Nathon again

Early morning trip to the beach was a waste of time, but a storm whipped up some fun in the late afternoon, until dark. Thankfully, the tide had come in some so it was good.

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Weather was reported as 15 knots.
Wind felt like 15 knots. Comfy powered to wanting more.

What I learned today...
• Don't leave your kite out in the sun! A non-painful lesson, I think.
• Pump that bugger up properly.
• Don't trust that your lines aren't tangled, even though you wrapped them up carefully...
• Tips can fold if you load the kite and haven't pumped it up enough.
• I'm sure there was something else too...

Luck of the Irish

So one weather forecast looked like weak crap but the other was cracking... I got myself sorted out and down to the lake (in the new kitemobile) just after 12:30-ish. It's looking ok - Miyachi says the morning was better...

Take the Psycho4 19 and Speed3 15 over to the beach with both the Flyboards... thinking the 19 should be good. So I rig up the ol' girl and launch without a hassle.

Out onto the water, with the Flyradical. Mess around trimming the kite and getting the hang of a Flysurfer again - been a while. Struggle for a bit to get upwind much... then the wind drops. I blame Miyachi, cos he just turned up on the beach with his kite.

Switch to the Flydoor and get into a groove, working upwind and throwing some jumps... then the wind kicks it up a notch! Swap back to the 'radical.

Now we're starting to have some fun! Jumps are fun but the kite is fully depowered and I'm fighting hard to go upwind... thinking maybe I should go the 15 but don't want to stop.

Have fun for an hour then the gusts start getting uncontrollable... this one time, I'm heading out way past our beach and the marina and get hit by a good gust. I start rocketing off towards Otsu and it doesn't look like it'll quit - so I boost :D ooh, it's a good 'un too! Shame I didn't land it...

So it goes, for a while. Fighting the gusts, jumping when I can... get pulled off my edge a lot.

Miyachi has landed his kite and I'm thinking I might be due to give it up too... when a gust hits again. I jump, get elevatored but bork the landing... then the gusts REALLY hits! My head is underwater and I feel the kite pulling like crazy and it's heading into the eye of the power zone - so I pull the safety.

Well.

I come up out of the water to see the kite goes to safety fine - then the line breaks (twice as it turns out) and the kite goes sailing!

I'm over 2 line lengths from the beach, the beach is about 100m from the trees, the trees line the road, the road is in front of a YMCA camping grounds with cabins, and that's in front of a paddy field - in front of some guys house...

The kite (completely folded in half) clears the trees, the road (thank god!), the trees and cabins in the camping ground, and comes to rest in the paddy field - just in front of the guys house. Ho-lee-shee-it!

Miyachi bolts after it and I fight my way out of the water and follow him... down the road, into the camping ground... then I lose Miyachi. He hollers from the field and I make a right turn to find him.

Roll up the kite and lines... amazingly, I can't see any tears. We walk back to Locus and I lay the kite out and untangle the lines (about 2 minutes!) and give the kite a once over - I can't see any tears or holes!

So, missed the road and cars, missed all the buildings and trees... woo and hoo!

Me on the 19, pre its trip over the trees

To give you an idea of how tall the trees are!

Flight path from lake to paddy field...

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Moment of the day was boosting out of the speed run :D
Mood of the session was ooh ahh eek.
It sucks when your safety line breaks.

Weather was reported as 12 to 18 knots, with gusts to 30 :o 4 °C at 50%.
Wind felt like 10% blarg, 40% ooh, 30% yeah and 20% OMFG!

What I learned today...
• NeoWork gloves work just fine and don't stress my fingers/forearms. 5mm and sort of lined and warm enough!
• They've got holes in the side though that let the water in. Not a huge issue cos I'm a heater in my spare time - check out the sweat in my boots!
• Tip-clapping on landings - diving the kite then riding at it is the cause... either edging harder on landing, jumping more vertical and landing slower, or just leaving the kite 'up' when you finish the jump is the solution.
• Think I need to research the mixer... kite is back-stally on full trim and doesn't want to drive upwind unless it's trimmed out some.
• DEFINITELY need to fix the FDS... that'll learn me for being lazy and not adding the 5th line from my old Switch bar.

Bitch-slapped

Miyachi's BBS entry reads "Extremely heavy Kevin is riding easily on his 16"... cheeky bugger!

This is being written on Sunday night; we went to Hamamatsu Saturday night and didn't have time to enter Saturday morning's ride report.

Went to the lake in the morning. Forecast looked ok and it was going to crank in the afternoon but I had to work though :-/ dragged myself out of bed at 9:30, got to the lake slightly after 10. Suited up - with gloves this time - and headed over to the lake with the Flyboards and the XB 16. Measured 9 knots on the shoreline :(

Pumped up the 16 and launched... wind isn't up to much, might be able to ride though. Head out with  the Flydoor... riding upwind ok. Certainly, it's much easier than the Fly; better low-end with more upwind, easier to park'n'ride, but the jumps are slower to initiate and turns are noticeably vague, and makes less power in loops and turns.

