Wind Journal

Posterous POST

2008-09-02T18:09:00.001-07:00

AHA!!! it WORKS!!!

Posted by email from kitevc's posterous

test post from posterous

2008-09-02T18:07:00.001-07:00

this will simplify my life

Posted by email from kitevc's posterous

Kiting Las Terrenas and La Boca, D.R.

2008-07-04T09:15:00.000-07:00

Here's Las Terrenas, 2 hours by car east of Cabarete:

And La Boca, near Cabarete, Dominican Republic :

Kiteboarding Puerto Vallarta

2008-04-04T23:53:00.000-07:00

This is a literal translation of beach descriptions from Spanish to English from the Spanish site : Kiteboard Mexico - Puerto Vallarta Beaches

WHITE FIG TREE: An ample Beach, of pure white sand and the clean sea. Located of the side of Nayarit and Outside the bay of flags. Perfect for those days impossible to practice kite inside of the bay; this it is a perfect place for the wind of the North, which sticks 30 degrees of the right; Great in winter, single for intervals or advanced waves, the novices single those days that the waves do not estan great; A little remote but is worth the trouble and is little people. The Temperature of the water is of tropical climate, all the year you can use single shorts. LEVEL: Nascent - Advanced.
LIKE ARRIVING: Of Bucerias to follow the highway Tepic and to leave in the deviation to the Cross Huanacaxtle that this like 3 a kms; to follow by that highway during 15 kms approx towards Mita End, until the corner of the Four Seasons, in where there is a breach to the right that has a signboard and says White Fig tree; to follow the breach like 3 kms and to arrive until a paved way at the left, to follow the way until the field of beisbol, to follow straight laderecha and of ahi until the beach. Of 25 to 30 minutes of Bucerias.
PRECAUTIONS: With people in the beach, the beach is ample but wind down is pure rocks. THAT TO EAT: The Gilded one (seafood): one is in the Small anchor, leaving the breach of White Fig tree of return, to give return to the right towards Mita End until the bottom of the highway. 5 minutes.

BLACK END: An incredible Beach, of pure white sand and the clean super sea. Located of the side of Nayarit and Outside the bay of flags. Perfect for those days impossible to practice kite inside of the bay; this it is a perfect place for the wind of the North, which front sticks like a 15 degrees of the right; It is common in winter that are waves in the border, mainly good to jump, which sometimes makes difficult the exit for the nascent ones; A little remote but is worth the trouble and is little people. The Temperature of the water is of tropical climate, all the year you can use single shorts.
LEVEL: Nascent - Advanced.
LIKE ARRIVING: Of Bucerias to follow the highway Tepic and to leave in the deviation to the Cross Huanacaxtle that this like 3 a kms; to follow by that highway during 15 kms approx towards Mita End, until the corner of the Four Seasons, in where there is a breach to the right that has a signboard and says White Fig tree; to follow the breach like 2 kms and after the second bridge to take the breach to the left until the bottom, in where they take the way to the left, until finding the parking like a 300mts, if this closed to continue until the end of the way. He is as 3 kms before White Fig tree and is same small bahia. Of 25 to 30 minutes of Bucerias. PRECAUTIONS: With people in the beach. THAT TO EAT: The Gilded one (seafood): one is in the Small anchor, leaving the breach of White Fig tree of return, to give return to the right towards Mita End until the bottom of the highway. 5 minutes.

DESTILADERAS: A very extensive Beach, of white sand like all those of the zone of mita end. Located of the side of Nayarit in the right flank of bahia; it is characterized being the first place that blow in the season, with winds of the very strong West and the Northwest which they beat of flank to the beach, all the year has waves that go of a meter to three meters when a good swell arrives, excellent to jump them, although they do not run very well in the zone of wind; Once in a while it blows but front at the Southwestern beach and it is possible to be arrived at the point from surf in sources, that this located to the bottom to the right of the Beach. Warm and very clean water, one can do kite near the whales, of the months of January to March, since they live generally of there to the Marietas islands, that are to kilometers of the beach. The Beach in full vacacional season of people, but single a piece, the recommended place, is like a half of the Beach in where there is almost no people and It sticks the Wind very well.
LEVEL: Interval - Advanced.
LIKE ARRIVING: Of Bucerias to follow the highway Tepic and to leave in the deviation to the Cross Huanacaxtle that this like 3 a kms; to follow by that highway during 7 kms approx towards Mita End, of the left side sides the Beach without difficulty, and its name to the entrance of the Restaurants, that is the destination and access to the beach, since the other entrances are private; arriving at the beach mts walks like 500 and there it is the best point, also you can do it near the restaurants but the days no that much people are bathing in the beach. If you want to pay, to 200 meters of the restaurants by the highway, sides the entrance of Club Regina the Beach (Sources), that has ponds, and services, they receive approximately $250, pesos by person per day with right to some drink and towel. Destiladeras is to 15 minutes of Bucerias. PRECAUTIONS: With people in the beach. With the wind that blows of side to the Beach and if you have problems to raise your papalote or you move away to much and the low wind, the same wind and the current direct to you towards the center of the Bay that are many Kilometers, and after that Beach it is difficult to leave because it follows a cliff until the Cross of Huanacaxtle, with very small Beaches. Novices single with somebody of support in case of an emergency. Of the side of sources that is the point of surf and a Beach Club, the wind enters with rotor by flank hills, but once in the water there is no problem (advanced). SURF: Of the Right side of the Beach is an excellent point to surfear, this of the side of sources.
THAT TO EAT: In the Restaurants of the Beach, they have good Fish and Seafood Generally, or in Sources, that are Club Regina the Beach.

