turning, although you have to hold it in the turn longer which gets tiring ... I'll assign sheeting pressure +1 and turning pressure +2 so long as you don't fight the kite - and yes, both the Charger and the Speed can be flown one-handed while riding. Speed2 19 I remember being just a touch more than the Speed3 - say +0.5 for each. Unity 12 I found to be the same as the big Speed3.
Ok nerd-fest over ...

Moment of the Day was simply parking and riding then launching jumps. And not getting pissed when I had to walk ... guess I was just in the right mood!

Wind strength was recorded as 10 to 12 knots with gusts to 20 - I guess that was when I was having fun with the park'n'ride ...

What I learned today ...
• Charger needs a lot of wind to pull easily :(
• You can whip it around but it doesn't help much if you're sinking.
• You CAN whip it around really fast but it's better to be smoother with it.
• The tendency for arcs to "flare" at the bottom of a tight turn is reduced with the Charger and Navigator combo but still occurs. It's more exaggerated on the side with the safety on it too, as the line slips through the ring ...
• Makes best power on the down stroke, close to the water and with pressure on the rear lines. Flies most consistently when levered around on the stopper ball.
• Jumps are more floaty than I remember with the Synergy, but that might just be that my technique has improved. The first one dropped me but the rest I redirected sooner and the landings were feather like. Only a couple of meters though :o

We are the Night Riders

2011-10-17T22:57:00.000+09:00

We got skunked yesterday big time, so was dubious of the forecast today but headed down to the lake - even though it looked crappy all the way along the lake shore road ... looked better when I arrived, and Junkie Sensei was getting in the water so I suited up.

If the wind lived up to the forecast, we were going to get 16 knots ... I thought I'd risk the 21 and took both boards over the road. Wind was good when I launched, the kite pre-filled quickly and pulled well at the zenith. I jumped straight onto the Flyradical ...

Nicely powered! After a few minutes the wind picked up a little more and I was riding upwind just fine! Started trying out the tricks ... using the board more than the kite like Miyachi was talking about the other day. Nope, that sucks - can't land them except on my ribs or ass, or slam down so hard I tweak my knee and ankles - I like the way I do it much better :D
Try out his technique for jumps and realize that it's what the "How to go big" video was talking about - I was just being lazy or enjoying the air time and not thinking about what I was doing ...

Miyachi is out on the lake, riding strapless with his 14m RPM and Uncle No-Relaunch is warming up on the beach. Wind drops a bit and I'm still riding the Flyradical but not powered enough to do anything. I come in to grab the 'door but Uncle is having issues with his kite so I rejoin the pattern until he clears the beach. Ah, much better on the 'door!

When I try to throw a back-roll though DANG that board is heavy - have been spoiled by the 'radical! Further tries result in feet slipping out of the straps and messy things like that. I give up and go back to trying to jump as high as I can.

It's getting dark and I'm hoping to get Miyachi to land my kite again for me - he's getting so good at handling the foil now :D - so I keep riding until he heads in. Meantime, Uncle has dropped his kite and guess what - he can't relaunch it until it drifts onto the shore ... is it just that he's crap or the Naish kites he use simply don't relaunch? Yikes ...

Great session, packed up in the dark again - got about 90 minutes riding though!

Moment of the Day was popping to toeside then carving the transition back to heelside - I managed to time it all perfectly (accident!) and it was super-cool ... unfortunately, I couldn't repeat it :D

Wind strength (thanks Peter Frank) was measured at 5 to 12 to 7 knots from 4 to 6pm, with a gust of 16 knots at 5. 12 knots sounds about right; seems like then up is good for the Flyradical ...

What I learned today ...
• Still need to use the kite for front rolls, waiting until it's over-head to start the loop and don't forget - pull with the front hand when you spot your landing!!!
• Keeping the kite in the air when your head is underwater ... getting good at that. Pulling on the back hand to keep it up.
• Looping the big FSer is very possible and makes for some interesting transitions, jumps etc cos it builds monster speed through the turn! I am the Downwind Rocketship.
• Sending the kite at its own pace produces bigger jumps than trying to force it around.

Random stuff

2011-10-14T12:28:00.001+09:00

Full moon sailing

2011-10-12T21:59:00.001+09:00

Forecast looked good, webcam looked good - I motored on down to the lake! Traffic is light, I make good time and get there just before 4:30pm. Wind looks borderline; everyone seems to be humming and harring. I waver for a moment then think ah fuck it why not. It's Speed3 time baby yeah! Suit up, load up, waddle over to the lake ...

Set up to hot launch the 21 but the wind has picked up a touch - we've white caps on the lake just ever so slightly. Pre-inflate ol' Relentless, grab the Flydoor and hit the water. Well powered!

Noodle around, lay some stuff down ... few slams till I warm up and get into the groove. I'm going upwind fine and wasting ground doing stuff - lovely!

I'm nicely powered on the 'door so I swap it out for the 'radical. Still rollin'! Throw some silly tricks down, boost some air - I'm getting really good at monster jumps now! - and am having a great time! It's a bit crowded near the shore, there's a newbie chick and Uncle Pyro and well, everyone else who's blocking the shore ... some close-calls with carefully placed kites to get through the jam.

Wind drops off a little more so I swap for the Flydoor. I got more board speed so I bust some big jumps ... I can feel the kite trying to drop me again occasionally on the smaller jumps so I'm controlling it with the sheeting in and out on the way down. I land a bunch toe-side and turn that into a down-loop turn the other way. Double-rotate a back-roll and loop the kite to stop a stall ... am I getting better or is the Speed3 just fucking awesome?

Sunset is coming but oh, it's a full moon! Nobody is getting off the water so hey - neither am I! We ride out till it's well dark and I can see the bar but can't tell which way around it is - can't see the colours!

Head in to shore, everyone has landed so I get Miyachi to help me - good man!

Awesome session! Wind was a little lully but the Speed3, he is a mean machine!

Moment of the Day was boosting a big ol' air, leaning back and looking down at the moon reflecting in the water!

Wind speed was recorded as 6 to 9 knots with gusts to 16 ... hmm, I reckon we had 10 to 12 fairly steady, with lulls to 8. I rode upwind without effort 90% of the time and only the utter wombles had to walk.

What I learned today ...
• Need to use more muscle or input from the board when the wind is light to do the rotations...
• In fact, it's easier to use the body to rotate than it is to use the kite - less over-rotation to contend with.
• Big jumps, mad hang-time - coming down is difficult! I just sorta hover over the water so 'reaching' down with my feet to land ends up dangling like a wally... bad style!
• Steer the kite more on the way down, control the drop with the bar. Be pro-active!
• Speed makes big jumps. Still working on whether it's better to send the kite sheeted out or in a bit...
• I'm getting spoiled with the ease of rotation of the Flyradical... but the Flydoor is still a great riding board!
• Oh yeah forgot to add - bats can see the lines and hear them when I came up behind them, even in the dark ... also pretty magic, riding along with the little bat-boys :)

Skunked

2011-10-10T20:12:00.002+09:00

Majorly. Shame, the forecast looked so good too!

Oh well

2011-10-07T23:04:00.001+09:00

Forecast looked doable, after blowing well all day ... raced down to the lake. Erk, there's not much wind ... set up the monster Speed and try a ride ... mowing the lawn so I come back in and wait ... wind picks up so I jump out on the water again, then it REALLY picks up. Gusty norwesters in the house!

Was on the Flydoor but I quickly swapped it for the 'radical. Much better! Have a pretty manic time playing with the trim settings ... going from "Aw where is wind?" to "OH MY GOD!" so yeah, it was gusty. Couldn't get into a groove so it was pretty messy. Some good jumps though ... so the wind was up and down and just on sunset I gave it up and packed up.

Moment of the Day was the look on everyone's faces on the shore when I started riding in ... SFA.

Wind speed was recorded as 11 to 12 knots but we got gusts WAY over that I tell you what!

What I learned today ...
• I forgot. I'm sure it'll come back to me though ...

Pretty much perfect!

2011-10-06T22:01:00.000+09:00

Wind looked good in the forecast so I headed down the lake after work ... always start with the same thing don't I?

Got to the lake after being held up for only 3 minutes (felt like forever though) due to a car-crash on the Hamakaido ... now have total proof that traffic-jams are caused by fuckwits stopping to rubber-neck - the cop was getting quite aggravated by the people ahead of me who were slowing traffic on the now single lane road, by slowing down to have a good ol' gawp.

Got to the lake, checked the wind ... hmm, what to unpack? Check the kites up - the usual directional guys so that's no help. Ah! Fujii-san is on his 14 and Dennis the Menace is too - Speed3 21 it is then! I suit up and drag the Flysurfer and my Fly-boards over the road. Yikes, more wind than I thought ... I side-launch the big Speed and grab my Flyradical straight out the gates.

A little bit light, have to carefully build speed on 2 strokes to get moving but I'm away laughing! Laughing, like a maniac! The conditions are almost perfect - I'm not over-powered, not under-powered (too often) and am riding the Flyradical with ease ...

And so I break out my bag of tricks ... ok very small envelope of tricks. Easy back-rolls - too easy cos I'm over-rotating so I slow them right down ... long, lazy, hanging in the harness, head back looking around - back rolls. Front-rolls provide no problem today too, so I lob them right after the back-rolls to untangle my lines :D
Getting cocky with them now and am over-rotating front-rolls too - but I do end up landing and riding away from a couple of double rotations!!! Pretty cool feeling ...
I throw in some jumps too ZOMG air feels big but the hang-time is monster! So long that I'm reacting to my memory of the timing and not what the kite is doing. I pendulum under the kite a few times, send the kite too hard, too soon and get dunked many times but MAN is it fun!
A few back-roll transitions too ... and I work on making tight gybe's so I can really work the air gybe.

Getting more aggressive with the kite. Manage to stall it a few times and all but once (maybe twice) I recovered them in the air.
Definitely twice - I remember an easy reverse launch (the 21 pulls less down-wind while relaunching than the U12 does!) and the other time, the tips got tangled and the kite was a donut. A few moments of pulling rear lines got it to open up and fly fine though ...

I stay out until after the sun has slipped below the hills to the west. I back-stall landed the kite but as I was about to loop the rear-leaders into my spreader bar hook then sand the harness, some helpful chap tried to "land" the kite for me by grabbing the tip and pulling. The kite relaunches and as it shoots to the side of the window, I ride out the scud most of the way down the beach. We have a brief chat and he's surprised by how much power is still in the kite, even though it was 'parked' and he wonders why he couldn't just grab the tip like someone else did the other day. I try to explain :D then I land on the safety and Miyachi grabs the tip and sits on it ... I've trained him well!

Another odd thing ... as I'm packing up, Uncle Pyro asks if I can see (it's full dark but the moon is up) and then carries my board back to Locus - I get the feeling that some people want to try my foils ;)

The weather was perfect today! Enough wind to be nicely powered, warm enough to not get wind-chilled but the water was cool enough for refreshment! Happy :)

Moment of the Day was pretty much the whole day! The big jump I remember and just silent gliding was pretty magic though!

Wind speed was recorded as 11 to 13 knots with a gust of 20 an hour before I got there ... it was pretty steady the whole time I was there though!

What I learned today ...
• It's easier to pre-inflate the Cable Park In A Bag through the dump vents, which makes for a better launch and a faster in-the-air inflate but it only fills the downwind side - bit of a messy launch and what was the upwind tip didn't seem to want to fill.
• Getting used to the 'radical ... I'm starting to love it!
• Low-end with the 'radical is good because I felt powered today, not over-powered but there was plenty of juice in the kite - big boosts!
• Stay in the tuck as long as you can on the jumps ...
• The Flysurfers are generating buzz. People are talking about them, that's for sure.

In which I give up in disgust

2011-10-03T23:04:00.000+09:00

Good forecast today, better than yesterday's was ... I take an hour off work and head to the lake early.

Wind is up ... dunno what to use. Not the 21 that's for sure and not the 12. 13 &16m Xbow, Flydoor and Rip Plus go over to the lake. Soh put up his 14m Havoc and looks happy ... I decide on the 16.

A good enough choice ... but as the evening draws on and the difference in average wind speed between the gusts drops and the time the wind is off increases, it's getting sucky. I pack up before sunset in disgust but not before ...

I forget how, but I've dropped the kite right in the middle of the underwater weed garden. Usually it's not a problem but today the 'bow refuses to relaunch and - joy of joys! - flops onto its trailing edge. A wave washes a bunch of water over the kite and now it's stuck to the surface ... this is something the LEI-whores don't mention when they compare the "ease" of relaunch of LEIs versus foils! >:( struggle struggle swear swear ... after all sorts of retarded behavior (flying upsidedown, TE towards me - really?) I finally get the kite into the air - but now there's a bunch (literally) of weeds wrapped around the Y and the RH steering line. I fly the kite to shore, land, swear, pull the weeds off ...

I'm trying to get back onto the water ... working the kite to get moving but heading right at me and obviously intending to go between the shore and me - about 3m - is Taki :o
I park the kite at the zenith and try to avoid his - we're mere millimeters away from a very big mess and he obviously thinks it's no problem! He moves off to my right then drops it in the water. Now I got Uncle Pyro coming at me from the left and I'm sandwiched between the 2 worst kite-handlers on the beach. Uncle just stands in the water waiting for the wind so I can't move my kite left. Taki is trying to relaunch but he's so close if he loses control (like he usually does) he's going to wrap me up in the hurt-locker. Praise the lord! nothing happens as I walk backwards out into the lake and get riding again. Thinking back, I thought I was just being paranoid but Soh comes up to me later and is like "Dude WTF were those two thinking?" and so, I rename Taki as "Dennis the Menace."

Keep flying but there's no joy in it - no jumps, no rotations ... no power in the wind. And so I give up ...

Moments of the Day was the monster jump that started off as a regular jump but the gust yoinked me good ... I even rode away ;) the pendulum backrolls were pretty cool too.

Wind speed was recorded as 12 to 14 knots (ho ho ho!) with gusts to 24. Obvious to me now that that is average wind speed ... there were times when I was worried the 'bow was going to fall out of the sky. Oh wait - it did.

What I learned today ...
• The intersection of the seasons produces gusty shit wind.
• October & November are the best wind months at Biwako. According to Soh ...
• Bar pressure on the 16m 'bow is killing me ... I need a different mid-wind kite.
• And to that end, including the gusts, I'm putting the arcs back in the boot of the car!
• Oh yeah tried the Rip Plus again ... not my cup of tea. I like the Flyradical better so it's up for sale ... and sold!

Unity vs Speed

2011-10-02T22:32:00.000+09:00

Sunday promised big wind and by happy chance, my Unity 12 had arrived Saturday from that guy in the US with the collection of odd names :D Let's just call him Stan.

Hit the lake about 1:30pm - dead calm. Not good, the forecast said there should have been wind by now ... wait begins. Wind picks up. We get a heap of it. I measure 9 to 10 m/s at the water's edge - good, cos I'm predicting a bottom end for me of 20 knots from the Unity.

I was right. At first, I'm powered enough as I struggle to get used to the odd feeling kite - it's no Speed! More like a lazy Psycho. Actually, at the bottom of the power-stroke it feels like an arc :o
Man, the wind is up'n'down like a frickin' yo-yo ... I get the hang of the kite eventually and manage to get enough out of it to make it through the lulls. I think maybe 16 knots IF I'm lucky for the bottom end. Much better up the top end.

All seems good with it - jumps nicely, hang-time is ok, power through the turns is pretty good, not too slow responding to the bar. Good'n'stable most of the time but I managed to get it out of shape and inverted, although the anti-inversion line stops that in it's tracks ... kite floats to the water surface then pops into shape with the right tug on the lines and is flying again - nice!

Infinity 2 bar is sweet, a few nice touches. Not sure about the bungies for the QR and the chicken stick - I can see them rotting away.

Wind dies right off and doesn't look like picking up. I pack up the Unity, and get the 21 out. A good play from then on, using the Flyradical but the winds dropping again and I'm on the 'door again. I ride till the sun has well and truly set ... not a bad day, despite the gusts!

Moment of the Day was probably the solitary awesome front roll I did ... I bet nobody saw it though :o

Wind speed was recorded as 14 to 10 knots (horse-puckey!) with gusts to 25 (probably true).

What I learned today ...
• Not enough over-lap between the Speed3 21 and the Unity 12 :( U12 is a great kite though!
• I've been spoiled by the Speed ... I hate working kites to make power!
• I'm getting better with the 'radical.
• I'm getting better with the front-rolls :D

Plonking in the Rain

2011-09-30T23:51:00.000+09:00

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

2011-09-28T21:50:00.000+09:00

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

2011-09-27T21:15:00.000+09:00

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

2011-09-24T23:06:00.000+09:00

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

2011-09-23T22:30:00.000+09:00

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?

2011-09-22T23:22:00.002+09:00

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

2011-09-06T22:32:00.002+09:00

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

2011-09-05T22:59:00.000+09:00

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!

Whoa dude WTF?!

2011-08-30T17:51:00.000+09:00

Irene or her bastard off-spring delivered the goods. Or at least, that's what the forecast said was going to happen. Comes with a side-order of rain but I thought I'd chance it. Headed over to Tsu and got the rain in the mountains - was hoping that had come early and left fair weather at the beach ...

