Wagged work and hit the lake ... forecast was for good wind all afternoon so was looking forward to nearly 3 hours riding before I had to pack up and go to work in the evening.
Well ... wind was sweeping over the hills to the northwest, rather than down the length of the lake from northeast which made it quite gusty. Like, worried about involuntarily taking flight to worried about the kite falling out of the sky and having to swim. Really weird, the waves were huge (for a lake) and the wind sounded and felt like it was blowing, but the kite wasn't making power. Rode it out, working the gusts to keep up speed until the wind dropped right off. I managed to ride back to launch site - sorta - then waited on shore for about 10 minutes until the wind picked up enough to ride.
Got another hour of riding in just powered ... got 'aggressive' with some 'jumps' and enjoyed that. Then the wind dropped right off again and didn't want to come back up so I gave up - it was almost time to pack up anyway!
Glad I skivved off early or it would have been a bit of a waste of time ... looking forward to my Speed2 19 SA arriving - should solve the slogging problem!
What I learned today ...
• You CAN land light as a feather - just requires paying attention to where the water is and where your feet are ;)
• Sometimes, I get a real dumb on and can't get my stance right and nothing feels good. Other times, I am style and grave and speed. Go figure.
• Same goes for jumping, turning and carving for either direction 0_o can go left and jump but 10 minutes later I can't even get off the water ...!
• It is REALLY annoying when, as you're getting off the water to pack up, your kite falls from the sky and gets sand dumped in behind the struts and soaked >:(
Friday, September 17, 2010
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
On again, off again ...
Weather forecast was for 6m/s again so I hit the lake after school. Got down there, unpacked and set up by about 4:45pm but nobody was on the water - the half dozen or so other kites there were looking glumly at the horizon ...
Jumped in and had a quick run downwind but the wind died as I turned around and I ended up body dragging back up the beach. Tooled around on the beach with the kite in the air until it dropped in a lull ... reverse launched it and amazed the locals then kept waiting for the wind to pick up, which it did after a while. Everyone hit the water again and we got a few minutes powered up until the wind died off ...
At the end of that gust, I had the bizarre experience of riding upwind, well powered while everyone else's kites were literally falling out of the sky. I was running out of beach though so I tried to turn back the other way but lost power and had to walk back to shore. Floated around in the cool water waiting for the wind but it dropped so much my poor 'bow fell outa the sky. Pulled it onto the land and sorted it out.
Just as I finished, the wind picked up and Granpa the test pilot (he weighs about 45kg ...!) hit the water and then everyone jumped in! I self-launched the 'bow and hit the lake! Spent the rest of the time until sunset, maybe an hour, nicely powered and having fun. By fun, I mean playing silly buggers, crashing, getting lobbed, submarined and generally having a great time!
I was the last one off the water and everyone avoided my eye when I was looking for a landing, so I used an anchor and self-landed.
What I learned today ...
• Normal stance on the Flydoor is better - I can edge easier and the board flexes more (dunno if that is good!) and has more (easier to get at) pop.
• Self-landing with an anchor is technically easy but can be a bit fiddly.
• Reverse launching the 'bow is not only possible, but very easy. IF you have enough wind!
• Today would have been a good chance to test the 'bow and the Speed side-by-side ...
Jumped in and had a quick run downwind but the wind died as I turned around and I ended up body dragging back up the beach. Tooled around on the beach with the kite in the air until it dropped in a lull ... reverse launched it and amazed the locals then kept waiting for the wind to pick up, which it did after a while. Everyone hit the water again and we got a few minutes powered up until the wind died off ...
At the end of that gust, I had the bizarre experience of riding upwind, well powered while everyone else's kites were literally falling out of the sky. I was running out of beach though so I tried to turn back the other way but lost power and had to walk back to shore. Floated around in the cool water waiting for the wind but it dropped so much my poor 'bow fell outa the sky. Pulled it onto the land and sorted it out.
Just as I finished, the wind picked up and Granpa the test pilot (he weighs about 45kg ...!) hit the water and then everyone jumped in! I self-launched the 'bow and hit the lake! Spent the rest of the time until sunset, maybe an hour, nicely powered and having fun. By fun, I mean playing silly buggers, crashing, getting lobbed, submarined and generally having a great time!
I was the last one off the water and everyone avoided my eye when I was looking for a landing, so I used an anchor and self-landed.
What I learned today ...
• Normal stance on the Flydoor is better - I can edge easier and the board flexes more (dunno if that is good!) and has more (easier to get at) pop.
• Self-landing with an anchor is technically easy but can be a bit fiddly.
• Reverse launching the 'bow is not only possible, but very easy. IF you have enough wind!
• Today would have been a good chance to test the 'bow and the Speed side-by-side ...
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Summer's gone
Forecast was 6m/s (12 knots) which usually means it's going to be a good time on the lake ... I guessed it was actually 15-20 knots, gusting to 25. Took 2 hours off work (got permission from the boss this time!) and hit the lake ...
Got there about 2:30pm, pumped up and got in the water ... there was only 2 others there but the rest of the crowd turned up a few hours later. Didn't really matter cos I went upwind hard and headed away from the beach; had the lake all to myself!
Had the board set to wide stance, thought I'd try it out ... find it a bit harder to edge and go upwind, just couldn't get the weighting as comfortable as before. Didn't spoil the fun though! Engaged in the usual silly playtime, trying to load'n'pop, carve turns, ride toeside etc.
Got a few nice lofty floaty jumps in and even (intentionally) redirected at the right time for the weightless landing ... most non-load'n'pop jumps were very messy though! Got dunked, lobbed, spun around and dragged ... all good fun! Put the kite in the water (for the first time) several times and it relaunched sweet, except twice - once it was directly downwind and I had to supply some input from the bar, the other time the steering line got wrapped up in lake weed under the water.