WINGS OF THE SEA: (FOR SALE INFORMATION AQUI), it is located to the right flank of Bucerias, in fact beaten; but that zone is called Beaches of Huanacaxtle. It arrives and at the right of the bay this the Cross of Huanacaxtle. The Cross of to have the sea but calmed Huanacaxtle is the zone along with, to be in the border and the low zone but of the bay. The wind that predominates is of the West, with a small variation between the North and the South that beats constantly of half-full of March until half-full of Julio, is the same wind that in bucerias but with the sea less mincemeat, the intensity is perhaps a little smaller but it is worth the trouble to sacrifice a little wind by flat water. It is easy to move of there to Bucerias and Flamingos, is even a good route of long distance in kite. The best hour of the wind p.m. in schedule of Summer and 12:30 3 is of 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. to p.m. in schedule of Winter, but as p.m. is described in the wind table blows sometimes until the 7, it begins before in Bucerias and Flamingos. The winds beat front to the Beach with their respective variation. Its Beach is very short but with uncultivated lots to the sides which lets margin to raise and to lower kite in the Beach without bothering tourists. Wings of the Sea the best idea for a Club of candle in Vallarta Port.
LEVEL: Nascent - Advanced.
LIKE ARRIVING: From Vallarta Port (15 min. of navy and 25 min. of the center), it takes the highway to Tepic, raisins the bridge of Rio' Ameca that is the Natural Border between Jalisco and Nayarit, raisins New Vallarta, Mezcales, the bridge of Flamingos, and in I complete traffic light of Bucerias it give return to the Left, takings the lateral one that go compares to the highway and in where is finished to the ridge this Club there Wings of the Av. Sea of Tips no. 388. Of the Highway that comes from Tepic or Guadalajara, entering the Freeway of the Bay of Flags you pass the bridge to the Cross of Huanacaxtle, raisins tizate and soon DAS returned to the right in the first exit towards the Av. street of the Tips, that is seen from the highway and goes compares to this.
PRECAUTIONS: With people in the beach, that in this zone abounds. The Beach is very short ten well-taken care of with constructions or palms when raising and lowering kite. Within the sea with people, jetskis and bananas, that happen frequently, it deals with not being near the border. With the other Kiters and Windsurfistas, it respects starboard.

BUCERIAS: It is the Beach of a typical Pueblito of the coast, with great amount of Americans who reside there, located in the Nayarita coast of Bay of flags; its beach is connected with the one of Flamingos and Nuevo Vallarta of the right side and the Left one arrives until Beaches from huanacaxtle in where it is located Wings of the Sea Has fame of being one of the places of the Bay in where the Wind Blows with but intensity, and from years back the favourite of the Windsurfistas. The wind that predominates is of the West, with a small variation between the North and the South that beat constantly of half-full of March until half-full of Julio, being this the season in the Bay of Flags; they are very constant within those months, but the other months outside season, it is not the best point to fish a good breeze. It has a good point with waves, to the left of the seat of the town, this single one when there is swell. Super amused for kite since they roar as to 100 meters of the border. The best hour of the wind p.m. to 5 is of 2 p.m. in schedule of Summer and 1 4 p.m. to p.m. in schedule of Winter, but as it is described in the wind table it blows sometimes until the 7 p.m.. The winds beat front to the Beach with their respective variation. Its Beach is very short and has many restaurantitos, houses and small hotels, which sometimes makes difficult flying kite in the Beach. In summary we can denominate to Bucerias like the best place in all the Zone of Vallarta Port, within the season, and the place in where kiters is concentrated but and Windsurfers.
LEVEL: Nascent - Advanced.
LIKE ARRIVING: From Vallarta Port (15 min. of navy and 25 min. of the center), it takes the highway to Tepic, raisins the bridge of Rio' Ameca that is the Natural Border between Jalisco and Nayarit, raisins New Vallarta, Mezcales and the bridge of Flamingos and later begins the Town to both sides of the highway, with its lateral traffic lights and to give return towards the Beach. Almost any street takes to you until the Beach that is Publishes. Of the Highway that comes from Tepic or Guadalajara it is the First Town entering the Freeway of the Bay of Flags. PRECAUTIONS: With people in the beach, that in this zone abounds. The Beach is very short ten well-taken care of with constructions or palms when raising and lowering kite. Within the sea with people, jetskis and bananas, that happen frequently, it deals with not being near the border. With the other Kiters and Windsurfistas, it respects starboard.
THAT TO EAT: In the Restaurantitos of the Beach with excellent seafood and ostiones in their shell, Marks good Italian restaurant and the taquitos in the Town are very good.