Noodle around some... about 10:30 the wind starts to pick up and gets punchy with it - I'm fully trimmed - and when I get high-speed lobbed a few times, I decide to get my Flyradical strapped on.

For the next hour, I'm well- to over-powered and mostly enjoying it. Some good, high, floaty jumps, nice rotations and transitions too. Wind is punchy (said that already) so it's hard to get it timed. Mostly I'm pretty timid with the 'technical' stuff but go full-out at the jumps...

Then this one time, I set up for a jump and bounce off a wave's lip and lose the edge before I was ready and I launched with no board on my feet, way off balance and spinning like a top...  I went up, I came down, ass up head down and SLAMMED into the water, right on my side! Head and ribs took the full brunt of it - went OOF damn ouch! when I hit - and I managed to knock my leg around too. Head still hurts today (Sunday) too... it should be bruised so I can get some sympathy!

My Sharks even got ripped off my face too... I ended up downwind of them and my board, so I thought I'd lost ANOTHER pair of sunglasses to Biwako... but as I body-dragged back upwind to my board, I found the sunglasses bobbing in the water :) sweet!

Ride it out till the wind throttled a bit at 11:30 and I could go back to full power trim. Pack it up at 12 and rush home for a hot shower and clean duds for work!

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Moment of the day was hard to choose cos nothing really spectacular happened... it was just good to get out again in strong wind!
Mood of the session was cold ouchie happy.
It sucks when you would have had more fun if you'd pumped up two kites :-/
Song stuck in my head was "Running Bear"... WT actual F?

Weather was reported as 9 to 15 knots, gusts to 26; 12˚C at 45%!!!
Wind felt like 20% just powered, 30% nicely powered, 40% woohoo and 10% holy crap!

What I learned today...
• Water's cold, air's cold - time for gloves! My thin ones did ok and my hands were cold but not debilitating. Soh was complaining about stiff hands cos of the cold...
• Wind chill is tough... time for the 6/5/4 :o or the Ghetto drysuit.
• I seem to be able to get away with smaller kites, and need them when the wind picks up. Winter, huh.
• Like my Xbows but I feel like I need something else - more turning speed and power in the turns... more than just a racing machine.
• Believe it or not, the Speeds are good for that! But I like the non-bridal twistingness of LEIs sometimes.
• Getting slapped like a bitch hurts... I need an emergency plan for brutal impacts!

A Fly and a Rainbow

Forecast had potential so on the spur of the moment I loaded up and headed down to the lake just after 1pm, getting there about 1:30pm then shooting the shit with Miyachi for a bit... wind looked pretty light. I spotted the Naish Fly in the changing room and asked Miyachi if I could borrow it... he said sure so I toddled over to the lake with that, the XB 16 and the 2 Flyboards.

Measured 10 to 20 knots at the shoreline with the anemometer in the few minutes I stood there. A few whitecaps around...

Plan was to pump up both kites but... dang! I guess I been flying the Speeds too much cos pumping up SUCKS. So I only inflated the Fly.

Especially sucky are the 'regular' sized valves and no one-pump—forgot how tricky it can be to get those valves plugged—only 2 struts though... there's a LOT of ripstop in the center of the kite, between them. Was surprised at how fat the leading edge is! Noted the little spar at the center of the leading edge too. Nice simple bridle, Ronstan Orbit pulleys... nice! Bar looks a little narrow though! Have always liked the clean, simple-looking Naish bars... works good! Mutiny swivel needs a lube though.

Tether-launched the Fly. Didn't go up as easy as the Xbow so I decide then and there to NOT test the water relaunch!

Good static pull, very stable - I'm impressed. When the wind dropped, it'd just float back down, rather than stalling and diving like the XB.

Was a bit shocked at how light the bar pressure was. Seemed a bit vague & unresponsive too... I thought about landing the kite and resetting the rear leaders but I'm oddly lazy about that kind of thing—can't be bothered with the whole landing/relaunching thing. If it was a joystick, I'd think that the response curve had been meddled with—fish-poling the bar got it moving.

The Fly is fast, but not too fast. Suitably agile? Be a good kite for a beginner to advance on.

Kite worked ok but was really good to just park'n'ride. Using the stopper, I could just park the kite and take my hands off the bar :o very stable! More downwind pull than the XBs, harder to work it upwind—gonna feel it in the legs tomorrow. Loops and redirects pull more downwind too.

Jumps are good - when the wind is good, it goes up fine, hangs nice and floats good on the way down.

Rotations are fun; good lift when the kite is overhead makes them easy and the agility of the kite makes them fun. Rotation transitions are working again!

Only issue... when turning hard-ish, the unloaded tip—the material on that side—flaps around and feels like it creates drag. Oh and the bar was a tad rough on chilly hands...

