Supposed to be pretty good wind tonight and when I got to the lake, it looked like it was cranking so I thought I'd try out the 19m Charger, figuring it'd be about like my 16m Crossbow. Kinda.
Naturally, the wind fell away just as I arrived at the beach 0_o Mr Fujii was on his 10m SB but he was floudering, same with Soh on his 12m Havoc. Nuts.
Inflate the Charger easily, then launch ... huh. No tip clapping but it lurks about halfway up the window until I trim the front lines. Guess it needs more then ...
I try to ride in what I know is too light wind ... I reckon it's maybe 10-12 knots. I struggle to get up, slog downwind and walk back. Repeat ...
Everyone else gives up. Gusts are getting more on and off, they come through stronger though and finally I'm riding them out, throwing a few jumps and even a couple of back-rolls.
Daylight is fading but the wind is right up and I'm riding upwind ok, parking and riding some too. Charger works real nice when it's powered but for a 19 and me, that seems to be 16 knots plus. I'm betting the butter zone will be 18 to 26 knots.
I had a nice time, got to try the Charger finally and was happy enough with that!
Thoughts on bar pressure ...
This has been coming for a while.
I find that my 2011 Crossbow 13m is just right - not too heavy, not too light and I don't have stiff elbows or forearms at the end of a big session. Taking that as a base line ... add in some arbitrary numbers! :D
Let's consider the 2010 Xbow 16m which is a frightful thing. Bar pressure for turning is very light compared to sheeting in - it always reminds me of balancing a broom upright in the palm of your hand ... as soon as it's off-center, it's going. The kite happily whips around a turn but doesn't take much bar pressure to do so. Sheeting in when riding though - sweet baby Jesus wrapped in bacon strips! Forearm pumps, blisters, callouses ... like a teenager boy's palms! Let's call it sheeting pressure +7 and turning pressure +1 versus the 13. I can ride it for hours but I'm hurting the follow the day/week.
The Charger 19 has only slightly higher pressure for sheeting in but is easily held with one hand when trimmed right; even when it's not trimmed well, it's still pretty easy to hold. There's more pressure when initiating turns (naturally), kind of a springy feel and the amount of time you need to hold it is short - Charger turns faster than my Crossbows - but it would wear on you, if you had to work it all day. Let's say sheeting pressure +2 and turning pressure +3, compared to the very comfy 13m Xbow. I seem to remember the 15 being the same ... but the Synergy series having say, sheeting pressure +2 and turning pressure +4.
Flysurfer Speed3 21 is a big kite with a big bar that pulls like a big bad thing. But it's surprisingly nippy unless you insist on muscling it around like a over-steroided post-lobotomy rugby-player (is there any other type of rubgy player?). Bar pressure for sheeting is not too bad and neither is turning, although you have to hold it in the turn longer which gets tiring ... I'll assign sheeting pressure +1 and turning pressure +2 so long as you don't fight the kite - and yes, both the Charger and the Speed can be flown one-handed while riding. Speed2 19 I remember being just a touch more than the Speed3 - say +0.5 for each. Unity 12 I found to be the same as the big Speed3.
Ok nerd-fest over ...
Moment of the Day was simply parking and riding then launching jumps. And not getting pissed when I had to walk ... guess I was just in the right mood!
Wind strength was recorded as 10 to 12 knots with gusts to 20 - I guess that was when I was having fun with the park'n'ride ...
What I learned today ...
• Charger needs a lot of wind to pull easily :(
• You can whip it around but it doesn't help much if you're sinking.
• You CAN whip it around really fast but it's better to be smoother with it.
• The tendency for arcs to "flare" at the bottom of a tight turn is reduced with the Charger and Navigator combo but still occurs. It's more exaggerated on the side with the safety on it too, as the line slips through the ring ...
• Makes best power on the down stroke, close to the water and with pressure on the rear lines. Flies most consistently when levered around on the stopper ball.
• Jumps are more floaty than I remember with the Synergy, but that might just be that my technique has improved. The first one dropped me but the rest I redirected sooner and the landings were feather like. Only a couple of meters though :o
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Monday, October 17, 2011
We are the Night Riders
We got skunked yesterday big time, so was dubious of the forecast today but headed down to the lake - even though it looked crappy all the way along the lake shore road ... looked better when I arrived, and Junkie Sensei was getting in the water so I suited up.
If the wind lived up to the forecast, we were going to get 16 knots ... I thought I'd risk the 21 and took both boards over the road. Wind was good when I launched, the kite pre-filled quickly and pulled well at the zenith. I jumped straight onto the Flyradical ...
Nicely powered! After a few minutes the wind picked up a little more and I was riding upwind just fine! Started trying out the tricks ... using the board more than the kite like Miyachi was talking about the other day. Nope, that sucks - can't land them except on my ribs or ass, or slam down so hard I tweak my knee and ankles - I like the way I do it much better :D
Try out his technique for jumps and realize that it's what the "How to go big" video was talking about - I was just being lazy or enjoying the air time and not thinking about what I was doing ...
Miyachi is out on the lake, riding strapless with his 14m RPM and Uncle No-Relaunch is warming up on the beach. Wind drops a bit and I'm still riding the Flyradical but not powered enough to do anything. I come in to grab the 'door but Uncle is having issues with his kite so I rejoin the pattern until he clears the beach. Ah, much better on the 'door!
When I try to throw a back-roll though DANG that board is heavy - have been spoiled by the 'radical! Further tries result in feet slipping out of the straps and messy things like that. I give up and go back to trying to jump as high as I can.
It's getting dark and I'm hoping to get Miyachi to land my kite again for me - he's getting so good at handling the foil now :D - so I keep riding until he heads in. Meantime, Uncle has dropped his kite and guess what - he can't relaunch it until it drifts onto the shore ... is it just that he's crap or the Naish kites he use simply don't relaunch? Yikes ...
Great session, packed up in the dark again - got about 90 minutes riding though!
Moment of the Day was popping to toeside then carving the transition back to heelside - I managed to time it all perfectly (accident!) and it was super-cool ... unfortunately, I couldn't repeat it :D
Wind strength (thanks Peter Frank) was measured at 5 to 12 to 7 knots from 4 to 6pm, with a gust of 16 knots at 5. 12 knots sounds about right; seems like then up is good for the Flyradical ...
What I learned today ...
• Still need to use the kite for front rolls, waiting until it's over-head to start the loop and don't forget - pull with the front hand when you spot your landing!!!
• Keeping the kite in the air when your head is underwater ... getting good at that. Pulling on the back hand to keep it up.
• Looping the big FSer is very possible and makes for some interesting transitions, jumps etc cos it builds monster speed through the turn! I am the Downwind Rocketship.
• Sending the kite at its own pace produces bigger jumps than trying to force it around.
If the wind lived up to the forecast, we were going to get 16 knots ... I thought I'd risk the 21 and took both boards over the road. Wind was good when I launched, the kite pre-filled quickly and pulled well at the zenith. I jumped straight onto the Flyradical ...
Nicely powered! After a few minutes the wind picked up a little more and I was riding upwind just fine! Started trying out the tricks ... using the board more than the kite like Miyachi was talking about the other day. Nope, that sucks - can't land them except on my ribs or ass, or slam down so hard I tweak my knee and ankles - I like the way I do it much better :D
Try out his technique for jumps and realize that it's what the "How to go big" video was talking about - I was just being lazy or enjoying the air time and not thinking about what I was doing ...
Miyachi is out on the lake, riding strapless with his 14m RPM and Uncle No-Relaunch is warming up on the beach. Wind drops a bit and I'm still riding the Flyradical but not powered enough to do anything. I come in to grab the 'door but Uncle is having issues with his kite so I rejoin the pattern until he clears the beach. Ah, much better on the 'door!
When I try to throw a back-roll though DANG that board is heavy - have been spoiled by the 'radical! Further tries result in feet slipping out of the straps and messy things like that. I give up and go back to trying to jump as high as I can.
It's getting dark and I'm hoping to get Miyachi to land my kite again for me - he's getting so good at handling the foil now :D - so I keep riding until he heads in. Meantime, Uncle has dropped his kite and guess what - he can't relaunch it until it drifts onto the shore ... is it just that he's crap or the Naish kites he use simply don't relaunch? Yikes ...
Great session, packed up in the dark again - got about 90 minutes riding though!
Moment of the Day was popping to toeside then carving the transition back to heelside - I managed to time it all perfectly (accident!) and it was super-cool ... unfortunately, I couldn't repeat it :D
Wind strength (thanks Peter Frank) was measured at 5 to 12 to 7 knots from 4 to 6pm, with a gust of 16 knots at 5. 12 knots sounds about right; seems like then up is good for the Flyradical ...
What I learned today ...
• Still need to use the kite for front rolls, waiting until it's over-head to start the loop and don't forget - pull with the front hand when you spot your landing!!!
• Keeping the kite in the air when your head is underwater ... getting good at that. Pulling on the back hand to keep it up.
• Looping the big FSer is very possible and makes for some interesting transitions, jumps etc cos it builds monster speed through the turn! I am the Downwind Rocketship.
• Sending the kite at its own pace produces bigger jumps than trying to force it around.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Full moon sailing
Forecast looked good, webcam looked good - I motored on down to the lake! Traffic is light, I make good time and get there just before 4:30pm. Wind looks borderline; everyone seems to be humming and harring. I waver for a moment then think ah fuck it why not. It's Speed3 time baby yeah! Suit up, load up, waddle over to the lake ...
Set up to hot launch the 21 but the wind has picked up a touch - we've white caps on the lake just ever so slightly. Pre-inflate ol' Relentless, grab the Flydoor and hit the water. Well powered!
Noodle around, lay some stuff down ... few slams till I warm up and get into the groove. I'm going upwind fine and wasting ground doing stuff - lovely!
I'm nicely powered on the 'door so I swap it out for the 'radical. Still rollin'! Throw some silly tricks down, boost some air - I'm getting really good at monster jumps now! - and am having a great time! It's a bit crowded near the shore, there's a newbie chick and Uncle Pyro and well, everyone else who's blocking the shore ... some close-calls with carefully placed kites to get through the jam.
Wind drops off a little more so I swap for the Flydoor. I got more board speed so I bust some big jumps ... I can feel the kite trying to drop me again occasionally on the smaller jumps so I'm controlling it with the sheeting in and out on the way down. I land a bunch toe-side and turn that into a down-loop turn the other way. Double-rotate a back-roll and loop the kite to stop a stall ... am I getting better or is the Speed3 just fucking awesome?
Sunset is coming but oh, it's a full moon! Nobody is getting off the water so hey - neither am I! We ride out till it's well dark and I can see the bar but can't tell which way around it is - can't see the colours!
Head in to shore, everyone has landed so I get Miyachi to help me - good man!
Awesome session! Wind was a little lully but the Speed3, he is a mean machine!
Moment of the Day was boosting a big ol' air, leaning back and looking down at the moon reflecting in the water!
Wind speed was recorded as 6 to 9 knots with gusts to 16 ... hmm, I reckon we had 10 to 12 fairly steady, with lulls to 8. I rode upwind without effort 90% of the time and only the utter wombles had to walk.
What I learned today ...
• Need to use more muscle or input from the board when the wind is light to do the rotations...
• In fact, it's easier to use the body to rotate than it is to use the kite - less over-rotation to contend with.
• Big jumps, mad hang-time - coming down is difficult! I just sorta hover over the water so 'reaching' down with my feet to land ends up dangling like a wally... bad style!
• Steer the kite more on the way down, control the drop with the bar. Be pro-active!
• Speed makes big jumps. Still working on whether it's better to send the kite sheeted out or in a bit...
• I'm getting spoiled with the ease of rotation of the Flyradical... but the Flydoor is still a great riding board!
• Oh yeah forgot to add - bats can see the lines and hear them when I came up behind them, even in the dark ... also pretty magic, riding along with the little bat-boys :)
Set up to hot launch the 21 but the wind has picked up a touch - we've white caps on the lake just ever so slightly. Pre-inflate ol' Relentless, grab the Flydoor and hit the water. Well powered!
Noodle around, lay some stuff down ... few slams till I warm up and get into the groove. I'm going upwind fine and wasting ground doing stuff - lovely!
I'm nicely powered on the 'door so I swap it out for the 'radical. Still rollin'! Throw some silly tricks down, boost some air - I'm getting really good at monster jumps now! - and am having a great time! It's a bit crowded near the shore, there's a newbie chick and Uncle Pyro and well, everyone else who's blocking the shore ... some close-calls with carefully placed kites to get through the jam.
Wind drops off a little more so I swap for the Flydoor. I got more board speed so I bust some big jumps ... I can feel the kite trying to drop me again occasionally on the smaller jumps so I'm controlling it with the sheeting in and out on the way down. I land a bunch toe-side and turn that into a down-loop turn the other way. Double-rotate a back-roll and loop the kite to stop a stall ... am I getting better or is the Speed3 just fucking awesome?
Sunset is coming but oh, it's a full moon! Nobody is getting off the water so hey - neither am I! We ride out till it's well dark and I can see the bar but can't tell which way around it is - can't see the colours!
Head in to shore, everyone has landed so I get Miyachi to help me - good man!
Awesome session! Wind was a little lully but the Speed3, he is a mean machine!
Moment of the Day was boosting a big ol' air, leaning back and looking down at the moon reflecting in the water!
Wind speed was recorded as 6 to 9 knots with gusts to 16 ... hmm, I reckon we had 10 to 12 fairly steady, with lulls to 8. I rode upwind without effort 90% of the time and only the utter wombles had to walk.
What I learned today ...
• Need to use more muscle or input from the board when the wind is light to do the rotations...
• In fact, it's easier to use the body to rotate than it is to use the kite - less over-rotation to contend with.
• Big jumps, mad hang-time - coming down is difficult! I just sorta hover over the water so 'reaching' down with my feet to land ends up dangling like a wally... bad style!
• Steer the kite more on the way down, control the drop with the bar. Be pro-active!
• Speed makes big jumps. Still working on whether it's better to send the kite sheeted out or in a bit...
• I'm getting spoiled with the ease of rotation of the Flyradical... but the Flydoor is still a great riding board!
• Oh yeah forgot to add - bats can see the lines and hear them when I came up behind them, even in the dark ... also pretty magic, riding along with the little bat-boys :)
Monday, October 10, 2011
Friday, October 7, 2011
Oh well
Forecast looked doable, after blowing well all day ... raced down to the lake. Erk, there's not much wind ... set up the monster Speed and try a ride ... mowing the lawn so I come back in and wait ... wind picks up so I jump out on the water again, then it REALLY picks up. Gusty norwesters in the house!
Was on the Flydoor but I quickly swapped it for the 'radical. Much better! Have a pretty manic time playing with the trim settings ... going from "Aw where is wind?" to "OH MY GOD!" so yeah, it was gusty. Couldn't get into a groove so it was pretty messy. Some good jumps though ... so the wind was up and down and just on sunset I gave it up and packed up.
Moment of the Day was the look on everyone's faces on the shore when I started riding in ... SFA.
Wind speed was recorded as 11 to 12 knots but we got gusts WAY over that I tell you what!
What I learned today ...
• I forgot. I'm sure it'll come back to me though ...
Was on the Flydoor but I quickly swapped it for the 'radical. Much better! Have a pretty manic time playing with the trim settings ... going from "Aw where is wind?" to "OH MY GOD!" so yeah, it was gusty. Couldn't get into a groove so it was pretty messy. Some good jumps though ... so the wind was up and down and just on sunset I gave it up and packed up.
Moment of the Day was the look on everyone's faces on the shore when I started riding in ... SFA.
Wind speed was recorded as 11 to 12 knots but we got gusts WAY over that I tell you what!
What I learned today ...
• I forgot. I'm sure it'll come back to me though ...
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Pretty much perfect!
Wind looked good in the forecast so I headed down the lake after work ... always start with the same thing don't I?
Got to the lake after being held up for only 3 minutes (felt like forever though) due to a car-crash on the Hamakaido ... now have total proof that traffic-jams are caused by fuckwits stopping to rubber-neck - the cop was getting quite aggravated by the people ahead of me who were slowing traffic on the now single lane road, by slowing down to have a good ol' gawp.
Got to the lake, checked the wind ... hmm, what to unpack? Check the kites up - the usual directional guys so that's no help. Ah! Fujii-san is on his 14 and Dennis the Menace is too - Speed3 21 it is then! I suit up and drag the Flysurfer and my Fly-boards over the road. Yikes, more wind than I thought ... I side-launch the big Speed and grab my Flyradical straight out the gates.