FLAMINGOS: Extensive beach, located in the Nayarita coast of Bay of flags, in fact is a single Beach from New Vallarta to Bucerias and Alas of the Sea that is the end of Bucerias; Flamingos is located to half of both. They as much stick winds to him of the South at the beginning of the Season that begins in the middle of February and blows until May; Like of the Southwest, the West, and the Northwest, during the months of April in the middle of Julio who is the Formal Season, and the rest of the year blows but with less intensity and much less days, in summary it is the Beach with but variety of winds and better Annual Average in All Vallarta Port; Their maintained winds are good, but not strong them but of the bay, the sea but is pricked that in Wings of the sea or the Cross of Huanacaxtle, and forms surge in the border caused by the wind, that is amused for the Advanced ones and complicated for the Nascent ones. The South Wind that blows a 25% of the year in that Beach beats of side to the Beach and blows in the afternoons between 4 to 5 p.m.. and it finishes sometimes until 7pm; But the other Winds that blow a 50% of the year beat front, with a variation of 15 degrees for both sides, which makes difficult the exit for the Nascent ones and blow between 12 a.m. and 1 p.m.. and they finish approximately until the 5 p.m..
LEVEL: Nascent - Advanced.
LIKE ARRIVING: From Vallarta Port (10 min. of navy and 20 min. of the center), it takes the highway to Tepic, raisins the bridge of Rio' Ameca that is the Natural Border between Jalisco and Nayarit, raisins New Vallarta, Mezcales and when you see a golf ball the stop, follows a bridge that Flamingos says, it takings and to the bottom you are with a glorietita and the Avenue Coconut palms, as to 20 mts to the left exists an entrance Publishes to the Beach, another entrance this following that way and passing the Flamingos Condominium, exists a breach that takes you to the Beach and Also is Publishes. Of Bucerias, to take the Freeway to Vallarta Port and 5 minutes you were with the bridge of Flamingos, return to the right and follows the same indications there that of Vallarta Port.
PRECAUTIONS: With people in the beach and the hotels, please to practice it in the zones that are people nor no constructions, mainly when leaving. With the cords with buoys that put the hotels even to protect the swimmers, if kite falls to you could be romped to you. With the other Kiters and Windsurfistas, it respects starboard. THAT TO EAT: In Flamingos there are no Restaurants, but it is connected by the inner street (coconut palms) to New Vallarta, or also this to 5 Bucerias minutes.

MOUTH OF TOMATOS: A Beach stuck to Rio' Ameca, that its main characteristic, is that it receives a exelente wind of the South and that sticks of side to the beach and the Southwest like a 45 Degrees. There are small waves inside of the sea, due to the low ones that forms rio. In the beach there are diverse very popular restuarantes type palapa, are a virgin zone of hotels or construciones of material, very rustica. Precautions: in epoca of rains mainly to have well-taken care of with trunks that rio drags.
LEVEL: Nascent - Advanced.
LIKE ARRIVING: Of Vallarta port, to go to Marine Seat and to follow a street, the one that took to you until the Beach, this between navy and the Airport lateral. Of Bucerias, like a 15 minutes to go to Vallarta Port, despues of the Airport to take the first exit to the right.
PRECAUTIONS: With people in the beach, with trunks that leave near rio and not to be shipwrecked near the mouth or crossing that tendran that to go by you until New Vallarta.
THAT TO EAT: In the restaurancitos that estan ahi same (Fished and Seafood).

Kite Spots along the Mayan Rivera

2008-02-27T21:54:00.000-08:00

From a Utah blizzard to Spain to Mexico, all in 3 weeks. I had a chance to kite several spots along the Mayan Riveria - from Playa del Carmen to the ruins at TULUM, a week ahead of the start of the 2008 PKRA world tour, opening here next week March 5 - 9

The beaches here are great for kiting when the wind is up and the night life in Playa del Carmen proper is GREAT - my kiting coincided with carnival this past week which made the trip especially fun. The wind here is side on shore coming ESE, and bigger kites are definitely required. I kited with a BEST 14 WAROO and my 133 cm twin tip - that set up worked fine - I also would also have enjoyed kiting a surfboard had I one with me - bring it!

On arrival, several folks directed me to the beach off the Shangrila Hotel in the center of town. While it may be kiteable, it's a narrow beach full of kids - so DON'T go there, instead, if you want to kite in town, head to the northern end of town to Calle 37 & Ave 1 - there's a decent launch area behind the Coco Bay Hotel at Gran Coco Bay see MAP.