When I got to the beach, Ji-chan was coming in telling me his 12 was over-powered. I measured the wind - 12m/s at the peak, and it was supposed to pick up by 4pm. I rigged my 10m cos I'm a chicken.Just as I got into the water, the wind dropped. No go with the 10 at all.

Stood around for a bit looking at the horizon ... decided to pump up the 16. Got onto the water for a 1/2 hour or so having fun, but the wind dropped right off again so I gave up ... started wishing I had the Silberpfeil ... wind picked up a little and I went back out, then after 15 minutes it picked right up again! I swapped the 16 for the 10 and - believe it or not - was nicely powered ... for the most part.

It was gusty as all hell though, and it oscillated between having to work the hell out of the kite (and stalling it a lot) or being over-powered ... in between was great though.

I swear, I did some of the biggest jumps I've ever done too! I only got dropped a couple of times, and thankfully I was near the water anyway. Love the Crossbows! But still got numerous spankings - I just can't cope with the smaller sizes :D although I made enough power out of working it to ride, which was interesting.

Did some back-rolls (causes of the spankings) and some were stylish ... the waves were big and crisp and we actually had quite a lot of flat water in between, due to the beach shape and tide level I guess. Lot less choppy than it has been. There was a nice big spot to the RHS of the concrete pier thing and I got some good jumps off the flat water there. The wind was all over the place though. The kite started doing weird things and around 4:30pm decided to just nose-dive into the surf and refused to launch. I got dragged into shore and had to sort it all out and relaunch from there. Decided I'd had enough so walked back to the landing area ...

Y'know how I'm always going on about how stupid people are and you're probably thinking I'm just being an arsehole? Well get this ... While landing the now floppy kite (water sucked all the pressure out of it!!!) and the assistant struggling to get it over, Mr. Cool, his missus and their two dogs walk back to the carpark - directly into my lines. Assistant is still trying to get the kite under control (it's flopping around over his head) but they just walk straight into my lines then start lifting them over their heads like they've walked into a washing line 0_o thank god he got the kite down cos if it had powered up ... morons.

So despite the bizarre wind, the gustiness and the sucky nose-dive, it was pretty good riding. Some guy even said "Hey Bob nice big jumps!" although I don't know who Bob is ...?!

Moment of the Day was all those times I jumped in front of the white water, boosted up over the wave and rode away on the other side :D the breaking waves had a really funny texture on the backside of it, all rough and lumpy like riding over gravel.

Wind speed was reported at Tsu as 7.1 to 9.0 m/s between 2 and 5pm (up and down) with gusts of 14m/s. I'd say we averaged about more like the 20 knots when I was riding the 10, with frequent gusts above it. I occasionally felt over-powered on the 10 so I'm guessing we actually got 30 knots as the water's edge ...

What I learned today ...
• Small, fast kites + big wind = huge jumps ... easily!
• Despite feeling under-powered at times, I think I chose the right kite - in the end.
• It'll be a Mako King I need.
• Bend at the knees, not at the waist to load the edge. Or at least, don't bend so much at the waist that you drag your ass in the water and kill your jump :(
• Best kites - not so best, actually. Another one flying like it was broken. And that was a brand new model too :o
• Even small kites won't relaunch when they're underwater. And they get soggy too.

Tsu delivers!

2011-08-29T11:45:00.001+09:00

So the weather looked crap on the forecasts but I was desperate, so in a snap decision at 12 I decided to go to Tsu & pray that the wind would pick up in the afternoon, like the guys at the lake were saying the other day. Wife decided to come too ...

Got to the beach at about 2pm ... checked the wind and we were getting 4 to 6 m/s with dips to 2 ... yikes.

A few people I know - Taki, Boofhead, Auntie & Uncle and Junkie-Sensei with his Turbine are here. Bunch of kites I don't know - a poos brown Zephyr and well well a Blade Fat Lady ... nobody is having much luck it seems, they're all walking.

Unpack the Silberpfeil and the Flydoor. Clean up a patch of beach to launch from :o and have at it. It's ok on the starboard tack, current works with me but I'm only holding my ground ... everyone else is walking though ;) wind gradually picks up till we're having a good time and going upwind nicely.

Wife has the camera so I lay down some back rolls (easy now) and attempt exactly 4 front rolls. I get around but land ass-first on 2 attempts, one is utterly perfect (camera missed it of course) and the other one - I boosted too high and although I muffed the rotation, I slowly windmilled around through the jump to land the right way ... it would have been ugly though :o Also came close to landing a few double rotations ... nearly!

So it turned into a pretty good day.

Dropped the kite a couple of times, once on shore but my luck held and I managed to avoid all the boards, rubbish and logs to relaunch without hassle. When it came time to land though, both Boofhead and Uncle conspired to block my landing site and I had to dump it in a spot I hadn't scoped out so when it went messy, I dumped to FDS. Tangled the lines up a bit so decided removing the lines and sorting it like an LEI was the easiest way - which it was - but later the wife said that 2 guys she was sitting near while I was doing this had a conversation that went somethinng like this ..."What's that thing? You ever seen a kite like that?""No.""Looks like a total nightmare, all tangled up - I wouldn't have one."... took me the same time to 'untangle' the bridle as it does to lay out LEI lines. And anyway boys - enjoy your walks? ;)

Moment of the Day was either landing that messy front roll, or starting a back roll at the bottom of a meter or so wave, spinning over the top and riding down the back side ... classy!

Wind speed was recorded as 7 to 13 knots from 1 to 5pm, with gusts to 16 at around 4:30 ... makes sense, that's when I was starting to feel a bit over-powered.

What I learned today ...
• You gotta commit to the rolls - no snap decisions or half-assed attempts.
• Back-rolls - too easy! Now I gotta go HIGHER!
• Still want a Mako for the chop.

Vexing Venturi

2011-08-26T22:48:00.001+09:00

Wind looked good at 1pm but I had to go to the dump and they dicked me around with their brain-damaged system so I didn't get to the lake until 3pm - had to clean the car (ants & termites in the trash!) and repack with kite gear ...

Set out with the Naish Venturi race board - biggest size, 190x70 0_o - on loan from Naish and yadda yadda long story. By the time I got to the lake, the wind had dropped to 6 knots - the SA2 stayed in the sky easily though. Had a tack out on the Flydoor to see what was up - slogging out, slow run back to shore from like 10m out. Got into the water with the race board ...

Yikes what a monster! Big, wide, floaty.Tried to water start with feet in both straps on the windward rail but the tail would sink and I'd get lobbed over the other side. Ended up putting my front foot in the center of the board (riding strapless!) and got a few rides like that but there wasn't enough wind I think.

Put a rear strap in the center and that was easier to get up but still not really riding. At this stage, it has no more bottom end than the Flydoor.Fins feel really draggy, but turn hard when ahem I unbalance myself and turn the board. Easy to kick them under the water. And hitting water weed is like running into a wall. Miyachi reckons it's easier to start with the front foot in, and the rear foot out of the straps and just ahead of them, on the rail. We'll see.

Aside from the frustrations of cutting the toe I dropped a brick on yesterday (!) and dropping the kite in the water, then the board floating into the lines so I couldn't relaunch, I think I'll try it again.

Moment of the Day was non-existent. Pretty dull all round.

Wind speed was recorded as 6 to 4 knots but it was down to 2 I reckon - flag barely moving, couldn't keep the kite in the air without working it ...

What I learned today ...
• Race boards - not as easy as they look like they should be ... I mean really, the thing is as big as an aircraft carrier, it should be child's play!

Skunked but productive ... sorta.

2011-08-24T00:03:00.000+09:00

Looked like enough wind to try a ride on the web cam, so I trotted down to the beach. Got talking to Miyachi and it turns out that all the Naish gear at the club has been sent by Naish Japan to Locus so that the club is a Naish demo place. This includes Parks, Chargers and 3 2012 Venturi's ... so while Miyachi was setting up the biggest one for me, I went to the beach ...

No riding but I also had my anemometer with me so I have some data at least ...

Moment of the Day was getting the biggest Venturi set up just for me!

Wind speed was recorded as 4 to 6 knots. I concur.

What I learned today ...
• The Speed 2.5 Silver Arrow will fly in 1 to 2 knots but you have to work it. Basically, if you can feel the wind, the kite will fly.
• At 4 to 6 knots (solid average of 5 knots) you can get up on a plane but will lose it as you have to turn the kite to re-stroke. I'm thinking a high volume board with float will keep you rolling and let you build up apparent wind ... hence me bugging Miyachi about Venturi.
• That leads me to conclude that at 8 knots I can be riding downwind and by 10 knots holding a beam reach easily, probably going upwind. That my fat ass on the Flydoor XL.

A little bit of ...

2011-08-23T00:07:00.000+09:00

... wind.
... riding.
... walking.
... back loops.
... front loops.
... little jumps - very little.
... back roll transitions.

Huzzah for the Speed2 19!

Moment of the Day was nailing a perfect front roll.

Wind speed was recorded as 4 to 6 knots with gusts to 12. I reckon it was about 8 knots on average; I spent a lot of time working hard to get upwind and even then had to walk. The only people going upwind were the tiny men on giant directionals and the guy on the race board.

What I learned today ...
• Front rolls - you need a good jump and you need to launch vertically and you need to really stomp and jump off the back foot.
• Mind you, same goes for all jumps on the foil. I really lost my mojo lately for just regular jumps.

Why did I bother?

2011-08-20T00:37:00.001+09:00

Cos I couldn't possibly know till after the fact.Went to the lake for the 2pm fun fest of 12 to 16 knots. Got something.

Put up the 16m Xbow. The wind was blowing but it wasn't pushing.
Put up the Speed2 19. Still not enough wind then HOLY CRAP gusty slam invert yoink splash give up.
Got back on the Xbow. A little better but not much - no jumping fun, took all my effort just to get riding.
Wind drops off. Think about putting up the Speed2 again - already packed it up once though.

Wind comes back so I go back out.It's better for a short while and I'm starting to have fun when suddenly I'm over-powered on the Flydoor, so I grab the 'radical but I'm not loving that cos it just sprays in my face non-stop. I go back to grab the Flydoor as the sun is starting to set and get skunked. Can't relaunch the fucking 'bow and now my lines are caught in water weeds underwater so that's fucked.

Wade to shore, now the kite is soggy and covered in sand and my lines are a bunch of knots.It's getting dark, I'm getting bitten by mosquitos ... why did I bother today? I got no satisfaction at all :(

Moment of the Day was the beer when I got home.

Wind speed was recorded as 10 to 14 knots with gust over 20 ... and shifted from NE to NW. Crappy.

What I learned today ...
• LEI can still get soggy and be useless.
• You can recover and inverted Speed2. Thank god.
• Front rolls - still hard.
• Back rolls - dialed in ... maybe. Easier with the 'bows on the redirects that's for sure.
• I'm starting to hate the Flyradical - going to change the footpads around and see if that helps :(

DIY - this time, QR and CL

2011-08-15T14:14:00.003+09:00

Thought I could add the Switch QR/CL to the PL Navigator bars ... a mixed bag of results. Here's why ...

• The QR/CL uses the same double depower rope and safety through the center - that all works fine, plugs'n'plays no worries.

• The PL CL has a larger diameter hole (7 or 8mm versus 5mm) through the body to cope with the heat-shrink that covers the line where the thicker safety joins the thinner safety - that gets stuck at the hole to the Switch QR body. I cut the heat-shrink off and it glides through fine ... the stitching could probably be improved with some whipping if necessary. I tried to drill the hole out - I got it out to 5.5mm but then my drill bits were melting and the tube was deforming :o
• Solution to the hole problem : drill it out (meh) or replace the entire safety line with the 3mm Amsteel. Which makes me wonder why they didn't do that in the first place ...? The only issue I see of NOT drilling it out, is if you go for a shortened V setup - it may not get through easy :(

http://switchkites.com/warehouse_comp/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=67
Oh I've just noticed that they've dropped the Complete QR from their parts page ... so basically, all this is moot. Sucky.
EDIT : back up. Great!

I'll try the whole thing out on a light wind day, anyway. So there you have it. And here are the pics ...

Switch QR/CL

Peter Lynn Navigator QR/CL

The tricky bits ... pull the cam cleat out of the sock, note that the depower line is finished with a square-knot and sheep-shanked to the cleat and that the stopper ball is knotted with a bow-line. Easy o_0
Then undo the square-knot and feed it all out.

Loop the depower line around the swivel in the Switch QR/CL then reassemble. Note the order. And note that the stopping slider block in default configuration has the holes closer together at the bar end ... make sure to get the square-knot and sheep-shank tight and compact.

Finished!

UPDATE

After a bout of paranoia, I went back to the PL chicken loop - the hole through the Switch QR just wasn't big enough and required removal of the heat shrink covering the stitched loops of the safety line to fit through. Which got me worried about wear on the ends ... I should probably find a way to nicely splice them into each other.

In the interim, I've decided that I need to either drill the hole out PROPERLY with a drill press and some lube before I attempt it again.

Also, I've realized that the somewhat bulky and messy (IMHO) cam cleat could be replaced with the Switch "Regulator" and offer adjustable depower throw and trim range :D

... a project for the coming winter ;)

Cabrinha demo day

2011-08-12T00:00:00.001+09:00

Again the forecast didn't promise much but the lake delivered much better. Headed down about 2pm I think, jumped onto the water with the Silberpfeil ... not much wind, fighting to hold my ground and doing even a single roll lost too much downwind for a while. Eventually, the wind picked up to the point where the SA was too much.

Packed it up and stood around hoping to get out with the Cabrinha kites. The 'salesmen' weren't too friendly, and didn't seem interested in talking to people off their own bat - I thought if you're trying to sell a couple grands worth of fabric, you'd be kissing customer ass, not trying to get them to kiss yours ...? Also, note to Cabrinha - you should probably employ people who know the difference between front and rear lines or are at least smart enough to keep their mouths shut instead of trying to be the BMOC around my Flysurfer. Especially, when they can't even relaunch their own kites :o

Thanks to Miyachi and the wife hassling them, I finally got a go on the 2012 Switchblade 14. And then the Crossbow 13 LightWind and finally, the Vector 12 ... here are some thoughts.

&bull; Like the new bar - looks tight. Didn't bother playing with the QR cos daylight was fading ...
&bull; I don't get why everyone at our beach & almost every other kiter with Cabs has Switchblades, except for a few Converts and Nomads and that one other guy in Mie with the Xbow ... the sheeting bar-pressure was as bad as my Xbow 16 (which isn't as bad as the Speed2 19 ...?!? ) and it wasn't that powerful. Didn't really improve much when it was worked. It did turn about it's own axis though, and relaunched the same off the water - dead easy.
&bull; The XB 13 LW on the other hand was lovely - just like mine ;) maybe felt a tad smoother but that might have been just coming from the SB. Much easier to get bigger and longer jumps ...
&bull; the Vector 12 was a surprise - very fast kite ... like, once you let it accelerate in a given direction, it was off like a freakin' rocket! Bit of canopy flutter when redirecting jumps ... the whole thing reminded me of a Charger with less bar pressure. Nice kite, I liked it.

Pretty good, the wind picked up nicely and despite having to chase some guy out from under where I was trying to land the SA2 when over-powered, it was fun. I'm going to be wrecked tomorrow though, my arms are already killing me! The wife had even come down to watch for a while too ...

Got back to the car ... huh, the door is locked I could swear I left my keys in there. Searched the beach, the lake ... nothing. Called the wife, she came back after she'd finished work at 8pm and guess what - she'd left a chocolate goodie on the seat and then locked my door with her keys - sealing mine inside. Doh.

Moment of the Day was busting front and back rolls with no problems at all! Success rate now up to 75% :D

Wind speed was recorded as 8 to 12 knots with a peak of 15 ... hmm, seemed like more than that! I would have guess 20knots in the afternoon ...!

What I learned today ...
• You really gotta explode off the back foot for front rolls - and keep your foot in the strap >_O a few times, the board went whipping around only attached to one foot. Not fun.
• The faster turning foils are ... interesting ... for rotations. I had less success with them in general, but more success with riding away from the good ones as the kite redirects much quicker. There was one time that I pendulumed under the kite as it went from one side of the wind to the other - I like that fine when I'm trying to do BFJ but when I'm spinning under the kite - yikes!

Taking a spin in the light wind

2011-08-10T23:01:00.001+09:00

Damned blogger has lost my entire post :( not impressed again.

In summary ...
Went to lake at 1pm. Played with Charger 19 for an hour - good kite, launched with less than full inflation fairly easily, flies nice in light wind so long as it's moving.
Wind picks up, ride with the Silberpfeil.
Chase off a jet-ski asshole from the swimming area.
Not enough wind to make the big jumps, I see Uncle Pyro doing back rolls so I decide to give rotations a go too.
Start with spinning under the kite during transitions - easy enough. Try with bigger and bigger jumps until I'm either landing or getting close to landing.
Big fun!
Pack up after sunset. Wife was worried cos it was so late.

Moment of the Day was landing my first back roll! The one that felt totally under control, smooth and that I rode away from easily!

Wind speed was recorded as 5 knots when I had the Charger up, 6 knots when I first put up the Silberpfeil and 7 to 14 knots when I was riding with a gust of 20 knots around 3pm. That all seems to fit nicely ...

What I learned today ...
• When going for the BFJs, get your knees up and your weight back - it seems to just point you right at the kite making it VERY easy to control the ride ...!
• Rotations aren't too hard - you have to commit to a solid jump/pop and rotation though. All this was done with the Flydoor - maybe the 'radical will be easier ...?
• SA is nice and slow so doesn't spank me when I mess up the handling ... but so much lift, THAT gives you time to spin around.