Wind was a bit gusty for a while, got quite violent at times - Hindenburged the kite in a lull but the wind came right back up after that so it relaunched fine. I stopped for a drink about 4:30pm and when I got back out on the water, the gusts had settled down. Rode until sunset, packed up in the dark - another 3 hours riding under the belt!
What I learned today ...
• A good load'n'pop is done crosswind, not upwind.
• Put the bloody donkey-dick in before trying to pull trim straps 0_o
• Much easier to carve turns and ride "waves" with power in the kite, pulling on my harness rather than just trying to glide around the turn.
• Wide stance is harder to hold down power.
• Need to Loctite the screws on the board's handle :-/
• Throw the kite around like an animal.
• Turns, be they sliding or carved, are best started with the kite low in the wind (about 45 degrees or a little under) and then sent straight back across.
• Even the monster 'bow floats around nicely so that playing silly buggers on the waves means the kite is always there and ready to pull, with a minimum of control input.
• Keeping tension in the lines by playing with board and body angle to the kite is interesting.
Summer's gone ... the solid Autumn winds are here (no more walking!) and though the temperature is still pushing 35 degrees, with wind chill makes it actually warmer in the water than on the board. Not that it was cold out of the water ...!
Got there about 2:30pm, pumped up and got in the water ... there was only 2 others there but the rest of the crowd turned up a few hours later. Didn't really matter cos I went upwind hard and headed away from the beach; had the lake all to myself!
Had the board set to wide stance, thought I'd try it out ... find it a bit harder to edge and go upwind, just couldn't get the weighting as comfortable as before. Didn't spoil the fun though! Engaged in the usual silly playtime, trying to load'n'pop, carve turns, ride toeside etc.
Got a few nice lofty floaty jumps in and even (intentionally) redirected at the right time for the weightless landing ... most non-load'n'pop jumps were very messy though! Got dunked, lobbed, spun around and dragged ... all good fun! Put the kite in the water (for the first time) several times and it relaunched sweet, except twice - once it was directly downwind and I had to supply some input from the bar, the other time the steering line got wrapped up in lake weed under the water.
Wind was a bit gusty for a while, got quite violent at times - Hindenburged the kite in a lull but the wind came right back up after that so it relaunched fine. I stopped for a drink about 4:30pm and when I got back out on the water, the gusts had settled down. Rode until sunset, packed up in the dark - another 3 hours riding under the belt!
What I learned today ...
• A good load'n'pop is done crosswind, not upwind.
• Put the bloody donkey-dick in before trying to pull trim straps 0_o
• Much easier to carve turns and ride "waves" with power in the kite, pulling on my harness rather than just trying to glide around the turn.
• Wide stance is harder to hold down power.
• Need to Loctite the screws on the board's handle :-/
• Throw the kite around like an animal.
• Turns, be they sliding or carved, are best started with the kite low in the wind (about 45 degrees or a little under) and then sent straight back across.
• Even the monster 'bow floats around nicely so that playing silly buggers on the waves means the kite is always there and ready to pull, with a minimum of control input.
• Keeping tension in the lines by playing with board and body angle to the kite is interesting.
Summer's gone ... the solid Autumn winds are here (no more walking!) and though the temperature is still pushing 35 degrees, with wind chill makes it actually warmer in the water than on the board. Not that it was cold out of the water ...!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
An unusual problem
All hail Ricardo at ripsessionkites.com! Right tool for the job and all that! Erm the tool being the Flydoor, not Ricardo by the way!
There was some wind forecast for the afternoon so I loaded the car before work and made a bee-line for the lake at the stroke of 4 ... got there about 4:30 and setup as fast as I could ... felt like about 15 knots and sunset is due about 6pm - haul ass! Pump that bitch and run into the lake!
Oh sweet gravy!
First thing I noticed was that after the thumping and pounding of the Square One, the Flydoor is like erm a big smooth soft thing! Edges sweet and goes upwind like a fucking rocket! Direct on-shore wind ... first run out from the beach, I was past the 150m marker when I turned ...! Back to the left then back to the right and by now I can hardly see the people at the bar end of kite lines :o
Usually, I just work as hard as I can to get upwind as far as I can, cos eventually, if I don't keep pushing myself, I end up on the beach again without even trying. So the Flydoor presents me with an interesting and unusual problem - I'm so far upwind and still heading out that I've got to figure out how to go downwind while riding a board ...! I'm all alone way out and have the lake all to myself!
So I start trying to carve S's downwind and discover that the Flydoor sinks like the Spleene Door did and I need to keep more board speed for that kind of thing, which means I have to keep my balance better and edge harder ... basically, ride more aggressively. Ok that's fun too! Forced me to be much more aggressive with kite and board but I'm loving it!
I'm a bit paranoid about jumping so I reigned that impulse in and barely get off the water but the board feel good! Gotta edge up hard for the load'n'pop - but I'm getting a better feel for that now too.
Riding toeside was tough cos the waves were up and the board is so fast I have to edge hard to keep the kite loaded. Worked on carving turns both ways and even tried a load'n'pop on the toeside but I only got around halfway then sunk and stalled the kite :D
The wind falls off as the sun goes down towards the hills, so I get to play with the low end of kite & board combo ... I reckon I've gained 4 knots on the bottom! I'm working the kite but I'm still making ground upwind WOOHOO I ride out the lulls and play with the gusts but it's time to pack up ... tried the technique off kiteforum.com that was posted recently and added another half-fold before 'rolling' and that worked much better!
Great session on a great board - going to have a lot of fun with that!