There are literally 100's of miles of kiteable beach to the north and south and it gets better as you get away from town. I happened to stay at the Fairmont Mayakoba which has a GREAT beach for kiting. The beach here is significantly wider than the beaches in Playa del Carmen, and of course, with all the amenities one would expect at a Fairmont - drink service and a swimming pool and shower right at launch. Still further south, there are also fun 'jungle hotels' at Playa Paraiso Beach just south of the Mayan ruins of Tulum, where XTC Kite center is located. This area has a great vibe. Jungles, ruins, and a kite beach!

Since my partner in crime Susi will be there, I'll be checking WINDGURU and if the wind is up, maybe i'll hop on a plane and go back for the contest..

Kiteboarding Regulation Defeated - Hawaii Senate Proposal 2901

2008-02-20T08:00:00.000-08:00

off the docket for now... prior post :

There's an unusual piece of legislation in front of the senate of the state of Hawaii. At best this proposal seems impossible to monitor and enforce - at worst it could be the beginning of regulations governing where and how people sail and kite. Speak out NOW to express your view by writing the honorable elected officials of hawaii. Please direct your opinion to the Committee on Water and Land

the text of the proposed regulation is HERE

Essentially it's intent is to regulate windurfing and kiteboarding such that it would be illegal for a windsurfer or kiteboarder to be within 200 feet of any swimmer or surfer.

The intent is not an issue - it makes eminent sense for people to exercise good judgement wrt safety in the water - I have sympathy for the "intent" having been tangled up by another rider who was close enough to fly his kite between my lines - unquestionaly a dangerous situation for all. That said, it's clear to me that the legislation as drafted is impractical and won't really have the intended impact and I am thus fervently against this proposal. A guideline like this needs to be self policed by our community - not created as a piece of legislation that can't really be enforced. Hard to imagine a police officer going out on the water to ticket a rider - until it was too late / post fact. Let's make sure we self police bad behavior out of our sport so others dont feel the need to try to legislate. Speak out!

Kiting the Lobby

2007-11-10T13:11:00.001-08:00

On the first day of the conference, all of the attendees of "The Lobby" were given instructions on what we were to do - in the form of ancient Hawaiian petroglyphs that ultimately had to be translated into the 12 letter Hawaiian alphabet in order to understand what was to occur. After a visit to a Hawaiian goddess in a temple, set atop a once active volcano, we were led on a spiritual journey to a spot on the island that locals refer to as "The End of the World". From here on out I definitely CAN'T write about what actually happened there, as it later became clear there are real ramifications.

While I kept my cool, and my lips sealed, it's clear that not everone else did. By Saturday, several posts had appeared on Valleywag, and by then, the Gods were awakened and EXTREMELY angered. By early Sunday morning, those of us still there awoke to the smell of smoke. A wild fire had been sent along with 30 mph winds whipping embers in our direction. It had gotten out of control, forcing a shut down of the main highway to the north.

By 11 AM, the fires had reached the golf course just on the other side of the road from the Lobby venue.

Roads closing, people fleeing. Time to scramble outta there... enough said.

Now back to kiting... Kiting die hards Saar Gur, P-Air Wolff and I teamed up with the regulars at Anaeho'omalu Bay to kite the mid day thermals. On the map to the left, "A-bay" is detailed with the number 2 (click the pic to enlarge). "K-Bay" is just below that, approximately 10 minutes to the south.

On normal thermals, people kite "A-Bay" but if the wind has a slighty higher westerly component, everyone kites "K-Bay" (Kiholo Bay) .

There are a couple things one must know about kiting "A-Bay".

1) The SW thermals blow from roughly 11 - 2 when the sky is clear, leading to a temperature differential strong enough to suck wind in from the south west in the face of NW trade winds whipping around the northern tip. The day we were there, the thermals were roughly 16-17, with trade winds around the rest of the island gusting 20 to 30 in the opposite direction. When the thermals shut off, they shut off hard. Easy to get stranded in the bay when they shut off. Thus:

2) bring a big kite. I normally fly anywhere from a 9 to 11 in SF Bay area winds, and 7 - 9 on Maui. I borrowed Lyndon Rive's 14 Best Waroo and used my larger board. DON'T kite too far out- else face a sudden shift into trade winds - in this case 30 mph trades with a 14. Next stop is Fiji with many a great white waiting along the way.

3) Absolutely bring booties. The rigging area is sandy, but once in the water, a wade through volcanic rock is required.

4) While one can hold a line and kite back to the launch area, the safe convention is to kite downwind to land (in this case north east from launch) at a sandy beach sans sharp, jagged volcanic rock to tear up your skin and your kite.

