Rescued from a dying drive, here is the crappy movie I had to rebuild from scratch - twice. I don't think it improved with age ...
Showing posts with label square one. Show all posts
Showing posts with label square one. Show all posts
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Blessings from Mother Lake
Forecast looked good Saturday so I got the wife to call the boss for our Saturday afternoon job and tell them I was "sick" ... I missed Friday night cos of work so didn't want to miss this and Sunday will be borked!
... this PC went tits up in the morning; I think it's due to the heat and looks like the memory - again! So I fannied around with that for a while, hoping to get one more look at the weather so I'd know when to hit the lake. No joy, so I relied on my memory (yikes!) and headed down at 2pm cos I seemed to remember 3pm was the sweet spot.
Set up, sat around, waited for the wind to pick up. It was looking good - 12 knots average - but I was hoping for more ... and I got it too! Hit the water at around 13 knots average and was up and riding (ah, thank you Mother Lake! So much better than the ocean!) but still heading downwind ... only just, had to do a little walking twice but on the third run out from shore, it was all on like Donkey Kong!
Epic session! Well-powered, I rode the Cab Crossbow and Square One upwind as far as I wanted ... then got stuck into progression!
Worked on controlling my speed with the board by edging upwind and shifting weight, rather than just depowering ... handy!
Practiced good stance ... but IMHO you gotta work your stance around to edge and weight-shift effectively, especially if you're trying to keep the speed down but want to keep power in the kite ... we'll get there!
Load'n'pop ... can you load'n'pop every wave you see? I tried. Even tried on the flat water between waves - see below ...
Occasionally, the pops got a bit carried away and I went soaring! Experienced my first 'hang time' jumps where I seriously floated at the apex instead of just paraboling back down. Rode out most of them too although it involved a lot of dangling under the kite and "Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!" from me ... even impressed the Master of Disaster who cheered as he went past!
Did some serious toe-side riding ... hurts my gammy hip and could only manage a beam reach at best but sliding back to heel-side was fun and carving around to the other direction was hawt!
Had a crack at carving heel to toe-side but have to slow down to slide around ... fun but loses ground.
Tried some load'n'pop spins to toe side too - fun but hard to get right.
Toe-side water starts - can do!
Got slammed and lobbed around a few times, even went flying a bit too :D aerial transitions - not as easy as they look!
Bloody good day! Out on the water for about 4 hours and my hands are killing me ... the rest of me is just stiff! Cabrinha bar is real hard eh ... so is packing the damn kite back in the world's tiniest bag :(
... this PC went tits up in the morning; I think it's due to the heat and looks like the memory - again! So I fannied around with that for a while, hoping to get one more look at the weather so I'd know when to hit the lake. No joy, so I relied on my memory (yikes!) and headed down at 2pm cos I seemed to remember 3pm was the sweet spot.
Set up, sat around, waited for the wind to pick up. It was looking good - 12 knots average - but I was hoping for more ... and I got it too! Hit the water at around 13 knots average and was up and riding (ah, thank you Mother Lake! So much better than the ocean!) but still heading downwind ... only just, had to do a little walking twice but on the third run out from shore, it was all on like Donkey Kong!
Epic session! Well-powered, I rode the Cab Crossbow and Square One upwind as far as I wanted ... then got stuck into progression!
Worked on controlling my speed with the board by edging upwind and shifting weight, rather than just depowering ... handy!
Practiced good stance ... but IMHO you gotta work your stance around to edge and weight-shift effectively, especially if you're trying to keep the speed down but want to keep power in the kite ... we'll get there!
Load'n'pop ... can you load'n'pop every wave you see? I tried. Even tried on the flat water between waves - see below ...
Occasionally, the pops got a bit carried away and I went soaring! Experienced my first 'hang time' jumps where I seriously floated at the apex instead of just paraboling back down. Rode out most of them too although it involved a lot of dangling under the kite and "Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!" from me ... even impressed the Master of Disaster who cheered as he went past!
Did some serious toe-side riding ... hurts my gammy hip and could only manage a beam reach at best but sliding back to heel-side was fun and carving around to the other direction was hawt!
Had a crack at carving heel to toe-side but have to slow down to slide around ... fun but loses ground.
Tried some load'n'pop spins to toe side too - fun but hard to get right.
Toe-side water starts - can do!
Got slammed and lobbed around a few times, even went flying a bit too :D aerial transitions - not as easy as they look!
Bloody good day! Out on the water for about 4 hours and my hands are killing me ... the rest of me is just stiff! Cabrinha bar is real hard eh ... so is packing the damn kite back in the world's tiniest bag :(
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
I can't get no satisfaction ...
... on that damned Square One - big long piece of poo. Alas! Poor Door, I knew him well :(
Went to Machiya today and muddled about in winds 8 to 14 knots ... could get small bursts of getting up and riding but even when nicely powered in a gust, that heap of crap I was standing on wouldn't even hold a beam reach let alone go upwind. Totally standing on the rear foot, leaning back edging up so hard that my lower legs dragged in the water and at best, the board just slid downwind. Spent a lot of time trying to ride through the shallow, flat water at the shore slowly, just trying to get back where I started :( then, of course, walking!
Naturally, everyone else there was riding miles upwind on smaller kites and boards ...! And just as naturally, I figured it was my poor board technique that was dragging me down, so I kept shifting my stance, weight and position etc etc ... what I really need is enough consistent wind to ride so I can figure the stance thing out. Watching vids is ok but they all seem to do it different!
Bloody sneaky little waves spent a lot of time knocking me off my feet when I finally got up and riding too - that got old real fast ... they'd be just a small lump then suddenly rise up and break on my lead foot, sinking it and me - I swear, they were doing it on purpose!
On rare occasions I did make some cracking launches off the face of waves ... whee!
Also, I really feel like I needed a large Speed too, maybe a 2 19m. Not 100% impressed with the LEI - sure everyone can launch/land it for me and it's fairly predictable, but it's tendency to fall to the edge of the window is bloody annoying and it just doesn't have the low end grunt my fat arse needs ... maybe I'll try a Zephyr or Dyno next year - we'll see if the new Flydoor gets me over that 12 knot hump ...
Went to Machiya today and muddled about in winds 8 to 14 knots ... could get small bursts of getting up and riding but even when nicely powered in a gust, that heap of crap I was standing on wouldn't even hold a beam reach let alone go upwind. Totally standing on the rear foot, leaning back edging up so hard that my lower legs dragged in the water and at best, the board just slid downwind. Spent a lot of time trying to ride through the shallow, flat water at the shore slowly, just trying to get back where I started :( then, of course, walking!
Naturally, everyone else there was riding miles upwind on smaller kites and boards ...! And just as naturally, I figured it was my poor board technique that was dragging me down, so I kept shifting my stance, weight and position etc etc ... what I really need is enough consistent wind to ride so I can figure the stance thing out. Watching vids is ok but they all seem to do it different!
Bloody sneaky little waves spent a lot of time knocking me off my feet when I finally got up and riding too - that got old real fast ... they'd be just a small lump then suddenly rise up and break on my lead foot, sinking it and me - I swear, they were doing it on purpose!
On rare occasions I did make some cracking launches off the face of waves ... whee!
Also, I really feel like I needed a large Speed too, maybe a 2 19m. Not 100% impressed with the LEI - sure everyone can launch/land it for me and it's fairly predictable, but it's tendency to fall to the edge of the window is bloody annoying and it just doesn't have the low end grunt my fat arse needs ... maybe I'll try a Zephyr or Dyno next year - we'll see if the new Flydoor gets me over that 12 knot hump ...