A little bit light, have to carefully build speed on 2 strokes to get moving but I'm away laughing! Laughing, like a maniac! The conditions are almost perfect - I'm not over-powered, not under-powered (too often) and am riding the Flyradical with ease ...
And so I break out my bag of tricks ... ok very small envelope of tricks. Easy back-rolls - too easy cos I'm over-rotating so I slow them right down ... long, lazy, hanging in the harness, head back looking around - back rolls. Front-rolls provide no problem today too, so I lob them right after the back-rolls to untangle my lines :D
Getting cocky with them now and am over-rotating front-rolls too - but I do end up landing and riding away from a couple of double rotations!!! Pretty cool feeling ...
I throw in some jumps too ZOMG air feels big but the hang-time is monster! So long that I'm reacting to my memory of the timing and not what the kite is doing. I pendulum under the kite a few times, send the kite too hard, too soon and get dunked many times but MAN is it fun!
A few back-roll transitions too ... and I work on making tight gybe's so I can really work the air gybe.
Getting more aggressive with the kite. Manage to stall it a few times and all but once (maybe twice) I recovered them in the air.
Definitely twice - I remember an easy reverse launch (the 21 pulls less down-wind while relaunching than the U12 does!) and the other time, the tips got tangled and the kite was a donut. A few moments of pulling rear lines got it to open up and fly fine though ...
I stay out until after the sun has slipped below the hills to the west. I back-stall landed the kite but as I was about to loop the rear-leaders into my spreader bar hook then sand the harness, some helpful chap tried to "land" the kite for me by grabbing the tip and pulling. The kite relaunches and as it shoots to the side of the window, I ride out the scud most of the way down the beach. We have a brief chat and he's surprised by how much power is still in the kite, even though it was 'parked' and he wonders why he couldn't just grab the tip like someone else did the other day. I try to explain :D then I land on the safety and Miyachi grabs the tip and sits on it ... I've trained him well!
Another odd thing ... as I'm packing up, Uncle Pyro asks if I can see (it's full dark but the moon is up) and then carries my board back to Locus - I get the feeling that some people want to try my foils ;)
The weather was perfect today! Enough wind to be nicely powered, warm enough to not get wind-chilled but the water was cool enough for refreshment! Happy :)
Moment of the Day was pretty much the whole day! The big jump I remember and just silent gliding was pretty magic though!
Wind speed was recorded as 11 to 13 knots with a gust of 20 an hour before I got there ... it was pretty steady the whole time I was there though!
What I learned today ...
• It's easier to pre-inflate the Cable Park In A Bag through the dump vents, which makes for a better launch and a faster in-the-air inflate but it only fills the downwind side - bit of a messy launch and what was the upwind tip didn't seem to want to fill.
• Getting used to the 'radical ... I'm starting to love it!
• Low-end with the 'radical is good because I felt powered today, not over-powered but there was plenty of juice in the kite - big boosts!
• Stay in the tuck as long as you can on the jumps ...
• The Flysurfers are generating buzz. People are talking about them, that's for sure.
Got to the lake after being held up for only 3 minutes (felt like forever though) due to a car-crash on the Hamakaido ... now have total proof that traffic-jams are caused by fuckwits stopping to rubber-neck - the cop was getting quite aggravated by the people ahead of me who were slowing traffic on the now single lane road, by slowing down to have a good ol' gawp.
Got to the lake, checked the wind ... hmm, what to unpack? Check the kites up - the usual directional guys so that's no help. Ah! Fujii-san is on his 14 and Dennis the Menace is too - Speed3 21 it is then! I suit up and drag the Flysurfer and my Fly-boards over the road. Yikes, more wind than I thought ... I side-launch the big Speed and grab my Flyradical straight out the gates.
A little bit light, have to carefully build speed on 2 strokes to get moving but I'm away laughing! Laughing, like a maniac! The conditions are almost perfect - I'm not over-powered, not under-powered (too often) and am riding the Flyradical with ease ...
And so I break out my bag of tricks ... ok very small envelope of tricks. Easy back-rolls - too easy cos I'm over-rotating so I slow them right down ... long, lazy, hanging in the harness, head back looking around - back rolls. Front-rolls provide no problem today too, so I lob them right after the back-rolls to untangle my lines :D
Getting cocky with them now and am over-rotating front-rolls too - but I do end up landing and riding away from a couple of double rotations!!! Pretty cool feeling ...
I throw in some jumps too ZOMG air feels big but the hang-time is monster! So long that I'm reacting to my memory of the timing and not what the kite is doing. I pendulum under the kite a few times, send the kite too hard, too soon and get dunked many times but MAN is it fun!
A few back-roll transitions too ... and I work on making tight gybe's so I can really work the air gybe.
Getting more aggressive with the kite. Manage to stall it a few times and all but once (maybe twice) I recovered them in the air.
Definitely twice - I remember an easy reverse launch (the 21 pulls less down-wind while relaunching than the U12 does!) and the other time, the tips got tangled and the kite was a donut. A few moments of pulling rear lines got it to open up and fly fine though ...
I stay out until after the sun has slipped below the hills to the west. I back-stall landed the kite but as I was about to loop the rear-leaders into my spreader bar hook then sand the harness, some helpful chap tried to "land" the kite for me by grabbing the tip and pulling. The kite relaunches and as it shoots to the side of the window, I ride out the scud most of the way down the beach. We have a brief chat and he's surprised by how much power is still in the kite, even though it was 'parked' and he wonders why he couldn't just grab the tip like someone else did the other day. I try to explain :D then I land on the safety and Miyachi grabs the tip and sits on it ... I've trained him well!
Another odd thing ... as I'm packing up, Uncle Pyro asks if I can see (it's full dark but the moon is up) and then carries my board back to Locus - I get the feeling that some people want to try my foils ;)
The weather was perfect today! Enough wind to be nicely powered, warm enough to not get wind-chilled but the water was cool enough for refreshment! Happy :)
Moment of the Day was pretty much the whole day! The big jump I remember and just silent gliding was pretty magic though!
Wind speed was recorded as 11 to 13 knots with a gust of 20 an hour before I got there ... it was pretty steady the whole time I was there though!
What I learned today ...
• It's easier to pre-inflate the Cable Park In A Bag through the dump vents, which makes for a better launch and a faster in-the-air inflate but it only fills the downwind side - bit of a messy launch and what was the upwind tip didn't seem to want to fill.
• Getting used to the 'radical ... I'm starting to love it!
• Low-end with the 'radical is good because I felt powered today, not over-powered but there was plenty of juice in the kite - big boosts!
• Stay in the tuck as long as you can on the jumps ...
• The Flysurfers are generating buzz. People are talking about them, that's for sure.
Monday, October 3, 2011
In which I give up in disgust
Good forecast today, better than yesterday's was ... I take an hour off work and head to the lake early.
Wind is up ... dunno what to use. Not the 21 that's for sure and not the 12. 13 &16m Xbow, Flydoor and Rip Plus go over to the lake. Soh put up his 14m Havoc and looks happy ... I decide on the 16.
A good enough choice ... but as the evening draws on and the difference in average wind speed between the gusts drops and the time the wind is off increases, it's getting sucky. I pack up before sunset in disgust but not before ...
I forget how, but I've dropped the kite right in the middle of the underwater weed garden. Usually it's not a problem but today the 'bow refuses to relaunch and - joy of joys! - flops onto its trailing edge. A wave washes a bunch of water over the kite and now it's stuck to the surface ... this is something the LEI-whores don't mention when they compare the "ease" of relaunch of LEIs versus foils! >:( struggle struggle swear swear ... after all sorts of retarded behavior (flying upsidedown, TE towards me - really?) I finally get the kite into the air - but now there's a bunch (literally) of weeds wrapped around the Y and the RH steering line. I fly the kite to shore, land, swear, pull the weeds off ...
I'm trying to get back onto the water ... working the kite to get moving but heading right at me and obviously intending to go between the shore and me - about 3m - is Taki :o
I park the kite at the zenith and try to avoid his - we're mere millimeters away from a very big mess and he obviously thinks it's no problem! He moves off to my right then drops it in the water. Now I got Uncle Pyro coming at me from the left and I'm sandwiched between the 2 worst kite-handlers on the beach. Uncle just stands in the water waiting for the wind so I can't move my kite left. Taki is trying to relaunch but he's so close if he loses control (like he usually does) he's going to wrap me up in the hurt-locker. Praise the lord! nothing happens as I walk backwards out into the lake and get riding again. Thinking back, I thought I was just being paranoid but Soh comes up to me later and is like "Dude WTF were those two thinking?" and so, I rename Taki as "Dennis the Menace."
Keep flying but there's no joy in it - no jumps, no rotations ... no power in the wind. And so I give up ...
Moments of the Day was the monster jump that started off as a regular jump but the gust yoinked me good ... I even rode away ;) the pendulum backrolls were pretty cool too.
Wind speed was recorded as 12 to 14 knots (ho ho ho!) with gusts to 24. Obvious to me now that that is average wind speed ... there were times when I was worried the 'bow was going to fall out of the sky. Oh wait - it did.
What I learned today ...
• The intersection of the seasons produces gusty shit wind.
• October & November are the best wind months at Biwako. According to Soh ...
• Bar pressure on the 16m 'bow is killing me ... I need a different mid-wind kite.
• And to that end, including the gusts, I'm putting the arcs back in the boot of the car!
• Oh yeah tried the Rip Plus again ... not my cup of tea. I like the Flyradical better so it's up for sale ... and sold!
Wind is up ... dunno what to use. Not the 21 that's for sure and not the 12. 13 &16m Xbow, Flydoor and Rip Plus go over to the lake. Soh put up his 14m Havoc and looks happy ... I decide on the 16.
A good enough choice ... but as the evening draws on and the difference in average wind speed between the gusts drops and the time the wind is off increases, it's getting sucky. I pack up before sunset in disgust but not before ...
I forget how, but I've dropped the kite right in the middle of the underwater weed garden. Usually it's not a problem but today the 'bow refuses to relaunch and - joy of joys! - flops onto its trailing edge. A wave washes a bunch of water over the kite and now it's stuck to the surface ... this is something the LEI-whores don't mention when they compare the "ease" of relaunch of LEIs versus foils! >:( struggle struggle swear swear ... after all sorts of retarded behavior (flying upsidedown, TE towards me - really?) I finally get the kite into the air - but now there's a bunch (literally) of weeds wrapped around the Y and the RH steering line. I fly the kite to shore, land, swear, pull the weeds off ...
I'm trying to get back onto the water ... working the kite to get moving but heading right at me and obviously intending to go between the shore and me - about 3m - is Taki :o
I park the kite at the zenith and try to avoid his - we're mere millimeters away from a very big mess and he obviously thinks it's no problem! He moves off to my right then drops it in the water. Now I got Uncle Pyro coming at me from the left and I'm sandwiched between the 2 worst kite-handlers on the beach. Uncle just stands in the water waiting for the wind so I can't move my kite left. Taki is trying to relaunch but he's so close if he loses control (like he usually does) he's going to wrap me up in the hurt-locker. Praise the lord! nothing happens as I walk backwards out into the lake and get riding again. Thinking back, I thought I was just being paranoid but Soh comes up to me later and is like "Dude WTF were those two thinking?" and so, I rename Taki as "Dennis the Menace."
Keep flying but there's no joy in it - no jumps, no rotations ... no power in the wind. And so I give up ...
Moments of the Day was the monster jump that started off as a regular jump but the gust yoinked me good ... I even rode away ;) the pendulum backrolls were pretty cool too.
Wind speed was recorded as 12 to 14 knots (ho ho ho!) with gusts to 24. Obvious to me now that that is average wind speed ... there were times when I was worried the 'bow was going to fall out of the sky. Oh wait - it did.
What I learned today ...
• The intersection of the seasons produces gusty shit wind.
• October & November are the best wind months at Biwako. According to Soh ...
• Bar pressure on the 16m 'bow is killing me ... I need a different mid-wind kite.
• And to that end, including the gusts, I'm putting the arcs back in the boot of the car!
• Oh yeah tried the Rip Plus again ... not my cup of tea. I like the Flyradical better so it's up for sale ... and sold!
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Unity vs Speed
Sunday promised big wind and by happy chance, my Unity 12 had arrived Saturday from that guy in the US with the collection of odd names :D Let's just call him Stan.
Hit the lake about 1:30pm - dead calm. Not good, the forecast said there should have been wind by now ... wait begins. Wind picks up. We get a heap of it. I measure 9 to 10 m/s at the water's edge - good, cos I'm predicting a bottom end for me of 20 knots from the Unity.
I was right. At first, I'm powered enough as I struggle to get used to the odd feeling kite - it's no Speed! More like a lazy Psycho. Actually, at the bottom of the power-stroke it feels like an arc :o
Man, the wind is up'n'down like a frickin' yo-yo ... I get the hang of the kite eventually and manage to get enough out of it to make it through the lulls. I think maybe 16 knots IF I'm lucky for the bottom end. Much better up the top end.
All seems good with it - jumps nicely, hang-time is ok, power through the turns is pretty good, not too slow responding to the bar. Good'n'stable most of the time but I managed to get it out of shape and inverted, although the anti-inversion line stops that in it's tracks ... kite floats to the water surface then pops into shape with the right tug on the lines and is flying again - nice!
Infinity 2 bar is sweet, a few nice touches. Not sure about the bungies for the QR and the chicken stick - I can see them rotting away.
Wind dies right off and doesn't look like picking up. I pack up the Unity, and get the 21 out. A good play from then on, using the Flyradical but the winds dropping again and I'm on the 'door again. I ride till the sun has well and truly set ... not a bad day, despite the gusts!
Moment of the Day was probably the solitary awesome front roll I did ... I bet nobody saw it though :o
Wind speed was recorded as 14 to 10 knots (horse-puckey!) with gusts to 25 (probably true).
What I learned today ...
• Not enough over-lap between the Speed3 21 and the Unity 12 :( U12 is a great kite though!
• I've been spoiled by the Speed ... I hate working kites to make power!
• I'm getting better with the 'radical.
• I'm getting better with the front-rolls :D
Hit the lake about 1:30pm - dead calm. Not good, the forecast said there should have been wind by now ... wait begins. Wind picks up. We get a heap of it. I measure 9 to 10 m/s at the water's edge - good, cos I'm predicting a bottom end for me of 20 knots from the Unity.
I was right. At first, I'm powered enough as I struggle to get used to the odd feeling kite - it's no Speed! More like a lazy Psycho. Actually, at the bottom of the power-stroke it feels like an arc :o
Man, the wind is up'n'down like a frickin' yo-yo ... I get the hang of the kite eventually and manage to get enough out of it to make it through the lulls. I think maybe 16 knots IF I'm lucky for the bottom end. Much better up the top end.
All seems good with it - jumps nicely, hang-time is ok, power through the turns is pretty good, not too slow responding to the bar. Good'n'stable most of the time but I managed to get it out of shape and inverted, although the anti-inversion line stops that in it's tracks ... kite floats to the water surface then pops into shape with the right tug on the lines and is flying again - nice!
Infinity 2 bar is sweet, a few nice touches. Not sure about the bungies for the QR and the chicken stick - I can see them rotting away.
Wind dies right off and doesn't look like picking up. I pack up the Unity, and get the 21 out. A good play from then on, using the Flyradical but the winds dropping again and I'm on the 'door again. I ride till the sun has well and truly set ... not a bad day, despite the gusts!
Moment of the Day was probably the solitary awesome front roll I did ... I bet nobody saw it though :o
Wind speed was recorded as 14 to 10 knots (horse-puckey!) with gusts to 25 (probably true).
What I learned today ...
• Not enough over-lap between the Speed3 21 and the Unity 12 :( U12 is a great kite though!
• I've been spoiled by the Speed ... I hate working kites to make power!
• I'm getting better with the 'radical.
• I'm getting better with the front-rolls :D
Friday, September 30, 2011
Plonking in the Rain
Wind looked good this afternoon but there was supposed to be rain with it. The skies looked clear though so I thought I'd risk a quick ride between jobs. Got to the lake and it looked ok! Naturally, as soon as I'd pumped up the 16m Crossbow, it started raining again ... but that didn't stop me! Another guy was there - haven't thought up a name for him yet - but he lurked out at the club house, watching through the gap in the trees until the front arrived (see below).