5) more info is available at iPRAYforWIND

I had a great 45 minute session on flat water, crusing back and forth with my 14 and a 133 cm Jimmy Lewis twin tip. Saar was able to kite and hold his own with a Cabrinha Omega 12 and a 150 cm board. P-Air brought a surf board - I wish I had done the same as the extra flotation would have helped for sure. Very scenic, and very fun.

2007-09-14T10:56:00.001-07:00

Start Up Entrepreneurs and Kiting

Last weekend while out on the water, I was awestruck by the number of kites at 3rd avenue. I counted 55 (yes fifty five) kites actually out on the water, and what looked like another 20 rigged and / or getting ready to launch.

Only a few years ago, it was not uncommon to show up to launch, HOPING that at least one other kiter might come so that if I got in trouble someone would notice. A big day would be 8 – 10 others on the water simultaneously.

While I’ve never questioned the addiction that goes with kiting, I would have never guessed that this sport could hit an inflection point that may take it beyond a niche sport and into something kind of mainstream. It actually feels like that may be happening. Who would have guessed?

Kiting at 3rd requires launching and landing in and around hidden rocks in freezing cold murky chocolate brown industrial water. Kiting in SF requires navigating tide conditions that can suck you out to sea if near the GG Bridge. Kiting the coast requires overcoming ‘that sense’ when drifting in the water outside of Waddell Creek after seeing seals with huge chunks missing on the beach near Ano Nuevo reserve.

The intersection of “tech meets kiting” is now growing beyond an occasional article in Kiteboarding magazines, to mainstream press - Fortune Magazine, ABC news and an upcoming segment on CNBC. Central to the theme is always the question, “why?”. What is it about kiting and start up entrepreneurs…?

Kiteboarding and start ups have very similar characteristics and therefore draw addicts from the same gene pool. Both require the operator to deal with a huge amount of uncertainty and variability in conditions. Both require intense focus while engaged. Both are such that any ‘mistake’ can be extremely costly -- at a minimum derailing the experience and erasing all the work that went into set up, and in kiting, creating potentially dangerous and occasionally fatal situations.

Both require a ton of passion to get through the hard part, just to enjoy fleeting adrenaline filled moments where everything comes together to create the sensation of FLYING across or above the water. At the beginning, both experiences are essentially 'life on the edge of destruction' - very fun for a certain type of person. Plus the COMMITMENT. Once you launch, there is really no looking back. Commitment means commitment once the power of the kite is locked and loaded, and attached to your body.

Kiting is also a sport where, as in start ups, the variability in outcome of small inputs into the system are huge. Huge 10 - 20 foot jumps or spectacular crashes with a 5 inch tug on a control bar. Exciting for sure, and as in a start up, there's no place to hide.

Entrepreneurs by definition deal in environments with huge uncertainty, and of course have to completely FOCUS to make anything work. Passion and commitment are 1000% requirements.

This sport is just MADE for the people that populate this valley… Very FUN!!

Shawn RIchman Kiteboarding Jump Sequence

2006-09-08T10:07:00.000-07:00

Reuben Lenten Kiteboarding Jump Sequence

2006-09-08T10:00:00.000-07:00

Tide and Wind conditions during the Kiteboarding Coast Guard Rescue

2006-08-19T10:43:00.000-07:00

These are the tide conditions at the Golden Gate Bridge the day the Coast Guard pulled me out of the water. They logged the save at 6:00 PM on the dot. High tide had occurred at 4:00 PM - 6 feet of water across the entire Bay dropping to 1 foot, heading out the Gate - with low tide around 10:00 PM - that day. Thus the water was probably 'full on' rushing out the gate at the time my kite went down.

These are the wind conditions at Crissy Field that day. The wind sensor at the Golden Gate north tower was down that day so I could not find any data in the iWindSurf archives. The 'warning flag' is the green line - lulls to 10 Mph, even in the open water.

The kites we were flying are unstable unless the wind is roughly 15 MpH or higher - at 10 MpH they wont fly. In a wind shadow behind the south tower of the bridge, the wind may have been 5 Mph. Young's kite dropped and relaunched when he drifted through the shadow - my kite swirled around and turned inside out first...

Best Waroo 9 vs. GK Sonic 11

2006-07-19T18:54:00.000-07:00

Update: 7/24/06 -- i'm really liking my Waroo 9. when the wind is strong enough - mid 20's to mid 30's - the kite is in it's sweet spot for my weight (155 lbs.). in this wind range, the kite handles exceptionally well. Set up is quick and easy, the kite is very stable after launch, and now that I am used to it's responsiveness its my favorite kite. It has similar power to the GK when you need it and it's more stable. Bar pressure is lighter on the GK but you give up 'feel' as a result.....

Original Post

I've been wanting to compare these two GREAT kites for some time now. While I've been riding the GK 11 for months now, it hasn't been windy enough for me to use my BEST Waroo 9.