Monday, August 30, 2010
Flabby Starfish and the Chicken-flavoured Gravy
Looked like the wind was finally going to be good on Saturday but naturally I had to work! Sunday's prediction was about the same but a little less, so I hot-footed it down to Mie to ride the southerlies.
Finally arrived about 2pm (have you ever tried to get a wife moving?), got set up and jumped in. Hadn't really inflated the Crossbow enough so it was a bit soft. That's ok cos so was the wind. On-shore wind were enough to get up and riding but meant close-reaches down the beach, trying to avoid the shore when the shape of the bay pushed the land out into the water and desperate attempts to ride upwind when the gusts hit.
Discovered that riding in the wide open spaces of the shallow water after the last wave breaks on the shore is very nice indeed - flat smooth and fast ... however - yes you know what's coming - when you run out of the 2 or 3 inches your riding on, the board just stops. I knew what was coming so was just trying let the speed run off, but ran out of water ... I got pulled off the board in the direction of travel and kind of went down on my arse, backwards but as the kite was on an upstroke, I sort of glided downwind and spun myself around to face the kite, got my feet in front of me and scudded up the beach as I got the kite under control. It could have been bad but it wasn't so I had a good ol' cackle :) and resolved not to do that again!
Gradually the wind picked up just a tad and I had some nice long rides from out launching point all the way to the river mouth at the west and back past it out to the east for as far as I dared. Still only reaching but many enough ground upwind to keep away from the shore ... the Square One is really killing my upwind eh! Had to do a few WoS when the wind dropped off but not too many - and I wasn't the only one! Gravy but not the good beef gravy, no ...
Also discovered a new technique for getting through the breakers ... those rotten little buggers that sweep in knee-high with enough force to push my foot out from under me or sink the board if I just try to ride into them ... took this long to figure it out cos I can only now do what I think is load'n'pop and you need to be powered-up or at least moving with a little speed but what you do is ride along or turn parallel to the wave then as it's about to hit, carve into it hard with a heavy back foot then pop the board up - usually you'll bounce/float over the wave. Just gotta be careful not to be too aggressive or have too much power in the kite or the pop turns into a jump and float back downwind right on top of the wave ... splat!
Wife had the video camera and took some shots - got my ickle jump on film too! Then she ran out of battery and the wind ran out of puff ... worked it hard for another 30 minutes then gave up cos I was getting tired and pissed off at the lack of go.
So I had a nice hour & a half or so of powered-up riding and another half hour on either side of slogging but it was a good day, worth the drive out there! Video coming soon!
Finally arrived about 2pm (have you ever tried to get a wife moving?), got set up and jumped in. Hadn't really inflated the Crossbow enough so it was a bit soft. That's ok cos so was the wind. On-shore wind were enough to get up and riding but meant close-reaches down the beach, trying to avoid the shore when the shape of the bay pushed the land out into the water and desperate attempts to ride upwind when the gusts hit.
Discovered that riding in the wide open spaces of the shallow water after the last wave breaks on the shore is very nice indeed - flat smooth and fast ... however - yes you know what's coming - when you run out of the 2 or 3 inches your riding on, the board just stops. I knew what was coming so was just trying let the speed run off, but ran out of water ... I got pulled off the board in the direction of travel and kind of went down on my arse, backwards but as the kite was on an upstroke, I sort of glided downwind and spun myself around to face the kite, got my feet in front of me and scudded up the beach as I got the kite under control. It could have been bad but it wasn't so I had a good ol' cackle :) and resolved not to do that again!
Gradually the wind picked up just a tad and I had some nice long rides from out launching point all the way to the river mouth at the west and back past it out to the east for as far as I dared. Still only reaching but many enough ground upwind to keep away from the shore ... the Square One is really killing my upwind eh! Had to do a few WoS when the wind dropped off but not too many - and I wasn't the only one! Gravy but not the good beef gravy, no ...
Also discovered a new technique for getting through the breakers ... those rotten little buggers that sweep in knee-high with enough force to push my foot out from under me or sink the board if I just try to ride into them ... took this long to figure it out cos I can only now do what I think is load'n'pop and you need to be powered-up or at least moving with a little speed but what you do is ride along or turn parallel to the wave then as it's about to hit, carve into it hard with a heavy back foot then pop the board up - usually you'll bounce/float over the wave. Just gotta be careful not to be too aggressive or have too much power in the kite or the pop turns into a jump and float back downwind right on top of the wave ... splat!
Wife had the video camera and took some shots - got my ickle jump on film too! Then she ran out of battery and the wind ran out of puff ... worked it hard for another 30 minutes then gave up cos I was getting tired and pissed off at the lack of go.
So I had a nice hour & a half or so of powered-up riding and another half hour on either side of slogging but it was a good day, worth the drive out there! Video coming soon!
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Just a taste
Hit the lake at 5pm, but although the wind seemed to be blowing good it had no push ... well not enough for me anyway :(
Tried to get a ride out of the Rip Plus but not enough wind for anything more than a scoot and sink. Back on the Square One, cross-wind runs and the waves push me onto the shore so I'm walkin' again with just a taste of riding until the lightning shut us down again.
Also had a taste of a real jump too, trying to get over a wave as I was running out of a steam on a tack ... more of a hover on top of the water actually :D
Supposed to be good tomorrow ...!
Tried to get a ride out of the Rip Plus but not enough wind for anything more than a scoot and sink. Back on the Square One, cross-wind runs and the waves push me onto the shore so I'm walkin' again with just a taste of riding until the lightning shut us down again.
Also had a taste of a real jump too, trying to get over a wave as I was running out of a steam on a tack ... more of a hover on top of the water actually :D
Supposed to be good tomorrow ...!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Desperado
Went down the lake again ...
Unpacked, setup and stared at the horizon, trying to figure out what the wind would do.
Commiserated with whatsisname when his Best Waroo 16 blew a seam and bladder.
Got bored and played superman in the water.
Discovered I CAN actually reverse launch the Crossbow.
Sat around talking to Jeff who was taking lessons with Miyachi.
Helped out the other guy taking lessons relaunch his kite ... boy do those F-One delta things fly like shit!
Fished a half-sunken Bic plastic kayak-thing out the water (!) and tried to haul it onto shore and drain the water out.
After 4 hours waiting, the wind finally picked up so I hit the lake for a 30 minute blast! Y'know, it WAS actually worth all the sitting around, desperately waiting for wind!
Unpacked, setup and stared at the horizon, trying to figure out what the wind would do.
Commiserated with whatsisname when his Best Waroo 16 blew a seam and bladder.
Got bored and played superman in the water.
Discovered I CAN actually reverse launch the Crossbow.
Sat around talking to Jeff who was taking lessons with Miyachi.
Helped out the other guy taking lessons relaunch his kite ... boy do those F-One delta things fly like shit!
Fished a half-sunken Bic plastic kayak-thing out the water (!) and tried to haul it onto shore and drain the water out.
After 4 hours waiting, the wind finally picked up so I hit the lake for a 30 minute blast! Y'know, it WAS actually worth all the sitting around, desperately waiting for wind!
More more mo-OH-ore
Another day at the beach!
Got there about 2:30pm but should have gone down earlier, the wind was great to start with then died off. Could ride downwind find (no sinking) but went gradually from riding upwind to just gliding downwind and walking. I wasn't the only one though and even when So took my kite, he lost ground downwind too. I did however get a few good load'n'pop jumps done - felt good even if they were only a foot ;)
Tried to self-launch (win x2) and self-land without the IDS dump (fail) - there's obviously a trick to it. Still, it's nice to get an assist (when people notice!) so I can take a break ...
Packed up around 6:30pm. Not a great day's riding but I had a gravy time anyway :) tomorrow is supposed to be better! Should take the GoPro ...