Hit the lake about 4:30pm and was just powered on the 'bow & Flydoor, riding around getting blasted in the eyes by the rain. Worried about a soggy kite too ...
Then the wind dropped a bit so I stood around and waited, watching the front as it approached. It's stopped raining now too - sweet! Jumped on the water just before it arrived and BLAM I'm powered! Switch to the Flyradical but it's not consistent enough for that so I go back to the Flydoor but now I'm at the upper limit of the kite - it's twitching and bucking so it's over 25 knots! Time is running out though so I just ride ...
Miyachi has hit the lake and so has the Guy-with-no-name so it's just the three of us ... bust out the back-rolls and they're all fine - some are sweeter than others though, big fat flat-on-my-back spins; blast some big jumps but the old harness is groaning and creaking which gives me the creeps; try some front-rolls and they're awesome!
Decide sunset has arrived although I can't see the sun - it's getting dark. As I stand around on the beach trying to decide how to best land the kite by myself and the loop of rope at the anchor point (where has the clip gone?!?!) Miyachi comes in and offers to catch my kite, which he does then I land him. I'm rolling up the lines when I hear the local speaker bing-bonging the 6pm chimes - sweet, I'll easily be in time for work!
Moment of the Day might have been surfing downwind on my own wake after a heel-to-heel sliding transition but it just couldn't compare with the back-roll transition plus down-loop to fully power out of it! Kind of an accident, as I hadn't intended to loop the kite but I needed the speed and just sort of went for it and didn't get spanked :D so it was cool as shit!
Wind speed was recorded as only 4 to 12 knots while I was on the water and 20 knots gusts but that was bull cos I KNOW the Xbow won't let me ride in less than 14 and it gets ugly over 25 ... which it did. I was being a plonker again.
What I learned today ...
• How to double-team a kite landing: Miyachi put his kite at the edge of the window, walked back to mine that was standing on its tip and pulled it over into the smilie position - I ran upwind and grabbed the kite then landed him. Looked pretty easy at his end too ... hmm, wonder if you can launch from that position?
• Actually throwing the lower-half of my body around to spin the board under me - works good.
• Finesse for front-rolls - initiate the roll (contorting toward your heading and looking behind you) as the kite passes the zenith so you're pretty much guarenteed to roll; then redirect to whip you around the last part of the rotation. Maybe :o
• Trust the gust - rig smaller. I would have lost maybe 10 more minutes only.
• STILL can't cope with the Flyradical - feels so wrong down there, skittish and not hugging the water like the 'door :(
• Shouting "AHOY!" when you nail that front-roll is probably a bit mental.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Uno mas
Same forecast as yesterday but I spent all day checking the webcam at Locus, scrutinizing the single frames we would get due to the internet slow-down ... no white-caps at all :( not looking good. I decide to swing past the lake anyway ... which was just as well, cos there was wind!
Out comes the Speed3 again; I measure 10 to 12 knots - is it going to do what it did last night, I wonder? Uncle No-relaunch tells me it's less wind than yesterday ... we'll see ...
Wind holds steady and builds a bit ... I start riding straight tacks back to my starting spot then the wind picks up and I have spare space downwind to jump and play silly buggers! Big fat slow back rolls - and I even start doing front rolls again. Managed a double front roll but muffed the landing ... total fluke though!
Getting plain ol' jumps down good, thanks to kitejohan on YouTube ... felt like I got dropped on a couple, and I think it's cos I'm not redirecting aggressively enough.
Oh it was just after I got onto the water that I felt something give in the harness ... I thought a strap had slipped so I reached down to tighten it and ... the entire strap pulled out into my hand! I thought may be it had rotted away but no, the end was cut clean. I secured the strap and kept riding :D
When I got off the water, it appeared that the top straps for the spreader bar have been secured with only the cosmetic stitches that join the two dissimilar material of the harness, instead of the box stitch I can see on the bottom straps and in photos on the internet :o yikes! Have emailed Dakine ...
On the other hand, the strap that came apart on the Flydoor is holding up ok!
Moment of the Day has been forgotten again but I remember it was something simple and when I thought about writing this section, I remember it was going to be something clever like "Moment of the Day was not the effortless back rolls or the long, floating front rolls but something it's just the little things like ..." and that's what I forgot. It was probably just the fact that I spent the whole time riding, from 4:30 to sunset at 6-ish while EVERYONE else (except for the Master of Disaster on the raceboard) had to walk - even Taki on his 14m North and directional ... all hail Armin!
Wind speed I can report accurately this time ... 5 knots at 4pm building to 15 at 6pm with gusts to 20! I never felt overpowered on the 21 and remember the gusts only as a twitch of the bar ...
What I learned today ...
• Perhaps I do need to redirect more aggressively ...
• Speed3 21 doesn't turn much slower my 16m Crossbow but requires more muscle in the turns. Or so it seems anyway!
• Front rolls need an assist from the kite ... so far. But are do-able.
• Should probably replace the lines, FLS line and depower line ... and learn how to wax!
• Such as stable kite! I'm being more aggressive with it and doing worse things with regards to riding towards it etc but the worst shape I've managed to get it into, have been both tips tucking while it was perpendicular to the water ... then it just powered up again when I sheeted in! I'm lovin' it!
EDIT : here are some pics of what happened - on the left, the failure and on the right the yet to fail ... single row of cosmetic stitches holding the upper straps in o_0 I'm surprised it lasted this long!
UPDATE : After a month of trying to sort out a Japanese distributor, Dakine Hawaii has sent me a replacement 2011 harness in green ... good job! Better fit for me too, dunno why!
Out comes the Speed3 again; I measure 10 to 12 knots - is it going to do what it did last night, I wonder? Uncle No-relaunch tells me it's less wind than yesterday ... we'll see ...
Wind holds steady and builds a bit ... I start riding straight tacks back to my starting spot then the wind picks up and I have spare space downwind to jump and play silly buggers! Big fat slow back rolls - and I even start doing front rolls again. Managed a double front roll but muffed the landing ... total fluke though!
Getting plain ol' jumps down good, thanks to kitejohan on YouTube ... felt like I got dropped on a couple, and I think it's cos I'm not redirecting aggressively enough.
Oh it was just after I got onto the water that I felt something give in the harness ... I thought a strap had slipped so I reached down to tighten it and ... the entire strap pulled out into my hand! I thought may be it had rotted away but no, the end was cut clean. I secured the strap and kept riding :D
When I got off the water, it appeared that the top straps for the spreader bar have been secured with only the cosmetic stitches that join the two dissimilar material of the harness, instead of the box stitch I can see on the bottom straps and in photos on the internet :o yikes! Have emailed Dakine ...
On the other hand, the strap that came apart on the Flydoor is holding up ok!
Moment of the Day has been forgotten again but I remember it was something simple and when I thought about writing this section, I remember it was going to be something clever like "Moment of the Day was not the effortless back rolls or the long, floating front rolls but something it's just the little things like ..." and that's what I forgot. It was probably just the fact that I spent the whole time riding, from 4:30 to sunset at 6-ish while EVERYONE else (except for the Master of Disaster on the raceboard) had to walk - even Taki on his 14m North and directional ... all hail Armin!
Wind speed I can report accurately this time ... 5 knots at 4pm building to 15 at 6pm with gusts to 20! I never felt overpowered on the 21 and remember the gusts only as a twitch of the bar ...
What I learned today ...
• Perhaps I do need to redirect more aggressively ...
• Speed3 21 doesn't turn much slower my 16m Crossbow but requires more muscle in the turns. Or so it seems anyway!
• Front rolls need an assist from the kite ... so far. But are do-able.
• Should probably replace the lines, FLS line and depower line ... and learn how to wax!
• Such as stable kite! I'm being more aggressive with it and doing worse things with regards to riding towards it etc but the worst shape I've managed to get it into, have been both tips tucking while it was perpendicular to the water ... then it just powered up again when I sheeted in! I'm lovin' it!
EDIT : here are some pics of what happened - on the left, the failure and on the right the yet to fail ... single row of cosmetic stitches holding the upper straps in o_0 I'm surprised it lasted this long!
UPDATE : After a month of trying to sort out a Japanese distributor, Dakine Hawaii has sent me a replacement 2011 harness in green ... good job! Better fit for me too, dunno why!
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Tune up success
Gah, internet has been flaky in this area for the past few days ... so I couldn't post this and I forgot the details :o Basically ...
Wind measured 10 to 12 knots as I arrived, so of course I unpacked the "cable park in a bag" and the 'door. Good chance to test out the retuning of the lines ... all is good! No backstall and it's not dropping me in the jumps!
Wind falls off to 6 knots by the time the sun has set ... I do one more run, try a jump then walk 1/2 of my downwind tack back up the beach. It seems the Speed3 21 has improved my low-end over other peoples ...
Moment of the Day has been forgotten :(
Wind speed was recorded as 12 knots falling to 6 as I measured too ...
What I learned today ...
• Speed3 needs to not backstall.
• I could probably add in some backstall then trim it out to see if the above is correct.
Wind measured 10 to 12 knots as I arrived, so of course I unpacked the "cable park in a bag" and the 'door. Good chance to test out the retuning of the lines ... all is good! No backstall and it's not dropping me in the jumps!
Wind falls off to 6 knots by the time the sun has set ... I do one more run, try a jump then walk 1/2 of my downwind tack back up the beach. It seems the Speed3 21 has improved my low-end over other peoples ...
Moment of the Day has been forgotten :(
Wind speed was recorded as 12 knots falling to 6 as I measured too ...
What I learned today ...
• Speed3 needs to not backstall.
• I could probably add in some backstall then trim it out to see if the above is correct.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
First time on the 21
Forecast looked promising in the morning, but as it does so often in summer, it had changed by lunch time. I thought I'd go down the lake and have a static play with the Speed3 21. When I arrived, the competition was still on but there was no wind - everyone was standing around … waiting. There was a wind meter up on a stick too - reading less than 5 knots.
Waited around for a while and the wind picked up to 5 to 6 knots - the race boys tried to do their thing but it was a bust … summer winds are gutless. 17m Edges were falling out of the sky.
Patience is a virtue and it paid off - the thermal moved in around 4pm. As soon as I saw the "blow line" moving in, I got changed and grabbed the Speed3 21 and my Flyboards ... headed down the other end of the beach and set up ...
Side launch, kite goes up fine, takes longer than the Speed2 to fill ... I was expecting that. No drama otherwise. Hit the water ... oh here we go, it's like the Psycho4 - wants to backstall when the bar is hauled in. Needs to be sheeted out to be allowed to accelerate ... it feels like the Silberpfeil but it's not. Walk a bit, wind picks up a bit, it gets better.
A kiter is way the hell out west on the lake and is in trouble - I can see him winding up his lines so I head back into the beach, tell Soh to get help and walk past the windmeter for a quick shufti ... 12 knots pretty steady. I'm easily going upwind on the Flydoor.
I keep riding, feeling my way with the new Speed. It's fast - damn fast! Builds a lot of speed, probably easier than the 2 ... I'm out-pacing everybody. I turn that speed into upwind angle ...
Try out some jumps ... load'n'pop are orbital maneuvers. Back rolls turn into multiple spins - there so much lift! I even land some front rolls cos I've so much time to get around ...
Big jumps ... I get the hang time but on the way down, the kite is backstalling and I'm being dumped into the water. If I time the redirection right, the moving kite makes more lift for a gentle landing but something seems wrong here ... something needs a tune!
Doing front rolls on the Flydoor proves to be a too much for the crappy Flyboards straps - I rip the right foot strap out of the mount ... have to ride in strapless on one foot. Feels odd but I handle it ok :D swap to the Flyradical and whaddya know - it's no problem to ride! I'm making upwind easy and it's fun to throw around.
Sun is starting to set so I call it a night. Reverse land the kite - no problems, nice soft touch down - and my new FSer buddy helps me secure it. We have a chat and he takes photos of the only 21 in Japan :o Good day, glad I went ...!
Moment of the Day was discovering the the Speed3 had so much lift that 'regular' back rolls turn into multiples ... no it wasn't - it was doing a big, fat, slow, lazy front roll and landing perfectly, riding away like a champ!
Wind speed was recorded as 7.4 knots to 8.8 with a gust of 16.2 - you and I know that ain't right cos I saw the wind meter at the shore line about 4:30pm. If the wind meter was wrong then it was pretty good outcome for the Speed3!
What I learned today ...
• Speed3 makes more lift than the 2 but has a little less bottom end.
• That might be just my inexperience with the Triple Depower.
• Seems to backstall really easy ... even when jumping - I got dumped outa the sky as the kite stalled. That ain't right.
• So I need to check line stretch and might just be my inexperience with blah blah blah
• Just cos only 2 people are kiteboarding, doesn't mean that the competition is over - stay out of the zone.
• The above is embarrassing.
Waited around for a while and the wind picked up to 5 to 6 knots - the race boys tried to do their thing but it was a bust … summer winds are gutless. 17m Edges were falling out of the sky.
Patience is a virtue and it paid off - the thermal moved in around 4pm. As soon as I saw the "blow line" moving in, I got changed and grabbed the Speed3 21 and my Flyboards ... headed down the other end of the beach and set up ...
Side launch, kite goes up fine, takes longer than the Speed2 to fill ... I was expecting that. No drama otherwise. Hit the water ... oh here we go, it's like the Psycho4 - wants to backstall when the bar is hauled in. Needs to be sheeted out to be allowed to accelerate ... it feels like the Silberpfeil but it's not. Walk a bit, wind picks up a bit, it gets better.
A kiter is way the hell out west on the lake and is in trouble - I can see him winding up his lines so I head back into the beach, tell Soh to get help and walk past the windmeter for a quick shufti ... 12 knots pretty steady. I'm easily going upwind on the Flydoor.
I keep riding, feeling my way with the new Speed. It's fast - damn fast! Builds a lot of speed, probably easier than the 2 ... I'm out-pacing everybody. I turn that speed into upwind angle ...
Try out some jumps ... load'n'pop are orbital maneuvers. Back rolls turn into multiple spins - there so much lift! I even land some front rolls cos I've so much time to get around ...
Big jumps ... I get the hang time but on the way down, the kite is backstalling and I'm being dumped into the water. If I time the redirection right, the moving kite makes more lift for a gentle landing but something seems wrong here ... something needs a tune!
Doing front rolls on the Flydoor proves to be a too much for the crappy Flyboards straps - I rip the right foot strap out of the mount ... have to ride in strapless on one foot. Feels odd but I handle it ok :D swap to the Flyradical and whaddya know - it's no problem to ride! I'm making upwind easy and it's fun to throw around.
Sun is starting to set so I call it a night. Reverse land the kite - no problems, nice soft touch down - and my new FSer buddy helps me secure it. We have a chat and he takes photos of the only 21 in Japan :o Good day, glad I went ...!
Moment of the Day was discovering the the Speed3 had so much lift that 'regular' back rolls turn into multiples ... no it wasn't - it was doing a big, fat, slow, lazy front roll and landing perfectly, riding away like a champ!
Wind speed was recorded as 7.4 knots to 8.8 with a gust of 16.2 - you and I know that ain't right cos I saw the wind meter at the shore line about 4:30pm. If the wind meter was wrong then it was pretty good outcome for the Speed3!
What I learned today ...
• Speed3 makes more lift than the 2 but has a little less bottom end.
• That might be just my inexperience with the Triple Depower.
• Seems to backstall really easy ... even when jumping - I got dumped outa the sky as the kite stalled. That ain't right.
• So I need to check line stretch and might just be my inexperience with blah blah blah
• Just cos only 2 people are kiteboarding, doesn't mean that the competition is over - stay out of the zone.
• The above is embarrassing.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Gusty, lully and a comp
So we got wind again. Was supposed to be best from 2pm so I headed down the lake about 1. There was the competition on so they'd taken over the best half of the beach with HORDES of kites OMG there must have been 40 there!
I shuttled my gear down the other end of 'our' beach - long walk through deep sand with 2 boards and 2 Crossbows!!! Delighted to see another Flysurfer rider there, with a Psycho4 12 laid out and a Speed3 15 in the sky! Felt a bit of a traitor for not having my 21 with me :D Guy also had a Flyrace and when the course racing started, he whipped out a S3 19 DLX and went upwind like ... well like nothing I've seen before. He came in second cos he made a bad start ... looked to me like he was 100m behind the pack at the horn :o
Stood around thinking of what to set up, and the wind picked up. Put up the 13.