There was some wind forecast for the afternoon so I loaded the car before work and made a bee-line for the lake at the stroke of 4 ... got there about 4:30 and setup as fast as I could ... felt like about 15 knots and sunset is due about 6pm - haul ass! Pump that bitch and run into the lake!
Oh sweet gravy!
First thing I noticed was that after the thumping and pounding of the Square One, the Flydoor is like erm a big smooth soft thing! Edges sweet and goes upwind like a fucking rocket! Direct on-shore wind ... first run out from the beach, I was past the 150m marker when I turned ...! Back to the left then back to the right and by now I can hardly see the people at the bar end of kite lines :o
Usually, I just work as hard as I can to get upwind as far as I can, cos eventually, if I don't keep pushing myself, I end up on the beach again without even trying. So the Flydoor presents me with an interesting and unusual problem - I'm so far upwind and still heading out that I've got to figure out how to go downwind while riding a board ...! I'm all alone way out and have the lake all to myself!
So I start trying to carve S's downwind and discover that the Flydoor sinks like the Spleene Door did and I need to keep more board speed for that kind of thing, which means I have to keep my balance better and edge harder ... basically, ride more aggressively. Ok that's fun too! Forced me to be much more aggressive with kite and board but I'm loving it!
I'm a bit paranoid about jumping so I reigned that impulse in and barely get off the water but the board feel good! Gotta edge up hard for the load'n'pop - but I'm getting a better feel for that now too.
Riding toeside was tough cos the waves were up and the board is so fast I have to edge hard to keep the kite loaded. Worked on carving turns both ways and even tried a load'n'pop on the toeside but I only got around halfway then sunk and stalled the kite :D
The wind falls off as the sun goes down towards the hills, so I get to play with the low end of kite & board combo ... I reckon I've gained 4 knots on the bottom! I'm working the kite but I'm still making ground upwind WOOHOO I ride out the lulls and play with the gusts but it's time to pack up ... tried the technique off kiteforum.com that was posted recently and added another half-fold before 'rolling' and that worked much better!
Great session on a great board - going to have a lot of fun with that!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
It's Christmas
... my Flyboards Door XL arrived from Ricardo at ripsessionkites.com :o damn, it looks good! Bring the wind!
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Blessings from Mother Lake
Forecast looked good Saturday so I got the wife to call the boss for our Saturday afternoon job and tell them I was "sick" ... I missed Friday night cos of work so didn't want to miss this and Sunday will be borked!
... this PC went tits up in the morning; I think it's due to the heat and looks like the memory - again! So I fannied around with that for a while, hoping to get one more look at the weather so I'd know when to hit the lake. No joy, so I relied on my memory (yikes!) and headed down at 2pm cos I seemed to remember 3pm was the sweet spot.
Set up, sat around, waited for the wind to pick up. It was looking good - 12 knots average - but I was hoping for more ... and I got it too! Hit the water at around 13 knots average and was up and riding (ah, thank you Mother Lake! So much better than the ocean!) but still heading downwind ... only just, had to do a little walking twice but on the third run out from shore, it was all on like Donkey Kong!
Epic session! Well-powered, I rode the Cab Crossbow and Square One upwind as far as I wanted ... then got stuck into progression!
Worked on controlling my speed with the board by edging upwind and shifting weight, rather than just depowering ... handy!
Practiced good stance ... but IMHO you gotta work your stance around to edge and weight-shift effectively, especially if you're trying to keep the speed down but want to keep power in the kite ... we'll get there!
Load'n'pop ... can you load'n'pop every wave you see? I tried. Even tried on the flat water between waves - see below ...
Occasionally, the pops got a bit carried away and I went soaring! Experienced my first 'hang time' jumps where I seriously floated at the apex instead of just paraboling back down. Rode out most of them too although it involved a lot of dangling under the kite and "Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!" from me ... even impressed the Master of Disaster who cheered as he went past!
Did some serious toe-side riding ... hurts my gammy hip and could only manage a beam reach at best but sliding back to heel-side was fun and carving around to the other direction was hawt!
Had a crack at carving heel to toe-side but have to slow down to slide around ... fun but loses ground.
Tried some load'n'pop spins to toe side too - fun but hard to get right.
Toe-side water starts - can do!
Got slammed and lobbed around a few times, even went flying a bit too :D aerial transitions - not as easy as they look!
Bloody good day! Out on the water for about 4 hours and my hands are killing me ... the rest of me is just stiff! Cabrinha bar is real hard eh ... so is packing the damn kite back in the world's tiniest bag :(
... this PC went tits up in the morning; I think it's due to the heat and looks like the memory - again! So I fannied around with that for a while, hoping to get one more look at the weather so I'd know when to hit the lake. No joy, so I relied on my memory (yikes!) and headed down at 2pm cos I seemed to remember 3pm was the sweet spot.
Set up, sat around, waited for the wind to pick up. It was looking good - 12 knots average - but I was hoping for more ... and I got it too! Hit the water at around 13 knots average and was up and riding (ah, thank you Mother Lake! So much better than the ocean!) but still heading downwind ... only just, had to do a little walking twice but on the third run out from shore, it was all on like Donkey Kong!
Epic session! Well-powered, I rode the Cab Crossbow and Square One upwind as far as I wanted ... then got stuck into progression!
Worked on controlling my speed with the board by edging upwind and shifting weight, rather than just depowering ... handy!
Practiced good stance ... but IMHO you gotta work your stance around to edge and weight-shift effectively, especially if you're trying to keep the speed down but want to keep power in the kite ... we'll get there!
Load'n'pop ... can you load'n'pop every wave you see? I tried. Even tried on the flat water between waves - see below ...