Got there about 2:30pm but should have gone down earlier, the wind was great to start with then died off. Could ride downwind find (no sinking) but went gradually from riding upwind to just gliding downwind and walking. I wasn't the only one though and even when So took my kite, he lost ground downwind too. I did however get a few good load'n'pop jumps done - felt good even if they were only a foot ;)
Tried to self-launch (win x2) and self-land without the IDS dump (fail) - there's obviously a trick to it. Still, it's nice to get an assist (when people notice!) so I can take a break ...
Packed up around 6:30pm. Not a great day's riding but I had a gravy time anyway :) tomorrow is supposed to be better! Should take the GoPro ...
Monday, August 16, 2010
Crossbow for the win! Sorta ...
Went down to Locus around lunchtime to see if Miyachi-san was back from Tokyo ... he was, so I ordered some Ronstan pulleys for the Speed. He said the wind was supposed to be ok this afternoon so I came back around 3:30pm to try out the new 2010 Cabrinha Crossbow ...
... thoughts on the Xbow vs Speed 1.5 vs Synergy ...
It's all good, I'm a happy camper :)
... thoughts on the Xbow vs Speed 1.5 vs Synergy ...
- Not as much work to pump up as I remember the Lift being, especially easy since the Xbow is a one-pump system. Still not sure if it's full enough :-/
Speed wins cos it requires no pre-inflation! :D
- Easy to rig, no issues with crossed lines like my dumb-ass seems to have with the Synergy!
- Did an assisted launch - no worries although assistant-san nearly got tangled up in the bridle and sent skyward :o
Speed wins again though ... and I feel like a tit standing around waiting for someone to help oooh won't someone please help me help me /Homer
- Launched and flew ok in light wind - I'm guessing 8 to 10 knots. Did a little body-dragging and went upwind fine. Bit iffy when the wind got lighter in a lull and I Hindenburged it once (recovered) or twice (slam!).
Speed wins in light wind cos it stays in the air without thinking!
- Very (?) different feel flying this kite compared to the foils ... needs to be sheeted in a lot to keep control and when left to its own devices wants to nose dive to the edge of the window - unlike the foils which tend to drift up and need to be kept down. Xbow is easier to ride one-handed though ... almost no stalling when sheeted in except in lulls. Parks'n'rides a whole lot easier. Sheeted-in turns look and feel like the Synergy and the general way it makes power when it flies is so much like the Synergy! Downloops for a zoom burst of speed easy and in general seems to make ok power. Feels a lot like the Synergy in general but makes more power in a park'n'ride.
Xbow wins for grunt to keep me up and riding but Speed is way faster in the buttah zone!
- Water relaunch ... what relaunch? In wind I could have reverse launched the Speed easily, I had to give up, swim the kite to the shore and take the lines off and walk back to the relaunch area with it >:( "Oh it's easy" says So "just sheet out and pull one line" well I did that, even depowered the kite to get more sheet out and it wasn't doing crap ... I did manage to flip it over on the trailing edge and hot-launch with an arc-jerk but that second time, nothing was happening and I tried for what felt like 30 minutes ... perhaps the wind was just too light for the LEI ...? Harsh words were exchanged ... I called the kite a "... a great pile of pumped up shit you funny bastard" and the kite called me "... a great fat talentless half-wit".
Speed wins. Synergy a very close second for ease of relaunch, even in light winds.
- Actually up and riding ... well, I like how it makes power and doesn't lose it so quick when I sheet in hard or edge hard. I was really let down by the board (Square One vs Door = Door WIN fatality!) and it pulls smooth - hardly feel the pull but I'm still riding! - and the bar pressure is lighter than either the Synergy or the Speed. Works good and when I get a good feel for it, it'll make good power.
Xbow wins ... kinda. The Speed is just so much faster!
- Assisted launch and landing - Xbow hands down :D nobody here knows what to make of the foils! Means I'll be able to take breaks now, which is nice ...
- Speed of direction change is an Xbow win with Synergy close behind.
It's all good, I'm a happy camper :)
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Feast, Day 2 - The Movie!
After much meddling with Vegas, Avidemux etc this is the best I could do ... nothing exciting in the riding but the joy of actually riding!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Famine or a feast
2nd day in a row with wind that I can ride in! Thought I'd try out the Synergy 19 and switch between the Square One and the Door ...
Well. Messed up the first take off - got interrupted during setup by having to growl at people for stomping all over my lines and forgot to close the deflate zipper. Doh.
Now the GoPro line mount has unmounted one line and is all tangled up. That should be an interesting movie. Doh
The Master of Disaster was at it again - I got a real close look at a Zephyr when it nearly dropped right on my head, as a particular guy on a Cult cut through someone and rode his lines straight through someone elses. He's done that to me too. He and a few other people like to come right into shore and do tricks in the shallows - probably cos they can't relaunch their kites worth a damn! Doh.
Finally in the water and get some fun rides but can't make much ground upwind - wonder if it's my settings ... all at 50%. Am swapping the boards every run and for sure, once I'm up and planing the Door is faster and holds a line better ... have I already outgrown the Square One? :(
Only felt like 30 minutes riding when everybody got the fuck off the water when a thunderstorm rolled through ... except Grandpa who figured he'd be ok - took some harsh words by a bunch of others to get him off the water.
So I'm landing my kite and it's having a fit - bowtied on me so I'm letting it drop to the ground before I dump the safety but Mr Helpful runs up and - you guessed it, grabbed the downwind leading edge. I'm screaming at him to FUCKING LET GO as it starts to power up and he finally gets out the way so I can pop to safety. Thanks for trying to help but it's OBVIOUSLY not a tubie and I DIDN'T ask for help!
Watch the storm fade out, feel a few spots of rain then get back in the water. I've taken off the GoPro ... stick to the Door and get a few fun runs, a little downwind but ok. Then the wind drops off and I'm looping the kite to keep moving. Time to give up as the sun sets. I spend a few minutes body dragging in the water ... ah bliss! A few silly 'jumps' downwind then pack up.
Apparently we're going to have the same tomorrow too! Famine or a feast ... the wind is bulimic!
Well. Messed up the first take off - got interrupted during setup by having to growl at people for stomping all over my lines and forgot to close the deflate zipper. Doh.
Now the GoPro line mount has unmounted one line and is all tangled up. That should be an interesting movie. Doh
The Master of Disaster was at it again - I got a real close look at a Zephyr when it nearly dropped right on my head, as a particular guy on a Cult cut through someone and rode his lines straight through someone elses. He's done that to me too. He and a few other people like to come right into shore and do tricks in the shallows - probably cos they can't relaunch their kites worth a damn! Doh.
Finally in the water and get some fun rides but can't make much ground upwind - wonder if it's my settings ... all at 50%. Am swapping the boards every run and for sure, once I'm up and planing the Door is faster and holds a line better ... have I already outgrown the Square One? :(
Only felt like 30 minutes riding when everybody got the fuck off the water when a thunderstorm rolled through ... except Grandpa who figured he'd be ok - took some harsh words by a bunch of others to get him off the water.
So I'm landing my kite and it's having a fit - bowtied on me so I'm letting it drop to the ground before I dump the safety but Mr Helpful runs up and - you guessed it, grabbed the downwind leading edge. I'm screaming at him to FUCKING LET GO as it starts to power up and he finally gets out the way so I can pop to safety. Thanks for trying to help but it's OBVIOUSLY not a tubie and I DIDN'T ask for help!
Watch the storm fade out, feel a few spots of rain then get back in the water. I've taken off the GoPro ... stick to the Door and get a few fun runs, a little downwind but ok. Then the wind drops off and I'm looping the kite to keep moving. Time to give up as the sun sets. I spend a few minutes body dragging in the water ... ah bliss! A few silly 'jumps' downwind then pack up.