Yesterday, it was FINALLY windy enough to try out my new WAROO - low 20's with gusts into the high 20's. Note the gusty 8-10 Mph (25-30%) range.

Unquestionably, both of these kites handle gusts supremely better, provide MUCH better range, and provide much more power at the top of the wind window than C-kites.

Here's my conclusion thus far: I love both these kites for different reasons:

Best Waroo - Strengths :
1) This is a much better kite for jumping than the GK.
2) It performs much more evenly across the entire wind window than the GK. It's a more stable kite and is less susceptible to oversheeting than the GK.
3) It's easier to rig and set up than the GK.

Best Waroo - Tradeoffs :
1) Flying a waroo requires bar pressure similar to a C kite.
2) The Waroo back line attachment has 5 knots spread over 10 inches of leader. 'Out of the box' I wasn't sure where to set the lines - it requires some experimentation to set them. Onthe plus side the broad knot range enhances the kite's wind range.

Best Waroo - Dislikes (very subjective):
1) The standard leash attaches to your wrist. I don't like wrist attachments in general so did my own 'mod' to change the leash mechanism to attach the safety leash to my harness bar.

GK Sonic 11 - Strengths :
1) The GK has incredibly light bar pressure - great for cruising one handed for a long time.
2) The light bar pressure makes aggressive riding feel smooth, as variation in line tension is absorbed by the rigging. This makes practicing spinning tricks easy compared to a tightly wound rig that reacts to every jiggle of the bar.
3) The GK rig (bar, lines and bridle) is incredibly simple and uncluttered. I really like not having to use a depower strap (it does not need one) to adjust it while i'm kiting.

GK Sonic - Tradeoffs :
1) The GK feedback is 'spongy' - the 'slip' makes it easy to practice tricks, but makes it harder to 'nail them' - I find it easier to practice backloops with my GK as the kite absorbs the line tension from spinning, but I still can't jump with my GK as consistently as I can with a C kite as I can't yet pinpoint the kite's response to a hard tug.
2) The GK's performance at the top of the wind window is awesome - it performs like a high aspect kite - GREAT vertical lift. The tradeoff is that the shape that provides that lift also makes it susceptible to flying backward, stalling and crumpling on oversheeting. This can be overcome with looser back lines on the GK. The Best Waroo does not seem to have the same sensitivity.

GK Sonic - Dislikes:
1) Kite inflation : there are no 'stopper balls' in the valves - almost all kites have those, or single point of inflation 'octopus systems'. The GK has neither and takes longer to inflate than any of my other kites. The end struts also have a different size valve than all the other struts and main bladder - which requires a nozzle change on top of 'pinch sealing' all the other valves.

All said, I do like both kites, and want to use them in different conditions.

On days when I want to cruise, or if I know i'll be out for more than a couple hours at a shot, ill use my GK. I'll also use it when I want to practice spinning tricks.

On days when I want to 'tear it up' and push it on jumps, or if I feel like I have a spinning thing 'down' ill use my Waroo. I also know that I'll definitely use my Waroo in the waves where I will want quick response and don't want to worry about oversheeting at an akward moment.

king of bay 2005

2006-06-15T17:05:00.000-07:00

A Visit With Jimmy Lewis - King of Kiteboards

2006-05-18T10:17:00.000-07:00

A Visit With the KING of KITEBOARDs - Jimmy Lewis

Today we (Aaron, Chris, Natasha, Julia, and Bill) made a pilgrimage to visit the KING - The King of kiteboards -- Jimmy Lewis. We drove on up to Haiku where Jimmy gave us a tutorial on his custom board designs and a tour of his shop.
Aaron led the charge this time as it was finally his turn to order his own custom 'Bitch Witch' (a board) - designed for wave riding.

Compared to the Jimmy that I ride (a Model III), the Bitch Witch has a narrower (7" wide BW vs. 8" wide Model III) tail which allows it to sink a bit in bottom turns to edge through the waves.

Aaron and Julia discussing the finer points of Aaron's new baby with doctor Jimmy...

After a tour of the shop, Natasha, (who I brought into the sport in 2001 -- and who now is an IKO certified instructor teaching primarily in the Dominican Republic) decided that she wanted this special Jimmy board...

So Chris takes the liberty of spanking her with it!!

Natasha can be found in several places -- feel free to write her at diamond00usa@hotmail.com if you are headed to the Dominican Republic and interested in Kiteboarding lessons.

Its been great to see her progress from the time I introduced her to the sport in 2001.

You can see more of her in the kiteboading video "Unhooked 2" from Tronolone Productions (www.tronolone.com) as well as in kiteboarding magazine - KBMag (www.kbmag.com.au). Have a look.

