Maybe the last hurrah

Wind never picked up, maybe 12 to 15 knots, but I got to play with the Sonic2 and the TT at high tide  on the estuary . . .

Having a hard time getting the timing right for the kite, as it's as big and slow as the 21 some times and is as easy to stall as the 12. Not 100% sure I like it for "freeride" as it proved impossible to do any tricks that needed a loop to complete or power them.

Hmm. Still stayed out for 4 hours though :D

Magic foil and waves

Sucked so bad on the 18 and TT that I gave up early and went back to the park to pack up. Alec arrived before I'd finished, and offered his Double Agent so I went out on that . . . and had a jolly good time.

The DA really is very slow, but was well suited for noodling around in the waves, and the Sonic drifted nicely as the wind picked up. Actually got some wave riding done, between circuits from south of South Beach up to the pier :o

Foil success after a rough start

Someone on the Facebook reckoned it was a good day for the foiling, so I trotted on down to coincide with a build up to peak wind.

He was already on the water, looking powered, but as I set up I watched him begin to struggle with falling wind. Hmm.

Got a tack or two on the water before it dropped too far, Buddy dropped his kite and swam in. We nattered for a bit and the wind picked up some. He went out and was ok so I joined him.

Nice mellow session resulted, right at the bottom end of power though. I caught a few good waves . . . but it looks like to surf them, they'll need to be chest-high at least.

Spotted a pair of Hector's Dolphins cruising past in the deep end of the pool. Nice!

Ho-hum, this'd better do

Last one for a while . . . don't ask.

It's light but I'm enjoying running through my repertoire of TT tricks, so that was nice. Might have clicked with getting the best air out of the SB too . . . maybe.

Riding with ol' Murphy

Forecast let me down. Got to the beach about 3, launched the 12 but it was naff. Did one tack to the surf life club then halfway back. Gave up and went back to the launch park. Stood around a bit and it didn't seem like it was going to pick up, so I went for the Sonic2 18.

Set up down on the beach, much fiddling with bridles, lines on the new bar. Easy prefill--it was almost filling without help, good old batons. Got it into the air but the tips wouldn't open out. Hmm...ended up waggling the bar and that did the job.

So out on the water and Murphy's Law, wind has picked up. Crikey!

Bit hairy, but as I get used to it, I start to push it some. Narrow bar setting and line extensions slow it down too much in the surf, and it's so high AR it's not suited to sheet n go, so it was difficult but goddamn the hang time! Need to work on the technique to get the height. Drifts ok, cos it's so light, and I recovered an overfly too.

Couldn't sack up enough to land it on the beach by myself, so went over the dunes to the park and got a hand so that worked well. Long bridles, crikey!

A new toy!

Good forecast and the tide was right...and I had the time. So let's go.

Started out light and picked up but the kite was deforming so I landed and pumped it more. Better! Still a bit of a hiccup if I sheet out fast and rapidly...hmm.

Can't figure out how to jump it. Really seems I'm either out of touch with the TT or the technique has to be spot on, or at least very tight. Maybe 12m is still too big...

Had some fun, got the tricks flowing finally after a messy start.

After a very long time I headed back to shore to call it a day, and who should be there be Mr Axis?! Couldn't say no to a ride on the foil!

It's a prototype aluminum mast and fuse, flat G10 wing set. Board was a carbon stubbie. Whole thing was taut (like a toiger) and light. 600mm mast might have helped.

Easy to ride, great speed range, and stable but still fun to flick around. Adrian reckoned I was riding very nose up, but I was keeping the speed down cos I was overpowered on the 12. Low speed stall was gentle and no nasty speed twitches. In fact, I got a runaway on a gust that just kept building speed but I rode it out for a long time before deciding to bail. There was a bit of fish-tailing but Adrian said all the wing and fin holes were hand tapped and are wonky! :o Good ride though, I want it :D

Adrian reckons I need a bigger wing and is going to get the factory to make one :D hope he brings a 7 or 800mm mast too.

Season gets under way

Got out on the last of the tide to try put the new kite. Seems ok :D wind wasn't up to much put I got to play some...

Frigid foiling

So, 3mm spring suits no good when it's snowing on the other side of the lake. Doesn't help when you can't find your boots either. Nothing froze, but it was cold. 7 degrees or less.

Nice time on the HG, getting to grips with it, having more success with the foot changes . . . still need a strap.

Digging the Draft

Started out light and picked up, but I tried to get going with the Flite first . . . a bit unsuccessful, and when the wind came it just pulled me downwind on the surfboard. Thought I'd give up then remembered the Drafts in the shed and thought I'd have a giggle.

Big giggles! Bar pressure is appalling but my god, it goes big and floats like a foil! What a hoot, I enjoyed that.

Foilin' again

Dedicated foil day.

Super light to start with, struggled to water start without a front strap, then the wind came a little and I got up and riding. Starting to get the feel of the HG and adapt to its more aggressive low speed handling.