Apparently we're going to have the same tomorrow too! Famine or a feast ... the wind is bulimic!
About time!
Went down to the lake again last night. Spent an hour from 4 pm sinking and walking. Then the wind picked up and it was all on! At long last ...! Had a good blast for an hour then had to pack up and head home to get ready for work :( Murphy is a sod.
Oh forgot to add - why are the windsurfers invading our beach? They have their own clubhouse barely 100m down the road? And when they do retarded shit like ride through kiters lines and get tangled up ...!
Oh forgot to add - why are the windsurfers invading our beach? They have their own clubhouse barely 100m down the road? And when they do retarded shit like ride through kiters lines and get tangled up ...!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Fffffff .... uuuuuu .....
Went down the lake yesterday. There was going to be some wind but I assumed not much ...
Took my 16m Scorpion down cos I've never flown it! It kind of got over-shadowed by the Synergys and I've spent more time with them than the Scorpions or Phantoms.
Only me and a stranded windsurfer on the beach, and a pair of guys whom I don't recognize with a 2m trainer. Someone has raked up all the reeds that have been cut on the other side of the lake and washed up here, then set little fires to smolder and burn off the trash :/ keep this in mind, comes up later ...
I set up away from them and the newbies. Not enough wind to prefill initially, but it picked up, filled up and launched just fine - less hassle than a Synergy IMO :D
And well, damn, it flew just fine! Straps all 50% and extensions on the pig tails - much less stall prone than the Syn 19 I was using Tuesday and much less jellyfishing in turns. In fact, much tighter over all! Either it's the straps or it's just the way the Scorpion flies. Zoom zoom etc had a bit of a play.
Wind picked up, white caps on the lake so I thought I might try riding after all. Pack up the Scorpion, grab my Speed and get into the air and on the water.
Downwind struggling again. Once or twice I got things just right and got moving nicely but nothing of note ... except the occasion I felt the float'n'glide - must have had the kite in the right spot and the wind was just so or something, but I could feel the board just gliding on the water and my weight was being held by the kite ... magic!
Now for the Ffffff ... uuuuu ....
Jackass, who has all the flash gear and sunnies and was showing off to his even more beginner mate with the trainer, talking all about the wind window and power zone finally get in the water with Miyachi's F-One Bandit and a board. Dude has very poor kite skills IMO so when I'm going downwind I just avoid him like the plague.
Walking back upwind, the wind is cross-onshore and my kite is low over the beach. Just as I get to where Jackass is, he decided to head back to shore and starts flying the kite around. I'm downwind of him still so I stop and park a wing tip on the beach. All he has to do is bring his kite up to 12 so I can walk downwind past him but no, he sends it through the power zone! Now his lines are above mine and - the genius lets the bar go! So his kite turns back into the power zone and he gets dragged out of the water, over the beach, into my lines and through one of the fires! As soon as he let go I started yelling "SAFETY! SAFETY RELEASE!" at him but he didn't, of course.
So he's being dragged over and through my lines and they're tangled around his so I pop MY safety and my Speed drops ... but now his bar is wrapped around mine and the Speed is not flagging properly! Miyachi arrives and gets it under control, I recover my bar and keep the Speed on the ground while things get untangled.
Jackass is wasting time apologizing for what he doesn't know so I ignore him and concentrate on getting my kite out of the weeds and nasty crap it's sitting in.
Meanwhile, uber-newbie-buddy-of-Jackass has been flying his trainer just to our left. Well, he drops that on top of my port control lines and the kite wraps around both brake and power!!! I'm trying to keep the kite stable on the ground but it's off-angle to the wind and wants to shift around ... and get this - uber-newbie is slowly walking down his lines, with one in each hand, keeping them nice and tidy! I growl at him to get that fucking thing off my lines and he finally clicked and unwrapped the kite.
FFS ... sure it all worked out in the end but it came close to me totally dumping my kite into the trees next to the road and then I would have been pissed. And it all could have been avoided!
Took my 16m Scorpion down cos I've never flown it! It kind of got over-shadowed by the Synergys and I've spent more time with them than the Scorpions or Phantoms.
Only me and a stranded windsurfer on the beach, and a pair of guys whom I don't recognize with a 2m trainer. Someone has raked up all the reeds that have been cut on the other side of the lake and washed up here, then set little fires to smolder and burn off the trash :/ keep this in mind, comes up later ...
I set up away from them and the newbies. Not enough wind to prefill initially, but it picked up, filled up and launched just fine - less hassle than a Synergy IMO :D
And well, damn, it flew just fine! Straps all 50% and extensions on the pig tails - much less stall prone than the Syn 19 I was using Tuesday and much less jellyfishing in turns. In fact, much tighter over all! Either it's the straps or it's just the way the Scorpion flies. Zoom zoom etc had a bit of a play.
Wind picked up, white caps on the lake so I thought I might try riding after all. Pack up the Scorpion, grab my Speed and get into the air and on the water.
Downwind struggling again. Once or twice I got things just right and got moving nicely but nothing of note ... except the occasion I felt the float'n'glide - must have had the kite in the right spot and the wind was just so or something, but I could feel the board just gliding on the water and my weight was being held by the kite ... magic!
Now for the Ffffff ... uuuuu ....
Jackass, who has all the flash gear and sunnies and was showing off to his even more beginner mate with the trainer, talking all about the wind window and power zone finally get in the water with Miyachi's F-One Bandit and a board. Dude has very poor kite skills IMO so when I'm going downwind I just avoid him like the plague.
Walking back upwind, the wind is cross-onshore and my kite is low over the beach. Just as I get to where Jackass is, he decided to head back to shore and starts flying the kite around. I'm downwind of him still so I stop and park a wing tip on the beach. All he has to do is bring his kite up to 12 so I can walk downwind past him but no, he sends it through the power zone! Now his lines are above mine and - the genius lets the bar go! So his kite turns back into the power zone and he gets dragged out of the water, over the beach, into my lines and through one of the fires! As soon as he let go I started yelling "SAFETY! SAFETY RELEASE!" at him but he didn't, of course.
So he's being dragged over and through my lines and they're tangled around his so I pop MY safety and my Speed drops ... but now his bar is wrapped around mine and the Speed is not flagging properly! Miyachi arrives and gets it under control, I recover my bar and keep the Speed on the ground while things get untangled.
Jackass is wasting time apologizing for what he doesn't know so I ignore him and concentrate on getting my kite out of the weeds and nasty crap it's sitting in.
Meanwhile, uber-newbie-buddy-of-Jackass has been flying his trainer just to our left. Well, he drops that on top of my port control lines and the kite wraps around both brake and power!!! I'm trying to keep the kite stable on the ground but it's off-angle to the wind and wants to shift around ... and get this - uber-newbie is slowly walking down his lines, with one in each hand, keeping them nice and tidy! I growl at him to get that fucking thing off my lines and he finally clicked and unwrapped the kite.
FFS ... sure it all worked out in the end but it came close to me totally dumping my kite into the trees next to the road and then I would have been pissed. And it all could have been avoided!
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Aaah, let-down, melt-down, crack-down - you're busted!
Let-down : 2. To fail to meet the expectations of;
Wind was supposed to be pumping in Hamamatsu so I thought I'd take advantage of the wife still being at work to sneak down to the beach and enjoy a day by myself, listening to what I wanted in the car and not having to make nice chat.
Cross-onshore at Maisaka, limited surf for a change - maybe 1 to 2m breakers and a 3 to 6 foot swell near shore. Whitecaps out there but anemometer only reading 9 knots. Still it's supposed to get to 20 by 2pm - here's hoping. Out comes the Synergy 19 - it pre-fills ok but not as fast as I'd like, meaning the wind is weak :( Take a test run but I'm going nowhere fast ... walk back to the kite's bag and have a cool drink and wait.
