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 :(

Surprisingly good . . .

. . . session today, despite the summer wind and my pig-headed determination to use the 10m kite. The weather station said 10 knots when I got off the water and that was when I was feeling ok powered.

Basically, I was totally shocked that I could ride at all, as the kite just stayed in the sky and I had a rough time relaunching--had to swim some to get the kite to the edge of the window and carefully jiggle the line to get it up :o

But had a nice time riding around. Really notice the difference already, between the LF and the SS foil . . . am thinking, if I can tame the SS it might be epic. I noticed the lack of pitch stability today.

Funny thing . . . I was on the 10m tube, and the other guy on the LF foil was on an 11m Sonic and we were well matched :D

Showing off for the uninitiated

Off to the ocean. Good forecast didn't arrive, but I got some just-powered foiling. 10 knots in summer is only just enough.

Had a swim with mother, then tried the TT as the wind had picked up . . . under-powered. Oh well.

Grassed me up

Mie again. Risked the rain forecast later in the day, for the hope of the good wind at 3. Didn't come but I got 4 hours of riding on the foil. Tried to get my Duke on in the windy bits but it wasn't happening.

Grass in the water was a drag (ha!) so it was a buckin' bronco time out there as it stuck to the mast and sucked bubbles down, but I got some good foot changes and gybes done. The 13m LEI was wrong and I really want new kites now.

Snapped the depower rope on the 55cm bar, which I knew was coming as it was badly frayed :D I flew the kite to shore just fine so that's good to know how all that goes. Now I get to figure out how to repair it or at least if it's worth the effort.

Changed to the 48cm bar--and the shorter lines!--which sucked further but I rode another hour until I'd had enough finally.

More of the same but better

Another session at Tsu, forecast for 3 p.m. looked better than yesterday.

Got to the beach, and there's Jun and 3 other guys getting foils ready. Neat! Wind was super-light though, bit annoying. Set up the foil again, but gambling that the wind would pick up, I took the 15 to ride.

Flailed around in the water again, with no success and so I came in for the 21. As I launched, the wind dropped right off and the other guys kites started hitting the water. Jun couldn't relaunch and the other guys (Diablo, Chrono) just made it back to shore. I helped Jun untangle his lines and by that time, the wind had come up a little.

I reckoned I could cope with the 21, so I headed out as the guinea pig. Yep, riding ok. Nice cruise around . . . the wind picks up so I go back for the 15. More excellent cruising; nailed a lot of my foot changes . . . hmm.

Jun dropped his kite again for a longer swim, and it felt like it started to rain so I called it a day. Rain didn't appear so I could have gone longer but oh well.

So . . . early . . .

Good forecast at Tsu, so I trucked out early (9 a.m.) after very few hours sleep. Wind was ok but not up to the forecast--I wanted to ride the Duke but there was no waves. Tide was very low and going out, the wind was ok though.

So I went out on the foil and the 12, but I thought I'd try the rear wing further forward . . .

Yeuch. Too twitchy and reactive to the boiling ocean. So it was an OK session but it could have been better! It was good to chase Jun around on the water though!

I love the D

Over the hills and far away.

Jun had just finished his morning session; he was out on the foil. I was hoping for the Duke ride and got lucky--the wind picked up and I had a rocking good session on the D for two hours, hackin' and slashin'.

Took a break, thinking I'd have a little fun on the 15 and the TT but the wind died away and it sucked so I packed up and came home.

I need a bigger surfboard

Brilliant forecast. Total let down. Well, not total cos I stayed at the Yacht Harbor for 3 hours and did manage to hit some good "waves" but it was up and down again, and I spent a lot of time going downwind and being annoyed. Wanted a break from the foil and wanted to ride the waves, but the weather had other ideas. . . .

Missed most of the rain

Sloped off to Mie early in the morning (9am) to catch the wind before the rain and hang out with Jun. It was li-iiight as but we did well, then it picked up some and I tried to ride the Duke. Didn't work so I went home.

Lighter but better...?!

One more time to Tsu. Forecast was for lighter wind but it turned out pretty good, actually. My timing was better, to catch the squalls, so I had a nice time on the foil until the wind filled in a bit, then I played silly buggers on the TT. Gravy.

April fooled by the wind

New work schedule gave me the afternoon off . . . off to Tsu!

Gah. Wind died as I was on the way over the hills, down from 16 to 10 knots. Went out with the 15 and took the TT to the shore just in case, but I only got some gentle riding on the foil till it dropped off again. Oh well.

Look where you're going. Early...

Carefully timed my trip over to Tsu, narrowly avoided a traffic jam on the highway, but it looked like I'd missed the wind. It'd dropped from 10 knots to 00.2m/s... o_0

Checked the radar forecast again, and thought I'd wait it out till 3, as there's a dark line on the horizon where the wind should be... It pays off, as the wind comes in and ripples the water, and I can see some white-caps out there. I gear up, build the board, strap myself into the harness...and dither about which kite to use. Not supposed to pick up, but I don't want to be over-powered on the foil.

Went with the 12. Couldn't get up on the board at first (3 to 6 knots according to the club weather station), took a break for a few minutes, then tried again as the wind picked up a little. Better.

Wind gradually picked up to the point I thought about getting the TT but then dropped again till it died about 5pm. So, 8 to 12 knots, gusts to 20 apparently.

Tried the fuselage on the shorter setting. I spent less time bouncing right out of the water and more time having fun. Like, tack after tack of going heel to toe, then back to heel...without falling :o so that was pretty rad. Had a LOT of fun riding the swell. I KNOW I'm riding the swell, cos if I'm not on the ball of my balance, I wobble badly as I lose pull from the kite. And bouncing off the swell is neat-o.