Good day, but I put my thumb through the 3/2 full wetsuit :(

Culture day satisfaction

Forecast looked great, wind was great when I arrived then rapidly dropped off. Decided to commit to the Hover Glide and just stick with it . . . or maybe the TT if the wind picked up.

Phew, like starting over again. Fucking strapless starts are a pain in the ass, especially when the wind drops. Got a little bolder with the wave play, but still haven't made a successful foot change. Jibes are getting better but still not a patch on the old foil :(

Wind picked up and I thought about going in for the TT . . . then it dropped off and I had to fight to keep the kite in the air, then loop it to get back to shore. Just made it!

Autumn unawesomeness

Got a half hour of good fun on the AS then it dropped off and just sucked ass. I could ride the AS but I wasn't having fun.

Angry Swallow is happy

Finally, a chance to try out the new 2015 Angry Swallow! Got it real cheap, as it's a two-year old model now but the last of the 5 fin box models. And purple and green trim :)

Now, it's probably the most travelled board in history, without even getting a single drop of water on it. Shop accidentally used my old address and I didn't catch it until after Japan Post had tried to deliver it . . . then sent it back to the US. So, the board went China - Oregon - Japan - Oregon - Japan . . . before it ever got used :o

Which is a shame, cos it's great. I ran it as a quad (love FCS-II!) which was kinda strange after the Duke but clearly has more bottom end.

The differences I noticed:

The AS is a little more slappy through the chop (duh) if you stand with rigid knees, feels less crisp but is snappy rail to rail, stable for dancing around on, tends to sink the tail during a jibe if you're heavy rear-footed, carves smoothly, rips upwind--especially with the board flat.

All seems to make sense, given where the area and volume are distributed for each board. Which is better? Well for our conditions, I can see I'll be on the AS a lot, but will still love both boards. Very happy with the AS, that's for sure . . .

Miyachi had a run on the Duke and didn't want to give it back. Seems to go better for him than the Naish Skater, North thing and the Naish Global too: he struggled to get upwind on them but rocked out the Duke. Heh . . . 

First!

Had to get out with the new board today.

Wind was light, so i thought I needed a foil. Mistake. That made it harder to get going do to the way the kite worked. After the long-ass bodydrag out as far as possible so I wouldn't slam the bottom, I finally managed to get up and riding away from the shore.

Much better with the new board, much easier to ride. Obviously more stable but different enough that I could barely manage heel to toe, and toe side riding.

Then the wind picked up and I thought I'd try the TT but it was barely enough, then newbie guy fell off and got washed into marina bay, without his board.

I secured the board before it ended up in Otsu, then had to body drag back to our beach, but managed to ride back upwind some, which was a surprise, but then the wind died off again and I gave up.

Managed not to destroy the board, but stood on it by mistake and chipped the nose. Le sigh again.

One thing and another

Thought I'd give the LF a run and assess whether it's worth taking it back to NZ in Feb as is, or do some work on it.

Twitchier than I remembered it used to be when it was equally bent...got used to it but it kinda sucked a lot. Might have to risk straightening it and cutting the mast...

Which was all fine and well until the other side of the board broke. Then I discovered the head of one of the bolts holding the mast to the plate has snapped. So there's all that to deal with and think about too. Le sigh.

Rebel rebel

Wind was on and off so it kinda sucked, but the North guy let me out on his Rebel 15 which was actually fun and boosted well when the wind was on. Bar pressure was like a Switchblade so it was bearable...miss the foil.

Another weak-ass typhoon

that failed to deliver. Again. Had to borrow the Naish foil from the shop, and while I initially struggled a bit to get back in the groove, got there in the end. Strapless is hard to get started when the wind is light...

Broke the dry spell

but "gravy" is overly generous. It was squally and crap when it wasn't.

But I got my eye back in, and go to try the Cabrinha board Squid Launcher. Too wide, have to ride the board and then fly the kite. Too bouncy in the chop too. Hmm.

Miss my foil . . .

Saved by the grandad

and his Naish foil. Insisted I take the whole set up for a test drive, after I'd given up trying to ride the 15 and the TT. I don't think it's quite right yet still, and the wind was shit.

But the foil was fun. Definitely slower but more stable than mine, and the length and mass distribution of the board makes it "heavier" to swing around. Riding strapless wasn't as much of a challenge as I thought it would be so that's nice.

Got a brief play with the Reo 12 which didn't really improve my opinion of them (gutless and slow), but as the wind dropped off I guess it wasn't fair. Relaunch was easy though.

So, thanks Grandad, you saved my day!

RIP Foil Fish

Due to the turmoil at home, I decided I'd brave the forecast and escape to Tsu again. Supposed to be big wind but was pretty much a repeat of the last time I was there.

Which wasn't a bad thing. I really got the gybes dialed in and started going harder and faster, with more power and load on the foil.

That was all good and well until I got too close to shore and slammed into the shallows so hard I gave myself whiplash. Sore neck at the time, stiff the following day. That I could live with . . .

. . . unfortunately, the fuselage is bent again and the mast rounded. That I could almost live with . . .

. . . but the big deal is the crack in the board. Guess I really nailed it hard :(