Good call. Gusty as hell but got some fun in. Landed some schwee-eeeet back rolls, boosted a few big jumps but it was again so punchy that it wasn't much fun ... at least there wasn't as much crap in the water and the sun was warm! There was enough wind for me to get out on the Flyradical for a time too ... such a different board! So much spring in it too, I'm starting to appreciate it more - popped off the water for a backroll but the board boinged me around for a double that I ALMOST landed ... need a TON of weight on the back-foot though!
Wind dropped off and I had to walk back to our spot. Waited around for a while and eventually the wind picked up. I pumped up the 16 and went to work on that. A shorter session but the wind was more consistent so it was more fun ...
Probably spent as much time waiting as riding but it was nice to be out again!
Moment of the Day was being the only one out on the water cos it was too windy and busting a huge fat air with hours of hang-time in the middle of the competition zone ... take that!
Or maybe meeting another FSer :D
Wind speed was recorded as 13 knots falling to 8 with gusts up to 29 knots :o
What I learned today ...
• Flyradical has a lot of pop.
• Flysurfer Speed3 19 and Flyrace - there is simply no competition for upwind angle OMFG it was amazing to watch!
• Time to wear wetsuit ...
I shuttled my gear down the other end of 'our' beach - long walk through deep sand with 2 boards and 2 Crossbows!!! Delighted to see another Flysurfer rider there, with a Psycho4 12 laid out and a Speed3 15 in the sky! Felt a bit of a traitor for not having my 21 with me :D Guy also had a Flyrace and when the course racing started, he whipped out a S3 19 DLX and went upwind like ... well like nothing I've seen before. He came in second cos he made a bad start ... looked to me like he was 100m behind the pack at the horn :o
Stood around thinking of what to set up, and the wind picked up. Put up the 13.
Good call. Gusty as hell but got some fun in. Landed some schwee-eeeet back rolls, boosted a few big jumps but it was again so punchy that it wasn't much fun ... at least there wasn't as much crap in the water and the sun was warm! There was enough wind for me to get out on the Flyradical for a time too ... such a different board! So much spring in it too, I'm starting to appreciate it more - popped off the water for a backroll but the board boinged me around for a double that I ALMOST landed ... need a TON of weight on the back-foot though!
Wind dropped off and I had to walk back to our spot. Waited around for a while and eventually the wind picked up. I pumped up the 16 and went to work on that. A shorter session but the wind was more consistent so it was more fun ...
Probably spent as much time waiting as riding but it was nice to be out again!
Moment of the Day was being the only one out on the water cos it was too windy and busting a huge fat air with hours of hang-time in the middle of the competition zone ... take that!
Or maybe meeting another FSer :D
Wind speed was recorded as 13 knots falling to 8 with gusts up to 29 knots :o
What I learned today ...
• Flyradical has a lot of pop.
• Flysurfer Speed3 19 and Flyrace - there is simply no competition for upwind angle OMFG it was amazing to watch!
• Time to wear wetsuit ...
Thursday, September 22, 2011
Gusty much?
Finally! We got some wind at the lake ... typhoon dragged, deposited or dropped some wind on us so I'm not complaining.
Got to the lake at 4 - right in the middle of the wind drop off. "Oh it was great at 1 and 2pm ... you shoulda been here then!" yeah no duh :-/ Didn't look like much had happened but I'd gone to the effort of putting on my wetsuit for the first time this season so ... everyone was pumping up bigger kites so I set up the 16m Crossbow. Just as I'd finished sorting it all out, the wind picked up again. Put the kite out and headed out, feeling powered.
Ooh yes, feeling very powered. After a bit, I had to totally depower the kite. I had moments of thinking "Aw crap I'm going to have to swim in aren't I?" and other moments of "Aw crap I'm going to get lobbed and I'll end up in the next county over won't I?" :o it was a bit like that. In between survival mode, I tried to do my thing. Boosted a few cracking good jumps, did some nice back-rolls but the wind felt too twitchy to try anything iffy. Got yoinked a few times randomly too which is always fun. Surfed a few waves ... had a great time. Stayed out till the sun set ...
Moment of the Day was boosting a big fat air in the middle of a gust and just sitting up there, looking around. "Ho hum nice view ... better not land on the pointy stick oh it's ok I'm floating way past it!" :D
Wind speed was recorded as 14.8 knots to 16.2 average ... with gusts up to 29.8 :o no wonder the 16 was misbehaving!
What I learned today ...
• Crossbow has mad wind range.
• I don't like using the 16 in more than 25 knots.
• Gusts suck.
• Unless you can use them to boost to the moon.
• It's time for the wetsuit.
• Back-rolls are mastered - get to work on the front-rolls, sissy!
Got to the lake at 4 - right in the middle of the wind drop off. "Oh it was great at 1 and 2pm ... you shoulda been here then!" yeah no duh :-/ Didn't look like much had happened but I'd gone to the effort of putting on my wetsuit for the first time this season so ... everyone was pumping up bigger kites so I set up the 16m Crossbow. Just as I'd finished sorting it all out, the wind picked up again. Put the kite out and headed out, feeling powered.
Ooh yes, feeling very powered. After a bit, I had to totally depower the kite. I had moments of thinking "Aw crap I'm going to have to swim in aren't I?" and other moments of "Aw crap I'm going to get lobbed and I'll end up in the next county over won't I?" :o it was a bit like that. In between survival mode, I tried to do my thing. Boosted a few cracking good jumps, did some nice back-rolls but the wind felt too twitchy to try anything iffy. Got yoinked a few times randomly too which is always fun. Surfed a few waves ... had a great time. Stayed out till the sun set ...
Moment of the Day was boosting a big fat air in the middle of a gust and just sitting up there, looking around. "Ho hum nice view ... better not land on the pointy stick oh it's ok I'm floating way past it!" :D
Wind speed was recorded as 14.8 knots to 16.2 average ... with gusts up to 29.8 :o no wonder the 16 was misbehaving!
What I learned today ...
• Crossbow has mad wind range.
• I don't like using the 16 in more than 25 knots.
• Gusts suck.
• Unless you can use them to boost to the moon.
• It's time for the wetsuit.
• Back-rolls are mastered - get to work on the front-rolls, sissy!
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Second gusty session in a row
Typhoon caused havoc on the weekend and it's still messing my wind up ... gusty as hell and the wind rose and fell all afternoon. We had 17 knots at 2pm but that had fallen to 14 by the time I got to the lake after work at 4:30-ish. I hummed and harred about what kite to put up. It continued to drop so I went with the Speed2 19 and the Flyradical. Good choice to start with ...
Nicely powered, good riding ... board feels too light under my feet still but gets around nicely for back rolls. The solitary front roll I did was nice too - good rotation, clean landing ... I need to do more of them. Cos it was Back-roll Central out there - doing them non-stop.
Also did the longest hang time jump I've ever done! Not the highest, but I floated around so long I had time to think "... what do I do if I don't come down? When should I redirect? Now? If I redirect too soon, will I overfly the kite? Perhaps I should try a grab ... oh no it's ok now I'm coming down ..." Great fun!
Wind had fallen a bit so I grabbed the Flydoor and kept riding ... and kept riding. The herd had thinned out - Freestyle Chick from Hamamatsu & Lil Grom and his pops were there too, on top of the regulars - and there was only the 2 of us out there. So I didn't have to work so hard upwind to clear them and relaxed and had fun until the sun set ... I was the last one on the water again ;)
Oh and ... have to take a break because I used up my supply of swim shorts - the storm blew my favourite pair into the garden (must get them!) and I've been using regular ol shorts but that leaves things flapping in the breeze. I go commando you know.
Moment of the Day was busting a big, fat, lazy back roll and STOMPING down my feet to hit the landing - I'm sure it doesn't get better than that!
Wind speed was recorded as 12 to 9 knots while I was there, with a gust to 22. Probably accurate as that's what it felt like. The Speed was nothing but gravy!
What I learned today ...
• So long as you get your feet down and the board between you and the kite, you can land and ride off from any jump no matter how twisted up you are.
• Need to send the kite more for front rolls at the moment - I don't have the speed or technique perhaps to just throw down off the lip of waves.
• A little bit of send for back rolls makes them seem more controlled and gives time to spot the landing and stomp it down.
• What I remembered today was getting my knees up and leaning back in the big jumps! More control.
• There's a beginners 'freestyle' contest soon - Soh said I should enter but a. I'm crap and b. I don't want to compete any more - except against myself, my abilities and the weather.
• Unless the above was to get me a sponsorship deal :D
Nicely powered, good riding ... board feels too light under my feet still but gets around nicely for back rolls. The solitary front roll I did was nice too - good rotation, clean landing ... I need to do more of them. Cos it was Back-roll Central out there - doing them non-stop.
Also did the longest hang time jump I've ever done! Not the highest, but I floated around so long I had time to think "... what do I do if I don't come down? When should I redirect? Now? If I redirect too soon, will I overfly the kite? Perhaps I should try a grab ... oh no it's ok now I'm coming down ..." Great fun!
Wind had fallen a bit so I grabbed the Flydoor and kept riding ... and kept riding. The herd had thinned out - Freestyle Chick from Hamamatsu & Lil Grom and his pops were there too, on top of the regulars - and there was only the 2 of us out there. So I didn't have to work so hard upwind to clear them and relaxed and had fun until the sun set ... I was the last one on the water again ;)
Oh and ... have to take a break because I used up my supply of swim shorts - the storm blew my favourite pair into the garden (must get them!) and I've been using regular ol shorts but that leaves things flapping in the breeze. I go commando you know.
Moment of the Day was busting a big, fat, lazy back roll and STOMPING down my feet to hit the landing - I'm sure it doesn't get better than that!
Wind speed was recorded as 12 to 9 knots while I was there, with a gust to 22. Probably accurate as that's what it felt like. The Speed was nothing but gravy!
What I learned today ...
• So long as you get your feet down and the board between you and the kite, you can land and ride off from any jump no matter how twisted up you are.
• Need to send the kite more for front rolls at the moment - I don't have the speed or technique perhaps to just throw down off the lip of waves.
• A little bit of send for back rolls makes them seem more controlled and gives time to spot the landing and stomp it down.
• What I remembered today was getting my knees up and leaning back in the big jumps! More control.
• There's a beginners 'freestyle' contest soon - Soh said I should enter but a. I'm crap and b. I don't want to compete any more - except against myself, my abilities and the weather.
• Unless the above was to get me a sponsorship deal :D
Monday, September 5, 2011
Better 'n nowt
Bah humbug. Back to work ... waste of my kiting time, that is. Had an early start though and got to the lake at 4pm. Wind looked good, but Miyachi said it was up and down. I took the 16 and 13m Crossbow over the road, as well as my Flydoor and the Flyradical with the adjusted footpads and straps.
Measured the wind at the shore line and it was good (see below) and had me second-guessing my choice of kite. I ended up putting my trust in GPV and going with the 16, trusting that the wind would drop off - it did and it was a good decision.
Added the GoPro to the line mount ...
Just-powered on launch, riding crosswind only cos the wind had dropped by the time I'd finished setup. Tried to do 3 back rolls in the light wind - only just possible on the 3rd attempt! Wind picks up after a couple of tacks though and we're off! Comfy for a while then we get some more and it's good fun - big jumps! Try some front rolls ... no joy. Splash down, lose the board ... not working today! And alas, the GoPro seems to have turned itself off :( in the end I only got 13 minutes of footage and missed some really good bits ... damn it!
Wind is up and down ... gusty as hell! Have to walk a few times in the lulls and in between got battered a bit.
Got onto the Flyradical for a bit at the end of the session - the moved footpads are better, much less spray to the face although I can still feel it hitting my back leg. Also like the feel of the footpads further up my foot better too. Board still feels skittish underfoot ... I need more time on it :( problem is, I can only ride it when I'm over-powered on the kite I have up! Feels too light under foot too - like it's not there :D
Wind was dropping again and had a fight to keep the kite in the air and get back to shore ... so I decided to call it a day. Must have been just after 6pm ...
Moment of the Day was throwing a good sized back-loop, pulling with my back hand and not getting spanked :D
Wind speed was recorded as 5m/s falling to 4m/s at 7pm with gusts of 12m/s. My trusty $10 eBay anemometer recorded 6 to 10m/s when I arrived at the beach and it went up and down from there. There was one point when I was like "Oh crap I might have to land the 16" but that lasted on a few minutes ... so I feel it was averaging 7-8m/s.
What I learned today ...
• The water is starting to cool off ... I'm still fine in shorts'n't-shirt though.
• Back-rolls are mastered :D well, riding up a wave/chop versions are - I need to move on to flat-water boosts.
• Front-rolls ... need work!
Measured the wind at the shore line and it was good (see below) and had me second-guessing my choice of kite. I ended up putting my trust in GPV and going with the 16, trusting that the wind would drop off - it did and it was a good decision.
Added the GoPro to the line mount ...
Just-powered on launch, riding crosswind only cos the wind had dropped by the time I'd finished setup. Tried to do 3 back rolls in the light wind - only just possible on the 3rd attempt! Wind picks up after a couple of tacks though and we're off! Comfy for a while then we get some more and it's good fun - big jumps! Try some front rolls ... no joy. Splash down, lose the board ... not working today! And alas, the GoPro seems to have turned itself off :( in the end I only got 13 minutes of footage and missed some really good bits ... damn it!
Wind is up and down ... gusty as hell! Have to walk a few times in the lulls and in between got battered a bit.
Got onto the Flyradical for a bit at the end of the session - the moved footpads are better, much less spray to the face although I can still feel it hitting my back leg. Also like the feel of the footpads further up my foot better too. Board still feels skittish underfoot ... I need more time on it :( problem is, I can only ride it when I'm over-powered on the kite I have up! Feels too light under foot too - like it's not there :D
Wind was dropping again and had a fight to keep the kite in the air and get back to shore ... so I decided to call it a day. Must have been just after 6pm ...
Moment of the Day was throwing a good sized back-loop, pulling with my back hand and not getting spanked :D
Wind speed was recorded as 5m/s falling to 4m/s at 7pm with gusts of 12m/s. My trusty $10 eBay anemometer recorded 6 to 10m/s when I arrived at the beach and it went up and down from there. There was one point when I was like "Oh crap I might have to land the 16" but that lasted on a few minutes ... so I feel it was averaging 7-8m/s.
What I learned today ...
• The water is starting to cool off ... I'm still fine in shorts'n't-shirt though.
• Back-rolls are mastered :D well, riding up a wave/chop versions are - I need to move on to flat-water boosts.
• Front-rolls ... need work!
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Whoa dude WTF?!
Irene or her bastard off-spring delivered the goods. Or at least, that's what the forecast said was going to happen. Comes with a side-order of rain but I thought I'd chance it. Headed over to Tsu and got the rain in the mountains - was hoping that had come early and left fair weather at the beach ...
When I got to the beach, Ji-chan was coming in telling me his 12 was over-powered. I measured the wind - 12m/s at the peak, and it was supposed to pick up by 4pm. I rigged my 10m cos I'm a chicken. Just as I got into the water, the wind dropped. No go with the 10 at all.
Stood around for a bit looking at the horizon ... decided to pump up the 16. Got onto the water for a 1/2 hour or so having fun, but the wind dropped right off again so I gave up ... started wishing I had the Silberpfeil ... wind picked up a little and I went back out, then after 15 minutes it picked right up again! I swapped the 16 for the 10 and - believe it or not - was nicely powered ... for the most part.
It was gusty as all hell though, and it oscillated between having to work the hell out of the kite (and stalling it a lot) or being over-powered ... in between was great though.
I swear, I did some of the biggest jumps I've ever done too! I only got dropped a couple of times, and thankfully I was near the water anyway. Love the Crossbows! But still got numerous spankings - I just can't cope with the smaller sizes :D although I made enough power out of working it to ride, which was interesting.
Did some back-rolls (causes of the spankings) and some were stylish ... the waves were big and crisp and we actually had quite a lot of flat water in between, due to the beach shape and tide level I guess. Lot less choppy than it has been. There was a nice big spot to the RHS of the concrete pier thing and I got some good jumps off the flat water there. The wind was all over the place though. The kite started doing weird things and around 4:30pm decided to just nose-dive into the surf and refused to launch. I got dragged into shore and had to sort it all out and relaunch from there. Decided I'd had enough so walked back to the landing area ...