Basically, I like the kite—and bar!—and enjoyed a 2-hour session in crappy wind on it. Wished it was bigger though... I think I wouldn't be really excited until closer to 20 knots. Wonder how the Flite 17.5 is?

Noticed a 4 inch slash on the LE when I was packing up—wasn't me, cos the kite only touched the ground on launch and landing. Hope that doesn't bite me in the ass.

Miyachi supposedly has photos of today too... there was a brilliant, 180˚ rainbow when I got in the water too.

EDIT: Miyachi delivers! Doot-doo-doot-dee-doot-de-doo-doo...

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Weather was reported as 9-12-9 knots—with gusts to 34 ROFL again! I think the weather station is broken. 11°C at 73%.
Wind felt like 10% having fun, 70% just barely powered but still having fun, 20% underpowered.

Moment of the day was throwing a bit fat backroll... transition!
Mood of the session was intrigued amused happy.
Song stuck in my head was the theme from Rainbow.
It sucks when you can't remember the lyrics except for Doot-doot-doot-dee-doot-de-doo-doot over and over again.

What I learned today...
• Naish have good product.
• Really digging the stopper. Thinking about using my Charger just to use the stopper!
• And really want a Flite. Better email Ned.
• Cold enough that I needed gloves. Hands were a bit shut down at end of session.
• Arms were chilly. Need something to block wind.
• Realized that ALL my Flysurfers are out of commission, even if only very temporarily.
• I love rotation transitions.
• CTBs legs up rolls are tough to do.
• Wonder what the Park is like...

Bigger is better

That's all, carry on.

New old toys!

Ok so there I was standing around in the garden when my 2012 Flydoor XL arrived by courier - sweet!   Doodle around for a bit then recheck the forecast... oh myyy! lets go!

Bah, light wind at the beach but 16 knots forecast... so I head out on my remaining light wind kite - the Psycho4 19 - and the new Flydoor!

Well... the FDS is too short. By a bunch :-/ kite won't even launch. So I add in a meter or so I have spare but that's barely long enough... the kite flies, but it's not fun. Take a few tacks - and walks - up and down the beach. Then head back to the car and get the bar from the 21 and use that for the Psycho4.

Mmm, launches ok but is backstalling like a mofo. Full trim helps... I know the bar is wonky but really?
it can't be that bad. Maybe the mixer is screwy...

Mow the lawn for a while, getting used to the board and the kite. Bit tricky at the bottom end... wonder how much wind we got? I'm sure I'd be riding easily on the 21...

Wind picks up a bit later, gets easier to ride but still can't trim the kite out. At least I can park'n'ride now... and get some jumps. First good one on the Psycho - yes, it's more of a yank than the Speed3's lift but it seems less floaty... but that makes landings a little more direct - but still gentle, when I get them right!

New board is nice! VERY light on the feet and in the air - so light that the wind can blow it around on your feet and upset your balance in the air. Carves nice, holds a line well, seems to go upwind better than the old one... also seems more flexible so the ride is smoother. Still can't carve to toeside without slipping out on my face though :D

So I was having a good ol' time... lots of rotations, a few double back-rolls that worked :D and of course goofing around with the jumps. Miyachi was taking pics and snapped the one of me below. I swear, I'm already on the way down ;)

Later on, I fell off the board and as I recovered it, it managed to release the QR... kite went into a loop frenzy and although the mini-5th was long enough, it was clear the FDS was what it should have had. Ended up having to walk to shore and manually unwrap a wicked bowtie. Bloody green bridle snagged on something and messed up the stitching too... otherwise, no apparent harm. Relaunched, dunked the kite a few times to wash the sand off then kept riding :D

Nearly got stuck in the river mouth a few times, trying to make up ground but being unable to resist a good boost up a wave.

Another good day. Only 3 others at the lake... must have got there about 2pm, got back to the carpark at 6!

My right knee is twinging though... I think I'm leveraging myself against it in turns or jumps - have to try carving more with my body maybe?

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Moment of the day was that first good YOINK with the Psycho - an Aha! moment.
Mood of the session was frustrated bemused satisfied.
It sucks when Miyachi only takes one photo of moi and it's not a great one :D I SWEAR I was higher!


Weather was reported as 5-8-8-8-14-12 knots from 1–6pm, on the hour, with a peak gust of 18 knots at 5:30pm. 27–24°C, 49–69% for the same time period. Uh?
Wind felt like the above was about right... but cos I'd run out of depower already, I felt a tiny bit overpowered around 5pm - needed a smaller board cos I kept losing my edge too soon.