Sunset Silberpfeil Special Session

2011-08-08T22:41:00.001+09:00

Looked like a viable light wind afternoon from 1pm till dark on the interweb's forecast so I trotted off to the lake. Got there about 2pm and sat around, had a swim for an hour cos there was no wind. About 4pm I decided to try anyway so set up the Silberpfeil and got in the water ...

Working it downwind, walking back up the beach. I think I did 3 times ... on the last tack out and during the walk back up the beach, I watched Junkie-Sensei unpack a brand new Slingshot Turbine 17m and had jump in the water just before I started going back out. He was making ground upwind so I had high hopes :)

Yes! Upwind finally! I'm parked and flying but Junkie-Sensei is still working the Turbine a little ... seems to me like the big T is very close to the bottom end of the Speed2 19 but the Silberpfeil is still Uber Alles!

So proceeds the afternoon ... I honk about on the SA throwing down my jumps and trying to make ground back upwind. It was tough for a while, the wind was only just ... picked up for a bit towards the end and I was able to easily make ground but ... would lose it all in the jumps :D

Fucking powered paraglider moron - comes down to buzz the beach like they often do. Ok buzz the beach at about 50m up. Must have given him a scare on one of my jumps cos when I looked up at the kite, the PPG was making evasive maneuvers up there to avoid the Silberpfeil. Idiot.

Had reset the front lines to include a bunch of backstall, but was riding around with the kite trimmed a little ... seemed to need it right down at the low end ... hmm. No issues with it, only remember once muffing a turn and having the kite float on me, but grabbing the leader line sorted it out. North Rebel and LF Havoc both went down, unable to relaunch and had to swim for it. Miyachi had trouble relaunching his new 14m RPM too.

Got darker and darker, the YMCA kids came out for a campfire at the other end of the beach, so I showed off to them for a bit before calling it a day and packing up just on dark. Wife was a bit stressed because I hadn't checked it ... but I was having too much fun!

Moment of the Day was a brown pantser - coming back into shore for the last time, thought I'd throw a little jump within a line's length of the beach ... and it turned into a monster boost with a lot of downwind drift 0_o I redirected the kite and edged up thinking I was going to get pulled into the shore - again - but managed to stop within a meter of the beach. Never again :D

Wind speed was recorded as 3.2 to 5.1m/s (6 to 10 knots) from 4 to 7pm, with a peak gust of 8.1m/s at 5. Another wind site recorded 7m/s ... it felt like 10 to 14 knots to me, mostly on the low end of that - I was parked'n'riding but working hard to get upwind and losing a lot when I jumped.

What I learned today ...
• In the build-up to the jump ... with the Speed - dunno about my other kites yet - it's better to load your edge then launch off both feet rather than try a load'n'pop. Much more of a slingshot effect up and out!
• Don't boost jumps close to the shore cos you'll scare yourself when (thank you Mr. Murphy) you get more float than you expected and drift at the shore.
• It's amazing the contortions you'll put yourself through to land a jump and not dunk your Flysurfer :D

Machiya and Me

2011-08-05T21:37:00.001+09:00

Wind looked ok on the forecast and I decided to drive over and brave the rain that might be lurking around - according to the forecast, but not according to the web cam ... arrived about 1pm to clear skies and 20knots. It's supposed to drop off though ...

... so I rig the 13m Crossbow and jump onto the water with the other 3 kiters. Quiet day at the ocean!

At first, I'm nicely powered and having a good time but the wind IS dropping and it's getting harder to boost decent air at all. I'm still able to go upwind ... just. Spend a good time riding around, enjoying the sun, water and waves.

After about 2 hours, the weather makes like it's going to pack in, so I think about packing it in. My back is starting to hurt - being unable to lean against the kite means the harsh impacts from the chop is going straight up my spine.

Moment of the Day is again, drifting across the peak of two waves with my ass just scraping the tops.

Wind speed was recorded as 8.4m/s from 1pm. I got my 16 knots and that felt pretty close to the average ... which means, the 13 is only fun from 20knots on the ocean. Yikes!

What I learned today ...
• Spinning around under a kite, facing back the way you came from - I had a lot of problems with that a while back, and I did it a few times again today. Seems it's the result of improper load and carving upwind and/or bringing the kite down too soon and/or not aggressively enough, letting it pull to the edge of the window.
• Suicide on the Cab bar still pulls a lot - accidentally unhooked after a big prang. Got yoinked downwind.
• You CAN land the Xbow by pulling the front lines, but it'll bobble off downwind a bit - watch out!
• Should've gone with the 16m.

Southerlies at Mie again

2011-07-31T20:22:00.038+09:00

Good looking forecast so we loaded up the car and the wife and I went to Mie - southerlies and salt-water!

Slather myself in sunblock before we leave in the hope that the extra time soaking in will protect me :D load up the car - 2 Flyboards, 1 Silbpfeil and 2 Crossbows. Onward!

Arrive about 1:30pm and the wind looks good! HUGE turn-out! I count 22 kites in the air, on the water and more setting up! The tide is right out and towards the university, a sand bar has created a second beach ... never seen that before. Mind you, I've never seen twenty kites at one spot before either :o

Measured the wind ... 6-ish, gusting regular to 9m/s - 12 to 18 knots. Hmm, tough call - I decide to go with the 16m Crossbow and damn my girly fingers! Lots of sizes out, from 15 to 9 ... TT's and directionals ...

Set up, struggle to find space on the beach. Hook up the GoPro for a change. In the air, into the water! No worries. Nicely powered, good choice ... so far. The big 'bow is slow though and I blow jumps non-stop. Chop seems bad but I get used to it after a couple of hours. There's a nice calm patch of water down one end of the beach - good for proper flat-water load'n'pop to jumps but watch out for the Surf Life Saving swimmer festival thingy.

Have some fun with transitions, 'wave riding' ho ho ho, jumping and water starts - finally getting the "board-is-behind-me-but-I-send-the-kite-and-pop-out-and-ride-away" nailed and the wife got one on video! I'm showing off for the camera - or trying to - so there's good entertainment value in the wipe-outs. After about 90 minutes, I slam a good one and the GoPro comes off the lines. Ride in and try to sort it out on the beach but my lines get tangled around boards that people have dumped all over the beach >:( decide to give the GoPro to the wife, have a drink then go back out.

Wind has steadily picked up during the day and I'm starting to feel over-powered. I'm also getting tired, so my pops are weak and I'm getting spanked cos I can't put the effort into controlling things. Then the wind picks up more and I'm getting lofted from just sheeting in ... I decide to call it a day. I'm one of the last on the water anyway ;) pity, cos I was finally getting in the groove dealing with the chop - either that or the wind was blowing it flat.

Come in, pack up and a local goes out on a 2011 Crossbow 13 ... I get my anemometer from the car - constant 10m/s gusting to 15! No wonder I was over-powered! Glad I made the effort to go, even though I felt a bit wrecked and burned from the day or so before.

Moment of the Day was losing my hat then finding it a half hour later ... only to lose it again!

Wind speed was recorded as 7.0 to 9.9 m/s, with a peak gust of 13.4m/s at 5pm, just after I packed it in. I was recording up to 15.4 at that time ...

What I learned today ...
• Rubbing sunblock into your hair WILL protect your scalp - I lost my hat but didn't get burned. Best to lay down a nice thick base before you head out too ...
• 'Drying' out the GoPro in the car's air con is the recipe for fog-free recording - at least on the line mount.
• No matter how steady, secure and free-moving the tripod, Cameraman O can still make it look like it was operated by a palsied drunk in an earthquake. Crikey.
• It's time to try rotations. Body made some attempts but brain aborted before the launch.
• 16m isn't as bad as I thought it was - maybe I was just out of shape. Hands hurt and have callouses though ...!
• Sharks - still awesome!
• Jumps go better if you're facing the direction you're going ... just be aware of the kite position, don't let it get too far behind you.

3-kite marathon!

2011-07-29T23:03:00.000+09:00

Hurt my back 2 weeks ago - first day of the holidays FFS so laid up for a while ... thank god it was only pulled muscles - I hope! - so am back, looking for a fix. Forecast let us down the past week or so - Thursday even had the cheek to switch it around to southerlies! - and today wasn't looking any better ... 8 knots forecast at 12pm. Checked web-cam at 11:30 and it looked ok so I headed down to the lake ...

Got on the water about 12pm - I'm the only one there. I'm riding with the Silberpfeil, but they're downwinders ... walk up the beach a few times. Which is cool, cos riding at all is better than not riding and the water is buttah flat! Found a stag beetle on its back at the shore so rescue it cos hey I'm just that nice. Funny little buggers, very cute with their dopey-looking eyes-on-stalks and he didn't want to bite me or whatever they do, so I put him on the dry sand and left him to it ...

That was about as exciting as it got for what felt like an hour or so, until the wind picked up and I started having some Yee-hah! fun. Jumps and fun ... it's all good!

WTF moment of the day - my spreader bar unhooks itself so I'm only half hooked into the kite ... can't hold it at full power so I drop the kite at the edge of the window and sort the harness out. I think the lock-clasp got knocked out and me adjusting the straps somehow upset it ... doh! Now, the kite. it's in a bit of a mess, sitting wing-tip on -tip so I swim around trying to get some wind under it. Eventually get it to reverse launch position but my impatience twists it up again ... more messing around but finally get it back in the air! WTF again ... and am now miles from my board - can't see it at all. Drag back upwind and there it is! Keep riding.

Now I'm overpowered - dangerously, I reckon - any sheeting in results in a lofting. I land the SA2 on the FDS and back it up. Head back to the car and grab the Flyradical and the Crossbow 13. By now, a few people have arrived and it's about 2:30pm. Enough time before work for another session :D Pump up, launch and go out with the Flydoor but the 13 isn't up to the job ... ride around for a bit working the hell out of it but I'm not having fun. Land it, go BACK to the car and get the Crossbow 16. Repeat ...

Start out nicely powered and having fun but now the wind's picked up and I have to depower the kite - I'm on the Flyradical and it's still too much. Well not really cos I stay out till I pack up at 5pm-ish :D

Man, the bar pressure is killing my hands! I gotta replace this kite! Compared to the 13, it's a joke. Compared to the Flysurfer Speed2 - known for bar pressure - it's nowhere near as bad! It's not the turning that's the problem, it's the holding the bar in! I get some OK jumps in but I bet they'd be better with the 13. Get myself spanked a few times too which is always entertaining ... but I'm going to be sore tomorrow. And it seems the sunblock has worn off so I'm going to be even more sore ... whee.

Back it up like a broken old man and hobble back to the car ... it's 5:40pm and I have to be at work at 7:30pm, fed, showered and shaved - thank god I only live 20 minutes from the lake :D

Moment of the Day was not having to swim in with the SA. And it not drifting into the buoy with the gardening pole on top 0_o

Wind speed was recorded as 4 to 10 knots, averaging around 8 knots for most of my session and peak gust at 4pm of 16 knots. What a pile of crap - it had to be around 15knots for most of my LEI session! I reckon 15 to 20 when I was on the 16 cos it was mad and I really should have gotten the 13.

What I learned today ...
• Be more thorough when applying sunblock :(
• I need to replace the 16m Crossbow - my hands are shredded!
• Need to tune the SA to sort out the line lengths ... start with the depower rope though - I think it's stretched.
• Man, I gotta work on the skills with the Flyradical ... just didn't feel connected to it at all eh :(
• Another flawless session with the 720-armour Sharks - my, they're great!

Tea-bag Transitions

2011-07-15T20:04:00.004+09:00

First Saturday off work in a long time but there's no wind at the lake forecast, but there is some at the ocean in Mie. It's supposed to be much the same as the other day I went and that hardly blew my skirts up so I spend the morning humming and harring about it. Normally, there'd be NO humming at all but with the boo-boo on my toe, it's kinda hard to walk ... but in the end I just figure WTH it's gotta be better than sitting in front of the TV!

So I jump in the car about 1pm, suffer the traffic - seriously, who reads a newspaper while trying to drive? oh fat-ass in the shit-box in front of me does - and finally get to the beach around 2:30pm ... oh goody, continuing the theme of being surrounded by annoying half-wits - the local university students have decided to have beach parties to celebrate a whole winter of not dumping rubbish on the beach so there's hordes of 20-somethings running around screaming like they're fresh out of day-care and the mommies are having a tea-break :-/

Sigh.

Big turn-out though, there's a bunch of kiters and a couple of windsurfers ... Boofhead is there, Junkie Sensei is on the water and Granpa is in the carpark so we have a chat - Hironobu is in Tokyo for school tests (?) so he's on his own and reckons I need 'that white thing' today. I measure 5 to 6 m/s so I agree with him, but I'm a bit nervous about unrolling the precious session-saver on the trash strewn beach with crowds of retards around and then trying to ride in the light wind on a choppy ocean ... well at least the tide is out and I can see that damn pipe I chopped my shins and toe on, and the waves aren't so huge.

Have to head down the beach a lot further than usual to get some clear space to unpack and roll out the lines - not much open space with sand to weight the tip here ... but we get set up and launch eventually and onto the water.

Wind is ok, nicely powered so it's all smiles and cackles as I take a few tacks quietly to settle my nerves. Ocean is a lot flatter than it has been but it's still hard keeping up board speed through the chop ... day dreams of a Mako.

Relaxed now so I start trying to do some jumps but the board speed isn't there and can't get the timing so I give up and play silly buggers. Load'n'pops are monster big but the landings are harsher than proper jumps! Playing with slide transitions and toeside riding and even have a crack at aerial transitions. That leads to some falls and stalls of the kite but some canty line-pulling keeps the beautiful white tractor in the sky and off the water!

Also play with the trimming to try and see if sorting out the line lengths would improve things ... no, seems like it pulls harder with the stretch left in but I bet that's gonna kill the top end. But that's not what the Silberpfeil is for though, is it? Backstalls a lot more though when the wind drops right off. Better email John ...

Wind is up and down so I'm alternating going way upwind and then riding parallel to the beach - and ending up having to ride through the middle of the surfers. After I spray one of them I figure I better just change tack before I ride through them again and work my way upwind. Dodging windsurfer riding along at less than crawling pace is always entertaining too.

Water is so warm that my hands are starting to look like I've been sitting in the bath for too long. My legs are starting to get tired so now I'm pretty much just riding around ... the only other kiter out there is Auntie's Husband on his new 14m RPM and he too is mowing the lawn. Poor old Auntie can't ride on her 12 and still has no luck when she swaps it for the RPM. Huh! He must have some mad lightwind skills or weigh even less than her :o

Finally decide to pack it in around 6pm cos I'm tired and the wind is really on the bottom end of no fun. Reverse land the Silberpfeil ... as I'm securing it, a local kiter comes over to help land but I wave him off - you never know what they'll do with foils ... just as well I did too cos he says "I've never seen that kind of kite before, who makes it?" o_0

Good day, better than working! Ice blocks on the way home!

Wind speed was supposed to be 6.1 to 5.6 m/s for the time I was at the beach with a peak of 8.6 m/s at a quarter to 5. When I got my anemometer out at about 3pm I was reading just on 5 to just over 6 m/s ... compare that with the 6.1 that was posted at 3pm ... it's gotta be an average, eh!

Moment of the Day was discovering "tea-bag transitions" were fun but not as fun as the big boost up the face of the wave with a perfectly timed send for massive long hang time and float ...!

What I learned today ...
• Even almost no waves is still worse than the lake. Ma-aaaaaako!
• Aerial transitions on the SA - tough. You gotta muscle it around hard and fast and edge hard or it stalls.
• Get onto it and pull a rear line ASAP and you'll save even a tip through the bridle!
• Sure, foils are more work to keep flying than the LEIs but the pay-off - how you enjoying the walks, fellas?
• Tea-bag Transitions - send it back and lift your legs so you dip your bum just a bit in the water ... or float above surface ass-down like erm a tea-bag.

Stinky & The Dumbass

2011-07-14T21:53:00.004+09:00

For some odd reason, the boss insisted I take a holiday in July. For an odder reason, I decided to take it on a day with no work scheduled. Dumb.

Wind was supposed to be good enough at Machiya in Mie Prefecture so I drove over there and arrived about 2:30pm. 4 to 5 m/s and it's supposed to pick up from 3 to 6pm to 6 or 7 m/s - that's 10 knots, picking up to 14. Drifting in on the ocean breeze is the stink of fish and seaweed. I don't really notice it though cos I left my t-shirt and shorts in the car overnight and they started to brew - so everything around me stinks!

Pumped up the 16m Crossbow, hauled out the Flydoor. Little locals were riding ok on directionals and 12m kites so I should be good. Even rigged up the GoPro ... maybe that's what jinxed it.

Not enough wind. Slogging back'n'forth like a dumb ass. Sigh. Gonna have to risk the Silberpfeil on this grotty beach ... gah.

Unpack the white monster and out I go again ... holding ground but it's a bit lully - I'm not having a lot of fun. Milk it for as long as I can then come back in and wait for a bit. Impress the locals (both of them!) with big long floaty jumps on the beach, then go back out.

Nothings improved though. I got some riding jollies though so I'm not frustrated or disappointed - but I was hoping to capture some video of big air!