Occasionally, the pops got a bit carried away and I went soaring! Experienced my first 'hang time' jumps where I seriously floated at the apex instead of just paraboling back down. Rode out most of them too although it involved a lot of dangling under the kite and "Ooh! Ooh! Ooh!" from me ... even impressed the Master of Disaster who cheered as he went past!
Did some serious toe-side riding ... hurts my gammy hip and could only manage a beam reach at best but sliding back to heel-side was fun and carving around to the other direction was hawt!
Had a crack at carving heel to toe-side but have to slow down to slide around ... fun but loses ground.
Tried some load'n'pop spins to toe side too - fun but hard to get right.
Toe-side water starts - can do!
Got slammed and lobbed around a few times, even went flying a bit too :D aerial transitions - not as easy as they look!
Bloody good day! Out on the water for about 4 hours and my hands are killing me ... the rest of me is just stiff! Cabrinha bar is real hard eh ... so is packing the damn kite back in the world's tiniest bag :(
Wednesday, September 1, 2010
I can't get no satisfaction ...
... on that damned Square One - big long piece of poo. Alas! Poor Door, I knew him well :(
Went to Machiya today and muddled about in winds 8 to 14 knots ... could get small bursts of getting up and riding but even when nicely powered in a gust, that heap of crap I was standing on wouldn't even hold a beam reach let alone go upwind. Totally standing on the rear foot, leaning back edging up so hard that my lower legs dragged in the water and at best, the board just slid downwind. Spent a lot of time trying to ride through the shallow, flat water at the shore slowly, just trying to get back where I started :( then, of course, walking!
Naturally, everyone else there was riding miles upwind on smaller kites and boards ...! And just as naturally, I figured it was my poor board technique that was dragging me down, so I kept shifting my stance, weight and position etc etc ... what I really need is enough consistent wind to ride so I can figure the stance thing out. Watching vids is ok but they all seem to do it different!
Bloody sneaky little waves spent a lot of time knocking me off my feet when I finally got up and riding too - that got old real fast ... they'd be just a small lump then suddenly rise up and break on my lead foot, sinking it and me - I swear, they were doing it on purpose!
On rare occasions I did make some cracking launches off the face of waves ... whee!
Also, I really feel like I needed a large Speed too, maybe a 2 19m. Not 100% impressed with the LEI - sure everyone can launch/land it for me and it's fairly predictable, but it's tendency to fall to the edge of the window is bloody annoying and it just doesn't have the low end grunt my fat arse needs ... maybe I'll try a Zephyr or Dyno next year - we'll see if the new Flydoor gets me over that 12 knot hump ...
Went to Machiya today and muddled about in winds 8 to 14 knots ... could get small bursts of getting up and riding but even when nicely powered in a gust, that heap of crap I was standing on wouldn't even hold a beam reach let alone go upwind. Totally standing on the rear foot, leaning back edging up so hard that my lower legs dragged in the water and at best, the board just slid downwind. Spent a lot of time trying to ride through the shallow, flat water at the shore slowly, just trying to get back where I started :( then, of course, walking!
Naturally, everyone else there was riding miles upwind on smaller kites and boards ...! And just as naturally, I figured it was my poor board technique that was dragging me down, so I kept shifting my stance, weight and position etc etc ... what I really need is enough consistent wind to ride so I can figure the stance thing out. Watching vids is ok but they all seem to do it different!
Bloody sneaky little waves spent a lot of time knocking me off my feet when I finally got up and riding too - that got old real fast ... they'd be just a small lump then suddenly rise up and break on my lead foot, sinking it and me - I swear, they were doing it on purpose!
On rare occasions I did make some cracking launches off the face of waves ... whee!
Also, I really feel like I needed a large Speed too, maybe a 2 19m. Not 100% impressed with the LEI - sure everyone can launch/land it for me and it's fairly predictable, but it's tendency to fall to the edge of the window is bloody annoying and it just doesn't have the low end grunt my fat arse needs ... maybe I'll try a Zephyr or Dyno next year - we'll see if the new Flydoor gets me over that 12 knot hump ...
Monday, August 30, 2010
Flabby Starfish and the Chicken-flavoured Gravy
Looked like the wind was finally going to be good on Saturday but naturally I had to work! Sunday's prediction was about the same but a little less, so I hot-footed it down to Mie to ride the southerlies.
Finally arrived about 2pm (have you ever tried to get a wife moving?), got set up and jumped in. Hadn't really inflated the Crossbow enough so it was a bit soft. That's ok cos so was the wind. On-shore wind were enough to get up and riding but meant close-reaches down the beach, trying to avoid the shore when the shape of the bay pushed the land out into the water and desperate attempts to ride upwind when the gusts hit.
Discovered that riding in the wide open spaces of the shallow water after the last wave breaks on the shore is very nice indeed - flat smooth and fast ... however - yes you know what's coming - when you run out of the 2 or 3 inches your riding on, the board just stops. I knew what was coming so was just trying let the speed run off, but ran out of water ... I got pulled off the board in the direction of travel and kind of went down on my arse, backwards but as the kite was on an upstroke, I sort of glided downwind and spun myself around to face the kite, got my feet in front of me and scudded up the beach as I got the kite under control. It could have been bad but it wasn't so I had a good ol' cackle :) and resolved not to do that again!
Gradually the wind picked up just a tad and I had some nice long rides from out launching point all the way to the river mouth at the west and back past it out to the east for as far as I dared. Still only reaching but many enough ground upwind to keep away from the shore ... the Square One is really killing my upwind eh! Had to do a few WoS when the wind dropped off but not too many - and I wasn't the only one! Gravy but not the good beef gravy, no ...