Aloha

Late Day Monday May 8th - 3rd

2006-05-09T00:21:00.000-07:00

Today was the day I tuned the GK. at the 'default' setting, I would have been extremely overpowered today. At the ball stop, in 'depowered mode' i was still getting lifted vertically on gusts on my first attempt. I brouhgt the kite down and pulled the deposer line in about 7 INCHES - pretty far. I also moved the small plastic pin inside the line far enough to define a reasonable range for my arm length.

Althought the tuning left the back lines slack at 'full power' the kite flew well. It definitely absorbs gusts better than a standard 4 or 5 line kite. The kite handled well in winds in teh 25 - 30 range. I could tell on some tiny jumps that this kite will definitely FLY with much less bar pressure and less 'swing' compared to the standard kites I am used to. Very floaty when in the air..

Sunday May 7 at Waddell

2006-05-08T23:56:00.000-07:00

Kiting today at Waddell was at the same time fun and scary as I have only been on the water a handful of times this year, mostly in flattish water. Today there were both strong winds and great surf - 6 foot waves closing out near shore.

I got set to kite around 3 PM. By that time, the wind had picked up to roughly 20 MPH with gusts to 25. I tried to launch my new GK 11. Without having tested it out on flat water, I was in for some trouble. During launch it was clear that one of my struts had deflated. It was also apparent that my depower setting was not quite right. The kite was too strong after launch and I was getting lifted vertically on gusts while standing still with the kite at top dead center.

I tried to get out anyway, and put the kite toward the water to drag me out through the waves.

After getting my board (125) on my feet, I was immediately hit by a wave. The whitewash pushed me back toward shore with a burst that was strong enoug to depower my kite, which hit the beach. Once the waves started hitting the kite (with an empty strut) i was doomed, as my kite filled with water and sand. Luckily Sabrina saw the launch and came out to hold my kite stable while I detached.

I launched my Naish Boxer 9 (25 meter lines) right away. That combo worked, as the wind picked up with gusts to 30. The 9 was enough to lift me over the waves and kite on the outside. To make my next gig easier, these are lessons learned..

1) get toward the upwind side of waddell to launch. easier to get through the waves there.
2) dont launch til at least waist deep and launch fast to power up to get through the white wash and NOT get pushed back / deflate.
3) the GK needs to be tuned on flat water first. The line in the depower cleat needs to be pulled pretty far down to fly it in 30 mph winds. I should get a black eprmanant marker and mark the line in the cleat for various wind speeds.
4) remember the lines on this kite are LONG so not as responsive as the naish rigging with 20 and 25's. I need to order some 25 meter lines.

Bay Crossing by Kiteboard Attempt - SKUNKED!!

2006-04-30T12:42:00.000-07:00

We knew it would trouble when the windsock was limp at Crissy field upon arrival at 1:30 PM.

The wind was light and variable all morning with a heavy layer of fog blanketing the bay.

Despite lackluster wind, everyone rigged and prepared to give it a shot - 50 kiters, ready willing and mostly able...Good thing we had a chase boat and 2 jet skis as backup.

PLANNED ROUTE : the plan (shown by the yellow line on the map) was to head NNE toward Angel Island, then to zig zag due east toward the Berkeley Pier.

Once inside the pier area, to do an airshow, then to cut hard SE to a tiny piece of land that sticks out into the bay at the end of Ashby avenue called the Ashby Spit (aka Point Emery).

The Launch Point -- Typically the wind at Crissy Field blows from the North West in the low 20's with gusts into the low 30's. A NW wind direction also helps to blow you back to land if you get inito trouble - there are a couple landing points near the St Francis Yacht club or Golden Gate Yacht club if cant get back to Crissy Field.

I chose a Naish Torch 12 with 25 meter lines and my larger board, a Jimmy 133. My thought was that the wind might pick up, and if so, that it would be nuking at Angel Island. I wanted a small enough kite to handle that situation, and a larger board for marginally better flotation to get out to the wind line.

The wind at the launch point never really got better. By 2:30 it had barely gotten to 12 knots nominal with lulls to 8. My 12 meter kite needs a good 15 knots to have ANY power at all so i probably should not have gone out - I'm such a knuckle head I launched any way with predictable results.

I managed to keep my kite in the air for several minutes and to get in the water, but I was not able to get out on my first attempt. The wind was also in the wrong direction - blowing from the SW so blowing off-shore. A kite in the water meant drifting off toward Alcatraz without any power to change anything. One of our jet skis immediately hauled me back in to re-rig and wait for a second attempt.

ANGEL ISLAND CONDISTIONS - On a typical day if Crissy blows from the NW at 20 knots, Angel Island would likely be blowing 25 - 30 knots, straight West. Today, with Crissy at 12, Angel Island was windier, but not nuking. The wind was also blowing from the SW -by 2Pm it was blowing 20, and very SW.

A strong West only wind can deliver power to an edge on a board to allow navigation back up wind to Crissy Field on an ebb tide, but today, with the winds from the SW, getting out there meant a hard commitment to never come back, as even with a decent wind speed, an attempt to come back would end up at Treasure Island...thus going toward Angel Island was a hard commitment to never come back.