As I'm heading into the beach for the last time, I stop about 1m from the sand and get off the board. I'm walking into shore, holding my board and LOOKING into the water and I suddenly stumble over something sharp and hard - it's a barnacle encrusted concrete drainpipe lurking below the surface of the ocean, totally invisible. No warning sign, buoy or even a rotted post that once held a sign ... for a country like Japan that has warning signs on everything - roads are so cluttered with reflecting signs, barriers, posts, lumps, bumps, stickers ... you gotta wonder who let the side down here :-/

I've barked my shins and taken a big chunk out of my toe, sliced off about 4cm square from the side and bottom. Yum yum. Hobble up the beach and back-stall land the kite ... I'm counting that as an 'injury' cos it's going to be uncomfortable and bleed into my socks for a few days :D

Now, as I'm eyeing up the best way to land the Silberpfeil - use the washed up tree stump to secure the chicken loop and risk the kite on a very dirty part of the beach or put a stick in the ground and leave the kite on the nice soft grass - Uncle Peabrain decided he's going to fly his powered paraglider ... he's setting up on the area where we pump out kites up - you could lay out about 4 kites without too much fuss, 6 if you pack 'em in like sardines. Which would be fine, but there's a tree stump in the middle, a little fence of looped 10mm steel at the beach side, a chain link fence and public toilets on the other, palm trees to the left and power lines to the right.

Somehow, he manages to get it all rigged up but he can't get the wing into the air so it bounces around the area for a while, wrapping around tree stump, narrowly missing the powerlines but avoiding the trees. He's having trouble controlling the wing without knocking the throttle for the motor o_0 but eventually, it's up and he's trying to run down the stairs to the beach and launch - directly over our 3 parked kites ...! His motor stalls as he gets about a meter up at the bottom of the stairs and about 3m from running over our kites, so he drops the wing - over the concrete stairs and the little fence - then drags it all back up to the pump-up area. And does it all again.

This time he gets into the air. It sounds like he got it done in a hurry but all us kiters were just standing there gaping at him for about 15 minutes.

The fun isn't over ... I waddle around packing up for about a half hour and Uncle Chucklehead has come back once to buzz the beach at about 3m off the ground 0_o before he sets himself up on finals - over some trees, dodges one and then touches down between 2 others, leaving a couple of meters between his wingtips.

Note, he did this in the middle of an area with 4 kiters, people walking along the beach path, a couple of guys on scooters going back'n'forth and a guy with a Rescue canoe. Unbelievable. The short time I've been that close to PPG's in Japan, I've seen that dicktard and another one in Hamamatsu try to fix a fractured propeller with - I kid you not - string and ducktape. Not to mention the guys who buzz the kite beach at the lake ...

Ok rant over ...

Wind speed was recorded as 9 to 11 knots with gusts up to ... 14 an hour before I got on the water. Lame.

Moment of the Day was finding my favourite ice block - frozen orange or pineapple juice - in the shops in Mie. They've stopped selling them here which drives me insane.

What I learned today ...
• I need about 5 more knots of wind, say 2 to 3 m/s, to get the same jollies on the ocean as I do on the lake - 9 knots at Locus would be pretty good fun but it was the worst kind of lawn-mowing on the ocean. I'm betting cos it's so hard to get & keep board speed. The winds were clean too, less gusty than the lake :(
• It's quicker and cheaper to take the local roads to Machiya.
• Flysurfer is good. All hail Flysurfer. Another session saved - I wouldn't have been riding at all.
• I want a Speed3 12 and 21. Then my kite collection will be complete. No really.

Whee!BoingVer2.0

2011-07-05T21:44:00.009+09:00

Forecast was looking like 10 to 15 knots so it was all go for the lake. Thinking it'd be a 16m Crossbow kind of day, with the Flyradical and the GoPro on the new KiteHero board mount. Checked the webcam at 4pm and Grandpa was out on his 9m ... crikey!

Got to the lake about 4:30 after spending 120 seconds screaming at the unnecessary roadworks that drive up my blood pressure and fuel taxes and peaked through the trees ... people were coming in on their 11's and 10's and going on 7's :o all I have in the boot is my 16 & 13m Crossbow ... this could be fun.

Put the 13 on my back, the Flyradical under one arm and the Flydoor under the other - options, you know. Head over the road, pump up, gaze with deer-in-the-headlight eyes at the wind ... crikey! Good turn out today, pretty busy out on the water. Lot of kites on the beach too. The Slingshots seem to have been breeding too - there like 3 RPM's now. The Master of Disaster is boosting huge airs and "woohoo!"ing - it's the one thing he does half-good, aside from taking people out.

Auntie tries to talk me out of launching the 13 but I convince her that I am NOT going home for my 10 - and anyway, I've cheated and rigged the kite on the last knots of the rear-lines' bridle :D yes I know I know ... thank you Plummet & Peter. Forecast was supposed to peak at 4pm then drop off at sunset - which it did so I feel vindicated.

It's a very odd thing ... there's a heap of wind, the kite pulls hard but also depowers at a twitch of the wrist. Hmm, should have gone for the regular knots cos I'm constantly pulling the bar in. Oh well, too late - get riding while the riding is good.

Big jumps both directions, I got my mojo on and am having mad fun going as hard as I can, landing what feels like most of them and riding the waves. The small board is still giving me trouble though, it's so not the 'door :D Wind is gusty and the water is choppy but it's great fun!

Get spanked once or twice, can't remember why now but I do remember getting slapped by the water and thinking "Hey that felt just like falling off the 3m diving board!". Get some nice toeside riding in and smack a few wave-faces with accompanying cackles. Got a few really good aerial transitions in too, starting off as a 2m jump then sending it back ...

Damned GoPro lens has a fog spot in the center grr seriously annoying. I leave it and it seems to be clearing so I forget about it. Then a bit later I notice the camera is showing "999" files. Have a fiddle, get an SOS so a corrupt file is jacking it up. Bah! bet I need to put a bit of high-density foam under the mount for the shocks ... hope I can recover some film from it!

Wind is dropping now, been cracking-on for about 90 minutes ... people are starting to pack up - Wha-aaat! I head into the shore to reset my attachment points. Still too weak, so I jump on the Flydoor. Ah, that's better! Get another hour or so in; initially, some nice big air but the wind's still dropping. At sunset, it's only me and Soh out but I'm pretty hammered so I bring it in, self-land cos it's just me on the beach. Soh keeps trying but he's only down-winding it.

What a kick-ass evening! Much more wind than forecast but I'm kinda glad I didn't have the 10m after all ...

Windspeed was reported at 25 knots at 4pm falling to 10 knots around 8pm but it felt like more than that :D

Moment of the Day was discovering that sending the kite across the zenith fast, sheeting in hard generates a new style of water start - pop up and out like a champagne cork :D well it was a tie between that and "ollie"ing up the face of a 'breaker' and sorta blasting through the white-wash at the top ...

Shot from the upcoming theatrical release ...

What I learned today ...
• When using the board mount for the GoPro - point it away from the sun you dumbass :(
• Still need to put desiccant thingies in the case ...! FFS
• If you mess up the take-off and feel yourself starting to rotate, you can choke it off by not sending the kite back so far.
• When sending the kite back for a change of direction, send it AGGRESSIVELY or it just won't work.
• Pop-up water starts ...!
• Needed my Sharks :(

Sour Sole Session

2011-06-30T21:07:00.006+09:00

:(

Forecast was almost identical to yesterday ... but didn't live up to expectations. I took the SA2 and the Flydoor and Flyradical to the lake beach just in case the wind got up, but I think I jinxed it.

I got maybe two tacks upwind, the rest I spent walking and standing on sharp things like fish skeletons, weird caltrop seeds and glass. Didn't get much riding in, got even fewer jumps and even though we waited and waited, nothing eventuated.

Sigh. Still, the water was cool after a blistering hot day in the "office" with no air-con at all ... 36 degrees outside, I hate to think what it was inside ...!

Windspeed was reported as 4 to 5 knots between 4 and 8pm. I think we got a touch more, albeit briefly. 2.0 to 2.6 m/s ...

Moment of the Day was riding upwind past Soh, waving in a stately manner :D

What I learned today ...
• Balance on the board can have a big effect on low-wind boardspeed ... and thus, how well you go upwind.
• Gusts as the wind shifts direction can still upset the Silberpfeil and ...
• You can't ride through the gusts!

Sweet Soul Session

2011-06-29T22:15:00.018+09:00

Finally, some northerlies! Forecast looked weak - 10 knots - but I headed to the lake anyway.

Dragged the Silberpfeil and the 16m Crossbow over to the lake (in case the actual wind went either way) and tucked the Flydoor under my arm ... wind was bad when I got on the beach - about 4:45pm - and looking out at the lake, the 5pm 10-knot front didn't look like it was coming so I unpacked the SA2. Put it in the air and hit the water straight away ... may as well get wet and cool!

Was riding, but not going upwind. Tack out, back in, walk it up, get back in the water, oh hello the wind is up! We all start riding it out, but only the little guy on the Slingshot RPM 14 and I are going upwind.

I proceed to have a great time, riding toe-side, monster load'n'pops and working hard on timing the jumps properly. Finally getting it sorted! Boost from the SA in this low wind is impressive ...! I go down the other end of the 'bay' to show-off to the windsurfers but end up looping around and splashing down ... but the kite is still waiting for me when I surface! Boy-oh-boy it's so much better behaved since I got it all tuned up! I manage to get upwind enough to get back across the river mouth and onto 'our' side of the beach ...

LEIs out were the 2011 SS RPM 14, Best Waroo 14 and directional, Cab Switchblade 12 x2, Naish Park 14, LF Havoc 14 ... Poor old Master of Disaster on the Park couldn't even get up on a plane :o he's one of the bigger locals though - Auntie and Taki on the SB's are probably less than 60kg each! Soh on the Havoc was riding but only downwind ... he's no lightweight either though, I think he said 75kg.

A very enjoyable evening - just the mellow, satisfying experience I've been needing. I pack it in as the sun sets and the wind dies off again ...

Windspeed was recorded as 3.2 to 4.3 m/s (6 to 9 knots) from 5 to 8pm. Seems about right - I'm riding downwind at 6, upwind easily at 8 ...

Moment of the Day was finally getting the timing right jumping the SA2 in light winds, sending it from 2 o'clock and kicking a hole in the sky! Enough time up there to think "Holy crap! I'm up high!" and balanced correctly so I could take one hand off the bar, make the 'rock on!' horns hand sign thingy and scream "WOO HOO!" at Soh - just as I reached the zenith of the jump :D

What I learned today ...
• Cost for tune-up at powerzonekitesports.com - well worth the money! Including shipping :) the stability when I mess things up now is just awesome!
• Timing for jumping the slow ol' bus - bear-off downwind a bit, pull the bar back the other way, start loading the edge again as the kite goes up, pop the edge and pull on the bar when you feel the lift ... redirect HARD as you just start to drop.
• Don't show-off :D
• Sheeting in on a load'n'pop increases the height and extends the hang-time ... a lot!
• Riding toe-side ... slowly getting there.
• You don't necessarily need white-caps to ride the Silberpfeil successfully - but it's a very fine line at the bottom end ...

South Seas

2011-06-26T21:05:00.049+09:00

More southerlies, but this time including a little bit of east which puts it onshore at Machiya Beach, near Tsu city in Mie. Hummed and harred for a while - have a very stiff left thigh from Thursday's efforts at Hamamatsu - but decided to suck it up and just do it!

Left home at 12pm, aiming to be there and on the water in time for peak wind at 2pm. Almost worked out that way but we stopped for a bit of lunch on the way so it was about 1:45 when we arrived.

Checked the wind (6 - 10 m/s) and checked what others were riding. Good turn out, probably half the people were Locus locals! Bunch of windsurfers too ... is it just them or do they not go upwind very well?

Most people were on 9 to 11m kites but were on directionals so I put up the 13m Crossbow and the Flydoor. I was nicely powered for most of the next 2 and a half hours on the water, only really getting spanked by the gusts in the last 1/2 hour.

Wife had her camera - and a tripod, for all the difference that made - so I started playing silly buggers. Still having a hard time with the timing of the jumps but got a few good ones in and on film ... kinda. Had to land a few toe-side (going to starboard) cos I messed them up but I was either too tired or lazy to do that going to port so I just splashed down a lot.

Had a great time playing with wave riding, actually riding the board & using the kite rather than being pulled along by the whim of the kite. Pretty tough to do anything really on the Flydoor which got me thinking about the Mako again - as did bouncing off all the chop too!

So it was a lot of just riding around and trying to jump or ride waves. Glad I went though, and didn't let a stiff leg (just one?) turn me off ...

Wind picked up right at the end, as I began to get tired and got some good spankings. Trimming the kite to cope was unsuccessful as it was too hard to hold a fast tack, so I needed instant power from the kite; but cock it up, and it whacked me.

Windspeed was recorded as 14 to 20 knots, max gust 27 knots, from JMA. I measured 14 to 20 when I arrived but the wind picked up towards 4 unclock which wasn't recorded on the website.

Moment of the Day was riding up the face of a wave, popping a little jump (more of a hover) just before the top then skimming my bum on the peaks of the launch and the landing wave, riding down the back of the second one!

What I learned today ...
• Might need that Mako King after all ...
• Water was warm, wind was cool, glasses didn't fog at all. Hurrah Sharks!
• Licking the lenses isn't a successful way of cleaning them though :(
• As with the 16m, the 13m gets twitchy at the upper end of it's actually flying limits - which I think is about 30 knots - as opposed to the limit to where it can be used by fatties.
• I'd say that 15 to 20 knots, give or take a few knots, is the butter zone for the 13 - I had great fun on it till the wind picked up at the end of my session.
• Need to work on adjusting the fit of the harness - I'm getting massive sperlunking again :(
• Charlie Chaplin! Heels close, toes out! Best edge control.

Sorry Boss can't work cos (insert excuse)

2011-06-23T20:59:00.001+09:00

Got up, got ready to go to work but there was a good stiff breeze out there ... I thought about the impending heavy workload today - after 3 days solid of heavy work loads with no air-con in 35-degree-C classrooms - and then I thought "The hell with that!" I got a Starbucks coffee, called the boss and supplied my pre-suggested excuse. "I gotta go to the Immigration office - just like I warned I might need to last week."

Went home, hit the interweb and looked for the best wind. Looked like Hamamatsu so I loaded up the K-wagon and hit the highway ...

Got to Maisaka about 12:30pm and was glad to see other kites in the sky. Good wind blowing and I got a burst of butterflies as I got out of the car ... checked the wind with anemometer and it was reading 12-18 knots cross on-shore. Checked what the locals were riding - 9's to 12's - so I decided on the 13m Crossbow and my big board cos the surf looked a bit big.

Set up on the beach near the carpark and then walked to the water. Excellent beach, miles of space! There were about 6 or 7 other kiters there, a couple of windsurfers and a few surfers.

The waves ... they are big. Oh crap. There's about 5m of very shallow water to the first breaker, maybe a half meter, that floods the shallow bit ... I put board on feet just after the breaker washes through, dive the kite and ride out through the waves. Oh wow that was easy I must've gotten the hang of dealing with waves, thinks I.

Head out through the breakers and WOW the swells are big too! I'm disappearing down the troughs and then riding up the faces of swells that are over my head :o big fun is popping off the top and floating downwind :D

Man what a battering I'm taking ... I'll never complain about chop on the lake again! The kite feels like I should be over-powered but I'm having to sine the kite just to get some board speed - then the chop kills it all. Having an impossible time setting up jumps so they all suck :( there's no flat water and the waves are at the wrong angle to boost off good. I throw some weakness into the air but it isn't cool ... load'n'pops result in large-ish jumps and long floats downwind, so there must be some power in the kite! Frustrating.

I'm holding ground and going upwind though, which is a first for Maisaka. In fact, everyone else seems to be going downwind ...??? I've got the ocean to myself. Mostly - have to take care the windsurfers aren't in my way before I try jumping ...

Flydoor works good in the "gusty" conditions and kind of surfs down the waves too :D

Wind drops off, I head back in to the beach before I'm too underpowered to get back without walking ... and I need a drink. Take some water, chat to the guy who used to live in Kyoto and we decide that the wind is going to pick up when that there front comes in and the total lack of wind now is temporary. He sets up his 14, I set up my 16.

I launch and to try it out. I'm guessing 8 knots at best. At the water's edge, I get the beat-down by the waves and have a hell of a time getting the board on my feet and out from the breakers ... would've made a good film but the wife was working fnar fnar! I'm out on "flat" water but there's no wind to be had so I turn back in ... finally get a burst of board speed and ride in for a few minutes and it's just when I look back and around me that I realize I've been riding in on a wave! Awesome!

OMG it's the shore - whaddoIdo? WhaddoIdo? Ah, fall over, ditch the board and struggle to get on my feet, chase the board as it floats down the in the rip tide ... then walk back to carpark base camp.

Stand around with the kite up and wait for the NEXT front to roll in. It brings white-caps with it, this one does. Neat-o. Starting to feel the wind now so I head back out.

Again, I get smacked around, spun around trying to get the board on. Get up and moving but Lassie the Freestyler has decided she'll enter the water 10m downwind of me so I've got to be careful getting biffed around by waves so I don't wrap my lines around hers ... FFS I'd be trying to get board on for 5 minutes - did she not notice me thrashing around?
"Safety in Japan - it's ok, everyone else is looking out for me."