Melt-down : 3. An emotional breakdown;
Wind picked up noticeably enough that another kitesurfer has appeared, with a 12m Cult and a directional ... I'm beginning to understand why everyone here has at least one directional! Head into the water again and as I'm on my way out, the damned red hat safety pops and I lose the kite onto the shore at the water's edge - WTH I turned it upside down to avoid this problem!!! Much fighting with twisted lines (How?!?) and struggling with relaunch then try again.
Still limited joy, the Synergy just doesn't have the grunt for this little wind. Working it like a mad thing but really, I'm just drifting downwind. Walk back upwind, have a drink (2L of water at the shore is my best idea yet!) and get back in the water. Drift downwind on a half-sunk board.
Coming back into shore the board gets washed into me by a wave and trips the safety again! FFS!!! Everything is a mess and I spend what feels like an hour running around trying to untangle lines then trying to launch, only to have the kite bow-tie, invert and retwisting all the lines. Sort that, re-launch and oh FFFFS there's a bloody plastic bag wrapped around the pulley! Land, untangle all the lines, relaunch ... insert temper tantrum.
And I still have to walk back up the beach!
Have another drink, breath in, breath out ... goosfraba ...
Try again. Oh come on that little prick with the Cult is riding upwind and I'm STILL not! So in a fit of pique I loop the Synergy right back through the middle of the power zone and ZOO-oom! off and away ... for a few more seconds than normal, anyway!
Loop ZOO-oom! Loop ZOO-oom! Loop ZOO-splat! Tee hee!
This is getting me downwind like a rocket but it's like doing wheelies in a carpark - totally pointless but totally amusing! Looping up and backwards into the power zone is easy enough although it needs 2 hands on the bar ... looping forwards and down is difficult and less rewarding and results in the odd crash into the water.
So I get to try my first water re-launch of an arc. First one was a bit of a struggle - couldn't get the kite to taco, it just wanted to stay on the leading edge. Floated nicely though even in the 3 - 6 foot swell. Finally get it over and sort out the right line to pull and get it into roughly the right position and - here's the trick - the wind pops open the leading edge a little, so rather than lying flat on itself the center of the kite has opened up. Yank on the center lines and up she goes! The second time I dunk the kite, I'd try to loop it too low and the tip had dragged itself into the water. It landed in the taco though and with just a little bit of tugging on the bottom rear line, it opened up and I yanked on the center lines and up she goes! Not bad.
Walk back up the beach and decide on one last run. Loop ZOO-oom etc and I've gone a whole lot further than I meant to ... crap there's the hotel again, that means I'm about 3 kilometers down the beach! It's going to be a lo-ooong walk. And it was.
Crack-down : 1. severely repressive actions;
Walk walk walk ... pack up and head back to the car to wash my gear, wash me and change into dry clothes. Ah, cool sweet fresh water! I just stand under the hose for a while ...
...
... finally stop playing with the hose and load the car, head home. Buy about 20 ice-blocks cos I'm dying of thirst! 3 hours on the highway home but for once no traffic jam. Get home and start to take stock of today's punishment.
Grazed nipple (?!?) where the depower line rubbed against it when the kite would auto-zenith when I'm trying to walk down the beach ... not always a good thing that auto-zenith, I've decided.
Right leg, inner thigh rubbed raw by walking up the beach with the kite to the right. I can live with that.
Taken off a few layers of skin where the leg straps go. Usually happens, no big deal.
Rashed inner left elbow from carrying the board. Hopefully I'll get over that if I ever get riding upwind!
3 x 2 inch patch of sunburn on the back of my right knee, where it folds.
WTH?
Dunno what sunblock I'm using - whatever was sold at 7-11 in the SPF 50 range - is bloody good stuff though. Kind of thin liquid that doesn't spread very well and leaves a white stain but boy howdy does it stop sunburn! I go mad with the stuff and do several coats on face, neck and ears cos they hurt the worst when burnt. I usually make sure I've spread it all over but I guess that like mosquito repellent, the square millimeter you miss is the bit the gets nailed :/
I better make sure I make certain to really lather myself up in future. Perhaps I should buy stocks in the company cos I go through the stuff like I go through erm money ...!
You're busted!
Was hoping to get home before the wife and pretend I'd gone to a local beach ... no such luck. Damned Prius drivers!
In summary ...
I really dig the Synergy, I love not having to pump and I love how fast it turns, how easy it is to loop and make power that way but I'm hating the lack of torque, I'm nonplussed with the relaunch but I detest the Zero7 bar!!! Thinking of selling both mine and getting a Navigator ...
Need a directional.
Must cover self from head to toe in sunblock.
A 2L bottle of water on the beach is awesome. A 2L bottle of frozen water would be heaven.
Walking sucks. Now I know why there are no fat people pro-kiteboarders and why gear is always sized so small - when you're learning, you spend so much time walking that you either lose weight and fit their weenie harnesses or you have a massive heart attack and die.
Wind was supposed to be pumping in Hamamatsu so I thought I'd take advantage of the wife still being at work to sneak down to the beach and enjoy a day by myself, listening to what I wanted in the car and not having to make nice chat.
Cross-onshore at Maisaka, limited surf for a change - maybe 1 to 2m breakers and a 3 to 6 foot swell near shore. Whitecaps out there but anemometer only reading 9 knots. Still it's supposed to get to 20 by 2pm - here's hoping. Out comes the Synergy 19 - it pre-fills ok but not as fast as I'd like, meaning the wind is weak :( Take a test run but I'm going nowhere fast ... walk back to the kite's bag and have a cool drink and wait.
Melt-down : 3. An emotional breakdown;
Wind picked up noticeably enough that another kitesurfer has appeared, with a 12m Cult and a directional ... I'm beginning to understand why everyone here has at least one directional! Head into the water again and as I'm on my way out, the damned red hat safety pops and I lose the kite onto the shore at the water's edge - WTH I turned it upside down to avoid this problem!!! Much fighting with twisted lines (How?!?) and struggling with relaunch then try again.
Still limited joy, the Synergy just doesn't have the grunt for this little wind. Working it like a mad thing but really, I'm just drifting downwind. Walk back upwind, have a drink (2L of water at the shore is my best idea yet!) and get back in the water. Drift downwind on a half-sunk board.
Coming back into shore the board gets washed into me by a wave and trips the safety again! FFS!!! Everything is a mess and I spend what feels like an hour running around trying to untangle lines then trying to launch, only to have the kite bow-tie, invert and retwisting all the lines. Sort that, re-launch and oh FFFFS there's a bloody plastic bag wrapped around the pulley! Land, untangle all the lines, relaunch ... insert temper tantrum.
And I still have to walk back up the beach!
Have another drink, breath in, breath out ... goosfraba ...
Try again. Oh come on that little prick with the Cult is riding upwind and I'm STILL not! So in a fit of pique I loop the Synergy right back through the middle of the power zone and ZOO-oom! off and away ... for a few more seconds than normal, anyway!
Loop ZOO-oom! Loop ZOO-oom! Loop ZOO-splat! Tee hee!
This is getting me downwind like a rocket but it's like doing wheelies in a carpark - totally pointless but totally amusing! Looping up and backwards into the power zone is easy enough although it needs 2 hands on the bar ... looping forwards and down is difficult and less rewarding and results in the odd crash into the water.