Even managed a surface foot switch...took like 20 seconds to shuffle around the board and straps, but I got there in the end.

Speaking of straps, I think it's time to lose at least the back one. Fell over and tweaked my ankles--both of them. The tried to heel-to-toe on my goofy side and screwed the balance; the board fell downwind, I fell upwind and...ouch.

Speaking of falling and ouch, finally fell on the fins. Wasn't going fast enough and not enough power in the kite to get over them. Wing in the ribs, stabilizer into my calf. The latter is very painful still...

Speaking of latter, that's not the time to get your head around. SO much smoother and easier whipping the head around and waiting for the body to follow.

No more, I promise.

Pride Goeth

Good forecast in the morning, dying off in the p.m... I bum-rushed the ocean beach at Tsu when the wife finished her horsing around in the morning. Got there about 1, set the board up as the other guys were leaving. Decided on the 12m Speed3 because...well, James inspired me and I wanted to check it's range.

Mmm, might be a bit much. Whee! boing test has a lot of pop...suck it up bitch!

Turns out to be good, but oh my! the turbulence in the ocean is more aggressive than the lake swell; I get bounced around and have a hard time foiling out.

Struggle out, get away from the waves and have a nice time for about an hour. I make barely any gybes though, and I feel very out of sorts...

Decide on a break to mount the camera (says GoPro in the tags, but is actually the ROAM2), as I figure I've gathered all the mojo I'm going to.

Oh shit, the wind has dropped and continues to drop until I'm floundering and swearing...not a good look. Give up in disgust.

Weather report says 15 falling to 8 knots; the station at the yacht club was saying 14 when I arrived and SFA when I left. Range on the 12 is good, but it needs extensions.

Enjoy the vid... No audio because iMovie iSucks.

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This time, a giant rubber cock

Good forecast didn't pan out but it was ok. First real ride on the directional in ocean waves... well, if you can't do little strapless airs you could be in trouble, instead of having a hoot. Waves weren't up to much but we're good for hopping and floating over.

Spent the first hour downwinding and walking, which is where I tripped over the latex rod of love. After I'd had enough of the walking, I landed the kite and took the ROAM2 of so naturally, the wind then picked right up and the riding improved...

Dropped off again so I packed up at sunset.

Sonic BOOM

Typhoon forecast was all jacked up -- last night it looked great all day, this morning it looked weak as. I'd pretty much given up on it as a bad joke, but had been messaging with Jun in Mie during the day. He reckoned 4 pm would be good, and I had the time free so I rocked on over.

Bloody glad I did... Jun offered to let me use the Sonic 18 he's borrowed, so long as I could pack it away dry :D it got soaked on the weekend. High tide, low wind, hot launch...

It was 6 knots when I got out of the car, and it picked up to 16 when I got back in. At first, I filled the kite and struggled with the tips a bit, then was surprised by how much pull it actually had. Hmm...

Got out in the light wind, a loop to get up and planing (!) and away across the beach. Got halfway back to my starting point then headed back out. Can feel the wind picking up, and I'm actually GOING UPWIND WHILE WORKING THE KITE! Amazing...

Wind continues to pick up, I go upwind easier, the jumps get bigger, the hang time longer... bloody amazing kite! It's a little more stable, and a little more twitchy, than the Speed3 but in different ways. Teeny bit more bar pressure I reckon, but more responsive. I want one.

Had to pack up as Jun was going home... didn't want to stop.

My thanks to the truck driver who threw a tantrum after I overtook you -- great comedy, I laughed mightily at your antics.

:(

Forecast looked ok, but I got ripped off. A handful of tacks, barely going upwind, for about 30 minutes. The racer boys impressed with the foil boards -- Sonic 11 guy was amazing.

On top of that, it rained so I have a soggy kite with no chance of drying it out cos it's rained every day since we got home...!

Sea Day. At the sea side. Dodging the sea life.

Thought the weather forecast has stuffed me, but after waiting til it felt like the right time, then relaunching the kite for one last time before giving up, the wind came in as predicted.

Light but went upwind with fun for a while, then slowly downwind with fun til I just couldn't get back upwind.

Goddam fish jumping out everywhere at me... think I sconed a couple with the board, so take that.

Wussy-phoon

Supposed to be psycho, but if it wasn't for the gusts I would have been on the Speed3 15. Surf was big so that was fun. Jumps were ok but the gusty wind meant it was like flying through turbulence.

Got dunked once and dragged, then later thought my harness was broken. Turned out the battle belt had gotten caught somehow so it all worked out in the end. After the wedgies had gotten too much and I packed up.

Guess where

Tsu again. Started good for a while then died off, but had a nice time.

Got pulled over the board, couldn't get my foot out of the strap and it broke. Sigh. Rode another hour like that til the wind was naff.

Fun! at Tsu again

Weather delivered a whole lot better than the forecast, so that was nice.

Arrived just ahead of Jun, who's training for the race this weekend. I, on the other hand, planned to have fun.

Good enough for the 15 and the Limited; not epic but I'm having a nice time for maybe an hour, then the wind drops. Take a break, Jun lands the kite for me, then he heads home. I noodle around on the 'door (middle straps better, but board feels so heavy!) for a whole, then the wind picks up so I get back on the Limited.

Not epic, as I said, but I really enjoyed myself... doing my tricks, playing with the waves - fun!