Finally get rolling - the waves are bigger, the swells are bigger holy fuck! The wind is the same gusty punchy crap though ... I'm holding ground though so I work hard on the big purple monster. The heavy bar pressure is a drag ... hmm time for a Zephyr? Still can't get the jumps right ... do a lot of low long floats downwind. Play with riding waves - what fun! Go in to shore too far and have to do some fancy (for me) riding to avoid being sloshed by the breakers - what fun! Legs are starting to burn - what fu... no, time to call it a day - got a 3 hour drive if there're no traffic jams on the way home ...

Head in, pack it up, start the drive home about 4:45 and get home about 7:45. Great day! Much better than working :D

What I learned today ...
• Riding in the ocean - much harder than on the lake!
• Need to be more powered on the ocean. Bollocks to float, it doesn't help at all.
• Surface conditions (massive swells) meant there was no wind low down - better to gently sine the kite near the top of the window.
• Chop. It's not what we have on the lake!
• There's no real point in driving all the way to Maisaka unless you're desperate - it's not that good really.
• If I went to the ocean more, I'd get a directional or a Mako. I won't so I can now forget about the Mako :D
• Don't forget to take your own fresh water for washing stuff :-/ that's why you bought the 20L tank innit?

Lessons Learned

2011-06-14T22:36:00.000+09:00

Oh joy! Kick-ass forecast for today and the whole day, the wind was rockin'! Webcam looks awesome - so awesome in fact, that I go home at lunchtime to pick up the 10m Crossbow, dump the Silberpfeil and even consider the 7m Core :o

Chaffing at the bit; finally, work finishes and I race down to the lake and ... 10-12 knots!!! Oh give me a break :(

I unpack the Psycho4 15 and the Flydoor and hit the water ... hmm. This kite's a bit different. Back-stall central :( I pull the trim in a bunch and finally get up on a plane. Kite is very sensitive to sheeting in - something's gonna need a look at it! Manage to get some nice jumps in but then the wind has dropped more and I'm riding downwind. Walk up the beach - the P4 is real stable - and land, pack up and pump up the 16m Crossbow.

Pah! Just enough wind to get moving now and it's dropping even more :( Slog around on the 16 but this is not fun! Give up and land the kite. Stand around talking with Soh and Hironobu waiting for the wind, but give up about 6:30.

Could have been better, but at least I got some time on the Psycho4 - now I need to tune it a bit!

Windspeed was reported at 10-12 knots on the beach and 8 to 10 knots on the web. Pah!

What I learned today ...
• When The Fattest Kiteboarder in Japan also has The Most Powerful Kite in Japan, then you're a total jackass to leave it at home - EVER! The Silberpfeil is about to take up permanent residence in my boot!
• P4 15 - somehow, the jumps are just smoother when you're in the air, than the LEIs are ... feels more like flying rather than erm hanging under a kite :o
• P4 15 again - pulls like a 13 (so far) but also turns just as fast. VERY easy to jump with, it's just like the LEIs except smoother YOINK and longer AAH!
• Might need to Seal'n'Glide the P4 - seemed to deflate fast when I landed it on the beach. Faster than the SA2 and I thought THAT needed treatments!

"Optimism, Captain!"

2011-06-13T10:23:00.000+09:00

We had a nice wind blowing all day at work, about 10km further north up the lake from Locus. First time I check the webcam in the afternoon - there's freakin' nothing at the Locus beach ...! I keep an eye on it till knock-off time but no change at all! Decide to head down anyway.

Sit on the lake beach with all the other junkies waiting for something to change. It slowly picks up by about 5:30pm and so I decide to unpack "that white thing" as the locals call it ... it launches and kinda flies so I noodle around on the beach. Wind picks up a tiny bit more, so I try the board out ...

... I can get up on a plane but when I have to work the kite again on an upstroke, I'm sinking. I walk back up the beach. Keep playing around for a bit then suddenly, the wind starts making an impression on the back of my head!

Jump in the water and lo! I'm up and riding! Sure I'm going downwind but I'm riding :D by the time I've made a few tacks and run down the beach, started the walk back up Hironobu has hit the water with his Naish Park 14, Uncle Pyro has launched his Best Waroo 14 and that other guy is pumping up his Cult 12 like a madman. Brother Chubby gets his 15m Bandit up in a hurry too.

I get back on the butter-smooth water behind Hironobu but I'm making better ground upwind than him! Hail the Silberpfeil! Same vein; we continue to ride downwind a lot but the wind eventually picks up enough that I can make a couple of tacks upwind :o do some silly small jumps - I'm underpowered but happy to be riding. I'm still making more ground upwind than the other though - gotta love the SA2 and the Flydoor! They're the only reason I'm riding, I'm sure.

Wind finally dies right as the sun slips behind the hills; Hironobu had landed his kite already but the other guys all hindenburg like erm the Hindenburg although Uncle Pyro manages to keep his Waroo up by running backwards on the beach - but it too eventually hits the floor. I walk upwind with "that white thing" in the air.

Well, it was better than watching TV.

JMA reported the windspeed as 6 knots. I dunno what to believe cos reported 10 knots at 3pm when there was NOTHING on the webcam - not even a flag twitch.

What I learned today ...
• bottom end for riding on the SA - pretty freakin' low!
• I'm a sad junkie :D

Post-work mad-dash

2011-06-11T12:00:00.002+09:00

Feckin' work ... if it didn't pay for toys, I just wouldn't even bother eh. Forecast was iffy - conflicting reports on all weather sites so I hoped for the best and rushed down when I finished work at 5pm ...

... got to the lake at 5:30 and tried to figure out what kite I needed. I erred on the side of caution and took the Crossbow 13 to the beach, with the Flyradical & the Flydoor ... I really wanted to take the Psycho4 15 or the Crossbow 16 but chickened out. Should have banked on the wind dropping towards sunset, like it usually does though :(

So I pumped up the kite (damned pressure gauge I bought doesn't work on the Cab Sprint cos of the one way valve!) and hit the water with the Flyrad. Just powered enough for some fun but soon I'm working the kite hard. Back to shore, swap for the 'door. Better.

Cruising around, going upwind, doing some jumps, testing the Sharks 2.0, having some fun!

I'm landing more jumps now - like, all of them :D it's the post-landing ride away that I screw up most often now ...? Jump, land, ride away for a few meters then SPLASH ... uh? Anyway, all good fun.

Wind dies off and I'm working the hell out of the kite just to ride downwind and walk back up the beach. Sun is setting, so I pack up ... got to have a close looks at the 10m 2011 Slingshot RPM and the bar - very nice! Very light :o excellent colours and the bar looks good ... not 100% sure about the external bungy as the safety return mechanism though ...

JMA recorded the wind speed as 5 to 6 knots ... which SO can't be correct! I think weather-gpv.info offered 8 to 10 knots which sounds more likely.

What I learned today ...
• Sharks Version 2.0 are just as good as the first model - and they float!
• My sense of what the wind is doing is way off :( keep underestimating the kite I need ...
• Sending the kite WAY back is great fun - big ol' swing action going on :)

Saved by the Flysurfer!

2011-06-06T22:37:00.003+09:00

Been watching the forecasts like a hawk - as usual. Saturday and Sunday promised a little low wind but were total washouts - Saturday, the wind never shifted from southerlies and Sunday, the wind never picked up enough to be ridable. Everyone said Monday was going to be the day ...

Kept an eye on the webcam and the forecast ... was going to be light wind but looked ridable so I headed down after work. Looks like another job for - Flysurfer! Out comes the Silberpfeil, and I drag the Psycho4 15 over to the beach - just in case. I also take both the Flydoor and the Flyradical ... options, you'll recall, are important!

Probably on the water by about 4pm. No wetsuit, just shorts, rashgaurd and t-shirt. Water isn't cold at all, just refreshing. The SA2 launches easily, inflates nicely and seems to have enough power. Everyone hits the water at once, and we diddle about for a few tacks underpowered. I'm going on a downwinder but the wind has just picked up enough to be riding ... the water's so-ooo flat! Working hard to make the tacks head upwind but I drift halfway down the beach until the wind picks up enough to hold a beam reach ... now I can start to play!

Wind picks up a little more and I make up my lost ground. Then it lulls and while I'm still riding - albeit on a broad reach now - the LEIs are falling from the sky ... a 2009 North Rebel 14 and a 2012 Naish Charger 15 get a swim to shore for their lack of low end ;)

And so it goes until about 6:45pm - wind is up and down, sometimes walking, sometimes upwind. I have fun riding toe-side in the butter flat water, throwing out some load'n'pops and trying to jump ... the timing is tough with the big foil; I get some average heights but of course, mad hang time! I swap between the Flyradical and 'door as the wind goes up and down and Soh ends up nabbing the 'radical cos it's better in the low-wind than his Hadlow Pro thingy. Guy with the Zephyr on the large directional is doing fine, making good ground upwind - I got to try one of those!

Eventually, I'm struggling to stay upwind and running out of beach and daylight so I pack it in. The wind never got up enough to consider the P4 but I had a great time anyway. Just as well, cos the forecast for the rest of the week looks crappy :(

JMA recorded the wind speed as 2.3 to 4.5 m/s (4.5 to 9 knots). Yikes! Praise Jesus for the big foil!

Here are some pics - not from today, but it's the same person (me) in the same gear with the same kite ...!

What I learned today ...
• Sharks are great glasses! I love them!
• Wetsuit season is OVER - time to break out the new Fusion!
• Timing jumps with the SA is tough but rewarding when you get it right.
• In light wind, sending from 2 or 10 is super effective!
• Screw up that jump? Coming in for a crooked landing? Just land toeside or blind and ride off - how cool is that?!
• Looks like about a 5-6 knot difference in low-end between the two boards ...?

First sunburn of the year :-/

2011-05-31T16:44:00.001+09:00

On the Locus webcam, the wind looked like it was going to buck the forecast so I trotted down to the beach.

Took the Speed2 to the beach with the 'door and the 'radical. Beach was all mucky still from the typhoon the previous day, and the sand was muddy :( washed-up branches and bamboo stalks and crap everywhere, so I had to pick my way through the junk to lay out lines. Ended up doing a side-launch a la an arc, so the kite got muddy. Doh.

Nicely powered with the 'door so I came back in and got the 'radical. Easy to ride for sure, although the back-foot kept skipping out on me - I must be doing something wrong. Seem to remember a tip about it somewhere, will have to search the interweb again.

Riding around, trying some jumps and whatnot but the wind is steadily picking up. I'm starting to feel over-powered on the big foil so I head in and get Soh to land the kite for me ... he's had tuition at landing foils :D

Back to the car, I grab the 13m Crossbow and run around pumping it up blah blah blah. Get on the water and ... doh. Under-powered on the 'radical, so back to the 'door ... now only slightly under-powered :( throw some silly jumps, not much height but I land them all holy crap!

Wind dies off, I stand on the beach wondering if I should go get the SA2 again. Soh tried out the Flydoor and the Flyradical ... he's riding MILES upwind on the 'door and is surprised by how easy it is to ride, once he gets used to it. He thought the 'radical was ok but he's a wakestyle rider - too flat for him!

I run back to the car for the Speed2 again but now it's really gone off and as I unpack, the wind dies right away. Wait around for a while then give up ...

Got out on the water with the 720-armour Shark's too ...
• Very good anti-fog, I'm sure the little holes in the lens help. Better than the Wiley-X's so far. Full head dunking made a little fogging that cleared as soon as I got moving.
• The Hyrdrophobic lens coating works well until the dirty spots the water leaves start to build up but that wipes off easy. Good to know cos that seems to be a problem with the GoPro - no matter how much Rain-X I use ... looks like I'm going to have to resort to licking the lens after all LOL
• Very comfy - don't even notice they're on at all and they wrap around the face nicely too. The rubber on the nose and top/bottom of the frames is comfy but not intrusive.
• Field of view not restricted noticeable - I never tried to peer over the top like I have done with the others ...
• Stayed on the head ok when I did a bum dunk, the method I lost all the Seaspecs with. It wasn't from as great a height though as the wind wasn't up to much. And I had them leashed to the wetsuit ;)

So far, very good glasses, I'm greatly impressed - better fit, comfort and satisfaction than the Wiley-X; so I'd rank Sharks as #1, SeaSpecs #2 and Wily-X in at #3.
I got mine from ChainReactionCycles.com who seem to be the only internet vendor ... 720-armour.com told me they're working on Shark ver 2 so if they're better - they'll be pretty bloody good!

As I'm typing this I look at my hands and see red gloves :o guess I got my first burn for the season! And I forgot to put sunblock on my lips ... ouchie.

Wind was from 6 to 14 knots.

What I learned today ...
• Flyradical L - awesome board! Thanks Ripsesssionkites - again!
• 720-armour Sharks - awesome glasses!
• Getting my jumps & redirections sorted - awesome!
• Shoulda taken my P4 15 ... that might have seen me riding for longer and pumping less.
• white kites and mud ... bad.

FINALLY!

2011-05-25T22:13:00.000+09:00

After nearly 2 weeks of no wind in the right direction, I was getting pretty desperate so on discovering a barely-reasonable forecast for this afternoon, I headed down to the lake right after work.

Sat on the beach watching ... nothing. No wind at all. My anemometer measured - 2 knots :( in the gusts! :D But the wind was supposed to kick-off around 5 though so I kept waiting; raked up some rubbish to pass the time and make my socks stinky ... mmm sweaty feet.

Dunno exactly when, but the wind eventually arrived 5-ish; I was getting gusts up to 9 knots when I decided to give it a shot and headed back to the car to get gear. Was pretty convinced it was an SA2 day so I got into the wetsuit, picked up the Silberpfeil and the Flydoor and headed over to the beach.

Quick setup and out onto the water (yah foils!) ... nicely powered and happy for about 20 minutes on BUTTER flat water - it was excellent! Then the wind picked up and we got some foot high waves ... and I was over-powered :( I put the advice I read recently into practice - kite low-ish, drop your bum and edge hard which worked fine. Played with load'n'pop, again trying out advice and got some nice big ones :)

Tried to work the kite for some jumps ... man it's a slow old bus. Send the kite, edge up and ... wait for it ... here it comes ... right about ... now! Up you go but not far cos there's not much boost as I've killed it already but flo-oooooat downwind, redirect the kite and whee! off you go. Got a few big jumps in though - muffed one, overflew the kite and splashed down ... the SA just opened up like an arc and floated downwind. I got my head above water and tugged a rear line to get it out of shape and moving in the wind, then body-dragged to my board - no hassles! Great tune by Jim/John at powerzonekitesports.com!

Wind dropped off a little as the sun was going down, so I started doing downloop transitions ... all good fun till the last one, when the kite built so much apparent wind and speed through the power-zone that I went shooting off like a rocket and it took almost an entire tack to get the board, kite and speed under control :D

I was the second to head in and pack up as it started to get dark - I could have kept riding easily in the dropping wind but I wanted a bit of light so I could put the kite down without skewering it on the bamboo rubbish or tangling it in the gardening implements Miyacchi left out ...

Great session! Too much kite (or board) left me wishing I had my Psycho4 or the Flyradical though ... epic wind, crappy riding on my part :D

Also, recently discovered this page of the Japan Meteorological Agency so now instead of my flakey guesses at the wind speed, you can have the official flakey guesses at wind speed.

Today, the wind was listed at 8knots at 5pm, dropping to 7 knots at 7pm. Utter rubbish, it was at least that - I'd say 12 to 14 knots easy cos I read 8knots when the wind first picked up, and it was stronger than that when I got back to the beach. Oh well better than nothing I guess :(
Ha! weather-gpv.info was listing 12 to 14 when I checked just now for the same time period!

What I learned today ...
• Options. You need them - take either 2 kites or 2 boards to the beach, even if you think you got it sussed with your kite choices. I missed getting the 'radical wet today :(
• Timing for the SA is essential - but difficult!
• Sheeting out at the right time is important too but -
• Body position - my problems have been twisting around on the descent of the jump and landing on my heels with the kite behind me, falling over backwards cos I've rotated too far. This CAN be countered by - waving your legs around :D I pushed out my back leg and sorta leaned that way and I corrected the rotation, landed clean ... nice!
• SA2 is a big ol' bus ... the Speed3 loses a bit on the bottom end but if it has better turning ... hmm ...
• Probably should have put sunblock on :(

Dodging Trees

2011-05-13T23:41:00.000+09:00

Ok that's twice now Lazarus plug-in has fucked me up - bastard thing! Lost 2 entries >:( one more time ...

Friday, 4pm.
Wind was all show and no blow.
Launched the 10, out and back, gave up and put the 13 up. Better.
Wind dropped off steadily till sunset.
Tons of crap in the water from the rains and wind - bamboo, rubbish, rushes and even a couple of trees!
Beach is messed up too - now there's a lagoon in our launch area!
Big air is better after following the advice from the link Ricardo posted. Even switch is getting better.
Aerial transitions are starting to zing!
Waves were huge - over my head but fun to ride.
Wily-X goggles work fine; fog up when wet but unfog with some airflow.

... stupid Lazarus!

1 step back, 2 forwards? - The Movie!

2011-05-08T21:44:00.004+09:00

Forecast looked crankin' for today but you never can tell, so I loaded the car up with the Flydoor, Rip Plus and my 16, 13 and 10m Crossbows. Got to Locus and the wind was good so I hauled the 13 and 10 'bow and the 2 boards over the road ...