So I get to try my first water re-launch of an arc. First one was a bit of a struggle - couldn't get the kite to taco, it just wanted to stay on the leading edge. Floated nicely though even in the 3 - 6 foot swell. Finally get it over and sort out the right line to pull and get it into roughly the right position and - here's the trick - the wind pops open the leading edge a little, so rather than lying flat on itself the center of the kite has opened up. Yank on the center lines and up she goes! The second time I dunk the kite, I'd try to loop it too low and the tip had dragged itself into the water. It landed in the taco though and with just a little bit of tugging on the bottom rear line, it opened up and I yanked on the center lines and up she goes! Not bad.
Walk back up the beach and decide on one last run. Loop ZOO-oom etc and I've gone a whole lot further than I meant to ... crap there's the hotel again, that means I'm about 3 kilometers down the beach! It's going to be a lo-ooong walk. And it was.
Crack-down : 1. severely repressive actions;
Walk walk walk ... pack up and head back to the car to wash my gear, wash me and change into dry clothes. Ah, cool sweet fresh water! I just stand under the hose for a while ...
...
... finally stop playing with the hose and load the car, head home. Buy about 20 ice-blocks cos I'm dying of thirst! 3 hours on the highway home but for once no traffic jam. Get home and start to take stock of today's punishment.
Grazed nipple (?!?) where the depower line rubbed against it when the kite would auto-zenith when I'm trying to walk down the beach ... not always a good thing that auto-zenith, I've decided.
Right leg, inner thigh rubbed raw by walking up the beach with the kite to the right. I can live with that.
Taken off a few layers of skin where the leg straps go. Usually happens, no big deal.
Rashed inner left elbow from carrying the board. Hopefully I'll get over that if I ever get riding upwind!
3 x 2 inch patch of sunburn on the back of my right knee, where it folds.
WTH?
Dunno what sunblock I'm using - whatever was sold at 7-11 in the SPF 50 range - is bloody good stuff though. Kind of thin liquid that doesn't spread very well and leaves a white stain but boy howdy does it stop sunburn! I go mad with the stuff and do several coats on face, neck and ears cos they hurt the worst when burnt. I usually make sure I've spread it all over but I guess that like mosquito repellent, the square millimeter you miss is the bit the gets nailed :/
I better make sure I make certain to really lather myself up in future. Perhaps I should buy stocks in the company cos I go through the stuff like I go through erm money ...!
You're busted!
Was hoping to get home before the wife and pretend I'd gone to a local beach ... no such luck. Damned Prius drivers!
In summary ...
I really dig the Synergy, I love not having to pump and I love how fast it turns, how easy it is to loop and make power that way but I'm hating the lack of torque, I'm nonplussed with the relaunch but I detest the Zero7 bar!!! Thinking of selling both mine and getting a Navigator ...
Need a directional.
Must cover self from head to toe in sunblock.
A 2L bottle of water on the beach is awesome. A 2L bottle of frozen water would be heaven.
Walking sucks. Now I know why there are no fat people pro-kiteboarders and why gear is always sized so small - when you're learning, you spend so much time walking that you either lose weight and fit their weenie harnesses or you have a massive heart attack and die.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
One hot minute - The Movie!
After hours of editing, this is what it all came down to. Sometimes, I wonder why I bother ...! Editing video that is - kiteboarding is like pizza ... even when it's bad, you can just pick the anchovies out and it's still pretty good!
I split it up into 4 parts because I have like ADD or something and tend to skip through movies on YouTube that are over like 2 minutes so I figured others are the same and perhaps I can suck people in to watching the whole thing ... mwa-ha-HA!
I split it up into 4 parts because I have like ADD or something and tend to skip through movies on YouTube that are over like 2 minutes so I figured others are the same and perhaps I can suck people in to watching the whole thing ... mwa-ha-HA!
Monday, July 5, 2010
Hammered spam
Feeling a bit beat up after yesterday's session ... but weather-gpv.info predicted ridable wind so I dragged my decrepit carcass down the beach to join the rotting fish carcasses and anal douches littered on the shore, around 4:30pm.
Decided that I'd just have a play with the 19m Synergy cos everyone was being all pessimistic so I set up and did some scudding and jumps on the beach; tested out the looping speed too.
Wind picked up and people were riding so I grabbed my board and hit the water.
Bah, more submarining and water-starting all the way down the beach to walk back. Slowly though the wind seems to be picking up and suddenly I'm riding down-winders the length of the beach. Got a few runs far enough out from shore to do slide turns - fail rate maintained at 20% :D Had one real sweet one though, sort of carved it round on the back foot, powered by the kite ... felt like riding powder on a snowboard!
As the sun set, the wind picked right up and it was just me and Sou on the water. Cos some semi-upwind runs in going out, but the current and waves pushed me into shore on the way pack in ... all were WoS. Wonder if a faster board would be better for the Synergy ...
Packed up in the dark! Was home by 8pm ...
So, light-wind comparo, Synergy 19m vs Speed 1.5 17m ...
The Speed probably gets me going earlier but it's a dog to work in the sine until you can park it.
The Synergy is fast - turns on a dime and holds more power on the upstroke but can't be parked in this wind like the Speed can - gotta work the Synergy like a slave, although it's not a chore at all.
You can loop the Synergy for a good burst of speed but lose ground downwind. That's fun though :D
Next to impossible to stall the Synergy when you're moving - MonkeyAir was right!
Well, it was better than sitting in front of TV but I'm battered and stiff now ...
Forgot to add settings for the Synergy.
Center strap fully tight, tips fully loose, bridle max power/bar pressure which was too much.
Decided that I'd just have a play with the 19m Synergy cos everyone was being all pessimistic so I set up and did some scudding and jumps on the beach; tested out the looping speed too.
Wind picked up and people were riding so I grabbed my board and hit the water.
Bah, more submarining and water-starting all the way down the beach to walk back. Slowly though the wind seems to be picking up and suddenly I'm riding down-winders the length of the beach. Got a few runs far enough out from shore to do slide turns - fail rate maintained at 20% :D Had one real sweet one though, sort of carved it round on the back foot, powered by the kite ... felt like riding powder on a snowboard!
As the sun set, the wind picked right up and it was just me and Sou on the water. Cos some semi-upwind runs in going out, but the current and waves pushed me into shore on the way pack in ... all were WoS. Wonder if a faster board would be better for the Synergy ...
Packed up in the dark! Was home by 8pm ...
So, light-wind comparo, Synergy 19m vs Speed 1.5 17m ...
The Speed probably gets me going earlier but it's a dog to work in the sine until you can park it.
The Synergy is fast - turns on a dime and holds more power on the upstroke but can't be parked in this wind like the Speed can - gotta work the Synergy like a slave, although it's not a chore at all.
You can loop the Synergy for a good burst of speed but lose ground downwind. That's fun though :D
Next to impossible to stall the Synergy when you're moving - MonkeyAir was right!
Well, it was better than sitting in front of TV but I'm battered and stiff now ...
Forgot to add settings for the Synergy.
Center strap fully tight, tips fully loose, bridle max power/bar pressure which was too much.
One hot minute
Sunday, possibly some ridable wind predicted at this page - http://weather-gpv.info/ - which is the most accurate weather forecast so far ... and no good for you gringos who no speak-ee the Japanese-ee. The only kanji I know on the whole page are the ones in the drop-down menu for this region and the one for wind, which is enough ...
Played on the beach waiting for the wind to pick up around 3pm. Pulled out the GoPro and mounted it on the Kite Hero line mount ... not 100% impressed how the FDS line fits there - hope we don't have to bail! Otherwise it fits good - should be perfect on the 4-line kites eg. Synergy.
Lots of work for little riding. Submarined the board all the way down the beach, or water-started then fell back in. Walked for miles. Feet and ankles got cut up, probably infected by all the dead fish floating around.