Also discovered a new technique for getting through the breakers ... those rotten little buggers that sweep in knee-high with enough force to push my foot out from under me or sink the board if I just try to ride into them ... took this long to figure it out cos I can only now do what I think is load'n'pop and you need to be powered-up or at least moving with a little speed but what you do is ride along or turn parallel to the wave then as it's about to hit, carve into it hard with a heavy back foot then pop the board up - usually you'll bounce/float over the wave. Just gotta be careful not to be too aggressive or have too much power in the kite or the pop turns into a jump and float back downwind right on top of the wave ... splat!
Wife had the video camera and took some shots - got my ickle jump on film too! Then she ran out of battery and the wind ran out of puff ... worked it hard for another 30 minutes then gave up cos I was getting tired and pissed off at the lack of go.
So I had a nice hour & a half or so of powered-up riding and another half hour on either side of slogging but it was a good day, worth the drive out there! Video coming soon!
Finally arrived about 2pm (have you ever tried to get a wife moving?), got set up and jumped in. Hadn't really inflated the Crossbow enough so it was a bit soft. That's ok cos so was the wind. On-shore wind were enough to get up and riding but meant close-reaches down the beach, trying to avoid the shore when the shape of the bay pushed the land out into the water and desperate attempts to ride upwind when the gusts hit.
Discovered that riding in the wide open spaces of the shallow water after the last wave breaks on the shore is very nice indeed - flat smooth and fast ... however - yes you know what's coming - when you run out of the 2 or 3 inches your riding on, the board just stops. I knew what was coming so was just trying let the speed run off, but ran out of water ... I got pulled off the board in the direction of travel and kind of went down on my arse, backwards but as the kite was on an upstroke, I sort of glided downwind and spun myself around to face the kite, got my feet in front of me and scudded up the beach as I got the kite under control. It could have been bad but it wasn't so I had a good ol' cackle :) and resolved not to do that again!
Gradually the wind picked up just a tad and I had some nice long rides from out launching point all the way to the river mouth at the west and back past it out to the east for as far as I dared. Still only reaching but many enough ground upwind to keep away from the shore ... the Square One is really killing my upwind eh! Had to do a few WoS when the wind dropped off but not too many - and I wasn't the only one! Gravy but not the good beef gravy, no ...
Also discovered a new technique for getting through the breakers ... those rotten little buggers that sweep in knee-high with enough force to push my foot out from under me or sink the board if I just try to ride into them ... took this long to figure it out cos I can only now do what I think is load'n'pop and you need to be powered-up or at least moving with a little speed but what you do is ride along or turn parallel to the wave then as it's about to hit, carve into it hard with a heavy back foot then pop the board up - usually you'll bounce/float over the wave. Just gotta be careful not to be too aggressive or have too much power in the kite or the pop turns into a jump and float back downwind right on top of the wave ... splat!
Wife had the video camera and took some shots - got my ickle jump on film too! Then she ran out of battery and the wind ran out of puff ... worked it hard for another 30 minutes then gave up cos I was getting tired and pissed off at the lack of go.
So I had a nice hour & a half or so of powered-up riding and another half hour on either side of slogging but it was a good day, worth the drive out there! Video coming soon!
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Speed bar upgrade - done!
Ordered an Ozone Megatron chicken loop to replace the OE Flysurfer one that's getting very ratty. It finally arrived today so I installed it with some blue depower line ... should work nice :)
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Well there's your problem!
Pulled all the bits I could use off the Door today ... and took a pic of the damage. Ouch.
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Just a taste
Hit the lake at 5pm, but although the wind seemed to be blowing good it had no push ... well not enough for me anyway :(
Tried to get a ride out of the Rip Plus but not enough wind for anything more than a scoot and sink. Back on the Square One, cross-wind runs and the waves push me onto the shore so I'm walkin' again with just a taste of riding until the lightning shut us down again.
Also had a taste of a real jump too, trying to get over a wave as I was running out of a steam on a tack ... more of a hover on top of the water actually :D
Supposed to be good tomorrow ...!
Tried to get a ride out of the Rip Plus but not enough wind for anything more than a scoot and sink. Back on the Square One, cross-wind runs and the waves push me onto the shore so I'm walkin' again with just a taste of riding until the lightning shut us down again.
Also had a taste of a real jump too, trying to get over a wave as I was running out of a steam on a tack ... more of a hover on top of the water actually :D
Supposed to be good tomorrow ...!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Desperado
Went down the lake again ...
Unpacked, setup and stared at the horizon, trying to figure out what the wind would do.
Commiserated with whatsisname when his Best Waroo 16 blew a seam and bladder.
Got bored and played superman in the water.
Discovered I CAN actually reverse launch the Crossbow.
Sat around talking to Jeff who was taking lessons with Miyachi.
Helped out the other guy taking lessons relaunch his kite ... boy do those F-One delta things fly like shit!
Fished a half-sunken Bic plastic kayak-thing out the water (!) and tried to haul it onto shore and drain the water out.
After 4 hours waiting, the wind finally picked up so I hit the lake for a 30 minute blast! Y'know, it WAS actually worth all the sitting around, desperately waiting for wind!
Unpacked, setup and stared at the horizon, trying to figure out what the wind would do.
Commiserated with whatsisname when his Best Waroo 16 blew a seam and bladder.
Got bored and played superman in the water.
Discovered I CAN actually reverse launch the Crossbow.
Sat around talking to Jeff who was taking lessons with Miyachi.
Helped out the other guy taking lessons relaunch his kite ... boy do those F-One delta things fly like shit!
Fished a half-sunken Bic plastic kayak-thing out the water (!) and tried to haul it onto shore and drain the water out.
After 4 hours waiting, the wind finally picked up so I hit the lake for a 30 minute blast! Y'know, it WAS actually worth all the sitting around, desperately waiting for wind!