What I learned today...
• Need more line for the FDS - might use my left-over 5th line from the Switch bar in the interim...
• Pscyho needs the mixer set and a few bridle lines...
• Low end doesn't seem so good on the Psycho4, it doesn't seem that quick in the air so doesn't seem to make up for park'n'ride-ability with apparent wind, upper end isn't so good either.
• Should have had my smaller board at the lake too.
• Weeds stick to the center fin :-/ the drag is very noticeable and feels like sand in wheel bearings!
• A pop and kicking my heels up clears the weeds off nicely.
• Must try the Wide stance - I prefer that on the 2010 'door cos it's easier to weight the back of the board and it feels less wooden, more lively.
• The 2012 'door felt nice to ride in normal width stance though...
• Wet, sandy Flysurfers are unstable and fly badly... till they dry out.
• I'm still getting sunburned :-/

DIY - Infinity bar pimpin'

Also known as the thrust-bearing mod. The following video from 10 seconds on shows the goal of what we want to achieve ...

Stock bar uses a big brass washer (BBW) and then a jam nut on a nyloc nut to hold it all together. The problem with this is that it doesn't rotate very freely so although the bar is cleverly designed so that, after a rotation, you untwist the flying lines by spinning the bar then untwist the double depower rope when you sheet in. Unfortunately, the tension on the BBW et al is such that the depower rope gets chewed up - if you use it in the appropriate method. You can untwist by hand but that sucks.

Here's an exploded view of Holden's needle bearing mod. It shows the setup nicely. The CL is connected to the black thing, the red hat and spring go onto the T-tube that has the double depower line looped around it.

Melting candle wax into the line (more on that at a later date, perhaps) helps keep it slippery; grease or other gunk down there is an option too but washes away and perversely attracts gunk and grit. IMHO the best option is simply to make the bar spin more freely.

Various teflon washer, ceramic or needle-bearings have been suggested but the greatest results have been obtained from using thrust bearings such as the MTBS-816 from here http://torquetrans.com/thrust-bearings/ss-metric-thrust-bearings.mgi ... be aware that they ONLY use UPS and shipping 1lbs (454g) of 8 sets to Japan was going to cost me $85 :D For $12, I got them to ship to a buddy in the US (thanks stetson!) and he sent them here ... for $2.59.

The problem - kinda - comes in putting it all together ... I went a bit mad with my digital calipers trying to work it all out.
Originally, the BBW + jam nut + nyloc nut = very close to 15mm. Breaking it down, the BBW is 0.75mm, jam nut is 6mm and the nyloc nut is 7.5mm.
The thrust-bearing stack (washer-bearing-washer) is 5mm tall. If you try to use the original stainless steel nyloc nut, you have to find a 1.5mm jam nut! Obviously no good.

You can't ditch the BBW cos it covers the pin that holds in the CL. And it's an odd diameter, something like 23mm so if you wish to drop a washer from the bearing stack and use a big stainless washer, then you - or rather, I - have to grind down a big stainless steel washer (BSSW) of 25mm diameter and bore a hole in the middle for the M8 thread of the bar doohickey. I wrecked a drill bit and over-heated and warped the washer I was experimenting on ... oops. So that bit is possible, at any rate. That leaves you with having to find only a 4mm jam nut ... get busy with a vise and file!
Solution 1 : grind and drill your own BSSW, use bearing-washer, file down a stainless nut to 4mm and use the OEM nyloc nut.

Less demanding of elbow grease is the option I tested the other day ... I bought the only little bag of nyloc nuts I could find in hardware stores in Japan and simply bolted it onto the stack above the BBW. The nyloc nut though is not (or does not look like) stainless steel, maybe zinc coated or something. It's also taller than the OEM nyloc nut at 9mm and the lip at the top where the nylon ring is, is taller than the OEM nyloc nut - if you wanted to file this down, you'd end up with a very slim hex part.
Solution 2 : keep the BBW, use the full thrust-bearing stack, add the M8 non-stainless nyloc nut ... and some thread-locking compound.

Those are the two options that most appeal to me - you could also use 2 short M8 stainless nuts or file them down a bit ...
Solution 3 : BSSW, 2/3 thrust-bearing stack, 2x filed down M8 nuts.

I'm of the opinion that so long as the thrust-bearing is doing its job and spinning freely the torque on the solitary nyloc nut is minimal and easily secures the rig ... and some thread-lock for paranoia! So I'm of the opinion that for ease of install and use, Solution 2 is the best option. Only time will tell if the components hold up to the water and work-out ...

Also, I prefer a nyloc nut on the end of the stack because, as you can almost make out in the pictures below, tightening the T-tube doohickey so the end of the thread stays in the nylon ring should stop it eating up the FLS line. One other thing to note too is at the other end of the CL and QR gubbins ... with the original setup, there's a bit of slack in there - the black CL holder has free-play on the T-tube. I think this is necessary because the welds on the stopper for the spring stand proud, and if it was all tightened up snug the black CL holder couldn't spin freely. It's also handy because it'll let the holder move around and should enable grit to be washed out of the bearing stack.

Someone put a thrust bearing at the end of the black tube but that's totally necessary I reckon as when the CL is under load, it's pulling the CL holder down and the kite is pulling the T-tube up - the only stress will be ... exactly where the thrust bearing is!

Here are the pics of what I've got. Crappy cell phone cos I can't find memory cards/chargers/batteries for the cameras at home that can do a proper macro.