Finally!
Got about 30 minutes worth of powered-up, upwind riding in! It sort of all came at once and I was off like a rocket!
Thanks to a video I saw on James' Blog that gave a riders view of timing a sliding turn, I had a crack at that - success! Pretty surprised, the first one was too easy. Fail rate of about 2 in 10 but when I get it right, it was all good!
Had my Spleene Door 154x42 at the beach cos I wanted to compare it as a light-wind board versus my Square One, so while the wind was up I dropped the Airush and grabbed the Spleene.
2005 Airush Square One versus 2007 Spleene Door 154 ...
The Square One floats better when there isn't enough oomph to plane quickly - the Door dives like a sub if I'm not thinking about keeping the nose up.
Need to shoot the leg out a bit more on starts - the Square One has let me get lazy, I guess.
Molded foot-pads on the Door are hard to get into and the straps cut into my foot a bit. They're way new though and probably still stiff. Very comfy for the heels, though.
They seem to get up planing about the same, the Square One a little earlier maybe but once the Door is off, it's f-a-s-t!
Door is the best for going upwind - much easier to do but seems to be more technical to control the speed and harder to edge. Did I say it was fast? Cos it's fast. Real fast.
Less splash in the face from between my legs on the Door.
The Door's ride overall is smoother but I'm betting that's cos of the foot pads - the Square One has nothing! Also feels more like it's on rails when edging. And it's fast.
Then the wind dropped off and I'm back to water-starting my way down the beach and walking again :(
Got home and checked out the GoPro and it seems I ran out of memory card before the wind arrived, so it'll make for a small upload with a LOT of editing! Soon ...
Was interesting that 8Gb SD card was filled before running out of battery - might be worth getting a 16Gb.
So, to sum up ...
Got some footage of me riding and tested the Kite Hero mount. Got to test the Door against the Square One. Taught myself sliding turns ... erm oh was that it?
Played on the beach waiting for the wind to pick up around 3pm. Pulled out the GoPro and mounted it on the Kite Hero line mount ... not 100% impressed how the FDS line fits there - hope we don't have to bail! Otherwise it fits good - should be perfect on the 4-line kites eg. Synergy.
Lots of work for little riding. Submarined the board all the way down the beach, or water-started then fell back in. Walked for miles. Feet and ankles got cut up, probably infected by all the dead fish floating around.
Finally!
Got about 30 minutes worth of powered-up, upwind riding in! It sort of all came at once and I was off like a rocket!
Thanks to a video I saw on James' Blog that gave a riders view of timing a sliding turn, I had a crack at that - success! Pretty surprised, the first one was too easy. Fail rate of about 2 in 10 but when I get it right, it was all good!
Had my Spleene Door 154x42 at the beach cos I wanted to compare it as a light-wind board versus my Square One, so while the wind was up I dropped the Airush and grabbed the Spleene.
2005 Airush Square One versus 2007 Spleene Door 154 ...
The Square One floats better when there isn't enough oomph to plane quickly - the Door dives like a sub if I'm not thinking about keeping the nose up.
Need to shoot the leg out a bit more on starts - the Square One has let me get lazy, I guess.
Molded foot-pads on the Door are hard to get into and the straps cut into my foot a bit. They're way new though and probably still stiff. Very comfy for the heels, though.
They seem to get up planing about the same, the Square One a little earlier maybe but once the Door is off, it's f-a-s-t!
Door is the best for going upwind - much easier to do but seems to be more technical to control the speed and harder to edge. Did I say it was fast? Cos it's fast. Real fast.
Less splash in the face from between my legs on the Door.
The Door's ride overall is smoother but I'm betting that's cos of the foot pads - the Square One has nothing! Also feels more like it's on rails when edging. And it's fast.
Then the wind dropped off and I'm back to water-starting my way down the beach and walking again :(
Got home and checked out the GoPro and it seems I ran out of memory card before the wind arrived, so it'll make for a small upload with a LOT of editing! Soon ...
Was interesting that 8Gb SD card was filled before running out of battery - might be worth getting a 16Gb.
So, to sum up ...
Got some footage of me riding and tested the Kite Hero mount. Got to test the Door against the Square One. Taught myself sliding turns ... erm oh was that it?
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Flysurfaholic!
Another low wind session with the Speed ... 8 to 12 knots, I'd guess - the water on the lake was white-capping and that means there's ju-uuust enough wind for me to ride with my biggest kite and board.
Lots of hard working of the kite, fighting the lulls and waiting for the gusts. Had some good runs but every single one ended in a WoS of various lengths. I did manage to avoid washing up on the other half of the beach though! I'm at the stage where as long as I get some semi-powered riding in, I'm happy. So erm I'm happy.
As I was packing up, the sky lit up with the most stunning oranges and brilliant reds and startling blues ...
As an aside, my bits to repair the Shockwave and an Ozone Access harness arrived from Kent of awindofchange.com last night - super sweet! Better finish building my cross-over bar for the fixed bridles ...!
Lots of hard working of the kite, fighting the lulls and waiting for the gusts. Had some good runs but every single one ended in a WoS of various lengths. I did manage to avoid washing up on the other half of the beach though! I'm at the stage where as long as I get some semi-powered riding in, I'm happy. So erm I'm happy.
As I was packing up, the sky lit up with the most stunning oranges and brilliant reds and startling blues ...
As an aside, my bits to repair the Shockwave and an Ozone Access harness arrived from Kent of awindofchange.com last night - super sweet! Better finish building my cross-over bar for the fixed bridles ...!
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
More jollies
Skivved off work early to hit the beach.
Went home, got changed, loaded up the car, drove out, parked, humped my gear across the road down the steps on to the beach, unpacked my Synergy - damn, I've brought the 15 instead of the 19!!!
The forecast was for 5m/s falling to 4m/s from 3pm to 9pm. So about 8 to 10 knots.
Hmm ... I had put the Flysurfer Speed 1.5 17m in the car (just in case) so I humped my ickle Synergy back across the road and got stuck into the Speed.
Well. A bit of a finicky monster, in my beginners opinion. Slow turning, twitchy on the trim (I stalled it a lot), real knife-edge of powered or under-powered in these wind conditions but once you get over that hump (12 knots?) and can park and ride - man, what a ride! Boy is that thing fast! And I swear, even my idiot arse going further upwind faster than the little locals. Unfortunately, I spent a lot of time trying to work the kite to make some power and going wa-aaay downwind.
Points of interest ...
Tightened the lower harness straps with both hands. This helped stop the harness riding up my bum.
Nearly had said harness yanked off though when I bailed (trying to drag my bum in the water - don't ask why cos I don't know either) and got spun around and I was sorta upside down. Not fun. Thought my pants were going with it.
Mistook my landmark on the shore and ended up further down the beach than I should have been. Couldn't get upwind well and ended up on the "other" beach. Walking back up the shore, I had to jump over a canal-thing to get back to our beach. Oops.
Getting good at riding over the waves - that's fun :)
Many Walks of Shame, a few ride out and returns. Oh well :(
The water gets colder the further out from shore you are. It's a sweet, sweet thing on a hot day!
Nose-dived the kite a few times but reverse launched it no worries! Nice, I like that.
Back-stall landed the kite easily too. Nice, I like that.
Right arm is crippled - the bracioradialis is bloody painful ... not used to the work! Not nice, I don't like that.
So basically I learned that if the regular local riders are doing the WoS then I've got no show of riding. Still better than sitting in front of telly though!
EDIT : just looked at the Yahoo! weather here that also gives the data of what was ... apparently, it was 4m/s to 3m/s ...! 6 to 8 knots! No wonder I was walking :D
Went home, got changed, loaded up the car, drove out, parked, humped my gear across the road down the steps on to the beach, unpacked my Synergy - damn, I've brought the 15 instead of the 19!!!