More more mo-OH-ore
Another day at the beach!
Got there about 2:30pm but should have gone down earlier, the wind was great to start with then died off. Could ride downwind find (no sinking) but went gradually from riding upwind to just gliding downwind and walking. I wasn't the only one though and even when So took my kite, he lost ground downwind too. I did however get a few good load'n'pop jumps done - felt good even if they were only a foot ;)
Tried to self-launch (win x2) and self-land without the IDS dump (fail) - there's obviously a trick to it. Still, it's nice to get an assist (when people notice!) so I can take a break ...
Packed up around 6:30pm. Not a great day's riding but I had a gravy time anyway :) tomorrow is supposed to be better! Should take the GoPro ...
Got there about 2:30pm but should have gone down earlier, the wind was great to start with then died off. Could ride downwind find (no sinking) but went gradually from riding upwind to just gliding downwind and walking. I wasn't the only one though and even when So took my kite, he lost ground downwind too. I did however get a few good load'n'pop jumps done - felt good even if they were only a foot ;)
Tried to self-launch (win x2) and self-land without the IDS dump (fail) - there's obviously a trick to it. Still, it's nice to get an assist (when people notice!) so I can take a break ...
Packed up around 6:30pm. Not a great day's riding but I had a gravy time anyway :) tomorrow is supposed to be better! Should take the GoPro ...
Monday, August 16, 2010
Crossbow for the win! Sorta ...
Went down to Locus around lunchtime to see if Miyachi-san was back from Tokyo ... he was, so I ordered some Ronstan pulleys for the Speed. He said the wind was supposed to be ok this afternoon so I came back around 3:30pm to try out the new 2010 Cabrinha Crossbow ...
... thoughts on the Xbow vs Speed 1.5 vs Synergy ...
It's all good, I'm a happy camper :)
... thoughts on the Xbow vs Speed 1.5 vs Synergy ...
- Not as much work to pump up as I remember the Lift being, especially easy since the Xbow is a one-pump system. Still not sure if it's full enough :-/
Speed wins cos it requires no pre-inflation! :D
- Easy to rig, no issues with crossed lines like my dumb-ass seems to have with the Synergy!
- Did an assisted launch - no worries although assistant-san nearly got tangled up in the bridle and sent skyward :o
Speed wins again though ... and I feel like a tit standing around waiting for someone to help oooh won't someone please help me help me /Homer
- Launched and flew ok in light wind - I'm guessing 8 to 10 knots. Did a little body-dragging and went upwind fine. Bit iffy when the wind got lighter in a lull and I Hindenburged it once (recovered) or twice (slam!).
Speed wins in light wind cos it stays in the air without thinking!
- Very (?) different feel flying this kite compared to the foils ... needs to be sheeted in a lot to keep control and when left to its own devices wants to nose dive to the edge of the window - unlike the foils which tend to drift up and need to be kept down. Xbow is easier to ride one-handed though ... almost no stalling when sheeted in except in lulls. Parks'n'rides a whole lot easier. Sheeted-in turns look and feel like the Synergy and the general way it makes power when it flies is so much like the Synergy! Downloops for a zoom burst of speed easy and in general seems to make ok power. Feels a lot like the Synergy in general but makes more power in a park'n'ride.
Xbow wins for grunt to keep me up and riding but Speed is way faster in the buttah zone!
- Water relaunch ... what relaunch? In wind I could have reverse launched the Speed easily, I had to give up, swim the kite to the shore and take the lines off and walk back to the relaunch area with it >:( "Oh it's easy" says So "just sheet out and pull one line" well I did that, even depowered the kite to get more sheet out and it wasn't doing crap ... I did manage to flip it over on the trailing edge and hot-launch with an arc-jerk but that second time, nothing was happening and I tried for what felt like 30 minutes ... perhaps the wind was just too light for the LEI ...? Harsh words were exchanged ... I called the kite a "... a great pile of pumped up shit you funny bastard" and the kite called me "... a great fat talentless half-wit".
Speed wins. Synergy a very close second for ease of relaunch, even in light winds.
- Actually up and riding ... well, I like how it makes power and doesn't lose it so quick when I sheet in hard or edge hard. I was really let down by the board (Square One vs Door = Door WIN fatality!) and it pulls smooth - hardly feel the pull but I'm still riding! - and the bar pressure is lighter than either the Synergy or the Speed. Works good and when I get a good feel for it, it'll make good power.
Xbow wins ... kinda. The Speed is just so much faster!
- Assisted launch and landing - Xbow hands down :D nobody here knows what to make of the foils! Means I'll be able to take breaks now, which is nice ...
- Speed of direction change is an Xbow win with Synergy close behind.
It's all good, I'm a happy camper :)
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Buying and selling
Selling my poor arcs that aren't getting much love to fund a new board ...
10m Vortex
15m Phantom
13m Scorpion
and bars are available.
Meanwhile I've tentatively ordered a 2010 Flyboards Door XL 170x50 from ripsessionkites.com in Canada who's done a kick-arse job in finding me EXACTLY what I want for a bottom-booting price - even the shipping is acceptable!
It'll look like this, I think ...
And just arrived today from Buzz at Ripcurl School of Surf - my 2010 Cabrinha Crossbow 16 with a brand new bar & lines! I gave in to the people telling me that the new LEIs are far more powerful than my ol' faithful Speed ... for sure it'll turn faster anyway! So fingers crossed we get some decent weather before the holidays are up!
... and it's purple :) Not me but it looks like this ...
10m Vortex
15m Phantom
13m Scorpion
and bars are available.
Meanwhile I've tentatively ordered a 2010 Flyboards Door XL 170x50 from ripsessionkites.com in Canada who's done a kick-arse job in finding me EXACTLY what I want for a bottom-booting price - even the shipping is acceptable!
