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ROCK ON! Epic session! Forecast was for heaps and that's what we got. Of course, it was better before I got there :-/ Frickin' work - who needs it?
Hauled ass out from the wrong side of the train lines and finally got to the lake around 4:40pm.

Everyone looked under-powered on their 7 to 10m kites - I guess it was even better before I got there.  I got changed in a hurry and took my 13m XB and 15m Speed³ cos ... well why not, the wind is forecast to drop and I want to jump BIG. For a change :D

Unwrapped and launching the Speed, although the wind felt fine on the beach it was a something else again once I got up and moving. And it was punchy too ... I was a bit worried for a few minutes.

First big jump I screwed up the redirect and slammed into the water; I can see how people break ribs. From then on though, it was absolute BUT-TAH!
Could I do anything wrong? Not really :D I borked a (very) few landings but that was down to either enjoying the view for far too long or doing something silly with the board, like falling off it. There were some ugly landing: flailing around trying to get into a balanced position but for the most part I landed and rode off like A BOSS. Several times I over-did the launch and ended up sailing through the air backwards ... but still landed it.

Fear is the mind killer.

From then on, it was all shits and giggles. Well, cackling like a lunatic anyway. And lots of WHEE! and AW HELL YEAH and I CAN SEE MY HOUSE FROM HERE and even an AHOY ME HEARTIES AAARGH! yeah, I dunno where that one came from ...
Hironobu gives me a thumbs-up while I'm flying a few times :D

Took out the Mako for a run early on but was too over-powered - it bounced me around like a toy but when the wind lulled, I got a nice smooth ride out of it and some nice pops. It really does carve well ... maybe I need a 140 too :o

So when I swapped back to the 'radical, it got me thinking about how lazy I was being with my load'n'pops - I wasn't really using my legs. I worked on that for a while and got some smoother  launches ...

But the wind is dropping now and lulling down ... soon, Hironobu and Soh give up and I'm only riding across wind. So I pack it in ... my legs are tired but I had an awesome session!

I was in the car loaded up for home by about 7:30 so I guess I got 2 solid hours on the water ... great!

Mood of the session was jubilant cracked weary.

Moment of the Day was yet again another jump. This time though, it wasn't the highest or longest; it was the most backward-flying. And not getting pasted on the landing which is nice.

Weather was reported as 15 knots falling to 9 then climbing back to 11 knots by the time I quit; 15°C at 70%. Gusts no more than 30 knots - peak was recorded at 1pm. That data was recorded at the weather station at Hikone, about an hours drive north of Locus ... 1pm to 4 at Hikone was 17 to 8 knots; FWIW.
Wind felt like I was comfortably over-powered (on the Flyradical but fighting too hard for control on the Mako) and having fun; falling to being unable to ride upwind. After about 6pm, the wind got very lully, and as it dropped the lulls got longer till I gave up around 7pm.

What I learned today...
• You can (probably) gauge the wind by the height and "quality" of the waves.
• Free your mind and your ass will follow. Look where you want to go!
• My load'n'pops are getting VERY lazy. That *may* be down to sore legs from working out this week but most launches were very average - thank god for kickers!
• Mako needs less power than the 'radical but it's bottom end usefulness drops off sooner. I think 0_o
• Perhaps I need a 140 after all :D er, Buzz ... got any left?
• Speed3 15 has a great range! Easy to hold a good posture and ride over-powered with good YOINK when you boost. So much less back-stally than the 12 too ...
• Seems I jump both ways fine but it depends on the direction of the wind and waves ... I might be better one way than the other due to the above conditions.
• Sheeting out on the redirect speeds the kite across the window then sheet in just before you touch down - fast and butter-smooth landing!