... tough decision. Dithered around for a bit and decided to go with the 13 and the Rip Plus cos I need to get used to a small board. Started off with ol' Faithful though and was muy powered! Boosted some MONSTER jumps - seriously, they were massive and I just hung around under them for ages - but it was clear that the 13 was too much kite.

Pumped up the 10 and got back on the water ... weird being under such a small kite but I was easily powered, as the locals swapped down to the 7, 6, and 5m kites :o the big board had to go, so I jumped on the Rip Plus.

I'm determined to get used to a small board cos there'll be a Flyradical L in the mail soon hopefully - thanks Ricardo again! - so I persisted through the first few? many? minutes of nose dives and wipe-outs then I was riding and moaning to myself about the footpads not being as nice as the FS ones then I was just riding! I guess it's pretty easy to do when you're overpowered on a 10m kite :D

Spent a lot of the tack just standing on the fins, cos any edging at all sent me rocketing upwind miles away from the beach. Had a good amount of space to myself so busted some more monster jumps ... until I fucked them up several times in a row, looping the kite and slammed but myself good, at which point I came in for a break.

As I was sitting down having a drink, the Mistress of Disaster decided to launch her kite - this time, without checking that someone else hadn't laid their lines across hers. So up goes her kite with a bar wrapped around them and the kite attached to it starts to head skyward ... thankfully she got yanked into a nose dive and let go the bar and her kite depowered.

Seriously, what is wrong with people? If you're not flying the kite, wrap your line up don't leave them strung out over the beach! Common fucking sense and the only people who do it seem to be me, So and Hironobu ...
When I went to launch at the start of the day, I had to untangle the Master of Disaster's lines from mine first - he SAW me laying out my lines but landed his kite and just left his lines there, right over the top of mine. Wanker. He blew the LE on his brand new 8m Park so that'll learn him.

Anyway. I packed up my 13m before something happened to it.

Back out onto the water with the 10m and the Rip. Trying to control my jumps and land them rather than crashing or splashing down. Apparently the wife turned up for a while and she got some video, which I'll trim and upload. Not really exciting though cos like I said, was trying to do controlled jumps - not "how high can you fly?". Did a lot of jumps from the flat water behind the waves, rather than boosting off the face of the wave (although I still did them too) in the search for the elevator jumps. Did a lot of toe-side riding too ... for what that was worth :D

Sun was touching the hills, daylight is running out and I was spent. Great day, epic gusting to stupid but was muy bien! When I got back to the car, wife had left a choccie bar and drink for me too - lovely!

Finally edited the movie. After spending hours making it nicely sync with the audio track, fuckin' YouTube disabled it. Lame. Music from the '70's gets the ban-hammer but more recent tunes don't? That's a bit mad! So this is a place-holder until I get home and can upload to Vimeo ...

One step back, two forwards? from Kevin Henry on Vimeo.

What I learned today ...
• I might even need a 7m :o
• Riding a small board - possible! Starting needs more aggressive power strokes but I can cope with the short nose if I adjust my brain.
• 10m kite is crazy fast. Accidental kiteloops ... hurt.
• Small jumps I'm okay with - can redirect at the right time and ride away but going big results in splashdowns :( I still think it's timing of the redirection.
• Failed jump? Keep the kite behind you for a soft splash down.
• AERIAL TRANSITIONS! Little more than clearing the fins from the water, but I did a whole bunch in a row WOO HOO!!! At first they were lucky accidents but I did a number on purpose :)
• Don't need wetsuit boots anymore.

Light wind - lovely!

2011-05-05T22:56:00.001+09:00

Missed a great session yesterday - saw the joy on the webcam when I got home from hockey at 5pm :( - but the forecast was for more of the same today!

Fail. We got less :(

Luckily, I'm the proud owner of a 19m Speed2 Silver Arrow and a Flydoor so I actually got some riding in! Kept losing ground downwind cos I was jumping and fooling around, but eventually the wind picked up just a touch more (it was 4-7 knots when I unpacked the kite) and I was going upwind finally! Had some fun for a bit then was just starting to feel overpowered at full trim so thought I'd go back to the 16m Crossbow - I had pumped it up already, after all ...

... hmm, just powered. Had some fun playing silly buggers like I don't dare with the foil, pulled off some nice jumps and even some (intentional) aerial transitions! Getting real good at the down loop carve turn too :D

Was a bit crowded and there were a few close calls.

[rant]

The Mistress of Disaster - what a bitch! Everyone walks all the way up the beach, waits to get into the water and start in the order they arrived - but not her, she's got to jump in just downwind of you, fuck around for a few minutes holding you up before diddling off. She does the reverse when you're trying to walk up the beach too. And she never N-E-V-E-R looks behind herself when she fucking turns! She nearly flew into me yet again.

Boofhead the Huncback - likes to trample your lines into the sand and stand over your kite smoking, flicking burning ash all over it. Also has no idea about the water code - I was on a starboard tack, he was coming at me with his kite at or above 45° and would have gotten tangled in my lines if neither of us moved. He didn't even move his kite so at the last minute I dove my kite and went to head downwind of him - grr! - and as I did that, he started a turn by diving his kite so I had to whip my kite back to port and continue my bearing off as a heel to toe turn. Moron.

SeaSpecs - DON'T fucking float, unless you consider bricks to float. 3 pairs now at the bottom of Biwa, 2 pairs had been tied to my wetsuit pull cord ... in the milliseconds that I splash down and pop my head back up, they're fucking gone to the bottom like a rocket. Debating what to do about new pair of glasses ...

[/rant]

Despite that, had a good day playing with the low wind. Praise the lord - or Ricardo! - for the Flydoor, what a great board! And the Silberpfeil made the most of the utter butter water we had for the first 2 hours ... OMG flat water riding at last!

What I learned today ...
• SeaSpecs do NOT float ... Ffffff uuuuuuuuuuuuu ...
• Am very happy I didn't buy a Naish Cult - the dude out on the 15 had to swim in TWICE cos it simply wouldn't relaunch - even from T.E. down :o Not an unusual occurrence! The F-One's don't relaunch so well in light wind either ...
• When I've trimmed in the Silberpfeil about 1/2, I could be having great fun on the Crossbow. A smaller board will mix it all up though :D
• SA2.5 overlaps perfectly with the 16 'bow but is a PITA to pack up in a hurry!
• Don't pack it up wingtip to wingtip but rather roll one end to the center, then the other. A little more time consuming but zero SPL or bridle tangles ...

Summer's on the way!

2011-05-02T21:36:00.000+09:00

Went down the lake today to get over the weekend blues ... forecast was for crap but the webcam at Locus looked great! But by the time I arrived, it was borked again ...

Unpacked the Silberpfeil and rode the edge of the bottom end limit for a while; doing some riding, doing some walking ... then the wind picked up and was nicely- to over-powered for the rest of the evening.

Got off the lake about 30 minutes before dark, packed up and got home about 7:30pm - woohoo! summer is well on the way!

What I learned today ...
• NEED a smaller board!
• ALWAYS take 2 boards or two kites over to the lake - they're too far away in the boot in the carpark!
• If you think the Speed is going to luff, grab a rear line and haul on it!
• Landing a decent jump - make sure the big foil is diving downwind to stop the luff.
• If you swing under it (moron) try and turn it to get speed back into it or ... grab a rear line and haul on it!
• Riding toe-side is much easier when you're tethered to a tractor ...
• A bad day at Biwako is better than a good day at Hamamatsu :P

Slipped in a sly one!

2011-04-28T22:34:00.000+09:00

Forecast looked promising, headed down to the lake after work. Wind looked ok so I thought I'd rush out for a quick blast ... sunset is now pushing 6:30 so if I hauled ass, I could get an hour or more on the water.

Geared up - my US size 12 boots arrived from the Wetsuit Wearhouse last night and they're the perfect fit! Pumped up as fast as I could and that seemed to suck the wind out of the air into my kite :( wind drops off ...

16m Crossbow self-launches fine and I'm riding easily but not powered how I like ... trying to work on perfecting my stance and elevator jumps. Really need to tighten the straps to help with the stance but the pull-pull straps baffle me. Moderate success on the elevator jumps but only on a port tack :( it seems I'm very 'handed' as far as that is concerned.

Accidentally did a back loop/spin/roll - muffed a launch and spun around under the kite but hung on and landed it and rode away. Of course, nobody saw it!

Good session, glad I made the effort even though the wind was light and the lake was full of floating logs, park signs and stuff! 0_o

What I learned today ...
• Proper sent jumps - I can do them. They're just as tough to land though. There's more of a floating downwind feeling to them too which is disconcerting. Boosting up the face of a wave is still the best :D
• The 5mm gloves may be the cause for exploding forearms, not the 16m bar pressure. Will check again when it warms up.
• I load'n'pop to starboard better than to port, but jump much better the other way :(
• Can handle spins, my poor old brain is up to the task! Woohoo!

Hooj!

2011-04-27T22:13:00.000+09:00

Lest we forget ...

The power of The Foil ... compels you!

2011-04-27T22:10:00.000+09:00

Technique!

2011-04-27T07:54:00.000+09:00

Good resource tips and instructionals. Just wish some of the pics were bigger! The search engine thingy is handy too ...

KSurf online magazine

More foil board fun

2011-04-26T20:49:00.002+09:00

TROPHÉE ST CLAIR / ZEEKO from Nguyen van Tâm on Vimeo.

Called off

2011-04-24T21:57:00.000+09:00

on account of the lightning O_o I class that as skunked too.

No joy

2011-04-20T21:54:00.022+09:00

Hit the lake cos it was supposed to be crankin' and I was looking forward to trying out a smaller board from Miyachi.

Instead, there was S.F.A. wind and it wasn't looking like it was going to pick up :( took out the 16m Crossbow and tried out my lightwind LEI skills. Got a few tacks in and a single, solitary jump but was, over all crappy. Not as crappy as sitting in front of TV though.

On the other hand, the Hyperflex Access 5mm boots I bought from the Wetsuit Wearhouse were not as too small as I thought they'd be and were very comfy and warm - if you ignore the crushed toes. Size 11 is the same size as the Ion Ballistic Slippers I have but still too small ... have ordered size 12 now!

What I learned today ...
• There is no replacement for displacement - I would have been riding easily with the Silberpfeil. Thinking about all the Dyno hoo-hah, I reckon I need some extensions for the 'bow to see if I can make up some ground on the 'pfeil. Was a bit gusty and shifty though, so I might have been fishing it out of the lake which would have SUCKED.
• Really though, trying to ride in light wind sucks.
• Sometimes, no matter how groovy the kite & board, some people can ride and other can't. Had repeated occasions of being unable to get up planing while Big Brother went sailing by - and me doing the same to him.

Sabae Magic

2011-04-17T22:16:00.000+09:00

The options were do yard work or go to the lake so I got the hell out of dodge ... forecast was for crappy followed by nothing all coming from the south. I took down the Silberpfeil so I could reinstall the FDS and update the chicken loop.

HOWEVER ... got there about 2:30pm and we had just a breath of wind from the north, straight shot down the lake all nice and smooth like. The Junkie and the other F-One guy were there so I thought "What the hell" and suited up.

Launched and stood around for a while then was like "To hell with it, is sunny and warm why not jump in the lake" so I did. Rode off downwind and walked back. Did it again; this time there was only just not enough wind to go upwind. Same again ... but the wind has picked on the fourth run out and I'm holding my beam reach easily so I go back and forth for a while. Wind picks up a little more and now we're heading upwind so it's fun again :)

Good time working on my light wind technique (ha!) and the wind kicks up just enough to have a little fun - perfectly powered for the big white monster! All very tentative cos last time I had the 'pfeil out, the gusts gave me grief and it got wet and sandy - but that day wind was from the west and seriously cranky. Today was butter-smooth wind from the north east and the kite was stable as, all 3 hours of the session! Despite the light wind, the kite never touched the water and never got out of shape ... or even wiggled a tip at me!

So big shout out to John at Power Zone Kitesports for an invisible repair and a rock-steady tune! Cheers dude!

Wind dropped off as the sun was setting, Granpa dropped his Switchblade in the shore-break and couldn't get it up so with burning thighs, I called it a day. Figure I'd been on the water non-stop for about 2.5 hours ... I'm gonna be sore tomorrow!

Had a chat with Miyachi at the club house about the wind - the forecast said shit all day from the south even! and he just said "Ah, Sabae magic!"

Indeed!

What I learned today ...
• A new trick - well not really. Ride with one hand on the bar which slowly sends the kite up - if you time it right and load'n'pop, you go way up and look all stylee doing it one handed - a great time to flash some intimidating gang signs at the nearest jet-ski rider. East Side is de best!
• Sunglasses are great - they also reduce the spray in the eyes which is great. Tying them onto my wetsuit zipper leash is a great idea too! The brown lenses were a little too dark for the overcast conditions so perhaps the yellow ones would be more great. Great!
• Load'n'pop - real fun when you get it right but I'm still maddeningly inconsistent. That slicing carve and BOING way up in the air is the opium yo!
• Riding the fins when the wind is light to keep the board flat is the go. Good posture and really feeling the kite and board ... FS teaches so much more than the LEIs eh - so much more feedback from the kite, if you know what to listen for. I gotta liken it to riding a V-twin versus a two-stroke.
• You CAN downloop the S2 19 - without pulling a leader line - you just need about half the window. It was fine up to being fully powered but I don't know how much utility there is in it :D

The Beaufort Wind Scale

2011-04-12T10:58:00.005+09:00

With useful indicators etc. It's hosted at coastalwindsports.com ...

Guess what I found?

2011-04-11T22:08:00.010+09:00

No not the 2 pair of sunglasses I lost ... the top-end of the Charger 15!!! 0_o Beaufort 7 (27-33 knots) it would appear ...

Skivved off and hit the lake. I was looking at the wind thinking maybe this wasn't such a great idea but when I got my gear over to the beach, the wind had dropped and I guessed (wrongly, as it turned out) that the wind had died off for the day. So I set up the 15m Charger cos hey I really wanted to try it again ... second knot from kite, straps all loose.

Filled fine, launched with a couple of tip-claps (cos I let go the bar I reckon) but it stayed up fine. Wind picked up as I was getting into the water and I had a hard time getting some space between me and the beach - kite was lifting me up (full power trim) and the waves were driving me back into shore! Finally I got out far enough to put the board on and try to start ...

... made the instant mistake of trying to fly it like a bow and foundered for a bit. Finally got up and rolling but DAY-HUM! thems is some big waves! Yes, waves - the fuckers are breaking like ocean waves and standing in the troughs, the peaks are at eye height :o I battle my way around and get back into Arc Mode. Whee!

Came to the conclusion that the Charger 15 is about as powerful as my 13m Crossbow ... when the arc is working. It's so not a park'n'ride kite though, got to keep it moving and keep pressure on the rear lines. Stopper ball is great for that but panic ensues in gusts :o went zooming off across wind like a freakin' rocket heading for the shore, desperately trying to slide up the stopper ball :D

As the wind increased, I ended up with the kite trimmed for max depower and was still out of control :D real tough body-dragging upwind to my board ... tried a few tentative jumps but was afraid to really do it ... got freaked out by speed through the window trying to change tacks ... so basically, I got pretty mauled out there!

Tried to find out what the wind was, cos I do believe it's the most I've ever been out in and REALLY should have had the 12m Synergy or even the 10m (but I sold that) ... weather sites conistently reported 10m/s (20 knots) but it was way more than that - the wind was driving the water up over the lip on the beach, sand was being flung around like little bullets and the locals were on 7m kites but just gave up. Which should have been a sign. I'm thinking it was about 30knots and over in the gusts. Stupid gusting to ... Deathwish?

So that was the top-end for the 15m Charger then! :o

"My business is slammin', dawg!" - The Movie!

2011-04-04T21:33:00.047+09:00

Another great forecast ... and it panned out this time!

Got to Locus about 1pm, looked at the wind and was like "Meh!" but Hironobu said it was going to pick up so I set up the 13m Crossbow & crossed my fingers.

By the time I got on the water at 2pm, it had picked up so I was riding just-powered and feeling fine ... for about 30 minutes.

The wind continued to pick up and I had to totally depower the kite - as Drewculous would say "Epic, gusting to Stupid" and I went into survival mode for several parts of the session! Actually had the lake all to myself for most of the duration cos I got on the lake early ... and ended up far enough upwind to avoid everyone else.

So naturally, with that much wind blowing and a 13m 'bow up, I tried to jump as big as I could. I think I landed maybe one decent jump, all the little ones but the rest I splashed-down and occasionally got slammed good :) hence the title.

Had the GoPro on the helmet so got it all on film but despite the chamois in the case, the Rain-X on the outside of the lens and the defog spray inside, something went wrong so a lot of it is blurry :( a pox on it all!

Once I knew I was powered-up, I tried to ride the Spleene Rip + but it just wasn't happening - I briefly got up on a plane for a few tacks but it seems there just wasn't enough wind (or talent!) for it do really ring my bell. Gave up and went back to ol' Faithful.

Had a great time, except for when a gust came through and lobbed me and another time I landed on the side of my face* after a good yoinking and spin. Legs were starting to give out so I came off the water after what the GoPro tells me is nearly 2 hours of solid riding!

Video on the way!