It'll look like this, I think ...
And just arrived today from Buzz at Ripcurl School of Surf - my 2010 Cabrinha Crossbow 16 with a brand new bar & lines! I gave in to the people telling me that the new LEIs are far more powerful than my ol' faithful Speed ... for sure it'll turn faster anyway! So fingers crossed we get some decent weather before the holidays are up!
... and it's purple :) Not me but it looks like this ...
Saturday, August 7, 2010
More DIY - crossover bar KB grows
More knowledge for my brains to soak up ... went to the river to meddle with my crossover bar and learned some stuff. Poor Rebble had a hard time though!
What you depower at the bar is like 2x what the rear lines move cos of the pulleys ... so basically, you can easily cover the full throw of even long handles (sheeted out to sheeted in ie. brakes full off to full on) with about 440mm of depower. You probably don't need all that though as you probably don't want to be able to totally stall the kite on the bar unless you trim for it eg. landing. IMHO pulling the bar all the way in should just tweak the brakes so you get the boost ...
The center pulley line needs at least 1/2 the length of the bar (aka the amount used in a turn) per side, below the knots. So for a 60cm bar the total length for that line should be like 70cm minimum, plus knots
Small knots at the ends of the leaders don't get tangled around the lines in loops.
Trim on each of the rear lines is a nice idea but fiddly in practice. Above the bar trim means that safety has to go but it'll be cleaner ...
A nice & pretty self-landing line creates too much drag IMO although using it for a chicken loop safety works nice, but don't trust the Wipika leash. And the Airush red handle pulled right off ...!
Probably - setting the rear lines so the pulley is lower than center will increase the amount of travel up and down that line but be less likey to use it all up. I know what I mean, don't worry :)
... I need more leader line!
What you depower at the bar is like 2x what the rear lines move cos of the pulleys ... so basically, you can easily cover the full throw of even long handles (sheeted out to sheeted in ie. brakes full off to full on) with about 440mm of depower. You probably don't need all that though as you probably don't want to be able to totally stall the kite on the bar unless you trim for it eg. landing. IMHO pulling the bar all the way in should just tweak the brakes so you get the boost ...
The center pulley line needs at least 1/2 the length of the bar (aka the amount used in a turn) per side, below the knots. So for a 60cm bar the total length for that line should be like 70cm minimum, plus knots
Small knots at the ends of the leaders don't get tangled around the lines in loops.
Trim on each of the rear lines is a nice idea but fiddly in practice. Above the bar trim means that safety has to go but it'll be cleaner ...
A nice & pretty self-landing line creates too much drag IMO although using it for a chicken loop safety works nice, but don't trust the Wipika leash. And the Airush red handle pulled right off ...!
Probably - setting the rear lines so the pulley is lower than center will increase the amount of travel up and down that line but be less likey to use it all up. I know what I mean, don't worry :)
... I need more leader line!
Friday, August 6, 2010
Alas! My poor Door is no more!
Went back to Mie today with the wife ... wind was a little better, more consistently around 14 knots - contrary to the forecast!
I had my Door with me this time and it made all the difference. Into the water, up on the board and riding! Had a good long play in and out to my starting point, although I didn't make much ground upwind ... not a big fan of waves yet! The wind died off a bit so I had a rough time of fighting out through the waves only to be pushed back into shore and being unable to ride out past the waves.
The wind picked up again and I got out riding for a while. Noticed the wife had come back from her walk and was watching so thought I'd show off and throw down a big jump. Going out fast, I carved hard up the face of a wave and popped over the top! Felt like my biggest jump on the water but I bet it was no more than 2 meters from board to water, but I hit with a nice slap! and then another slap! and rode for a few feet before toppling over forwards.
Uh?
Try to get back up, no joy and the board feels mushy. Looks ok, what's going on? Water-start back towards shore, now I can see the back bending ... I've bent the board from edge to edge at the outside bolt hole for the right footpad :(
Bah! Not only have I ruined my favourite board, but ruined the rest of the day cos I didn't bring another board!
And ... when I was packing up, I noticed that the Speed's chicken loop is looking very munted :(
Cost per session for the Door - $14 ... not bad, I guess!
I had my Door with me this time and it made all the difference. Into the water, up on the board and riding! Had a good long play in and out to my starting point, although I didn't make much ground upwind ... not a big fan of waves yet! The wind died off a bit so I had a rough time of fighting out through the waves only to be pushed back into shore and being unable to ride out past the waves.
The wind picked up again and I got out riding for a while. Noticed the wife had come back from her walk and was watching so thought I'd show off and throw down a big jump. Going out fast, I carved hard up the face of a wave and popped over the top! Felt like my biggest jump on the water but I bet it was no more than 2 meters from board to water, but I hit with a nice slap! and then another slap! and rode for a few feet before toppling over forwards.
Uh?
Try to get back up, no joy and the board feels mushy. Looks ok, what's going on? Water-start back towards shore, now I can see the back bending ... I've bent the board from edge to edge at the outside bolt hole for the right footpad :(
Bah! Not only have I ruined my favourite board, but ruined the rest of the day cos I didn't bring another board!
And ... when I was packing up, I noticed that the Speed's chicken loop is looking very munted :(
Cost per session for the Door - $14 ... not bad, I guess!
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
Meh
Went to Mie prefecture cos it's supposed to be pumping southerlies. On the way, thinking about Miyachi telling me about his spot at a place called Machiya that doesn't exist on maps, thought I'd go have a look in the general area I thought it would be ... bingo! The psychic navigation technique pays off yet again - ask me sometime how we got around France and Italy in the rental car :)
Kites in the sky, found the carpark, jumped out had a look. High tide, grassy area above the water line strewn with fire remains and rubbish, trees, reeds and assorted shit at the water line ... sigh, another sucky beach. Tough launch site for foils ...
