GPV promised a lot but was just yanking my crank. Had to work at 5pm so went earlier than the joy was forecast. Got onto the water at 1:40pm...
I was riding for a bit but wasn't doing much. Then the wind dropped so I came in and stood around for a while. Then it picked up a tad so I went out to see just how much there was...
Well. I had trimmed the kite right out on the beach cos it's backstalling in the light wind but now I'm out on the water, I let the trimmer out and now it's pulling like a freight train, not depowering much, and backstalling viciously when fully sheeted in, not much float and hangtime either and there's a lot of bar pressure... where has my favourite kite gone?!? I can work it for a lot of low-end though it's too brutal to be much use when the wind picks up.
All that means is that I'm riding and powered enough to do back and front rolls, but no decent jumps. Quite funny really, watching Cult Man working his kite like a mofo and being unable to even get across wind...
Wind drops again around 3, I come in for a few minutes then the wind picks up again. Repeat as above until 4 when I gotta leave.
Meh, it was ok.
UPDATE: Checked the mixer... ABCZ = 0 +1 0 0 if plus is towards the kite... so a very borked up profile. All zero'd now, fingers crossed...
This - http://goo.gl/3F9ZI - is a good post about the mixer test. Note: start with C cos it also affects B...
Moment of the day was perhaps twigging to what's wrong with my front rolls - line tension. One good one felt like the good back rolls do, using the kite to do the job.
Mood of the session was miffed resigned amused.
It sucks when you have to work.
Weather was reported as 15 knots with gusts to 22; 24°C at 51%, 1017hPa.
Wind felt like it was wearing a fake nose and mustache.
What I learned today...
• I think I borked up the mixer test, when I replaced the SPLs today.
• Still need B and SZ tip lines too.
• The black spreader on the bar is missing now too. DIY time!
• A little SailKote goes a long way.
• Seems I'm jumping without the kite and putting slack in the lines, losing the vital redirection for front rolls to work.
• The water is bloody shallow at the moment - knee deep in some places. And I can even stand at the river mouth.
• I need to man up and attempt front roll transitions...
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