What I learned today ...
• I need a smaller kite. Switchblade 10 sounds like the business.
• I need a slightly bigger small board. FlyRadical XL sounds etc etc.
• The Pro-Tec helmet - if your head goes underwater, when you pop up again it dumps the water right down into your eyes which sucks. Especially when it takes longer to clear cos of sunglasses damming it up.
• Mount on the helmet for the GoPro - where I got in now, it's basically in the center of my forehead - which, when jumping, captures great shots of ... my gloves. Gonna move it up to the top of the helmet. Pity, cos it gives a great view of what I actually see although I don't remember staring at my gloves during jumps :(
• Rain-X is a total waste of time on the GoPro - probably the number 1 culprit for smeared gunk on the lens. Defog spray on the inside probably is a waste of time too. Gotta put in the pads to make sure cos what got recorded is mega-suck.
• I think I know what I'm going wrong with jumps - redirecting the kite too early and it's twisting me downwind before I can edge against it eg. I'm still in the air. Still - it's fuckin' fun!

* 5/4 update - my face still feels like the wife slapped me upside the head 0_o I might have brain-damage.

Better luck next time

2011-04-03T17:44:00.000+09:00

Today was supposed to be even better than yesterday but it wasn't - and I only had the 13 Crossbow with me! I'd even taken my Rip + cos it was supposed to be so nukin'. Sat around waiting for the wind, set up the gear and got changed. Decided to give it a shot ...

... barely powered but gusty enough to ride for a bit and do a few fun jumps. Nothing as good as yesterday though - then, I had some awesome jumps ... the kind where, when you carve up the face of the wave you just KNOW you're going to fly clean off the top and go soaring ...

Packed up, came home. Tomorrow is supposed to be better than the day before yesterday like today was supposed to be ... arf!

What I learned today ...
• Don't trust the fricken' weather reports or even the webcam!
• Anything west of north is simply too gusty - especially for the Silberpfeil (see yesterday)
• I want an Ozone Zephyr :D

On the whole - brilliant!

2011-04-03T11:45:00.000+09:00

Forecast and webcam looked promising so I headed down the lake about 12:30. 8-9m/s were promised so I took the 13m Crossbow over and pumped it up. Seemed a bit light, but the wind was supposed to pick up after 1 so I crossed my fingers ... the glove-giving ex-windsurfer newbie was on his 15m Cult and I was thinking maybe I should have brought the SA2 over ...

... but I must have gotten onto the water just as the wind turned on, cos I was away and laughing! For about the next 90 minutes I was nicely powered, boosting some "big" jumps and am starting to get the handle on landing them too :D so it was all very fun ... tried to ride my North Sumo but it was fail ...

... the lull/gust started to do its thing again later, as it seems to do in spring here. Got really sucky so I landed the 'bow. Sat around waiting for the wind to pick up but it didn't and I thought I might chance the SA2 for one last ride so I dragged it out.

That was a mistake; I should have known it wouldn't like the gusty conditions :( got up and riding ok but it just wasn't stable, dropped out of the sky, relaunched it then dropped it again and looped a bridle line over itself that I couldn't recover. The waves turned it into a soggy mess and I had to tide it up on shore. Not fun, not impressed - guess I'll be putting the FSers away until I get decent stable wind :(

Lo-ooong time to pack up, as I waited for the Silberpfeil to dry out and shed the sand ...

What I learned today ...
• Don't even think about chancing gusty winds with the Speed2.5!
• I don't like the Sumo, I think I want a Flyradical XL :D need to try out the Rip + again though.
• Pay more attention to your kite and those around you! I nearly got taken out when the Mistress of Disaster turned without fucking looking as usual (if the silly bitch didn't do her "tricks" within a line length of the shore it wouldn't be such a problem!) and while I was feeling all haughty, I nearly sent my kite across the window into someone else's ...
• I *think* the trick with landing big jumps is not to move the kite around too much up there ... across to 1 or 11, then hold it until you're on the way down. Maybe.

OH CRAP to toe-side

2011-03-31T22:45:00.009+09:00

Checked the weather, some wind was promised around 1pm so I loaded up the car and headed off to the lake ... it's all been a bit flukey lately, so I took the SA2 19, both Crossbows and the Psycho4 15 just in case.

Nobody else was there when I arrived and set up, taking out the 16m Crossbow cos the wind was light. Or so I thought ... the wind quickly picked up to the point where I was pretty much over-powered and wishing I'd set up my 13 or brought a smaller board! So it was survival mode for about an hour although I managed some huge jumps, I landed what felt like none of them and lost another pair of sunglasses :( SeaSpecs - they don't float AT ALL and I mean they sink like a freakin' stone! So there's 2 pairs of glasses rolling around the bottom of Biwako there ... I didn't mind losing the Colbalt Blue pair but I was quite fond of the Copper Blaze ones :(

People started turning up just as the wind started dropping and I was comfy on the 16 except in the gusts, then the wind dropped right out and it was fighting through the lulls to ride the gusts. I had some great fun in the gusts though, with some cracking good jumps that I started to land - including one that started well, became an "OH CRAP!" in the middle and then I actually landed toe-side then rode it out ...!
I gave up on it all about 4:30pm and packed up. Thank crap I hadn't launched the SA2 19 like I was considering!!!

What I learned today ...
• Wide stance on the board is good - I think ... see below. Didn't notice as much of a difference from the neutral stance as I did last time, but it seemed easier to ride through the chop and land jumps that were erm landable.
• HOLY BAR PRESSURE, Batman! Either I've been spoiled by the 13 or the wide stance means I gotta hang on a lot more but DAH-YUM! are my forearms killing me! At the end of the session, I could hardly hold onto the bar ... I haven't experienced that EVER (even on the massive Flysurfers!) so I can only assume that either I'm out of shape so bad (damned winter!) or the gloves somehow increased the work-out! Yikes!
• I seem to be sending the kite wrong ... spent a lot of time launching miles into the air, swinging under the kite and splashing down, or landing facing the wrong way. A few times I got it right and while I think I know why, will require more testing.
• Got a perfect edge, launch and land going goofy on flat water. Lucky technique!
• Peeing in your wetsuit is just nasty.
• Either leash my final pair of SeaSpecs or just buy some new ones. I'm shopping as we speak ;)

Stack much?

2011-03-31T21:58:00.009+09:00

Why the hell not :D 48m of kite!

But wait, there's more!

Cos over the top is never far enough :D

Forecast fail, weater win!

2011-03-27T23:54:00.002+09:00

Forecast wasn't worth a damn but I kept an eye on the webcam as the wind was actually blowing and it wasn't snowing ... about 2pm, people started showing up on the beach so I packed up the car and headed out.

Got to the lake about 2:50pm, got all dressed up and waddled across the road, pumped up the 13 Crossbow. Finished putting on all the clothing - wetsuit, slippers, shorts, harness, gloves and the wind-breaker cos the wind was cold! Probably got onto the water about 3:20-ish ...

Woof! Well-powered and the gusts are good or they would be if I was still in the groove I was in last year ... as it is, I feel over-powered and am pussying around until I feel it, launch a nice big jump :) Finally starting to get the form back ...

Wind is up and down for a while, shifty and gusty but stay out for 2 hours having a great time until it finally dies away to almost nothing and I ride it in to shore.

Hard time landing the really big jumps - don't remember landing a single one :D just so off-the-ball these days and getting wet and cold doesn't ring my bell. Tried some toeside again, carving turns and what-not but the desire to get dunked holds me back - although I get dunked a whole heap. Body-dragging for 10 minutes in snow-melt supplied water, while refreshing, isn't too much fun ... one or two epic big jumps though - is fun :D

The wetsuit is good, although the jets of water up the legs are annoying. The gloves are awesome, hands not even cold at all and the windbreaker is the bomb - it's actually somewhat waterproof as the water that got in the top stays in and slowly drains out the zipper! Wind on cold wet head was giving me a headache at times ... lost my SeaSpecs during a bail - 2 pairs left!

Packed up as the sun was sinking, last one off the water and last one riding - the other 2 hangers-on were walking ;) Good day that came out of nowhere!

What I learned today ...
• SeaSpecs don't float.
• Don't say "DOH!" as you head face first into the water ... cough splutter choke!
• Try the wider stance binding mounts next time.
• Move your heels closer to the edge - makes for better edge control. Not sure if it's a good idea to try and hold the board on your feet with just toes though ...
• Form! Head up, eyes on the horizon, drive the hips forward. FFS.
• Send it you sissy!
• Bring a smaller board too.

Bring out the gimp!

2011-03-23T21:33:00.052+09:00

So my new Dakine Fusion and Hyperflexx Access wetstuit arrived from www.kite-line.com this week ... due to a computer error was sent to our previous address and for some odd reason the post office didn't forward it so I had to make a run to the old house and brave the febrile wrath of the psychotic bitch neighbor.

After a successful raid, I took it home and tried it on ... fits ok! Bit stiff and a lot snugger than I prefer my clothes but it's a wetsuit, it's supposed to be like that ... no? That I fit it at all is kick-ass!

Wind & weather co-operate for Wednesday afternoon so after work (ahem) finishes and Spring holidays commence, I hit the lake for my first session all trussed up, squeaky and stiff! To add to the kook image, I wore my shorts over the 'suit ... firstly to protect the suit from my harness and secondly, I went commando and if the suit split, it'd be a chilly shock to the boys. Had the top folded down so I could bend over and pump up the 13m Crossbow ...

... took to the water with the wetsuit, Ion Ballistic slippers and a pair of $3 rubber gardening gloves on. Road-side thermometer had said 6 degrees on the way to the lake ... it was cold, and I was uncomfortable, but I wasn't suffering. Blasts of water up the leg of the suit were "invigorating" and while the gloves were dry inside, they held off the wind-chill nicely.

I got game and started doing some jumps and playing silly buggers ... still not in the swing of things though and it was all very awkward feeling. Stayed out for a good solid hour at least, probably closer to 90 minutes ... at the end of which water that had gotten inside my gloves were freezing my hands. Still not as bad as no gloves though and they warmed up quickly without aching which is nice.

Although it was very gusty and we got hit by lulls a couple of times, I was glad I didn't take the 16m out - when it was on, it was all on! I could also see the potential for having a smaller kite and working the ass off it ... that is, I can understand how some people say "You don't need a big kite!" ... the difference in bottom end between the 16 and 13 is not that much and the 13 works better. Wind was also real shifty - watched it go from nor-easter to nor-wester in a second or two!

Land the kite, change into clothes then come back to the beach to pack up the kite. While I was bagging up, the windsurfer-convert who started last season came over and gave me his neoprene gloves cos they were too big for him! How cool is that?!

What I learned today ...
• Wetsuit works great to keep me warm (-ish) but is stiff, making it hard to get feet into straps. I'm looking forward to not having to wear it.
• I need booties to stop water going up my legs. Maybe for end of season ...
• Shorts, while some may think look too kooky, actually add a noticeable layer of windchill protection - next time, I'm at least wearing my t-shirt if not my orange parka.
• 13m is a great kite!
• I'm very rusty out there! Everything from turns to jumps ... I'm betting fear of falling into frigid water has something to do with it too!
• Should take more than one board to the lake ...!

Less is more?

2011-03-20T14:15:00.000+09:00

Forecast said no wind till 5pm today, so I headed down to the lake beach at 11am with the plan to remove the FDS from the Silberpfeil and go back to the FLS and put the 6m extensions back on ...

Huh! Wind is up, from the north and I didn't even bring my harness! Unusual for GPV-weather.info to be so wrong! So I rush through my uninstall of the FDS - what a bugger, the line is so light it constantly knots! Finally get it all done, head home to grab my gear.

And come back ... The Junkie is there and so is Best Uncle. Wind seems about the same ... launch the SA2 and test out the FLS - fine. Hit the water - ooh still cold! - and try riding. Just powered to start with but the wind is falling and end up walking a few times.

Stand around on the beach, play with the FLS some more ... mmm does a death spiral at times which makes a nasty mess - maybe the FDS *IS* better? Give up and go home just around sunset ... not a great day but better than nowt!

What I learned today ...
• FDS is probably more reliable than FLS :( nuts.
• I seem to have lost my light-wind knack :( nuts.
• Still need a large directional :( nuts.

Charge! Argh!

2011-03-09T22:33:00.177+09:00

Things ... they move slowly but they do move. Took a while to sell of enough Synergy's to fund the upgrade to Chargers, but it's happening slowly. Here is the story of the first to arrive.

"What are the odds!?"

The postman ... they come in the middle of the day when, of course, nobody is home and leave an "Undelivered Notice" which means I have to call and get the post office to redeliver it sometime between 7 and 9 in the evening.

Now the amazing thing is that they ALWAYS seem to arrange it so that mail arrives at the house on a Tuesday - when I have to work late and can't be home before 8:30pm ... which means I have to either wait until Wednesday night for them to redeliver, or go in and pick it up Wednesday morning and deal with the utter retards behind the counter. Being only slightly more tolerant than impatient, Wednesday morning I left the house 5 minutes earlier than usual and went in and picked up the light-rasta Peter Lynn Charger 15 that arrived - on a Tuesday, of course - from Spain for me.

"I wonder what the weather is up to?"

Very light work load today; I'd planned on goofing off and meddling with my slightly broken Psycho3 13 and unpacking the Charger and having an Ooh-Aah Ogle session when about 11am I wondered what the wind would be doing today ... checked the Yahoo! Weather page and was disappointed with the prediction of 1m/s but checked GPV anyway - whoa! 10m/s northerlies from 2pm!

Crap, my swim suits are at home wet in a puddle at the bottom of my harness bucket. Check the air temp forecast to see if I've got an excuse to pussy out. Nope, 8 degrees C - that should be ... survivable. Ok I'll make a run for home during my lunch hour, wash my gear to get the lake funk out of it and hopefully dry it out a little from the spin cycle. Done.

"Say hello to my little friend!"

Got to the beach at 4:30pm and I'm all alone - nobody else is there but the wind is crankin'! How odd ... could it be because IT'S FREEZING you freaking dolt!

I get changed and unpack my secret weapon against wind-chill - the jacket of the $40 rain suit I bought from the local DIY store ... in 2003 :D it's done me good service on the bike but it doesn't breath at all - which is good and bad.

Unroll the 15m Charger ...

Check the bag ... says 15 yup - gee it's small! Maybe I'm just used to looking at the 19m Synergy all the time, but I swear it looks too small to be a 15! Sticks in (ah that's why it was sold - spar cap stuck in the sleeve! :D ) set the straps to 1/2 all round and the VPC second knot from the top - too cold to stand around checking the manual to see if that's right. Fills quickly.

"Who ordered the Clam Chowder?"

Thinking the kite is totally full, I close the zip then go back and to put my harness on, hook into the bar and get ready to launch. Dither a bit trying to decide if I should use some trim or not, cos the rear leaders looked muy short - the Synergy launched best with no trim but had pigtails ... the Charger does not. Go for about 2 inches of trim.

Line comes off clean, tip comes up and for a few milliseconds, it looks all good - then the kite clams up. Flaps around while I try the tricks - more trim, less trim, jerk the center lines, jerk the bar, run backwards, run forwards ... I get close on occasion - close to a bow-tie too :D - but eventually I get it into the air. Phew!

Pulling hard, good lofts so should be good to go on the water.

"Skunked in the shift!"

Water is cold but my poo-hoo jacket does its job! Wind is almost directly onshore (NE) so I gotta walk it out a fair way ... kite is a bit twitchy while I get the board on, probably cos I'm rushing to get out of the water! Finally get it done, dive the kite and off we go.

Working it like a mofo but I'm not getting upwind away from the beach. Make one turn, head back and am making ground now. Another turn, more ground. Turn again, heading down the beach but the wind has definitely gone ... while walking back up the beach, it almost dies off completely.

Stand around on the beach playing with kite kite, enjoying the sunshine and trying to warm my right hand up. Wind changes direction and is now NW and finally, the 9m/s has arrived!

"Warp factor 9, Mr Sulu!"

With the wind cross-shore, I ride out only a short distance ... fighting my way through the breakers is tough, I'm going downwind a lot to keep speed in the kite and board - every bounce over a wave costs me ground upwind and pull from the kite.

On the turn to head back in - sweet mother of mercy! the Charger screams across the window so fast I almost don't have time to get myself pointed back in the other direction before it's pulling so hard and shooting into the wind!

We're off like a race horse heading back to the shore! Riding with the waves, the water is flatter so we're really hauling ass! The beach is rushing towards me - I edge hard, shoot upwind for a bit, stall the kite then send it back the other way for another burst of mad speed!

This kite is so fast and reacts so quickly ... take eyes off it for a second, look back at it and I'm diving it straight at the water LE down, and I swear - without a meter or two of a crash I've turned it and sent it back up again! Bar pressure for the turns is lighter than Synergy, more like a big LEI but is a bit heavier on the sheet-in, like my FSers on "Hard" WAC ... which is probably a good thing!

Out and back a few times, on to the beach to warm my hands up ... then back out again. Repeat until the sun is starting to slip behind the hills ...

A quick review ... wind was about 7 to 10m/s.
I think the 15m Charger will rock in 10m/s plus ie. over 20 knots constant. So it probably won't get much use around here :(
Charger is faster than the Synergy through the window and in response to turn input - the near-crash and recovery happened a couple of times!
Holds a tighter line through the corner and pulls harder on the way through than a Synergy, I reckon - speed sure is power!
Less bar pressure than the Synergy - more like a heavy LEI, although sheeting in hard was an effort - that was more like a Flysurfer on "Hard" WAC setting.
Auto-zenith is no more or less vague than the Synergy IMHO; hunting from left to right but generally "up".
Think it needs pigtails - will ask the experts.
The little jumps I did on land seemed very floaty, compared to the Synergy. May just have been the wind but when the water is less cold and I won't mind being dunked in it - we'll see!