 

After all that I bet you want to know how it all works? Well, it's bloody sweet! Spins perfectly, very smooth. Easy to untwist lines - too easy in fact! My first few uses, the bar spun so easily that my reactions hadn't accounted for the smoothness and I'd grabbed the bar backwards ... PLOP drove the kite into the water!

What pretty much happens is that the depower line simply untwists itself when you spin the bar to untwist the lines. An added bonus is that the bits rotate with the bar, so the CL stays square on your harness while the bar moves around ... neato! Well worth all the hassle involved of getting the bits ...!

UPDATE : 10th of April, 2012
Should've gotten to this sooner...

When I got back from NZ (and using the 21 in the salt water) I had with me some stainless steel nyloc nuts. I got around to replacing the zinc ones finally...

Actually, that's not true at all. I bought some SS nylocs in NZ but couldn't find them. So I went to the excruciating process of ordering some here in Japan... When they arrived, they were taller again than the zinc ones (???) at about 12mm.
Eventually - after replacing all the zinc ones with the new Japan-bought SS nuts - I found the ones I bought in NZ... in a ziploc bag of camera chargers and cables :-/ Murphy, you bugger.
So again, I replaced all the Japan-SS nuts with the NZ-SS nuts - which were shorter than all the other ones :o more like the original FSer ones.
Le sigh.

So the big news was that the zinc nut corroded like crap in the salt water. It looked furry and nasty and left a rust stain on the SS washer and green gunk on the brass one. The rust and gunk all wiped off easily though and the bearing itself was still super-sweet!

Despite having only one nut, it hasn't shifted at all... and I don't expect it to - so long as the bearing spins :)

Gusty again

Similar forecast as yesterday but it looked consistent all day, sitting at 8m/s ...

It's mah birthday so I left work early, at 3pm and hit the lake. Apparently, it wasn't early enough cos everyone told me that it was better before I arrived :(

Thought I'd play it safe and set up the Crossbow 13. Initially it was a good choice, I was having fun on the Flyradical but the big jumps were tiddlers and then the wind dropped so I got the Flydoor. Then the wind started gusting again like a mad man, up and down ...

And then I had to ride in strapless again o_0 goddam Flyboards footstrap broke again, this time permanently. I wasn't going to moan about the cosmetic breakages but this is becoming a trend! All I was doing was riding along when I felt it loosen up ... then when I went to tighten it, the buckle was already outside the cover :(

Got the Flyradical again and tried to go out, but it just wasn't working ... I might have had more luck with the Crossbow 16, I think :( oh well, next time.

Packed up early and came home before the sun had set :o not often that happens!

Moment of the Day was easily doing back-roll down-loop transistions. Of a sort ...

Wind strength was recorded as 15 falling to 12 knots ... yeah that explains it!


What I learned today ...
• If Fujii-san is powered on his 10, I need my 13. If he's not powered but still riding, I need my 16. If he's not riding, I need my 21. If he's doing all three in the same session, I need to give up and go home :D
• Buckle/pull straps on the Flyboards suck ... velcro is the only good idea IMHO. Because they're easier to adjust should be enough but as they require less force to do their thing, there's less option of being ripped off ...

EDIT : here's a pic of what happened to the strap. It could be fixed, but FSer is sending me a new one. Nice one!

Random stuff

DIY - this time, QR and CL

Thought I could add the Switch QR/CL to the PL Navigator bars ... a mixed bag of results. Here's why ...

• The QR/CL uses the same double depower rope and safety through the center - that all works fine, plugs'n'plays no worries.

• The PL CL has a larger diameter hole (7 or 8mm versus 5mm) through the body to cope with the heat-shrink that covers the line where the thicker safety joins the thinner safety - that gets stuck at the hole to the Switch QR body. I cut the heat-shrink off and it glides through fine ... the stitching could probably be improved with some whipping if necessary. I tried to drill the hole out - I got it out to 5.5mm but then my drill bits were melting and the tube was deforming :o
• Solution to the hole problem : drill it out (meh) or replace the entire safety line with the 3mm Amsteel. Which makes me wonder why they didn't do that in the first place ...? The only issue I see of NOT drilling it out, is if you go for a shortened V setup - it may not get through easy :(


http://switchkites.com/warehouse_comp/product_info.php?cPath=28&products_id=67
Oh I've just noticed that they've dropped the Complete QR from their parts page ... so basically, all this is moot. Sucky.
EDIT : back up. Great!


I'll try the whole thing out on a light wind day, anyway. So there you have it. And here are the pics ...

Switch QR/CL

Peter Lynn Navigator QR/CL

The tricky bits ... pull the cam cleat out of the sock, note that the depower line is finished with a square-knot and sheep-shanked to the cleat and that the stopper ball is knotted with a bow-line. Easy o_0
Then undo the square-knot and feed it all out.