Y'know how I'm always going on about how stupid people are and you're probably thinking I'm just being an arsehole? Well get this ... While landing the now floppy kite (water sucked all the pressure out of it!!!) and the assistant struggling to get it over, Mr. Cool, his missus and their two dogs walk back to the carpark - directly into my lines. Assistant is still trying to get the kite under control (it's flopping around over his head) but they just walk straight into my lines then start lifting them over their heads like they've walked into a washing line 0_o thank god he got the kite down cos if it had powered up ... morons.
So despite the bizarre wind, the gustiness and the sucky nose-dive, it was pretty good riding. Some guy even said "Hey Bob nice big jumps!" although I don't know who Bob is ...?!
Moment of the Day was all those times I jumped in front of the white water, boosted up over the wave and rode away on the other side :D the breaking waves had a really funny texture on the backside of it, all rough and lumpy like riding over gravel.
Wind speed was reported at Tsu as 7.1 to 9.0 m/s between 2 and 5pm (up and down) with gusts of 14m/s. I'd say we averaged about more like the 20 knots when I was riding the 10, with frequent gusts above it. I occasionally felt over-powered on the 10 so I'm guessing we actually got 30 knots as the water's edge ...
What I learned today ...
• Small, fast kites + big wind = huge jumps ... easily!
• Despite feeling under-powered at times, I think I chose the right kite - in the end.
• It'll be a Mako King I need.
• Bend at the knees, not at the waist to load the edge. Or at least, don't bend so much at the waist that you drag your ass in the water and kill your jump :(
• Best kites - not so best, actually. Another one flying like it was broken. And that was a brand new model too :o
• Even small kites won't relaunch when they're underwater. And they get soggy too.
When I got to the beach, Ji-chan was coming in telling me his 12 was over-powered. I measured the wind - 12m/s at the peak, and it was supposed to pick up by 4pm. I rigged my 10m cos I'm a chicken. Just as I got into the water, the wind dropped. No go with the 10 at all.
Stood around for a bit looking at the horizon ... decided to pump up the 16. Got onto the water for a 1/2 hour or so having fun, but the wind dropped right off again so I gave up ... started wishing I had the Silberpfeil ... wind picked up a little and I went back out, then after 15 minutes it picked right up again! I swapped the 16 for the 10 and - believe it or not - was nicely powered ... for the most part.
It was gusty as all hell though, and it oscillated between having to work the hell out of the kite (and stalling it a lot) or being over-powered ... in between was great though.
I swear, I did some of the biggest jumps I've ever done too! I only got dropped a couple of times, and thankfully I was near the water anyway. Love the Crossbows! But still got numerous spankings - I just can't cope with the smaller sizes :D although I made enough power out of working it to ride, which was interesting.
Did some back-rolls (causes of the spankings) and some were stylish ... the waves were big and crisp and we actually had quite a lot of flat water in between, due to the beach shape and tide level I guess. Lot less choppy than it has been. There was a nice big spot to the RHS of the concrete pier thing and I got some good jumps off the flat water there. The wind was all over the place though. The kite started doing weird things and around 4:30pm decided to just nose-dive into the surf and refused to launch. I got dragged into shore and had to sort it all out and relaunch from there. Decided I'd had enough so walked back to the landing area ...
Y'know how I'm always going on about how stupid people are and you're probably thinking I'm just being an arsehole? Well get this ... While landing the now floppy kite (water sucked all the pressure out of it!!!) and the assistant struggling to get it over, Mr. Cool, his missus and their two dogs walk back to the carpark - directly into my lines. Assistant is still trying to get the kite under control (it's flopping around over his head) but they just walk straight into my lines then start lifting them over their heads like they've walked into a washing line 0_o thank god he got the kite down cos if it had powered up ... morons.
So despite the bizarre wind, the gustiness and the sucky nose-dive, it was pretty good riding. Some guy even said "Hey Bob nice big jumps!" although I don't know who Bob is ...?!
Moment of the Day was all those times I jumped in front of the white water, boosted up over the wave and rode away on the other side :D the breaking waves had a really funny texture on the backside of it, all rough and lumpy like riding over gravel.
Wind speed was reported at Tsu as 7.1 to 9.0 m/s between 2 and 5pm (up and down) with gusts of 14m/s. I'd say we averaged about more like the 20 knots when I was riding the 10, with frequent gusts above it. I occasionally felt over-powered on the 10 so I'm guessing we actually got 30 knots as the water's edge ...
What I learned today ...
• Small, fast kites + big wind = huge jumps ... easily!
• Despite feeling under-powered at times, I think I chose the right kite - in the end.
• It'll be a Mako King I need.
• Bend at the knees, not at the waist to load the edge. Or at least, don't bend so much at the waist that you drag your ass in the water and kill your jump :(
• Best kites - not so best, actually. Another one flying like it was broken. And that was a brand new model too :o
• Even small kites won't relaunch when they're underwater. And they get soggy too.
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.
Friday, August 26, 2011
Vexing Venturi
Wind looked good at 1pm but I had to go to the dump and they dicked me around with their brain-damaged system so I didn't get to the lake until 3pm - had to clean the car (ants & termites in the trash!) and repack with kite gear ...
Set out with the Naish Venturi race board - biggest size, 190x70 0_o - on loan from Naish and yadda yadda long story. By the time I got to the lake, the wind had dropped to 6 knots - the SA2 stayed in the sky easily though. Had a tack out on the Flydoor to see what was up - slogging out, slow run back to shore from like 10m out. Got into the water with the race board ...
Yikes what a monster! Big, wide, floaty. Tried to water start with feet in both straps on the windward rail but the tail would sink and I'd get lobbed over the other side. Ended up putting my front foot in the center of the board (riding strapless!) and got a few rides like that but there wasn't enough wind I think.
Put a rear strap in the center and that was easier to get up but still not really riding. At this stage, it has no more bottom end than the Flydoor. Fins feel really draggy, but turn hard when ahem I unbalance myself and turn the board. Easy to kick them under the water. And hitting water weed is like running into a wall. Miyachi reckons it's easier to start with the front foot in, and the rear foot out of the straps and just ahead of them, on the rail. We'll see.
Aside from the frustrations of cutting the toe I dropped a brick on yesterday (!) and dropping the kite in the water, then the board floating into the lines so I couldn't relaunch, I think I'll try it again.
Moment of the Day was non-existent. Pretty dull all round.
Wind speed was recorded as 6 to 4 knots but it was down to 2 I reckon - flag barely moving, couldn't keep the kite in the air without working it ...
What I learned today ...
• Race boards - not as easy as they look like they should be ... I mean really, the thing is as big as an aircraft carrier, it should be child's play!
Set out with the Naish Venturi race board - biggest size, 190x70 0_o - on loan from Naish and yadda yadda long story. By the time I got to the lake, the wind had dropped to 6 knots - the SA2 stayed in the sky easily though. Had a tack out on the Flydoor to see what was up - slogging out, slow run back to shore from like 10m out. Got into the water with the race board ...
Yikes what a monster! Big, wide, floaty. Tried to water start with feet in both straps on the windward rail but the tail would sink and I'd get lobbed over the other side. Ended up putting my front foot in the center of the board (riding strapless!) and got a few rides like that but there wasn't enough wind I think.
Put a rear strap in the center and that was easier to get up but still not really riding. At this stage, it has no more bottom end than the Flydoor. Fins feel really draggy, but turn hard when ahem I unbalance myself and turn the board. Easy to kick them under the water. And hitting water weed is like running into a wall. Miyachi reckons it's easier to start with the front foot in, and the rear foot out of the straps and just ahead of them, on the rail. We'll see.
Aside from the frustrations of cutting the toe I dropped a brick on yesterday (!) and dropping the kite in the water, then the board floating into the lines so I couldn't relaunch, I think I'll try it again.
Moment of the Day was non-existent. Pretty dull all round.
Wind speed was recorded as 6 to 4 knots but it was down to 2 I reckon - flag barely moving, couldn't keep the kite in the air without working it ...
What I learned today ...
• Race boards - not as easy as they look like they should be ... I mean really, the thing is as big as an aircraft carrier, it should be child's play!
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Skunked but productive ... sorta.
Looked like enough wind to try a ride on the web cam, so I trotted down to the beach.
Got talking to Miyachi and it turns out that all the Naish gear at the club has been sent by Naish Japan to Locus so that the club is a Naish demo place. This includes Parks, Chargers and 3 2012 Venturi's ... so while Miyachi was setting up the biggest one for me, I went to the beach ...
No riding but I also had my anemometer with me so I have some data at least ...
Moment of the Day was getting the biggest Venturi set up just for me!
Wind speed was recorded as 4 to 6 knots. I concur.
What I learned today ...
• The Speed 2.5 Silver Arrow will fly in 1 to 2 knots but you have to work it. Basically, if you can feel the wind, the kite will fly.
• At 4 to 6 knots (solid average of 5 knots) you can get up on a plane but will lose it as you have to turn the kite to re-stroke. I'm thinking a high volume board with float will keep you rolling and let you build up apparent wind ... hence me bugging Miyachi about Venturi.
• That leads me to conclude that at 8 knots I can be riding downwind and by 10 knots holding a beam reach easily, probably going upwind. That my fat ass on the Flydoor XL.
No riding but I also had my anemometer with me so I have some data at least ...
Moment of the Day was getting the biggest Venturi set up just for me!
Wind speed was recorded as 4 to 6 knots. I concur.
What I learned today ...
• The Speed 2.5 Silver Arrow will fly in 1 to 2 knots but you have to work it. Basically, if you can feel the wind, the kite will fly.
• At 4 to 6 knots (solid average of 5 knots) you can get up on a plane but will lose it as you have to turn the kite to re-stroke. I'm thinking a high volume board with float will keep you rolling and let you build up apparent wind ... hence me bugging Miyachi about Venturi.
• That leads me to conclude that at 8 knots I can be riding downwind and by 10 knots holding a beam reach easily, probably going upwind. That my fat ass on the Flydoor XL.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
A little bit of ...
... wind.
... riding.
... walking.
... back loops.
... front loops.
... little jumps - very little.
... back roll transitions.
Huzzah for the Speed2 19!
Moment of the Day was nailing a perfect front roll.
Wind speed was recorded as 4 to 6 knots with gusts to 12. I reckon it was about 8 knots on average; I spent a lot of time working hard to get upwind and even then had to walk. The only people going upwind were the tiny men on giant directionals and the guy on the race board.
What I learned today ...
• Front rolls - you need a good jump and you need to launch vertically and you need to really stomp and jump off the back foot.
• Mind you, same goes for all jumps on the foil. I really lost my mojo lately for just regular jumps.
... riding.
... walking.
... back loops.
... front loops.
... little jumps - very little.
... back roll transitions.
Huzzah for the Speed2 19!
Moment of the Day was nailing a perfect front roll.
Wind speed was recorded as 4 to 6 knots with gusts to 12. I reckon it was about 8 knots on average; I spent a lot of time working hard to get upwind and even then had to walk. The only people going upwind were the tiny men on giant directionals and the guy on the race board.
What I learned today ...
• Front rolls - you need a good jump and you need to launch vertically and you need to really stomp and jump off the back foot.
• Mind you, same goes for all jumps on the foil. I really lost my mojo lately for just regular jumps.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Why did I bother?
Cos I couldn't possibly know till after the fact.
Went to the lake for the 2pm fun fest of 12 to 16 knots. Got something.
Put up the 16m Xbow. The wind was blowing but it wasn't pushing.
Put up the Speed2 19. Still not enough wind then HOLY CRAP gusty slam invert yoink splash give up.
Got back on the Xbow. A little better but not much - no jumping fun, took all my effort just to get riding.
Wind drops off. Think about putting up the Speed2 again - already packed it up once though.
Wind comes back so I go back out. It's better for a short while and I'm starting to have fun when suddenly I'm over-powered on the Flydoor, so I grab the 'radical but I'm not loving that cos it just sprays in my face non-stop. I go back to grab the Flydoor as the sun is starting to set and get skunked. Can't relaunch the fucking 'bow and now my lines are caught in water weeds underwater so that's fucked.
Wade to shore, now the kite is soggy and covered in sand and my lines are a bunch of knots. It's getting dark, I'm getting bitten by mosquitos ... why did I bother today? I got no satisfaction at all :(
Moment of the Day was the beer when I got home.
Wind speed was recorded as 10 to 14 knots with gust over 20 ... and shifted from NE to NW. Crappy.
What I learned today ...
• LEI can still get soggy and be useless.
• You can recover and inverted Speed2. Thank god.
• Front rolls - still hard.
• Back rolls - dialed in ... maybe. Easier with the 'bows on the redirects that's for sure.
• I'm starting to hate the Flyradical - going to change the footpads around and see if that helps :(
Put up the 16m Xbow. The wind was blowing but it wasn't pushing.
Put up the Speed2 19. Still not enough wind then HOLY CRAP gusty slam invert yoink splash give up.
Got back on the Xbow. A little better but not much - no jumping fun, took all my effort just to get riding.
Wind drops off. Think about putting up the Speed2 again - already packed it up once though.
Wind comes back so I go back out. It's better for a short while and I'm starting to have fun when suddenly I'm over-powered on the Flydoor, so I grab the 'radical but I'm not loving that cos it just sprays in my face non-stop. I go back to grab the Flydoor as the sun is starting to set and get skunked. Can't relaunch the fucking 'bow and now my lines are caught in water weeds underwater so that's fucked.
Wade to shore, now the kite is soggy and covered in sand and my lines are a bunch of knots. It's getting dark, I'm getting bitten by mosquitos ... why did I bother today? I got no satisfaction at all :(
Moment of the Day was the beer when I got home.
Wind speed was recorded as 10 to 14 knots with gust over 20 ... and shifted from NE to NW. Crappy.
What I learned today ...
• LEI can still get soggy and be useless.
• You can recover and inverted Speed2. Thank god.
• Front rolls - still hard.
• Back rolls - dialed in ... maybe. Easier with the 'bows on the redirects that's for sure.
• I'm starting to hate the Flyradical - going to change the footpads around and see if that helps :(
Monday, August 15, 2011
DIY - this time, QR and CL
Thought I could add the Switch QR/CL to the PL Navigator bars ... a mixed bag of results. Here's why ...
• The QR/CL uses the same double depower rope and safety through the center - that all works fine, plugs'n'plays no worries.
• The PL CL has a larger diameter hole (7 or 8mm versus 5mm) through the body to cope with the heat-shrink that covers the line where the thicker safety joins the thinner safety - that gets stuck at the hole to the Switch QR body. I cut the heat-shrink off and it glides through fine ... the stitching could probably be improved with some whipping if necessary. I tried to drill the hole out - I got it out to 5.5mm but then my drill bits were melting and the tube was deforming :o
• Solution to the hole problem : drill it out (meh) or replace the entire safety line with the 3mm Amsteel. Which makes me wonder why they didn't do that in the first place ...? The only issue I see of NOT drilling it out, is if you go for a shortened V setup - it may not get through easy :(
http://switchkites.com/warehouse_comp/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=67
Oh I've just noticed that they've dropped the Complete QR from their parts page ... so basically, all this is moot. Sucky.
EDIT : back up. Great!
I'll try the whole thing out on a light wind day, anyway. So there you have it. And here are the pics ...
• Solution to the hole problem : drill it out (meh) or replace the entire safety line with the 3mm Amsteel. Which makes me wonder why they didn't do that in the first place ...? The only issue I see of NOT drilling it out, is if you go for a shortened V setup - it may not get through easy :(
http://switchkites.com/warehouse_comp/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=67
Oh I've just noticed that they've dropped the Complete QR from their parts page ... so basically, all this is moot. Sucky.
EDIT : back up. Great!
I'll try the whole thing out on a light wind day, anyway. So there you have it. And here are the pics ...
Switch QR/CL
Peter Lynn Navigator QR/CL
The tricky bits ... pull the cam cleat out of the sock, note that the depower line is finished with a square-knot and sheep-shanked to the cleat and that the stopper ball is knotted with a bow-line. Easy o_0
Then undo the square-knot and feed it all out.
Then undo the square-knot and feed it all out.
Loop the depower line around the swivel in the Switch QR/CL then reassemble. Note the order. And note that the stopping slider block in default configuration has the holes closer together at the bar end ... make sure to get the square-knot and sheep-shank tight and compact.