"Oh that's why it was so cold!"

Drag my gear back across the road, looking forward to a warm shower at the club house but - the water is all off! Bah. Probably a good thing cos the pins'n'needles as my skin reacts to the hot water is unpleasant. I get back into dry clothes and head home.

Within a few hours, we've got snow again ... 2 inches fall overnight. Bah humbug.

What I learned today ...
• Winter isn't over yet.
• Rain suit is the bomb for keeping wind-chill down ... wonder if they do gloves? Should find the pants too :D
• Charger - so fast, lots of power with the speed but it's like a 2-stroke - gotta rev it up! Gotta rev ME up!
• Gotta work on the launch.
• I think the 19m is also going to suffer from the lament of the arc - 15 knots or more for anything groovy to happen. But it'll be fun trying!
• Charger will be awesome when I can get some flat-water riding in ... it's hard work in choppy conditions keeping speed in kite and board.

Win Win Fail

2011-03-07T21:10:00.044+09:00

Left work and headed down the lake like a bat outa hell ... forecast looked good so I took my refurbished Psycho3 13 and the Crossbow 16 (just in case) to the beach. Wind had dropped off from what I had seen on the Locus webcam and Grandpa and Uncle weren't amused either.

Setup and launched the Psycho3, testing out my Mixer Test and all the other stuff I'd added. Hadn't hooked into the Ozone Megatron chicken loop properly (?) and it just off the hook and out of my hands - folding up nicely on the FDS. Recovered the bar and relaunched without any issues. Flew it around for a bit, all seems good ...

Win!

... so I get into the water. Yikes it's cold! The sun has gone behind clouds so it's not going to warm up and it looks like a front is coming through from the north. Wind isn't up to much - can get up but can't get onto a plane. Give up after about 50m and walk back up the beach ... leave the kite in the air while I stand around trying to decide if it's too cold to continue with a proper test on the Psycho ...

... wind picks up! Get back in the water and we're away! This Flysurfer is about as powerful as powerful as my 16m 'bow but will fly in less wind; it starts to work about the same time as the 16 but needs a little more wind to really pull.

Had about a half hour of powered back'n'forth, some nice little load'n'pops. Was being very careful on the turns cos it makes so much lift! Is relatively fast and needs an eye kept on it, kind of hard to park. Makes best power when sheeted in a little; compared to the Speed, doesn't make so much when given its head and let run through the window unsheeted. Good riding though, should jump like a mother!

Win!

Decided to head back into shore cos the front had arrived and it was snowing 0_o and was feeling my oats so at the end of a port tack, I tried a downloop turn ... didn't have the kite high enough to start with or underestimated the turning speed - whatever - dragged the RH wingtip across the water until it crashed LE down. Tried to try a relaunch by pulling just one leader line, and while the kite scooted across the window, it didn't launch. Went to a both rear header launch ... up! and away.

Started off on a starboard tack, dived the kite but it pulled back to the left and wouldn't respond to steering. I sheeted in hard to slow it down and it hit LE down again. Relaunch, turn to the left and stall. Repeat. Something seriously wrong there!

Kite is getting close to the bad end of the beach with shit all over the shore and it's bloody cold so I unhook and let the kite go to FDS which on reflection may have been a mistake ... wind up the FDS and then the lines for a self-rescue. Unfortunately, the kite has drifted onto the shore and is now tangled up on a branch of bamboo ... I untangle it gingerly but when I lift it, I think I hear a rip :(

Fail ...

Drag the kite back to sandy beach, lay it out and check it over. There a 5cm tear on the LH wingtip right where a bridle line joins. Nuts! Everything else seems fine though, apart from being wet and covered in sand.

Relaunch and it flies like the zipper is open, even though the kite is inflated. Water drains out of the LH tip but it still wants to stall out that side of the window. Gradually as it dries out it wants to stall less but is still flying all borked-like. Wonder if the mixer balls have slipped ...?

Land and pack up - I'll have to hang it up to dry cos it's COVERED in sand! Pity ... poor ol' Psycho! :(

What I learned today ...
• I need to NikWax or Seal'n'Glide the Psycho3 ... it gets very wet and very soggy.
• Stay away from "that" end of the beach :(
• Want a Psycho4 now! But what size?
• Ozone Megatron loop is hard to activate with frozen hands!
• Self-rescue with a FS is no worse than LEI; in fact, probably easier.
• Balls on the mixer may not be the best solution ... going back to the knots.
• Check the RHS of the mixer and release that twist there ...

2 in a row

2011-02-28T23:48:00.000+09:00

Behaved myself and hit the lake straight after work rather than skiving off early. Wind seemed good so I carried my 16 & 13 Crossbow over to the lake but despite all the white caps, it was weaker than it looked so I pumped up the 16 and jumped in.

... how fast can I get the board on my feet and started? Pretty damn fast when it's cold :D nearly went haywire though as I missed my front footing at first. Couldn't see any snow on the hills on the other side of the lake COS IT WAS FRICKEN SNOWING UP THERE and it was covered in cloud! Had to bodydrag back to the board once ... not nice!

Had a nice time out playing, trying to get back into the groove. Wind was a bit gusty, alternately had to work it or edge hard to hold an upwind tack ...

Did some nice hop to toeside, downloop the kite then carve out the other way turns and tried some jumps but my timing is off and I'm afraid of really sending it cos it's cold in the water! Did it properly once though, and got a good jump straight up - I think I can see how it works better now!

Stayed out as long as I dared - sun was setting and I could feel the temperature dropping. Landed and packed up ... must have arrived about 4:30pm, got back in the car at 6 - probably an hour on the lake :)

What I learned today ...
• I'm a pussy.
• Sending and jumping properly is fun but needs more commitment than I was willing to give. See above.
• Love the Recoil upgrade for the Cab bar - downloop fast and powered turns rock!
• LE seems softer when I come back in than when I went out - hoping it's the cold air decreasing the volume of the LE and not a leak :(
• I need gloves.
• Seem to be getting a little better at riding toeside ... watching vids and thinking about it helps :D

Was it worth it?

2011-02-27T21:34:00.002+09:00

The wind was forecast for a miserly 10 knots but I thought it'd be nice to test out the Speed 2.5, post-repairs and tweaks ... it was a nice sunny day - what better way to spend it?

Got to the lake about 2:30 and dragged my SA2.5 over the road ... set up, launched and got a run out and back before the wind fell off and I had to walk up the beach. Sat around for a while waiting for the wind to come back up, but it didn't so I gave up. Wound up my lines but left the SA2.5 on the beach.

Went back to the car and got out the Psycho3 13 and all the bits'n'pieces I'd ordered for it. Took it over to the beach then started setting it up - connecting lines and whatnot. Ordered a lineset from FS which came with the full length of 12, 6 and 3m - unlike the FDS that was on the kite originally :( so like my SA2.5, I have to use the FDS with shorter lines ... nuts!
Finally got it all together and launched!

Hmm ... FDS is now too short. Landed and added the frangible link bit. Better. Kite still wants to back stall so I trim it a bit ... WOW this things fast for a foil! And pulls hard too ... gonna be good!

Sun is falling but the wind's picked up so I land the Psycho3 and launch the Speed2 and take a few tacks on the board ... running out of beach so I come ashore but drop the kite and the fucking FDS line loops and knots itself around the other lines so I have to run away securing the kite and sorting that out before I can walk back up the beach.

So the answer is - yes :)

FFfffff ... uuuuuu ... haaaa ... reeeeezing!

2011-02-20T22:09:00.012+09:00

Thought I'd go down the lake, fly the Outlaw and check-out the Ozone CL mod ... natch, I left it at home but Hiro-chan was there so I went and had a look at him for a bit but the wind-chill was nasty so I went home. 8°C on the Yahoo! weather forecast ...

However ...!

Driving home the sun came out and I thought about 2 months with no riding so I sucked it up, took off the skirt and put my water gear in the car, turned around and drove back!

Got there about 3:30pm and pumped up the 16m Crossbow cos the wind had dropped since erm 3pm and by the time I'd done that, I was sweating :D grabbed the board and got in the water.

"Oh wow water's about as cold as last time I was in it" ... except for the wind-chill! Crikey!

So began the first session of 2011! Boy am I ever rusty ... tooled around for a bit, timidly tried to jump (lol) but the wind was on and off - even had to drag into shore cos it dropped off but I found a new hat so that was nice - but I got in about an hour's ride until my frozen balls screamed ENOUGH and I packed up.

Bit desperate, but good to be back in the saddle :D

What I learned today ...
• I really should invest in a wetsuit - shorts, 2x rash-gaurds and a t-shirt doesn't really cut it.
• Snow on the hills beside the lake is probably a good indicator of how cold it's going to be!
• The Ion Ballistic shoe things work good to keep my feet warm but they make it tough to get feet in straps and actually make my feet hurt like my ski-boots are too tight :(
• Warming up in the shower at the clubhouse ... the pins and needles were interesting. Couldn't warm up properly until I got in the bath either. One good thing about Japan - baths!

UPDATE Feb 26
Grandpa made a movie of Hironobu that day and I make a brief cameo :D

Notes to self on DIY of the Megatron chicken loop for Flysurfer bars

2011-02-15T11:51:00.014+09:00

With pictures and more or less information.

Update - ordered some Samson LashIt! twine from the US ... made from Dyneema and UV coated, 180 feet for $25 plus the same for shipping 0_o 1.75mm and 500lbs (230kg) breaking load - just what the doctor ordered! Hopefully :D and there should be much less grunting and swearing involved ...
Update on the update - LashIt! has arrived and looks excellent - adds very little to the thickness of the 5mm and oddly enough, looks exactly like what is used in the Flysurfer depower line ... will get into making a line tonight and promise to take pictures!

Supplies
• About 150cm of 5mm (3/16) Amsteel Blue SK-75, breaking load 2,500kg for the depower loop line
• and 100cm of 2.8 of Amsteel Blue SK-75, breaking load 750kg for the "core" ... probably the 2.2mm LashIt! would have been better than the 1.75mm but cest la vie and all that.
• 5/8mm ID/OD PU tubing - goes under the spinning handle and is easier than reusing the Ozone stuff ... it's just compressor line anyway
• Ozone Megatron chicken loop (duh) with the "Spinning Handle" for the 5th line safety
• Heat-shrink (or whipping line - synthetic)
• Needles and thread (synthetic too)

Tools
• Long-nosed pliers
• DIY pull fid - made from coated 20-gauge wire, put the end you want a loop in, in a drill and spun slowly till at least 1m long
• tie ball to push the tubing, about 20mm

0. Skip all this crap and use the Beal line. The easiest option by a country mile, but 1,200kg breaking load bothers me ...

1. Cut the PU tubing to fit inside the "Spinning Handle" - about 6cm long.

2. Taper the end of the 5mm Amsteel ...
• measure and mark at 70mm, 90mm and 110mm
• pull out 2 braids at each mark, starting at 110mm and working towards the tip
• should leave about 3-4 lines at the tip - if there's more, pull out a few more between the marks - keep the taper smooth!

3. Splice the 'core' into the 5mm Amsteel with the wire fid. Leave some sticking out on either end so you can pull it tight.

4. Start the lock stitch about 5mm from where you plan to cut. Slide the heat-shrink over the 5mm. Stitch out away from where you'll cut, then when you turn around to stitch back, cut and heat-shrink it then stitch back to the end and over the heat shrink.

5. Figure-8 knot in that end - that'll be going inside the CL body.

6. Remove the suicide-leash loop. Feed the tapered end of the 5mm up into the body of the CL, orientated so that the knot will be inside. Pull the 5mm though, smoothing it over the core. Pull hard to seat the Figure-8 stopper knot.

7. Feed the tapered end of the 5mm into the PU tube - twist and push!

8. If all goes well, the gods are smiling, the planets align and you hold your tongue just right - you should be able to pull out the 5mm and slide the PU over the taper, down the line and over the part with the core. From here on, use the ball-thingy to push the PU tube down to the CL body. Smooth out the 5mm over the core and seat it hard against the body of the CL.

9. Fit the spinning handle onto the PU tubing ... using a smaller core makes life easier - zero strain with the 1.75mm LashIt!. Leave the screws just snugged-up for now.

10. Make sure the 5mm is smooth and taught over the core; measure 40cm from the spinning handle body (40cm is standard for FS kites - J. suggests 40-45cm; my SA2.5 is 48cm) and then figure out how much you need for a Bowline ...

11. Cut the line off square and secure the tip with heat-shrink or whipping - and lock stitch ... I had planned to cut 1.1m of 5mm and end up with 1m of depower line but somehow it ended up as a finished length of 70cm which is about perfect - you can easily (kinda!) tie a bowline at the trim strap and still have 45cm of depower. That's before it's put under load and tightens up ...

12. Feed the depower line through the bar, fit the gust absorber and feed/pull through the trim strap - make sure there's some 8mm OD PU tubing in there!

13. Bowline at the trim strap. Get it tight! It'll all snug up on the next flight, so be prepared to adjust front leader lines or mixer 0_o'

14. Tidy it all up; refit the suicide-leash loop, tighten the screws on the spinning handle (make sure it and the PU tubing is seated hard against the CL body), cover the gust absorber.

15. Go fly! Check to stretch etc and SailKote the line!

Testing, testing ...

2011-01-20T21:20:00.019+09:00

Took the Synergy 19 down to the lake for a quick test flight after work - I'd put
Ronstan Orbit series 20 blocks (pulleys) on it a while back, but only now just got around to flying it.

Used the same method as on the Charger to attach the block - little pig tail through the block then "Lark's Head" onto the strap on the kite. I used 3.2mm Amsteel Blue (in red) and stitched and knotted the pig tail. I think I used about 140mm but I forget now ... anyway, it was a tight fit to get onto the kite, but now it's only about 5mm longer than the OE pulley. Although the Ronstan is larger diameter so it all balances out I guess ...

... anyway, the kite flew fine, the pulleys worked as they're supposed to and all the rigging looks bomb-proof. It may just be psychological, but I swear that the steering/sheeting response was smoother ... and crisper, if it's possible to be both at the same time!

Well, that's done - now to sell all my Synergy's to fund my upgrade to Chargers ... I don't suppose that you know anyone that wants an immaculate 8, 10, 12 or 15 and a barely used 19, do you? ;)

Edit : 15 is gone, 19 is going I think ... need to sell off the tiddlers. Got a line on a 19m Charger - woop woop! - so I can see what all the moaning is about ...

Arc info!

2011-01-15T11:56:00.001+09:00

About the VPC, as posted by Tungsten at www.arcusers.net here!

If you are a light weight, you get away with less VPC (or none at all) in the smaller sizes, and a bit to decent VPC in your low wind kites.
The more your arse is on the lard side (like mine), the more of this healthy shifting VPC effect you will fancy; the lower the wind, the more VPC, the higher the wind (high winds are gusty winds), the less instability you want, so less VPC; as an extreme, you may take the VPC off for the crazy winds.
You sure have to spend a bit of time to find your decent amount of VPC effect for the bigger sizes you use, get used to it and enjoy.

So moving the rear line towards the leading edge is increasing the VPC effect ...

Boxing Day Bimble - The Movie!

2010-12-29T17:57:00.003+09:00

Hit the lake beach this afternoon to try to get the Synergy to bow-tie and film a recovery and test out the Ozone Access SB harness and finally fly the Flysurfer Outlaw 10m I've had for AGES but have yet to take out of the bag.

Partial success with the Synergy bow-tie thing - try as I might, it wouldn't bow tie or even misbehave too much, despite the iffy wind ... gusty norwester and turbulent near the trees but the Synergy was stable. Got one bow-tie, but as it propellered down, it bounced of the ground and straight back into the air :D

Set a jump and sent the kite across much faster than I intended and went soaring - thoughts of the tragedy in NZ recently flashed through my mind and as I hovered over the safety release, I started going down and relaxed - foot slide to bum landing ...

Had a nightmare with a line tangle as I packed up, dunno WTF that was about. Set up the Outlaw and had a play with that ...

What I learned today ...
• The Ozone harness is nice, feel the pull fairly equally between waist and leg straps unlike the Fusion - the leg straps only seem to be there on the Dakine to stop the harness riding up ... ha!
• One size fits all only just fits :( over ski-pants it'll be tight. Back on the diet!
• The Outlaw feels like a fixed bridle flying on the Ozone Turbo bar - not so much depower effect through the bar.
• Not as lifty as I thought it would be, but it is a small kite. Will be good for landboarding.
• Likes to collapse like a F.B. as I guess it has much less internal pressure when it's not flying.
• I'm a chronic mouth breather :( you can hear "huh-huh-huh" on the video and it's not like I can even blame having a cold ...!

Christmas Quickee - The Movie!

2010-12-25T13:32:00.006+09:00

A short blast with the Synergy 19 in over-powered conditions :D
I went to the lake with the intention of filming my de-bowtie technique (should I have managed to pull it off again) but the wind was just too full on. I also didn't have the right shoes on for scudding so I just played around a bit ...
Didn't get the camera angle right either :(