Loop the depower line around the swivel in the Switch QR/CL then reassemble. Note the order. And note that the stopping slider block in default configuration has the holes closer together at the bar end ... make sure to get the square-knot and sheep-shank tight and compact.

Finished!

UPDATE

After a bout of paranoia, I went back to the PL chicken loop - the hole through the Switch QR just wasn't big enough and required removal of the heat shrink covering the stitched loops of the safety line to fit through. Which got me worried about wear on the ends ... I should probably find a way to nicely splice them into each other.

In the interim, I've decided that I need to either drill the hole out PROPERLY with a drill press and some lube before I attempt it again.

Also, I've realized that the somewhat bulky and messy (IMHO) cam cleat could be replaced with the Switch "Regulator" and offer adjustable depower throw and trim range :D

... a project for the coming winter ;)

Saved by the Flysurfer!

Been watching the forecasts like a hawk - as usual. Saturday and Sunday promised a little low wind but were total washouts - Saturday, the wind never shifted from southerlies and Sunday, the wind never picked up enough to be ridable. Everyone said Monday was going to be the day ...

Kept an eye on the webcam and the forecast ... was going to be light wind but looked ridable so I headed down after work. Looks like another job for - Flysurfer! Out comes the Silberpfeil, and I drag the Psycho4 15 over to the beach - just in case. I also take both the Flydoor and the Flyradical ... options, you'll recall, are important!

Probably on the water by about 4pm. No wetsuit, just shorts, rashgaurd and t-shirt. Water isn't cold at all, just refreshing. The SA2 launches easily, inflates nicely and seems to have enough power. Everyone hits the water at once, and we diddle about for a few tacks underpowered. I'm going on a downwinder but the wind has just picked up enough to be riding ... the water's so-ooo flat! Working hard to make the tacks head upwind but I drift halfway down the beach until the wind picks up enough to hold a beam reach ... now I can start to play!

Wind picks up a little more and I make up my lost ground. Then it lulls and while I'm still riding - albeit on a broad reach now - the LEIs are falling from the sky ... a 2009 North Rebel 14 and a 2012 Naish Charger 15 get a swim to shore for their lack of low end ;)

And so it goes until about 6:45pm - wind is up and down, sometimes walking, sometimes upwind. I have fun riding toe-side in the butter flat water, throwing out some load'n'pops and trying to jump ... the timing is tough with the big foil; I get some average heights but of course, mad hang time! I swap between the Flyradical and 'door as the wind goes up and down and Soh ends up nabbing the 'radical cos it's better in the low-wind than his Hadlow Pro thingy. Guy with the Zephyr on the large directional is doing fine, making good ground upwind - I got to try one of those!

Eventually, I'm struggling to stay upwind and running out of beach and daylight so I pack it in. The wind never got up enough to consider the P4 but I had a great time anyway. Just as well, cos the forecast for the rest of the week looks crappy :(

JMA recorded the wind speed as 2.3 to 4.5 m/s (4.5 to 9 knots). Yikes! Praise Jesus for the big foil!

Here are some pics - not from today, but it's the same person (me) in the same gear with the same kite ...!






What I learned today ...
• Sharks are great glasses! I love them!
• Wetsuit season is OVER - time to break out the new Fusion!
• Timing jumps with the SA is tough but rewarding when you get it right.
• In light wind, sending from 2 or 10 is super effective!
• Screw up that jump? Coming in for a crooked landing? Just land toeside or blind and ride off - how cool is that?!
• Looks like about a 5-6 knot difference in low-end between the two boards ...?

Stack much?

Why the hell not :D 48m of kite!



But wait, there's more!


Cos over the top is never far enough :D

Charge! Argh!

Things ... they move slowly but they do move. Took a while to sell of enough Synergy's to fund the upgrade to Chargers, but it's happening slowly. Here is the story of the first to arrive.

"What are the odds!?"

The postman ... they come in the middle of the day when, of course, nobody is home and leave an "Undelivered Notice" which means I have to call and get the post office to redeliver it sometime between 7 and 9 in the evening.

Now the amazing thing is that they ALWAYS seem to arrange it so that mail arrives at the house on a Tuesday - when I have to work late and can't be home before 8:30pm ... which means I have to either wait until Wednesday night for them to redeliver, or go in and pick it up Wednesday morning and deal with the utter retards behind the counter. Being only slightly more tolerant than impatient, Wednesday morning I left the house 5 minutes earlier than usual and went in and picked up the light-rasta Peter Lynn Charger 15 that arrived - on a Tuesday, of course - from Spain for me.

"I wonder what the weather is up to?"

Very light work load today; I'd planned on goofing off and meddling with my slightly broken Psycho3 13 and unpacking the Charger and having an Ooh-Aah Ogle session when about 11am I wondered what the wind would be doing today ... checked the Yahoo! Weather page and was disappointed with the prediction of 1m/s but checked GPV anyway - whoa! 10m/s northerlies from 2pm!