Finished!
UPDATE
After a bout of paranoia, I went back to the PL chicken loop - the hole through the Switch QR just wasn't big enough and required removal of the heat shrink covering the stitched loops of the safety line to fit through. Which got me worried about wear on the ends ... I should probably find a way to nicely splice them into each other.
In the interim, I've decided that I need to either drill the hole out PROPERLY with a drill press and some lube before I attempt it again.
Also, I've realized that the somewhat bulky and messy (IMHO) cam cleat could be replaced with the Switch "Regulator" and offer adjustable depower throw and trim range :D
... a project for the coming winter ;)
Friday, August 12, 2011
Cabrinha demo day
Again the forecast didn't promise much but the lake delivered much better. Headed down about 2pm I think, jumped onto the water with the Silberpfeil ... not much wind, fighting to hold my ground and doing even a single roll lost too much downwind for a while. Eventually, the wind picked up to the point where the SA was too much.
Packed it up and stood around hoping to get out with the Cabrinha kites. The 'salesmen' weren't too friendly, and didn't seem interested in talking to people off their own bat - I thought if you're trying to sell a couple grands worth of fabric, you'd be kissing customer ass, not trying to get them to kiss yours ...? Also, note to Cabrinha - you should probably employ people who know the difference between front and rear lines or are at least smart enough to keep their mouths shut instead of trying to be the BMOC around my Flysurfer. Especially, when they can't even relaunch their own kites :o
Thanks to Miyachi and the wife hassling them, I finally got a go on the 2012 Switchblade 14. And then the Crossbow 13 LightWind and finally, the Vector 12 ... here are some thoughts.
• Like the new bar - looks tight. Didn't bother playing with the QR cos daylight was fading ...
• I don't get why everyone at our beach & almost every other kiter with Cabs has Switchblades, except for a few Converts and Nomads and that one other guy in Mie with the Xbow ... the sheeting bar-pressure was as bad as my Xbow 16 (which isn't as bad as the Speed2 19 ...?!? ) and it wasn't that powerful. Didn't really improve much when it was worked. It did turn about it's own axis though, and relaunched the same off the water - dead easy.
• The XB 13 LW on the other hand was lovely - just like mine ;) maybe felt a tad smoother but that might have been just coming from the SB. Much easier to get bigger and longer jumps ...
• the Vector 12 was a surprise - very fast kite ... like, once you let it accelerate in a given direction, it was off like a freakin' rocket! Bit of canopy flutter when redirecting jumps ... the whole thing reminded me of a Charger with less bar pressure. Nice kite, I liked it.
Pretty good, the wind picked up nicely and despite having to chase some guy out from under where I was trying to land the SA2 when over-powered, it was fun. I'm going to be wrecked tomorrow though, my arms are already killing me! The wife had even come down to watch for a while too ...
Got back to the car ... huh, the door is locked I could swear I left my keys in there. Searched the beach, the lake ... nothing. Called the wife, she came back after she'd finished work at 8pm and guess what - she'd left a chocolate goodie on the seat and then locked my door with her keys - sealing mine inside. Doh.
Moment of the Day was busting front and back rolls with no problems at all! Success rate now up to 75% :D
Wind speed was recorded as 8 to 12 knots with a peak of 15 ... hmm, seemed like more than that! I would have guess 20knots in the afternoon ...!
What I learned today ...
• You really gotta explode off the back foot for front rolls - and keep your foot in the strap >_O a few times, the board went whipping around only attached to one foot. Not fun.
• The faster turning foils are ... interesting ... for rotations. I had less success with them in general, but more success with riding away from the good ones as the kite redirects much quicker. There was one time that I pendulumed under the kite as it went from one side of the wind to the other - I like that fine when I'm trying to do BFJ but when I'm spinning under the kite - yikes!
Packed it up and stood around hoping to get out with the Cabrinha kites. The 'salesmen' weren't too friendly, and didn't seem interested in talking to people off their own bat - I thought if you're trying to sell a couple grands worth of fabric, you'd be kissing customer ass, not trying to get them to kiss yours ...? Also, note to Cabrinha - you should probably employ people who know the difference between front and rear lines or are at least smart enough to keep their mouths shut instead of trying to be the BMOC around my Flysurfer. Especially, when they can't even relaunch their own kites :o
Thanks to Miyachi and the wife hassling them, I finally got a go on the 2012 Switchblade 14. And then the Crossbow 13 LightWind and finally, the Vector 12 ... here are some thoughts.
• Like the new bar - looks tight. Didn't bother playing with the QR cos daylight was fading ...
• I don't get why everyone at our beach & almost every other kiter with Cabs has Switchblades, except for a few Converts and Nomads and that one other guy in Mie with the Xbow ... the sheeting bar-pressure was as bad as my Xbow 16 (which isn't as bad as the Speed2 19 ...?!? ) and it wasn't that powerful. Didn't really improve much when it was worked. It did turn about it's own axis though, and relaunched the same off the water - dead easy.
• The XB 13 LW on the other hand was lovely - just like mine ;) maybe felt a tad smoother but that might have been just coming from the SB. Much easier to get bigger and longer jumps ...
• the Vector 12 was a surprise - very fast kite ... like, once you let it accelerate in a given direction, it was off like a freakin' rocket! Bit of canopy flutter when redirecting jumps ... the whole thing reminded me of a Charger with less bar pressure. Nice kite, I liked it.
Pretty good, the wind picked up nicely and despite having to chase some guy out from under where I was trying to land the SA2 when over-powered, it was fun. I'm going to be wrecked tomorrow though, my arms are already killing me! The wife had even come down to watch for a while too ...
Got back to the car ... huh, the door is locked I could swear I left my keys in there. Searched the beach, the lake ... nothing. Called the wife, she came back after she'd finished work at 8pm and guess what - she'd left a chocolate goodie on the seat and then locked my door with her keys - sealing mine inside. Doh.
Moment of the Day was busting front and back rolls with no problems at all! Success rate now up to 75% :D
Wind speed was recorded as 8 to 12 knots with a peak of 15 ... hmm, seemed like more than that! I would have guess 20knots in the afternoon ...!
What I learned today ...
• You really gotta explode off the back foot for front rolls - and keep your foot in the strap >_O a few times, the board went whipping around only attached to one foot. Not fun.
• The faster turning foils are ... interesting ... for rotations. I had less success with them in general, but more success with riding away from the good ones as the kite redirects much quicker. There was one time that I pendulumed under the kite as it went from one side of the wind to the other - I like that fine when I'm trying to do BFJ but when I'm spinning under the kite - yikes!
Wednesday, August 10, 2011
Taking a spin in the light wind
Damned blogger has lost my entire post :( not impressed again.
In summary ...
Went to lake at 1pm. Played with Charger 19 for an hour - good kite, launched with less than full inflation fairly easily, flies nice in light wind so long as it's moving.
Wind picks up, ride with the Silberpfeil.
Chase off a jet-ski asshole from the swimming area.
Not enough wind to make the big jumps, I see Uncle Pyro doing back rolls so I decide to give rotations a go too.
Start with spinning under the kite during transitions - easy enough. Try with bigger and bigger jumps until I'm either landing or getting close to landing.
Big fun!
Pack up after sunset. Wife was worried cos it was so late.
Moment of the Day was landing my first back roll! The one that felt totally under control, smooth and that I rode away from easily!
Wind speed was recorded as 5 knots when I had the Charger up, 6 knots when I first put up the Silberpfeil and 7 to 14 knots when I was riding with a gust of 20 knots around 3pm. That all seems to fit nicely ...
What I learned today ...
• When going for the BFJs, get your knees up and your weight back - it seems to just point you right at the kite making it VERY easy to control the ride ...!
• Rotations aren't too hard - you have to commit to a solid jump/pop and rotation though. All this was done with the Flydoor - maybe the 'radical will be easier ...?
• SA is nice and slow so doesn't spank me when I mess up the handling ... but so much lift, THAT gives you time to spin around.
In summary ...
Went to lake at 1pm. Played with Charger 19 for an hour - good kite, launched with less than full inflation fairly easily, flies nice in light wind so long as it's moving.
Wind picks up, ride with the Silberpfeil.
Chase off a jet-ski asshole from the swimming area.
Not enough wind to make the big jumps, I see Uncle Pyro doing back rolls so I decide to give rotations a go too.
Start with spinning under the kite during transitions - easy enough. Try with bigger and bigger jumps until I'm either landing or getting close to landing.
Big fun!
Pack up after sunset. Wife was worried cos it was so late.
Moment of the Day was landing my first back roll! The one that felt totally under control, smooth and that I rode away from easily!
Wind speed was recorded as 5 knots when I had the Charger up, 6 knots when I first put up the Silberpfeil and 7 to 14 knots when I was riding with a gust of 20 knots around 3pm. That all seems to fit nicely ...
What I learned today ...
• When going for the BFJs, get your knees up and your weight back - it seems to just point you right at the kite making it VERY easy to control the ride ...!
• Rotations aren't too hard - you have to commit to a solid jump/pop and rotation though. All this was done with the Flydoor - maybe the 'radical will be easier ...?
• SA is nice and slow so doesn't spank me when I mess up the handling ... but so much lift, THAT gives you time to spin around.
Monday, August 8, 2011
Sunset Silberpfeil Special Session
Looked like a viable light wind afternoon from 1pm till dark on the interweb's forecast so I trotted off to the lake. Got there about 2pm and sat around, had a swim for an hour cos there was no wind. About 4pm I decided to try anyway so set up the Silberpfeil and got in the water ...
Working it downwind, walking back up the beach. I think I did 3 times ... on the last tack out and during the walk back up the beach, I watched Junkie-Sensei unpack a brand new Slingshot Turbine 17m and had jump in the water just before I started going back out. He was making ground upwind so I had high hopes :)
Yes! Upwind finally! I'm parked and flying but Junkie-Sensei is still working the Turbine a little ... seems to me like the big T is very close to the bottom end of the Speed2 19 but the Silberpfeil is still Uber Alles!
So proceeds the afternoon ... I honk about on the SA throwing down my jumps and trying to make ground back upwind. It was tough for a while, the wind was only just ... picked up for a bit towards the end and I was able to easily make ground but ... would lose it all in the jumps :D
Fucking powered paraglider moron - comes down to buzz the beach like they often do. Ok buzz the beach at about 50m up. Must have given him a scare on one of my jumps cos when I looked up at the kite, the PPG was making evasive maneuvers up there to avoid the Silberpfeil. Idiot.
Had reset the front lines to include a bunch of backstall, but was riding around with the kite trimmed a little ... seemed to need it right down at the low end ... hmm. No issues with it, only remember once muffing a turn and having the kite float on me, but grabbing the leader line sorted it out. North Rebel and LF Havoc both went down, unable to relaunch and had to swim for it. Miyachi had trouble relaunching his new 14m RPM too.
Got darker and darker, the YMCA kids came out for a campfire at the other end of the beach, so I showed off to them for a bit before calling it a day and packing up just on dark. Wife was a bit stressed because I hadn't checked it ... but I was having too much fun!
Moment of the Day was a brown pantser - coming back into shore for the last time, thought I'd throw a little jump within a line's length of the beach ... and it turned into a monster boost with a lot of downwind drift 0_o I redirected the kite and edged up thinking I was going to get pulled into the shore - again - but managed to stop within a meter of the beach. Never again :D
Wind speed was recorded as 3.2 to 5.1m/s (6 to 10 knots) from 4 to 7pm, with a peak gust of 8.1m/s at 5. Another wind site recorded 7m/s ... it felt like 10 to 14 knots to me, mostly on the low end of that - I was parked'n'riding but working hard to get upwind and losing a lot when I jumped.
What I learned today ...
• In the build-up to the jump ... with the Speed - dunno about my other kites yet - it's better to load your edge then launch off both feet rather than try a load'n'pop. Much more of a slingshot effect up and out!
• Don't boost jumps close to the shore cos you'll scare yourself when (thank you Mr. Murphy) you get more float than you expected and drift at the shore.
• It's amazing the contortions you'll put yourself through to land a jump and not dunk your Flysurfer :D
Working it downwind, walking back up the beach. I think I did 3 times ... on the last tack out and during the walk back up the beach, I watched Junkie-Sensei unpack a brand new Slingshot Turbine 17m and had jump in the water just before I started going back out. He was making ground upwind so I had high hopes :)
Yes! Upwind finally! I'm parked and flying but Junkie-Sensei is still working the Turbine a little ... seems to me like the big T is very close to the bottom end of the Speed2 19 but the Silberpfeil is still Uber Alles!
So proceeds the afternoon ... I honk about on the SA throwing down my jumps and trying to make ground back upwind. It was tough for a while, the wind was only just ... picked up for a bit towards the end and I was able to easily make ground but ... would lose it all in the jumps :D
Fucking powered paraglider moron - comes down to buzz the beach like they often do. Ok buzz the beach at about 50m up. Must have given him a scare on one of my jumps cos when I looked up at the kite, the PPG was making evasive maneuvers up there to avoid the Silberpfeil. Idiot.
Had reset the front lines to include a bunch of backstall, but was riding around with the kite trimmed a little ... seemed to need it right down at the low end ... hmm. No issues with it, only remember once muffing a turn and having the kite float on me, but grabbing the leader line sorted it out. North Rebel and LF Havoc both went down, unable to relaunch and had to swim for it. Miyachi had trouble relaunching his new 14m RPM too.
Got darker and darker, the YMCA kids came out for a campfire at the other end of the beach, so I showed off to them for a bit before calling it a day and packing up just on dark. Wife was a bit stressed because I hadn't checked it ... but I was having too much fun!
Moment of the Day was a brown pantser - coming back into shore for the last time, thought I'd throw a little jump within a line's length of the beach ... and it turned into a monster boost with a lot of downwind drift 0_o I redirected the kite and edged up thinking I was going to get pulled into the shore - again - but managed to stop within a meter of the beach. Never again :D
Wind speed was recorded as 3.2 to 5.1m/s (6 to 10 knots) from 4 to 7pm, with a peak gust of 8.1m/s at 5. Another wind site recorded 7m/s ... it felt like 10 to 14 knots to me, mostly on the low end of that - I was parked'n'riding but working hard to get upwind and losing a lot when I jumped.
What I learned today ...
• In the build-up to the jump ... with the Speed - dunno about my other kites yet - it's better to load your edge then launch off both feet rather than try a load'n'pop. Much more of a slingshot effect up and out!
• Don't boost jumps close to the shore cos you'll scare yourself when (thank you Mr. Murphy) you get more float than you expected and drift at the shore.
• It's amazing the contortions you'll put yourself through to land a jump and not dunk your Flysurfer :D
Friday, August 5, 2011
Machiya and Me
Wind looked ok on the forecast and I decided to drive over and brave the rain that might be lurking around - according to the forecast, but not according to the web cam ... arrived about 1pm to clear skies and 20knots. It's supposed to drop off though ...
... so I rig the 13m Crossbow and jump onto the water with the other 3 kiters. Quiet day at the ocean!
At first, I'm nicely powered and having a good time but the wind IS dropping and it's getting harder to boost decent air at all. I'm still able to go upwind ... just. Spend a good time riding around, enjoying the sun, water and waves.
After about 2 hours, the weather makes like it's going to pack in, so I think about packing it in. My back is starting to hurt - being unable to lean against the kite means the harsh impacts from the chop is going straight up my spine.
Moment of the Day is again, drifting across the peak of two waves with my ass just scraping the tops.
Wind speed was recorded as 8.4m/s from 1pm. I got my 16 knots and that felt pretty close to the average ... which means, the 13 is only fun from 20knots on the ocean. Yikes!
What I learned today ...
• Spinning around under a kite, facing back the way you came from - I had a lot of problems with that a while back, and I did it a few times again today. Seems it's the result of improper load and carving upwind and/or bringing the kite down too soon and/or not aggressively enough, letting it pull to the edge of the window.
• Suicide on the Cab bar still pulls a lot - accidentally unhooked after a big prang. Got yoinked downwind.
• You CAN land the Xbow by pulling the front lines, but it'll bobble off downwind a bit - watch out!
• Should've gone with the 16m.
... so I rig the 13m Crossbow and jump onto the water with the other 3 kiters. Quiet day at the ocean!
