And just in case YouTube screws my awesome soundtrack, here's the Vimeo link - http://vimeo.com/31545138
Showing posts with label xacti. Show all posts
Showing posts with label xacti. Show all posts
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Tsu delivers!
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.
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.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Southerlies at Mie again
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.
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.
Sunday, May 8, 2011
1 step back, 2 forwards? - The Movie!
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.
... 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.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Flabby Starfish and the Chicken-flavoured Gravy - The Movie!
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 ...
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Monday, June 21, 2010
No wind at Maisaka - The Movie!
Had the weekend off work so we went to Hamamatsu.
Hoped to catch some sea breezes and get out on the water, but the weather didn't co-operate. Spent some hours on Maisaka beach soaking up the fresh air and playing with my Flysurfer.
It was very borderline to even keep the kite in the air, but for a few minutes the wind picked up just enough to do some silly jumps. Video when it finishes uploading.
Noticed Nick-san had a buggy in his shed beside his shop, big ol' Bigfoot tyres on it ... hoping to rent it off him next time we're there are there's not enough wind to kiteboard. The beach is too soft for an ATB but it'd be a good opportunity to have a go on a buggy.
Hoped to catch some sea breezes and get out on the water, but the weather didn't co-operate. Spent some hours on Maisaka beach soaking up the fresh air and playing with my Flysurfer.
It was very borderline to even keep the kite in the air, but for a few minutes the wind picked up just enough to do some silly jumps. Video when it finishes uploading.
Noticed Nick-san had a buggy in his shed beside his shop, big ol' Bigfoot tyres on it ... hoping to rent it off him next time we're there are there's not enough wind to kiteboard. The beach is too soft for an ATB but it'd be a good opportunity to have a go on a buggy.
Monday, May 31, 2010
And it was phun phun phun - The Movie
Wind was up today so we went down to Maisaka Beach after brunch. Forecast was for easterlies at 12 knots which would have meant slightly cross offshore winds. Er, nope - clean cross onshore wind about 12 knots when we got there and over the afternoon it built up to about 17 or so. Nuts, I had left my board and Synergies at home in Shiga cos I thought the weather would be shite.
Unrolled the new (to me) Phantom 12 and Zero 7 bar and lines on the sand for my first flight with it. Lovely, still crispy, bright and bold!
Filled from the center zipper no worries once I closed the deflate zip :D
There's no Launch Assistant tab on the Phantoms so I carefully laid out the downwind lines across the top of the kite and went back to the bar. By now, the wife has her birthday camera running (Sanyo Xacti CG11) so I even got a clip of me launching the Phantom. Textbook, if I do say so myself :D the only reason why I dawdled around with the launch - I was making sure I hadn't crossed the lines. I do that sometimes. Up she goes no worries.
I spent the next 4 hours or so having great fun scudding around and trying to jump. Thought I had some real crackers until I checked the video the wife took and realized - the jumps were lame like a one-legged donkey and the camera adds about a hundred pounds ... poor Phantom having to drag my fat arse around.
Scudding was awesome, and as the wind picked up the kite was giving more lift to the drag downwind and I was flying along with my feet just skimming the sand. No more pumice rubbing my soles - I got sand-blasted beautiful feet now!
Tried to remember theArc Setup FAQ details about bar settings and backstalling etc so fiddled with that for a bit too. Seems I got it about right though - have moved the front line leader at the bar end to the next knot, shortening the front lines IIRC - and now I can fly with the trim strap right out. Pulling the bar all the way in and holding it there stalls the kite when it's at the zenith but gives a mighty blast of speed and power when flying through the window WOOHOO.
Landing the kite, I didn't feel I could attempt Carl's method safely so I made up my own :D
Flew the Phantom out to the edge of the wind window on the LHS, then pulled the bar right in and let it fly backstalling to as far downwind as it would go, say 5 o'clock, just off then ground then popped the safety. Kite went down, I walked forward and it flagged beautifully. I then made the mistake of trying to fun downwind to sand the edge, but it went flapping away. Hmm, will have to work on that. Got the wife to hold the self landing handle while I sorted it out.
Great phun with the Fantom!
Unrolled the new (to me) Phantom 12 and Zero 7 bar and lines on the sand for my first flight with it. Lovely, still crispy, bright and bold!
Filled from the center zipper no worries once I closed the deflate zip :D
There's no Launch Assistant tab on the Phantoms so I carefully laid out the downwind lines across the top of the kite and went back to the bar. By now, the wife has her birthday camera running (Sanyo Xacti CG11) so I even got a clip of me launching the Phantom. Textbook, if I do say so myself :D the only reason why I dawdled around with the launch - I was making sure I hadn't crossed the lines. I do that sometimes. Up she goes no worries.
I spent the next 4 hours or so having great fun scudding around and trying to jump. Thought I had some real crackers until I checked the video the wife took and realized - the jumps were lame like a one-legged donkey and the camera adds about a hundred pounds ... poor Phantom having to drag my fat arse around.
Scudding was awesome, and as the wind picked up the kite was giving more lift to the drag downwind and I was flying along with my feet just skimming the sand. No more pumice rubbing my soles - I got sand-blasted beautiful feet now!
Tried to remember the
Landing the kite, I didn't feel I could attempt Carl's method safely so I made up my own :D
Flew the Phantom out to the edge of the wind window on the LHS, then pulled the bar right in and let it fly backstalling to as far downwind as it would go, say 5 o'clock, just off then ground then popped the safety. Kite went down, I walked forward and it flagged beautifully. I then made the mistake of trying to fun downwind to sand the edge, but it went flapping away. Hmm, will have to work on that. Got the wife to hold the self landing handle while I sorted it out.
Great phun with the Fantom!
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