Crap, my swim suits are at home wet in a puddle at the bottom of my harness bucket. Check the air temp forecast to see if I've got an excuse to pussy out. Nope, 8 degrees C - that should be ... survivable. Ok I'll make a run for home during my lunch hour, wash my gear to get the lake funk out of it and hopefully dry it out a little from the spin cycle. Done.

"Say hello to my little friend!"

Got to the beach at 4:30pm and I'm all alone - nobody else is there but the wind is crankin'! How odd ... could it be because IT'S FREEZING you freaking dolt!

I get changed and unpack my secret weapon against wind-chill - the jacket of the $40 rain suit I bought from the local DIY store ... in 2003 :D it's done me good service on the bike but it doesn't breath at all - which is good and bad.

Unroll the 15m Charger ...




Check the bag ... says 15 yup - gee it's small! Maybe I'm just used to looking at the 19m Synergy all the time, but I swear it looks too small to be a 15! Sticks in (ah that's why it was sold - spar cap stuck in the sleeve! :D ) set the straps to 1/2 all round and the VPC second knot from the top - too cold to stand around checking the manual to see if that's right. Fills quickly.

"Who ordered the Clam Chowder?"

Thinking the kite is totally full, I close the zip then go back and to put my harness on, hook into the bar and get ready to launch. Dither a bit trying to decide if I should use some trim or not, cos the rear leaders looked muy short - the Synergy launched best with no trim but had pigtails ... the Charger does not. Go for about 2 inches of trim.

Line comes off clean, tip comes up and for a few milliseconds, it looks all good - then the kite clams up. Flaps around while I try the tricks - more trim, less trim, jerk the center lines, jerk the bar, run backwards, run forwards ... I get close on occasion - close to a bow-tie too :D - but eventually I get it into the air. Phew!

Pulling hard, good lofts so should be good to go on the water.

"Skunked in the shift!"

Water is cold but my poo-hoo jacket does its job! Wind is almost directly onshore (NE) so I gotta walk it out a fair way ... kite is a bit twitchy while I get the board on, probably cos I'm rushing to get out of the water! Finally get it done, dive the kite and off we go.

Working it like a mofo but I'm not getting upwind away from the beach. Make one turn, head back and am making ground now. Another turn, more ground. Turn again, heading down the beach but the wind has definitely gone ... while walking back up the beach, it almost dies off completely.

Stand around on the beach playing with kite kite, enjoying the sunshine and trying to warm my right hand up. Wind changes direction and is now NW and finally, the 9m/s has arrived!

"Warp factor 9, Mr Sulu!"

With the wind cross-shore, I ride out only a short distance ... fighting my way through the breakers is tough, I'm going downwind a lot to keep speed in the kite and board - every bounce over a wave costs me ground upwind and pull from the kite.

On the turn to head back in - sweet mother of mercy! the Charger screams across the window so fast I almost don't have time to get myself pointed back in the other direction before it's pulling so hard and shooting into the wind!

We're off like a race horse heading back to the shore! Riding with the waves, the water is flatter so we're really hauling ass! The beach is rushing towards me - I edge hard, shoot upwind for a bit, stall the kite then send it back the other way for another burst of mad speed!

This kite is so fast and reacts so quickly ... take eyes off it for a second, look back at it and I'm diving it straight at the water LE down, and I swear - without a meter or two of a crash I've turned it and sent it back up again! Bar pressure for the turns is lighter than Synergy, more like a big LEI but is a bit heavier on the sheet-in, like my FSers on "Hard" WAC ... which is probably a good thing!

Out and back a few times, on to the beach to warm my hands up ... then back out again. Repeat until the sun is starting to slip behind the hills ...

A quick review ... wind was about 7 to 10m/s.
I think the 15m Charger will rock in 10m/s plus ie. over 20 knots constant. So it probably won't get much use around here :(
Charger is faster than the Synergy through the window and in response to turn input - the near-crash and recovery happened a couple of times!
Holds a tighter line through the corner and pulls harder on the way through than a Synergy, I reckon - speed sure is power!
Less bar pressure than the Synergy - more like a heavy LEI, although sheeting in hard was an effort - that was more like a Flysurfer on "Hard" WAC setting.
Auto-zenith is no more or less vague than the Synergy IMHO; hunting from left to right but generally "up".
Think it needs pigtails - will ask the experts.
The little jumps I did on land seemed very floaty, compared to the Synergy. May just have been the wind but when the water is less cold and I won't mind being dunked in it - we'll see!

"Oh that's why it was so cold!"

Drag my gear back across the road, looking forward to a warm shower at the club house but - the water is all off! Bah. Probably a good thing cos the pins'n'needles as my skin reacts to the hot water is unpleasant. I get back into dry clothes and head home.

Within a few hours, we've got snow again ... 2 inches fall overnight. Bah humbug.

