:(
Looked like today would be a good time to try out the Infinity in the kind of winds it's supposed to be used it. Pumped it up to 7-8psi or so, nice and firm - tends to flop on its tips otherwise. God I hate those small valves, so much more effort than the big ones!
Got out onto the water and started... then I dropped it in a lull. Now it all starts to go wrong...
I pull the LH steering line and the kite scoots over to the RHS of the window, pops up onto its tip fine then - flops together in a clam :( I wait for it to open for a second but instead, it tumbles back onto its TE and tumbleweeds back into the center of the window.
It opens up on its LE so I'm about to grab the steering line to send it to the edge again when it whips up and down in a loop - WTF? I can see the LH rear leader is wrapped around the tip.
Quickly consider the options (QR, OS handle, hang on for dear life etc) and figure the best thing to do is give the rear lines slack - I pull the QR (with both hands) but it loops again. I start hauling in the depower line to manually pull the center lines but it loops for a final time - and the canopy unzips from TE to LE :o
The power has gone from the canopy now so I can wrap up the lines as the kite drifts to the beach and pack it up. Near as I can tell, the ring on the main bridle (!) conspired with the rear pig-tail and between the two of them, looped one around the other then over the tip during the tumble downwind.
Great. So now I gotta replace the kite and even worse, have to tell the dude who so kindly lent it to me. Man, now I remember why I don't borrow other people's sporting gear!
So I get out the Xbow and go on to have a great session anyway. Started off on the Mako but as the wind fell, swapped for the Flydoor. Man, I can't get over how I'm hating the Flydoor now :o
Got some good jumps in on the gusts, getting the Mako under control now...
Was wearing my long-sleeved rashgaurd under my wetsuit, my rainsuit jacket from the DIY store over the wetsuit then my orange t-shirt over that. I was actually quite warm and I guess cos my torso was warm, my body had extra blood to spare for my hands cos they were warm too. The only chilly thing I noticed back at the beach was my legs...
Mind you, pumping up 2 kites probably kept me warm too. Despite the snow drifting by :o
Moment of the Day was seeing Glove-giver Guy attempting back-spins - way to go that man!
Weather was reported as 14 to 16.2 knots at 3°C 57% but it gusted on either side, mostly lulls towards the end of the session.
What I learned today...
• Don't borrow gear :(
• Those open delta C things are as horrible for me as they are for everyone else - freakin' tumbleweeds!
• You CAN jump the Mako 'in the regular fashion' but it requires aggressive footwork; extra effort from the rear leg needed.
• Ra's al Ghul was right - Keep your core warm and the rest will take care of itself.
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