Forecast was good, wind looked good at work but by the time I arrived, it was crap.
Thought about it for a bit then unpacked the P4 19 to test the bar mod - get something done at least. Had replaced the single line spacer with a double, a la fsmodman, like this. Everything reattached the right way so I struggle with a launch in light wind on a very narrow part of the beach cos the rest of it is covered with kites.
Kite flies fine, the bar seems to work. Wait around some but nothing much is happening. Head out for a few tacks but it's on and off (mostly off) so there's a lot of walking up the beach.
Waiting around with the kite in the air, a front comes in. Ji-chan is telling me it'll be dangerous, so I reverse-land my kite down wind and prepare to hang on. Unfortunately, my lines are over someone else's and of course, his kite starts twitching as the wind picks up so I launch my kite, slide downwind at his lines, stop in time then joggle backwards so his can control his kite.
Notice Soh (who's been avoiding eye-contact with me since his screaming fit) having a word with Ji-chan and they're both glancing over in my direction… I've come to the conclusion that he's a whingy sissy bitch who was having a crap session and vented at me but hasn't the cajones to let it be.
The big bad dangerous squall is so weak I can only just get upwind on it for a few minutes…!
Give up, pack up, head home. 2 hours of waiting!!! A few lame back-rolls and a single front-roll transition… sad.
Moment of the day was a very smooth front-roll transition. And that was it.
Mood of the session was ho-bloody-hum.
It sucks when there's no wind but there is supposed to be.
Weather was reported as 14 to 10 knots; 15˚C at 80%.
Wind felt like bloody nothing to very almost under-powered.
What I learned…
• Bar mod seems fine… but… when there's no tension on the FDS line, it binds a bit. All the actual riding un-spins worked fine, so far.
• Ignore advice from others who are well-meaning but wrong.
• 3mm suit is enough cos the water is warming up… but the old one is all hard and making like it's shrunk!
No comments:
Post a Comment