At first, I'm nicely powered and having a good time but the wind IS dropping and it's getting harder to boost decent air at all. I'm still able to go upwind ... just. Spend a good time riding around, enjoying the sun, water and waves.
After about 2 hours, the weather makes like it's going to pack in, so I think about packing it in. My back is starting to hurt - being unable to lean against the kite means the harsh impacts from the chop is going straight up my spine.
Moment of the Day is again, drifting across the peak of two waves with my ass just scraping the tops.
Wind speed was recorded as 8.4m/s from 1pm. I got my 16 knots and that felt pretty close to the average ... which means, the 13 is only fun from 20knots on the ocean. Yikes!
What I learned today ...
• Spinning around under a kite, facing back the way you came from - I had a lot of problems with that a while back, and I did it a few times again today. Seems it's the result of improper load and carving upwind and/or bringing the kite down too soon and/or not aggressively enough, letting it pull to the edge of the window.
• Suicide on the Cab bar still pulls a lot - accidentally unhooked after a big prang. Got yoinked downwind.
• You CAN land the Xbow by pulling the front lines, but it'll bobble off downwind a bit - watch out!
• Should've gone with the 16m.
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.
Friday, July 29, 2011
3-kite marathon!
Hurt my back 2 weeks ago - first day of the holidays FFS so laid up for a while ... thank god it was only pulled muscles - I hope! - so am back, looking for a fix. Forecast let us down the past week or so - Thursday even had the cheek to switch it around to southerlies! - and today wasn't looking any better ... 8 knots forecast at 12pm. Checked web-cam at 11:30 and it looked ok so I headed down to the lake ...
Got on the water about 12pm - I'm the only one there. I'm riding with the Silberpfeil, but they're downwinders ... walk up the beach a few times. Which is cool, cos riding at all is better than not riding and the water is buttah flat! Found a stag beetle on its back at the shore so rescue it cos hey I'm just that nice. Funny little buggers, very cute with their dopey-looking eyes-on-stalks and he didn't want to bite me or whatever they do, so I put him on the dry sand and left him to it ...
That was about as exciting as it got for what felt like an hour or so, until the wind picked up and I started having some Yee-hah! fun. Jumps and fun ... it's all good!
WTF moment of the day - my spreader bar unhooks itself so I'm only half hooked into the kite ... can't hold it at full power so I drop the kite at the edge of the window and sort the harness out. I think the lock-clasp got knocked out and me adjusting the straps somehow upset it ... doh! Now, the kite. it's in a bit of a mess, sitting wing-tip on -tip so I swim around trying to get some wind under it. Eventually get it to reverse launch position but my impatience twists it up again ... more messing around but finally get it back in the air! WTF again ... and am now miles from my board - can't see it at all. Drag back upwind and there it is! Keep riding.
Now I'm overpowered - dangerously, I reckon - any sheeting in results in a lofting. I land the SA2 on the FDS and back it up. Head back to the car and grab the Flyradical and the Crossbow 13. By now, a few people have arrived and it's about 2:30pm. Enough time before work for another session :D Pump up, launch and go out with the Flydoor but the 13 isn't up to the job ... ride around for a bit working the hell out of it but I'm not having fun. Land it, go BACK to the car and get the Crossbow 16. Repeat ...
Start out nicely powered and having fun but now the wind's picked up and I have to depower the kite - I'm on the Flyradical and it's still too much. Well not really cos I stay out till I pack up at 5pm-ish :D
Man, the bar pressure is killing my hands! I gotta replace this kite! Compared to the 13, it's a joke. Compared to the Flysurfer Speed2 - known for bar pressure - it's nowhere near as bad! It's not the turning that's the problem, it's the holding the bar in! I get some OK jumps in but I bet they'd be better with the 13. Get myself spanked a few times too which is always entertaining ... but I'm going to be sore tomorrow. And it seems the sunblock has worn off so I'm going to be even more sore ... whee.
Back it up like a broken old man and hobble back to the car ... it's 5:40pm and I have to be at work at 7:30pm, fed, showered and shaved - thank god I only live 20 minutes from the lake :D
Moment of the Day was not having to swim in with the SA. And it not drifting into the buoy with the gardening pole on top 0_o
Wind speed was recorded as 4 to 10 knots, averaging around 8 knots for most of my session and peak gust at 4pm of 16 knots. What a pile of crap - it had to be around 15knots for most of my LEI session! I reckon 15 to 20 when I was on the 16 cos it was mad and I really should have gotten the 13.
What I learned today ...
• Be more thorough when applying sunblock :(
• I need to replace the 16m Crossbow - my hands are shredded!
• Need to tune the SA to sort out the line lengths ... start with the depower rope though - I think it's stretched.
• Man, I gotta work on the skills with the Flyradical ... just didn't feel connected to it at all eh :(
• Another flawless session with the 720-armour Sharks - my, they're great!
Got on the water about 12pm - I'm the only one there. I'm riding with the Silberpfeil, but they're downwinders ... walk up the beach a few times. Which is cool, cos riding at all is better than not riding and the water is buttah flat! Found a stag beetle on its back at the shore so rescue it cos hey I'm just that nice. Funny little buggers, very cute with their dopey-looking eyes-on-stalks and he didn't want to bite me or whatever they do, so I put him on the dry sand and left him to it ...
That was about as exciting as it got for what felt like an hour or so, until the wind picked up and I started having some Yee-hah! fun. Jumps and fun ... it's all good!
WTF moment of the day - my spreader bar unhooks itself so I'm only half hooked into the kite ... can't hold it at full power so I drop the kite at the edge of the window and sort the harness out. I think the lock-clasp got knocked out and me adjusting the straps somehow upset it ... doh! Now, the kite. it's in a bit of a mess, sitting wing-tip on -tip so I swim around trying to get some wind under it. Eventually get it to reverse launch position but my impatience twists it up again ... more messing around but finally get it back in the air! WTF again ... and am now miles from my board - can't see it at all. Drag back upwind and there it is! Keep riding.
Now I'm overpowered - dangerously, I reckon - any sheeting in results in a lofting. I land the SA2 on the FDS and back it up. Head back to the car and grab the Flyradical and the Crossbow 13. By now, a few people have arrived and it's about 2:30pm. Enough time before work for another session :D Pump up, launch and go out with the Flydoor but the 13 isn't up to the job ... ride around for a bit working the hell out of it but I'm not having fun. Land it, go BACK to the car and get the Crossbow 16. Repeat ...
Start out nicely powered and having fun but now the wind's picked up and I have to depower the kite - I'm on the Flyradical and it's still too much. Well not really cos I stay out till I pack up at 5pm-ish :D
Man, the bar pressure is killing my hands! I gotta replace this kite! Compared to the 13, it's a joke. Compared to the Flysurfer Speed2 - known for bar pressure - it's nowhere near as bad! It's not the turning that's the problem, it's the holding the bar in! I get some OK jumps in but I bet they'd be better with the 13. Get myself spanked a few times too which is always entertaining ... but I'm going to be sore tomorrow. And it seems the sunblock has worn off so I'm going to be even more sore ... whee.
Back it up like a broken old man and hobble back to the car ... it's 5:40pm and I have to be at work at 7:30pm, fed, showered and shaved - thank god I only live 20 minutes from the lake :D
Moment of the Day was not having to swim in with the SA. And it not drifting into the buoy with the gardening pole on top 0_o
Wind speed was recorded as 4 to 10 knots, averaging around 8 knots for most of my session and peak gust at 4pm of 16 knots. What a pile of crap - it had to be around 15knots for most of my LEI session! I reckon 15 to 20 when I was on the 16 cos it was mad and I really should have gotten the 13.
What I learned today ...
• Be more thorough when applying sunblock :(
• I need to replace the 16m Crossbow - my hands are shredded!
• Need to tune the SA to sort out the line lengths ... start with the depower rope though - I think it's stretched.
• Man, I gotta work on the skills with the Flyradical ... just didn't feel connected to it at all eh :(
• Another flawless session with the 720-armour Sharks - my, they're great!
Friday, July 15, 2011
Tea-bag Transitions
First Saturday off work in a long time but there's no wind at the lake forecast, but there is some at the ocean in Mie. It's supposed to be much the same as the other day I went and that hardly blew my skirts up so I spend the morning humming and harring about it. Normally, there'd be NO humming at all but with the boo-boo on my toe, it's kinda hard to walk ... but in the end I just figure WTH it's gotta be better than sitting in front of the TV!
So I jump in the car about 1pm, suffer the traffic - seriously, who reads a newspaper while trying to drive? oh fat-ass in the shit-box in front of me does - and finally get to the beach around 2:30pm ... oh goody, continuing the theme of being surrounded by annoying half-wits - the local university students have decided to have beach parties to celebrate a whole winter of not dumping rubbish on the beach so there's hordes of 20-somethings running around screaming like they're fresh out of day-care and the mommies are having a tea-break :-/
Sigh.
Big turn-out though, there's a bunch of kiters and a couple of windsurfers ... Boofhead is there, Junkie Sensei is on the water and Granpa is in the carpark so we have a chat - Hironobu is in Tokyo for school tests (?) so he's on his own and reckons I need 'that white thing' today. I measure 5 to 6 m/s so I agree with him, but I'm a bit nervous about unrolling the precious session-saver on the trash strewn beach with crowds of retards around and then trying to ride in the light wind on a choppy ocean ... well at least the tide is out and I can see that damn pipe I chopped my shins and toe on, and the waves aren't so huge.
Have to head down the beach a lot further than usual to get some clear space to unpack and roll out the lines - not much open space with sand to weight the tip here ... but we get set up and launch eventually and onto the water.
Wind is ok, nicely powered so it's all smiles and cackles as I take a few tacks quietly to settle my nerves. Ocean is a lot flatter than it has been but it's still hard keeping up board speed through the chop ... day dreams of a Mako.
Relaxed now so I start trying to do some jumps but the board speed isn't there and can't get the timing so I give up and play silly buggers. Load'n'pops are monster big but the landings are harsher than proper jumps! Playing with slide transitions and toeside riding and even have a crack at aerial transitions. That leads to some falls and stalls of the kite but some canty line-pulling keeps the beautiful white tractor in the sky and off the water!
Also play with the trimming to try and see if sorting out the line lengths would improve things ... no, seems like it pulls harder with the stretch left in but I bet that's gonna kill the top end. But that's not what the Silberpfeil is for though, is it? Backstalls a lot more though when the wind drops right off. Better email John ...
Wind is up and down so I'm alternating going way upwind and then riding parallel to the beach - and ending up having to ride through the middle of the surfers. After I spray one of them I figure I better just change tack before I ride through them again and work my way upwind. Dodging windsurfer riding along at less than crawling pace is always entertaining too.
Water is so warm that my hands are starting to look like I've been sitting in the bath for too long. My legs are starting to get tired so now I'm pretty much just riding around ... the only other kiter out there is Auntie's Husband on his new 14m RPM and he too is mowing the lawn. Poor old Auntie can't ride on her 12 and still has no luck when she swaps it for the RPM. Huh! He must have some mad lightwind skills or weigh even less than her :o
Finally decide to pack it in around 6pm cos I'm tired and the wind is really on the bottom end of no fun. Reverse land the Silberpfeil ... as I'm securing it, a local kiter comes over to help land but I wave him off - you never know what they'll do with foils ... just as well I did too cos he says "I've never seen that kind of kite before, who makes it?" o_0
Good day, better than working! Ice blocks on the way home!
Wind speed was supposed to be 6.1 to 5.6 m/s for the time I was at the beach with a peak of 8.6 m/s at a quarter to 5. When I got my anemometer out at about 3pm I was reading just on 5 to just over 6 m/s ... compare that with the 6.1 that was posted at 3pm ... it's gotta be an average, eh!
Moment of the Day was discovering "tea-bag transitions" were fun but not as fun as the big boost up the face of the wave with a perfectly timed send for massive long hang time and float ...!
What I learned today ...
• Even almost no waves is still worse than the lake. Ma-aaaaaako!
• Aerial transitions on the SA - tough. You gotta muscle it around hard and fast and edge hard or it stalls.
• Get onto it and pull a rear line ASAP and you'll save even a tip through the bridle!
• Sure, foils are more work to keep flying than the LEIs but the pay-off - how you enjoying the walks, fellas?
• Tea-bag Transitions - send it back and lift your legs so you dip your bum just a bit in the water ... or float above surface ass-down like erm a tea-bag.
So I jump in the car about 1pm, suffer the traffic - seriously, who reads a newspaper while trying to drive? oh fat-ass in the shit-box in front of me does - and finally get to the beach around 2:30pm ... oh goody, continuing the theme of being surrounded by annoying half-wits - the local university students have decided to have beach parties to celebrate a whole winter of not dumping rubbish on the beach so there's hordes of 20-somethings running around screaming like they're fresh out of day-care and the mommies are having a tea-break :-/
Sigh.
Big turn-out though, there's a bunch of kiters and a couple of windsurfers ... Boofhead is there, Junkie Sensei is on the water and Granpa is in the carpark so we have a chat - Hironobu is in Tokyo for school tests (?) so he's on his own and reckons I need 'that white thing' today. I measure 5 to 6 m/s so I agree with him, but I'm a bit nervous about unrolling the precious session-saver on the trash strewn beach with crowds of retards around and then trying to ride in the light wind on a choppy ocean ... well at least the tide is out and I can see that damn pipe I chopped my shins and toe on, and the waves aren't so huge.
Have to head down the beach a lot further than usual to get some clear space to unpack and roll out the lines - not much open space with sand to weight the tip here ... but we get set up and launch eventually and onto the water.
Wind is ok, nicely powered so it's all smiles and cackles as I take a few tacks quietly to settle my nerves. Ocean is a lot flatter than it has been but it's still hard keeping up board speed through the chop ... day dreams of a Mako.
Relaxed now so I start trying to do some jumps but the board speed isn't there and can't get the timing so I give up and play silly buggers. Load'n'pops are monster big but the landings are harsher than proper jumps! Playing with slide transitions and toeside riding and even have a crack at aerial transitions. That leads to some falls and stalls of the kite but some canty line-pulling keeps the beautiful white tractor in the sky and off the water!
Also play with the trimming to try and see if sorting out the line lengths would improve things ... no, seems like it pulls harder with the stretch left in but I bet that's gonna kill the top end. But that's not what the Silberpfeil is for though, is it? Backstalls a lot more though when the wind drops right off. Better email John ...
Wind is up and down so I'm alternating going way upwind and then riding parallel to the beach - and ending up having to ride through the middle of the surfers. After I spray one of them I figure I better just change tack before I ride through them again and work my way upwind. Dodging windsurfer riding along at less than crawling pace is always entertaining too.
Water is so warm that my hands are starting to look like I've been sitting in the bath for too long. My legs are starting to get tired so now I'm pretty much just riding around ... the only other kiter out there is Auntie's Husband on his new 14m RPM and he too is mowing the lawn. Poor old Auntie can't ride on her 12 and still has no luck when she swaps it for the RPM. Huh! He must have some mad lightwind skills or weigh even less than her :o
Finally decide to pack it in around 6pm cos I'm tired and the wind is really on the bottom end of no fun. Reverse land the Silberpfeil ... as I'm securing it, a local kiter comes over to help land but I wave him off - you never know what they'll do with foils ... just as well I did too cos he says "I've never seen that kind of kite before, who makes it?" o_0
Good day, better than working! Ice blocks on the way home!
Wind speed was supposed to be 6.1 to 5.6 m/s for the time I was at the beach with a peak of 8.6 m/s at a quarter to 5. When I got my anemometer out at about 3pm I was reading just on 5 to just over 6 m/s ... compare that with the 6.1 that was posted at 3pm ... it's gotta be an average, eh!
Moment of the Day was discovering "tea-bag transitions" were fun but not as fun as the big boost up the face of the wave with a perfectly timed send for massive long hang time and float ...!
What I learned today ...
• Even almost no waves is still worse than the lake. Ma-aaaaaako!
• Aerial transitions on the SA - tough. You gotta muscle it around hard and fast and edge hard or it stalls.
• Get onto it and pull a rear line ASAP and you'll save even a tip through the bridle!
• Sure, foils are more work to keep flying than the LEIs but the pay-off - how you enjoying the walks, fellas?
• Tea-bag Transitions - send it back and lift your legs so you dip your bum just a bit in the water ... or float above surface ass-down like erm a tea-bag.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Stinky & The Dumbass
For some odd reason, the boss insisted I take a holiday in July. For an odder reason, I decided to take it on a day with no work scheduled. Dumb.
