No not the 2 pair of sunglasses I lost ... the top-end of the Charger 15!!! 0_o Beaufort 7 (27-33 knots) it would appear ...
Skivved off and hit the lake. I was looking at the wind thinking maybe this wasn't such a great idea but when I got my gear over to the beach, the wind had dropped and I guessed (wrongly, as it turned out) that the wind had died off for the day. So I set up the 15m Charger cos hey I really wanted to try it again ... second knot from kite, straps all loose.
Filled fine, launched with a couple of tip-claps (cos I let go the bar I reckon) but it stayed up fine. Wind picked up as I was getting into the water and I had a hard time getting some space between me and the beach - kite was lifting me up (full power trim) and the waves were driving me back into shore! Finally I got out far enough to put the board on and try to start ...
... made the instant mistake of trying to fly it like a bow and foundered for a bit. Finally got up and rolling but DAY-HUM! thems is some big waves! Yes, waves - the fuckers are breaking like ocean waves and standing in the troughs, the peaks are at eye height :o I battle my way around and get back into Arc Mode. Whee!
Came to the conclusion that the Charger 15 is about as powerful as my 13m Crossbow ... when the arc is working. It's so not a park'n'ride kite though, got to keep it moving and keep pressure on the rear lines. Stopper ball is great for that but panic ensues in gusts :o went zooming off across wind like a freakin' rocket heading for the shore, desperately trying to slide up the stopper ball :D
As the wind increased, I ended up with the kite trimmed for max depower and was still out of control :D real tough body-dragging upwind to my board ... tried a few tentative jumps but was afraid to really do it ... got freaked out by speed through the window trying to change tacks ... so basically, I got pretty mauled out there!
Tried to find out what the wind was, cos I do believe it's the most I've ever been out in and REALLY should have had the 12m Synergy or even the 10m (but I sold that) ... weather sites conistently reported 10m/s (20 knots) but it was way more than that - the wind was driving the water up over the lip on the beach, sand was being flung around like little bullets and the locals were on 7m kites but just gave up. Which should have been a sign. I'm thinking it was about 30knots and over in the gusts. Stupid gusting to ... Deathwish?
So that was the top-end for the 15m Charger then! :o
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