Felt a bit nervous cos the wind was reading 15 knots but that was totally unfounded - spent what felt like an hour floundering in the surf ... wind was dead on-shore, couldn't body-drag out very far from shore and the bottom dropped off real quick so I couldn't walk out. I'd try to put the board on and by the time I'd got it on my feet, kite diving to pull me up I was right back on the sand again, almost. The wind was also totally up and down, not really enough to do anything much but annoy me.
Finally got up and maybe 20 minutes of riding out and back on a good reach, had fun playing a little but then the wind dropped right off so I packed up. Had a nice chat with a guy from Kyoto ... hope I'll see him again!
So could be a good spot. I took the Sumo out cos it's got more rocker than the Door so was hoping it'd be easier in surf. It is, once you're moving, but it's much harder to get planing :(
So a big 'meh' for today then ... but still better than sitting in front of TV :D
Kites in the sky, found the carpark, jumped out had a look. High tide, grassy area above the water line strewn with fire remains and rubbish, trees, reeds and assorted shit at the water line ... sigh, another sucky beach. Tough launch site for foils ...
Felt a bit nervous cos the wind was reading 15 knots but that was totally unfounded - spent what felt like an hour floundering in the surf ... wind was dead on-shore, couldn't body-drag out very far from shore and the bottom dropped off real quick so I couldn't walk out. I'd try to put the board on and by the time I'd got it on my feet, kite diving to pull me up I was right back on the sand again, almost. The wind was also totally up and down, not really enough to do anything much but annoy me.
Finally got up and maybe 20 minutes of riding out and back on a good reach, had fun playing a little but then the wind dropped right off so I packed up. Had a nice chat with a guy from Kyoto ... hope I'll see him again!
So could be a good spot. I took the Sumo out cos it's got more rocker than the Door so was hoping it'd be easier in surf. It is, once you're moving, but it's much harder to get planing :(
So a big 'meh' for today then ... but still better than sitting in front of TV :D
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
A little shock
Took the Shockwave down the park after finally getting around to fixing it ... I lost my touch :( gusty shifty winds meant I didn't get a good practice either. Oh well, we got southerlies for the rest of the week it seems to now I've got something kite-y to do!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Magic!
Went down the lake at 2:30pm expecting the wind to be up for the forecast 4pm blow ... didn't think it was possible to have ABSOLUTELY no wind, but there was. Or wasn't, if you see what I mean.
Sat under a tree for a while, went for a swim and then sat under the tree some more. Once I'd dried off, I thought I'd unpack my Speed and make sure I hadn't tangled the bridles etc when I had packed hurriedly last time.
I'd finished poncing around when the wind picked up and people started hitting the water. I pulled out my anemometer; although the lake still looked pretty smooth and there were no white-caps, we were getting an honest 12 knots, so I thought - why the hell not?
Launched the kite, grabbed the board and away! For probably 20 minutes the wind was in that 12-15 knots range and the water was super-smooth! Magic! Was easy to make and keep speed too ... then the waves arrived but also a little more wind and again, it was easy to play silly buggers on the waves.
Did some toe-side riding and toe- to heel-side carving turns, some pop'n'load jumps (and one real stonker that had me flying!), some 'surfing' around the waves and had a great time riding upwind! Also dunked myself a few times and trying a jump, I managed to leap one foot out of the straps, sink the other and flip myself over onto my back - splat! Naturally, I did that right in front of a boat full of cool wakeboarders ...
Had a good hour or so then the wind died off and I had to slog back to the beach, then body drag upwind to miss riding into a wall thing ... landed the Speed then sat and waited for the wind to pick up. It didn't pick up over 8-12 knots and although the locals were riding, I called it a night.
Great session though, I enjoyed muchly!
PS. talking to one of my more sensible kite buddies, he informs me that because there are no IKO approved schools in Japan (not correct) then the international sailing/water rules don't apply O_o and it may be chaos here, but at least people are polite ...! So, much like the roads then huh?
Sat under a tree for a while, went for a swim and then sat under the tree some more. Once I'd dried off, I thought I'd unpack my Speed and make sure I hadn't tangled the bridles etc when I had packed hurriedly last time.
I'd finished poncing around when the wind picked up and people started hitting the water. I pulled out my anemometer; although the lake still looked pretty smooth and there were no white-caps, we were getting an honest 12 knots, so I thought - why the hell not?
Launched the kite, grabbed the board and away! For probably 20 minutes the wind was in that 12-15 knots range and the water was super-smooth! Magic! Was easy to make and keep speed too ... then the waves arrived but also a little more wind and again, it was easy to play silly buggers on the waves.
Did some toe-side riding and toe- to heel-side carving turns, some pop'n'load jumps (and one real stonker that had me flying!), some 'surfing' around the waves and had a great time riding upwind! Also dunked myself a few times and trying a jump, I managed to leap one foot out of the straps, sink the other and flip myself over onto my back - splat! Naturally, I did that right in front of a boat full of cool wakeboarders ...
Had a good hour or so then the wind died off and I had to slog back to the beach, then body drag upwind to miss riding into a wall thing ... landed the Speed then sat and waited for the wind to pick up. It didn't pick up over 8-12 knots and although the locals were riding, I called it a night.
Great session though, I enjoyed muchly!
PS. talking to one of my more sensible kite buddies, he informs me that because there are no IKO approved schools in Japan (not correct) then the international sailing/water rules don't apply O_o and it may be chaos here, but at least people are polite ...! So, much like the roads then huh?
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