Wind was supposed to be good enough at Machiya in Mie Prefecture so I drove over there and arrived about 2:30pm. 4 to 5 m/s and it's supposed to pick up from 3 to 6pm to 6 or 7 m/s - that's 10 knots, picking up to 14. Drifting in on the ocean breeze is the stink of fish and seaweed. I don't really notice it though cos I left my t-shirt and shorts in the car overnight and they started to brew - so everything around me stinks!
Pumped up the 16m Crossbow, hauled out the Flydoor. Little locals were riding ok on directionals and 12m kites so I should be good. Even rigged up the GoPro ... maybe that's what jinxed it.
Not enough wind. Slogging back'n'forth like a dumb ass. Sigh. Gonna have to risk the Silberpfeil on this grotty beach ... gah.
Unpack the white monster and out I go again ... holding ground but it's a bit lully - I'm not having a lot of fun. Milk it for as long as I can then come back in and wait for a bit. Impress the locals (both of them!) with big long floaty jumps on the beach, then go back out.
Nothings improved though. I got some riding jollies though so I'm not frustrated or disappointed - but I was hoping to capture some video of big air!
As I'm heading into the beach for the last time, I stop about 1m from the sand and get off the board. I'm walking into shore, holding my board and LOOKING into the water and I suddenly stumble over something sharp and hard - it's a barnacle encrusted concrete drainpipe lurking below the surface of the ocean, totally invisible. No warning sign, buoy or even a rotted post that once held a sign ... for a country like Japan that has warning signs on everything - roads are so cluttered with reflecting signs, barriers, posts, lumps, bumps, stickers ... you gotta wonder who let the side down here :-/
I've barked my shins and taken a big chunk out of my toe, sliced off about 4cm square from the side and bottom. Yum yum. Hobble up the beach and back-stall land the kite ... I'm counting that as an 'injury' cos it's going to be uncomfortable and bleed into my socks for a few days :D
Now, as I'm eyeing up the best way to land the Silberpfeil - use the washed up tree stump to secure the chicken loop and risk the kite on a very dirty part of the beach or put a stick in the ground and leave the kite on the nice soft grass - Uncle Peabrain decided he's going to fly his powered paraglider ... he's setting up on the area where we pump out kites up - you could lay out about 4 kites without too much fuss, 6 if you pack 'em in like sardines. Which would be fine, but there's a tree stump in the middle, a little fence of looped 10mm steel at the beach side, a chain link fence and public toilets on the other, palm trees to the left and power lines to the right.
Somehow, he manages to get it all rigged up but he can't get the wing into the air so it bounces around the area for a while, wrapping around tree stump, narrowly missing the powerlines but avoiding the trees. He's having trouble controlling the wing without knocking the throttle for the motor o_0 but eventually, it's up and he's trying to run down the stairs to the beach and launch - directly over our 3 parked kites ...! His motor stalls as he gets about a meter up at the bottom of the stairs and about 3m from running over our kites, so he drops the wing - over the concrete stairs and the little fence - then drags it all back up to the pump-up area. And does it all again.
This time he gets into the air. It sounds like he got it done in a hurry but all us kiters were just standing there gaping at him for about 15 minutes.
The fun isn't over ... I waddle around packing up for about a half hour and Uncle Chucklehead has come back once to buzz the beach at about 3m off the ground 0_o before he sets himself up on finals - over some trees, dodges one and then touches down between 2 others, leaving a couple of meters between his wingtips.
Note, he did this in the middle of an area with 4 kiters, people walking along the beach path, a couple of guys on scooters going back'n'forth and a guy with a Rescue canoe. Unbelievable. The short time I've been that close to PPG's in Japan, I've seen that dicktard and another one in Hamamatsu try to fix a fractured propeller with - I kid you not - string and ducktape. Not to mention the guys who buzz the kite beach at the lake ...
Ok rant over ...
Wind speed was recorded as 9 to 11 knots with gusts up to ... 14 an hour before I got on the water. Lame.
Moment of the Day was finding my favourite ice block - frozen orange or pineapple juice - in the shops in Mie. They've stopped selling them here which drives me insane.
What I learned today ...
• I need about 5 more knots of wind, say 2 to 3 m/s, to get the same jollies on the ocean as I do on the lake - 9 knots at Locus would be pretty good fun but it was the worst kind of lawn-mowing on the ocean. I'm betting cos it's so hard to get & keep board speed. The winds were clean too, less gusty than the lake :(
• It's quicker and cheaper to take the local roads to Machiya.
• Flysurfer is good. All hail Flysurfer. Another session saved - I wouldn't have been riding at all.
• I want a Speed3 12 and 21. Then my kite collection will be complete. No really.
Wind was supposed to be good enough at Machiya in Mie Prefecture so I drove over there and arrived about 2:30pm. 4 to 5 m/s and it's supposed to pick up from 3 to 6pm to 6 or 7 m/s - that's 10 knots, picking up to 14. Drifting in on the ocean breeze is the stink of fish and seaweed. I don't really notice it though cos I left my t-shirt and shorts in the car overnight and they started to brew - so everything around me stinks!
Pumped up the 16m Crossbow, hauled out the Flydoor. Little locals were riding ok on directionals and 12m kites so I should be good. Even rigged up the GoPro ... maybe that's what jinxed it.
Not enough wind. Slogging back'n'forth like a dumb ass. Sigh. Gonna have to risk the Silberpfeil on this grotty beach ... gah.
Unpack the white monster and out I go again ... holding ground but it's a bit lully - I'm not having a lot of fun. Milk it for as long as I can then come back in and wait for a bit. Impress the locals (both of them!) with big long floaty jumps on the beach, then go back out.
Nothings improved though. I got some riding jollies though so I'm not frustrated or disappointed - but I was hoping to capture some video of big air!
As I'm heading into the beach for the last time, I stop about 1m from the sand and get off the board. I'm walking into shore, holding my board and LOOKING into the water and I suddenly stumble over something sharp and hard - it's a barnacle encrusted concrete drainpipe lurking below the surface of the ocean, totally invisible. No warning sign, buoy or even a rotted post that once held a sign ... for a country like Japan that has warning signs on everything - roads are so cluttered with reflecting signs, barriers, posts, lumps, bumps, stickers ... you gotta wonder who let the side down here :-/
I've barked my shins and taken a big chunk out of my toe, sliced off about 4cm square from the side and bottom. Yum yum. Hobble up the beach and back-stall land the kite ... I'm counting that as an 'injury' cos it's going to be uncomfortable and bleed into my socks for a few days :D
Now, as I'm eyeing up the best way to land the Silberpfeil - use the washed up tree stump to secure the chicken loop and risk the kite on a very dirty part of the beach or put a stick in the ground and leave the kite on the nice soft grass - Uncle Peabrain decided he's going to fly his powered paraglider ... he's setting up on the area where we pump out kites up - you could lay out about 4 kites without too much fuss, 6 if you pack 'em in like sardines. Which would be fine, but there's a tree stump in the middle, a little fence of looped 10mm steel at the beach side, a chain link fence and public toilets on the other, palm trees to the left and power lines to the right.
Somehow, he manages to get it all rigged up but he can't get the wing into the air so it bounces around the area for a while, wrapping around tree stump, narrowly missing the powerlines but avoiding the trees. He's having trouble controlling the wing without knocking the throttle for the motor o_0 but eventually, it's up and he's trying to run down the stairs to the beach and launch - directly over our 3 parked kites ...! His motor stalls as he gets about a meter up at the bottom of the stairs and about 3m from running over our kites, so he drops the wing - over the concrete stairs and the little fence - then drags it all back up to the pump-up area. And does it all again.
This time he gets into the air. It sounds like he got it done in a hurry but all us kiters were just standing there gaping at him for about 15 minutes.
The fun isn't over ... I waddle around packing up for about a half hour and Uncle Chucklehead has come back once to buzz the beach at about 3m off the ground 0_o before he sets himself up on finals - over some trees, dodges one and then touches down between 2 others, leaving a couple of meters between his wingtips.
Note, he did this in the middle of an area with 4 kiters, people walking along the beach path, a couple of guys on scooters going back'n'forth and a guy with a Rescue canoe. Unbelievable. The short time I've been that close to PPG's in Japan, I've seen that dicktard and another one in Hamamatsu try to fix a fractured propeller with - I kid you not - string and ducktape. Not to mention the guys who buzz the kite beach at the lake ...
Ok rant over ...
Wind speed was recorded as 9 to 11 knots with gusts up to ... 14 an hour before I got on the water. Lame.
Moment of the Day was finding my favourite ice block - frozen orange or pineapple juice - in the shops in Mie. They've stopped selling them here which drives me insane.
What I learned today ...
• I need about 5 more knots of wind, say 2 to 3 m/s, to get the same jollies on the ocean as I do on the lake - 9 knots at Locus would be pretty good fun but it was the worst kind of lawn-mowing on the ocean. I'm betting cos it's so hard to get & keep board speed. The winds were clean too, less gusty than the lake :(
• It's quicker and cheaper to take the local roads to Machiya.
• Flysurfer is good. All hail Flysurfer. Another session saved - I wouldn't have been riding at all.
• I want a Speed3 12 and 21. Then my kite collection will be complete. No really.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Whee!BoingVer2.0
Forecast was looking like 10 to 15 knots so it was all go for the lake. Thinking it'd be a 16m Crossbow kind of day, with the Flyradical and the GoPro on the new KiteHero board mount. Checked the webcam at 4pm and Grandpa was out on his 9m ... crikey!
Got to the lake about 4:30 after spending 120 seconds screaming at the unnecessary roadworks that drive up my blood pressure and fuel taxes and peaked through the trees ... people were coming in on their 11's and 10's and going on 7's :o all I have in the boot is my 16 & 13m Crossbow ... this could be fun.
Put the 13 on my back, the Flyradical under one arm and the Flydoor under the other - options, you know. Head over the road, pump up, gaze with deer-in-the-headlight eyes at the wind ... crikey! Good turn out today, pretty busy out on the water. Lot of kites on the beach too. The Slingshots seem to have been breeding too - there like 3 RPM's now. The Master of Disaster is boosting huge airs and "woohoo!"ing - it's the one thing he does half-good, aside from taking people out.
Auntie tries to talk me out of launching the 13 but I convince her that I am NOT going home for my 10 - and anyway, I've cheated and rigged the kite on the last knots of the rear-lines' bridle :D yes I know I know ... thank you Plummet & Peter. Forecast was supposed to peak at 4pm then drop off at sunset - which it did so I feel vindicated.
It's a very odd thing ... there's a heap of wind, the kite pulls hard but also depowers at a twitch of the wrist. Hmm, should have gone for the regular knots cos I'm constantly pulling the bar in. Oh well, too late - get riding while the riding is good.
Big jumps both directions, I got my mojo on and am having mad fun going as hard as I can, landing what feels like most of them and riding the waves. The small board is still giving me trouble though, it's so not the 'door :D Wind is gusty and the water is choppy but it's great fun!
Get spanked once or twice, can't remember why now but I do remember getting slapped by the water and thinking "Hey that felt just like falling off the 3m diving board!". Get some nice toeside riding in and smack a few wave-faces with accompanying cackles. Got a few really good aerial transitions in too, starting off as a 2m jump then sending it back ...
Damned GoPro lens has a fog spot in the center grr seriously annoying. I leave it and it seems to be clearing so I forget about it. Then a bit later I notice the camera is showing "999" files. Have a fiddle, get an SOS so a corrupt file is jacking it up. Bah! bet I need to put a bit of high-density foam under the mount for the shocks ... hope I can recover some film from it!
Wind is dropping now, been cracking-on for about 90 minutes ... people are starting to pack up - Wha-aaat! I head into the shore to reset my attachment points. Still too weak, so I jump on the Flydoor. Ah, that's better! Get another hour or so in; initially, some nice big air but the wind's still dropping. At sunset, it's only me and Soh out but I'm pretty hammered so I bring it in, self-land cos it's just me on the beach. Soh keeps trying but he's only down-winding it.
What a kick-ass evening! Much more wind than forecast but I'm kinda glad I didn't have the 10m after all ...
Windspeed was reported at 25 knots at 4pm falling to 10 knots around 8pm but it felt like more than that :D
Moment of the Day was discovering that sending the kite across the zenith fast, sheeting in hard generates a new style of water start - pop up and out like a champagne cork :D well it was a tie between that and "ollie"ing up the face of a 'breaker' and sorta blasting through the white-wash at the top ...
Shot from the upcoming theatrical release ...
What I learned today ...
• When using the board mount for the GoPro - point it away from the sun you dumbass :(
• Still need to put desiccant thingies in the case ...! FFS
• If you mess up the take-off and feel yourself starting to rotate, you can choke it off by not sending the kite back so far.
• When sending the kite back for a change of direction, send it AGGRESSIVELY or it just won't work.
• Pop-up water starts ...!
• Needed my Sharks :(
Got to the lake about 4:30 after spending 120 seconds screaming at the unnecessary roadworks that drive up my blood pressure and fuel taxes and peaked through the trees ... people were coming in on their 11's and 10's and going on 7's :o all I have in the boot is my 16 & 13m Crossbow ... this could be fun.
Put the 13 on my back, the Flyradical under one arm and the Flydoor under the other - options, you know. Head over the road, pump up, gaze with deer-in-the-headlight eyes at the wind ... crikey! Good turn out today, pretty busy out on the water. Lot of kites on the beach too. The Slingshots seem to have been breeding too - there like 3 RPM's now. The Master of Disaster is boosting huge airs and "woohoo!"ing - it's the one thing he does half-good, aside from taking people out.
Auntie tries to talk me out of launching the 13 but I convince her that I am NOT going home for my 10 - and anyway, I've cheated and rigged the kite on the last knots of the rear-lines' bridle :D yes I know I know ... thank you Plummet & Peter. Forecast was supposed to peak at 4pm then drop off at sunset - which it did so I feel vindicated.
It's a very odd thing ... there's a heap of wind, the kite pulls hard but also depowers at a twitch of the wrist. Hmm, should have gone for the regular knots cos I'm constantly pulling the bar in. Oh well, too late - get riding while the riding is good.
Big jumps both directions, I got my mojo on and am having mad fun going as hard as I can, landing what feels like most of them and riding the waves. The small board is still giving me trouble though, it's so not the 'door :D Wind is gusty and the water is choppy but it's great fun!
Get spanked once or twice, can't remember why now but I do remember getting slapped by the water and thinking "Hey that felt just like falling off the 3m diving board!". Get some nice toeside riding in and smack a few wave-faces with accompanying cackles. Got a few really good aerial transitions in too, starting off as a 2m jump then sending it back ...
Damned GoPro lens has a fog spot in the center grr seriously annoying. I leave it and it seems to be clearing so I forget about it. Then a bit later I notice the camera is showing "999" files. Have a fiddle, get an SOS so a corrupt file is jacking it up. Bah! bet I need to put a bit of high-density foam under the mount for the shocks ... hope I can recover some film from it!
Wind is dropping now, been cracking-on for about 90 minutes ... people are starting to pack up - Wha-aaat! I head into the shore to reset my attachment points. Still too weak, so I jump on the Flydoor. Ah, that's better! Get another hour or so in; initially, some nice big air but the wind's still dropping. At sunset, it's only me and Soh out but I'm pretty hammered so I bring it in, self-land cos it's just me on the beach. Soh keeps trying but he's only down-winding it.
What a kick-ass evening! Much more wind than forecast but I'm kinda glad I didn't have the 10m after all ...
Windspeed was reported at 25 knots at 4pm falling to 10 knots around 8pm but it felt like more than that :D
Moment of the Day was discovering that sending the kite across the zenith fast, sheeting in hard generates a new style of water start - pop up and out like a champagne cork :D well it was a tie between that and "ollie"ing up the face of a 'breaker' and sorta blasting through the white-wash at the top ...
Shot from the upcoming theatrical release ...
What I learned today ...
• When using the board mount for the GoPro - point it away from the sun you dumbass :(
• Still need to put desiccant thingies in the case ...! FFS
• If you mess up the take-off and feel yourself starting to rotate, you can choke it off by not sending the kite back so far.
• When sending the kite back for a change of direction, send it AGGRESSIVELY or it just won't work.
• Pop-up water starts ...!
• Needed my Sharks :(
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