What I learned today ...
• Winter isn't over yet.
• Rain suit is the bomb for keeping wind-chill down ... wonder if they do gloves? Should find the pants too :D
• Charger - so fast, lots of power with the speed but it's like a 2-stroke - gotta rev it up! Gotta rev ME up!
• Gotta work on the launch.
• I think the 19m is also going to suffer from the lament of the arc - 15 knots or more for anything groovy to happen. But it'll be fun trying!
• Charger will be awesome when I can get some flat-water riding in ... it's hard work in choppy conditions keeping speed in kite and board.

Notes to self on DIY of the Megatron chicken loop for Flysurfer bars

With pictures and more or less information.

Update - ordered some Samson LashIt! twine from the US ... made from Dyneema and UV coated, 180 feet for $25 plus the same for shipping 0_o 1.75mm and 500lbs (230kg) breaking load - just what the doctor ordered! Hopefully :D and there should be much less grunting and swearing involved ...
Update on the update - LashIt! has arrived and looks excellent - adds very little to the thickness of the 5mm and oddly enough, looks exactly like what is used in the Flysurfer depower line ... will get into making a line tonight and promise to take pictures!

Supplies
• About 150cm of 5mm (3/16) Amsteel Blue SK-75, breaking load 2,500kg for the depower loop line
• and 100cm of 2.8 of Amsteel Blue SK-75, breaking load 750kg for the "core" ... probably the 2.2mm LashIt! would have been better than the 1.75mm but cest la vie and all that.
• 5/8mm ID/OD PU tubing - goes under the spinning handle and is easier than reusing the Ozone stuff ... it's just compressor line anyway
• Ozone Megatron chicken loop (duh) with the "Spinning Handle" for the 5th line safety
• Heat-shrink (or whipping line - synthetic)
• Needles and thread (synthetic too)

Tools
• Long-nosed pliers
• DIY pull fid - made from coated 20-gauge wire, put the end you want a loop in, in a drill and spun slowly till at least 1m long
• tie ball to push the tubing, about 20mm

0. Skip all this crap and use the Beal line. The easiest option by a country mile, but 1,200kg breaking load bothers me ...

1. Cut the PU tubing to fit inside the "Spinning Handle" - about 6cm long.

2. Taper the end of the 5mm Amsteel ...
• measure and mark at 70mm, 90mm and 110mm
• pull out 2 braids at each mark, starting at 110mm and working towards the tip
• should leave about 3-4 lines at the tip - if there's more, pull out a few more between the marks - keep the taper smooth!

 


3. Splice the 'core' into the 5mm Amsteel with the wire fid. Leave some sticking out on either end so you can pull it tight.

 

4. Start the lock stitch about 5mm from where you plan to cut. Slide the heat-shrink over the 5mm. Stitch out away from where you'll cut, then when you turn around to stitch back, cut and heat-shrink it then stitch back to the end and over the heat shrink.

5. Figure-8 knot in that end - that'll be going inside the CL body.

 

6. Remove the suicide-leash loop. Feed the tapered end of the 5mm up into the body of the CL, orientated so that the knot will be inside. Pull the 5mm though, smoothing it over the core. Pull hard to seat the Figure-8 stopper knot.

7. Feed the tapered end of the 5mm into the PU tube - twist and push!

 

8. If all goes well, the gods are smiling, the planets align and you hold your tongue just right - you should be able to pull out the 5mm and slide the PU over the taper, down the line and over the part with the core. From here on, use the ball-thingy to push the PU tube down to the CL body. Smooth out the 5mm over the core and seat it hard against the body of the CL.

9. Fit the spinning handle onto the PU tubing ... using a smaller core makes life easier - zero strain with the 1.75mm LashIt!. Leave the screws just snugged-up for now.

10. Make sure the 5mm is smooth and taught over the core; measure 40cm from the spinning handle body (40cm is standard for FS kites - J. suggests 40-45cm; my SA2.5 is 48cm) and then figure out how much you need for a Bowline ...

11. Cut the line off square and secure the tip with heat-shrink or whipping - and lock stitch ... I had planned to cut 1.1m of 5mm and end up with 1m of depower line but somehow it ended up as a finished length of 70cm which is about perfect - you can easily (kinda!) tie a bowline at the trim strap and still have 45cm of depower. That's before it's put under load and tightens up ...

 


12. Feed the depower line through the bar, fit the gust absorber and feed/pull through the trim strap - make sure there's some 8mm OD PU tubing in there!

13. Bowline at the trim strap. Get it tight! It'll all snug up on the next flight, so be prepared to adjust front leader lines or mixer 0_o'

14. Tidy it all up; refit the suicide-leash loop, tighten the screws on the spinning handle (make sure it and the PU tubing is seated hard against the CL body), cover the gust absorber.



15. Go fly! Check to stretch etc and SailKote the line!

There's a Psycho in my closet!

The Flysurfer Psycho3 13 I bought used from an Italian in the navy arrived yesterday ... unrolled it today to pack it up nice. Bar needs a bit of attention but for the price, the kite is in great condition! Enjoy the pics :)