The forecast was for 5m/s falling to 4m/s from 3pm to 9pm. So about 8 to 10 knots.
Hmm ... I had put the Flysurfer Speed 1.5 17m in the car (just in case) so I humped my ickle Synergy back across the road and got stuck into the Speed.
Well. A bit of a finicky monster, in my beginners opinion. Slow turning, twitchy on the trim (I stalled it a lot), real knife-edge of powered or under-powered in these wind conditions but once you get over that hump (12 knots?) and can park and ride - man, what a ride! Boy is that thing fast! And I swear, even my idiot arse going further upwind faster than the little locals. Unfortunately, I spent a lot of time trying to work the kite to make some power and going wa-aaay downwind.
Points of interest ...
Tightened the lower harness straps with both hands. This helped stop the harness riding up my bum.
Nearly had said harness yanked off though when I bailed (trying to drag my bum in the water - don't ask why cos I don't know either) and got spun around and I was sorta upside down. Not fun. Thought my pants were going with it.
Mistook my landmark on the shore and ended up further down the beach than I should have been. Couldn't get upwind well and ended up on the "other" beach. Walking back up the shore, I had to jump over a canal-thing to get back to our beach. Oops.
Getting good at riding over the waves - that's fun :)
Many Walks of Shame, a few ride out and returns. Oh well :(
The water gets colder the further out from shore you are. It's a sweet, sweet thing on a hot day!
Nose-dived the kite a few times but reverse launched it no worries! Nice, I like that.
Back-stall landed the kite easily too. Nice, I like that.
Right arm is crippled - the bracioradialis is bloody painful ... not used to the work! Not nice, I don't like that.
So basically I learned that if the regular local riders are doing the WoS then I've got no show of riding. Still better than sitting in front of telly though!
EDIT : just looked at the Yahoo! weather here that also gives the data of what was ... apparently, it was 4m/s to 3m/s ...! 6 to 8 knots! No wonder I was walking :D
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Back to Square One
There was wind again today but rather than heading down to the park for landboarding, I thought I'd toddle down to the beach. Forecast said 10 knots steady, building to 12 well after dark. Not enough for a big session I thought, maybe I'll have a play with the Speed and see how it goes, should be good to get a handle on it in the water.
Got home loaded the car with the Airush Square One (177x49!!!) board, the Speed 1.5 17 and the Synergy 19, just in case. Arrived at the beach and it was cooking! Seems it was more like 15 knots but I couldn't be bothered fishing out my wind meter so I just hit the beach.
Synergy inflated easily but had a bit of a hairy launch; it dumped the sand from the wing tip and slid downwind before going up, giving a good magic carpet scud. Can't figure out why it did that - I probably wasn't at 45º enough.
I had the center strap in about 25%, tips right out and the VPC knots in the second space 'out' or down from the TE pigtail.
Checked the trim ... trimmed right out, being lifted onto tippy-toes - there's plenty of wind! It's cross onshore, from the north east so we'll be heading away from the beach with plenty of room downwind.
Got in the water with the board, dive the kite and ZOOM I'm off! Awesome!
Kite is still trimmed for de-power so I'm trying to grab the trim strap but I end up getting skittled by the waves. Trim the kite out, body-drag to the board and dive ZOOM and head back towards the beach.
Big ol' Walk of Shame, I'm almost at the other end of the beach. Damn but it was warp speed out there!
Back into the water, dive the kite and ZOOM I'm off again.
Paying more attention to course and trying to keep the speed down. Much easier heading into the waves than with them, I seem to end up further upwind although I'm bouncing off the tops of waves and making a few unintentional jumps as I get the timing "wrong" - sending the kite up to 12 as I reach the crest of a wave. All my jumping on the beach seems to have paid off though cos I actually managed to land most of them :D felt great!
Another long Walk of Shame ...
Back out again, really trying to edge hard. I'm still doing the foil thing and hanging onto the bar, tying to power up through that. I put more weight into my harness and lean back ... this time, when I get back to shore there a much smaller Walk of Shame!
And it gets better!
My last few runs as the sun sets after an hour and a half on the water (where did the time go?!?) I'm actually getting right back to my starting point! I'm going upwind!!! Well sort of. But we're getting there and I'm learning to control my speed, work the kite to get board speed when I need and basically having a great time!
Only real problem - bloody harness! For a seat harness, it really thinks it should be an armpit harness :O riding up so far I couldn't reach the trim strap and I thought I might never be able to fish it out of my arsehole. Going to have to REALLY haul those straps in tight, I guess. Not comfy.
Classiest dismount of the day goes to me - coming back to the shore, I sent the kite up fast and when it lifted me, I sheeted in and let my feet come out of the foot-straps and gliding onto the shore for a perfect touchdown :) probably a bit silly but I was psyched and just let rip! Then I noticed my left wrist and the massive scar and didn't do it again :D
Great evening, bit of a surprise cos I didn't think the wind would be so good!
Got home loaded the car with the Airush Square One (177x49!!!) board, the Speed 1.5 17 and the Synergy 19, just in case. Arrived at the beach and it was cooking! Seems it was more like 15 knots but I couldn't be bothered fishing out my wind meter so I just hit the beach.
Synergy inflated easily but had a bit of a hairy launch; it dumped the sand from the wing tip and slid downwind before going up, giving a good magic carpet scud. Can't figure out why it did that - I probably wasn't at 45º enough.
I had the center strap in about 25%, tips right out and the VPC knots in the second space 'out' or down from the TE pigtail.
Checked the trim ... trimmed right out, being lifted onto tippy-toes - there's plenty of wind! It's cross onshore, from the north east so we'll be heading away from the beach with plenty of room downwind.
Got in the water with the board, dive the kite and ZOOM I'm off! Awesome!
Kite is still trimmed for de-power so I'm trying to grab the trim strap but I end up getting skittled by the waves. Trim the kite out, body-drag to the board and dive ZOOM and head back towards the beach.
Big ol' Walk of Shame, I'm almost at the other end of the beach. Damn but it was warp speed out there!
Back into the water, dive the kite and ZOOM I'm off again.
Paying more attention to course and trying to keep the speed down. Much easier heading into the waves than with them, I seem to end up further upwind although I'm bouncing off the tops of waves and making a few unintentional jumps as I get the timing "wrong" - sending the kite up to 12 as I reach the crest of a wave. All my jumping on the beach seems to have paid off though cos I actually managed to land most of them :D felt great!
Another long Walk of Shame ...
Back out again, really trying to edge hard. I'm still doing the foil thing and hanging onto the bar, tying to power up through that. I put more weight into my harness and lean back ... this time, when I get back to shore there a much smaller Walk of Shame!
And it gets better!
My last few runs as the sun sets after an hour and a half on the water (where did the time go?!?) I'm actually getting right back to my starting point! I'm going upwind!!! Well sort of. But we're getting there and I'm learning to control my speed, work the kite to get board speed when I need and basically having a great time!
Only real problem - bloody harness! For a seat harness, it really thinks it should be an armpit harness :O riding up so far I couldn't reach the trim strap and I thought I might never be able to fish it out of my arsehole. Going to have to REALLY haul those straps in tight, I guess. Not comfy.
Classiest dismount of the day goes to me - coming back to the shore, I sent the kite up fast and when it lifted me, I sheeted in and let my feet come out of the foot-straps and gliding onto the shore for a perfect touchdown :) probably a bit silly but I was psyched and just let rip! Then I noticed my left wrist and the massive scar and didn't do it again :D
Great evening, bit of a surprise cos I didn't think the wind would be so good!
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