Many of the group chose that path anyway. I made a second attempt and relaunched, drifting out into the water for 200 yards before hitting the wind line where the wind was strong enough to lift my kite out of the water.

For the rest of the crew who headed to berkeley, a big challenge developed.

The wind reports from the other side of the bay were not promising, but roughly 40 of the group decided to give it a shot. With the wind lulls under 10 knots in Berkeley, surely many of the kites could fall out of the sky after crossing the bay, a half mile short of destination. With the southerly direction, all those kites would likely get blown north, right into the pontoons of the pier.

With only 2 jet skis - hauling 40+ kites out of the water 1/2 mile back and forth would not be fun, or easy. This is in fact what happened to roughly 35 kiters. A handful made it -- those that chose to rig really BIG took the risk that the wind would not pick up at Angel Island which was the right bet. Had it picked up, holding down a 15 or 16 meter kite in 30 knot winds would have been impossible. Those (like me) that rigged for more normal conditions did not have enough power to make it all the way in.

Once I got my kite in the air, I could tell I was going to be underpowered so rather than head over, I decided to stay in the the area and head north east to kite under the north tower of the Golden Gate bridge - there, the winds are typiclaly as strong as they will be anywhere on the bay on a given day. At least there I'd have control over my kite. I made it out, had a fun session, and on the way back in, had to dump my kite in the water 100 yards out and drift in - fortunately, I had held a wind line that allowed me to get back in as the tide started to shift (and I knew I had people waiting for me and watching that had the coast guard number if I needed help). It was obvious that the Coast Guard was aware of the event and the risk, as I was buzzed by helicoptors several times when I was near the GG bridge. I felt safe with their presence.

For those that made it across (but not all the way across), additional help came - the two jet skis, powered by Wit and Jeff from KiteWindsurf, were joined by a 3rd driven by Andy. The 50% increase in capacity was helpful. There was only one incident - one kite did manage to drift into the pier, and the lines had to be cut to free the lines from the pier. Everyone made it back, and everyone had fun in the process.

We are looking forward to the next attempt - probably in a few months, when the wind is stronger and more steady :)

Notes on the GK Sonic

2006-04-27T10:10:00.000-07:00

Rigging the kite is completely different than rigging a 4 or 5 line standard kite. A couple of helpful notes:

1. the far outside struts are really small. The nozzle is smaller than the fittings on any Naish or Cabrina pump so make sure you have the pump that comes with the GK when you rig.

2. the main bladder has 3 nozzles. one in the center where you expect it, and one on each tip where you don't. After pumping at the center for some time, I finally figured out why it was never fully inflating.

3. the bridle lines are long, and can get wrapped around the main bladder while setting up. One the bladder is full, the bridle line can't be released unless the bladder is deflated.

4. The leash attach point looks like it was created to wrap around the harness bar - its 'fat' so if you clip it on a d ring on the harness for example, the velcro does not attach right to lock it in place.

5. There are TWO places to hook your leash. One on the chicken loop, the other at the point the two front lines come together. The front line loop is for self landing the kite - by pulling the front lines toward you and unattaching from the chicken loop then reattaching at the front line junction.

6. There are TWO stopper balls beyond the stopper insert. Not yet sure what the purpose of the second one is...

6. there IS NO depower strap, the kite power is only set ONCE on land before launch with a cleat. set it RIGHT, ONCE, before heading out.

Kite Conditions Friday April 21 2006

2006-04-21T22:00:00.000-07:00

4:45 – 5:35 125cm board; Torch 12

Outside: The wind felt really good the whole session. Extremely tight range, and very steady all afternoon. 20/23 with gusts to 27/28. Direction perfect on the outside.

http://static.flickr.com/53/133062821_675411a128_m.jpg

Inside: Very problematic. Totally off shore SW wind direction by 4:30, both light and gusty. Nominal spped of 6 to 12 with gusts to 22.

http://static.flickr.com/52/133062817_612daf7139_m.jpg

Current : + 1 knot in the wrong direction. In combination with the light wind, the kite did not have enough power on the inside to get the board to plane. Outside was fine.

http://static.flickr.com/45/133062816_476f8863c3_m.jpg

Torch 12 was a good pick for the outside. Same goes for the board. Nothing could be done for conditions on the inside. Coming in was really difficult. Remarkable difference in wind direction and speed inside vs. outside remarkable. Dropped kite once. It definitely wanted to relaunch - remember to swim toward it to help it. Leash helped this session, the kite would not have powered me up wind to the board today.

Kite Conditions Thursday April 20 2006

2006-04-20T22:00:00.000-07:00

3:15 to 4:15 133cm board; Boxer 9

Easter break provided the first real kite session of the year. Wind was incredibly steady this afternoon 23 nominal; 20 – 27 range all afternoon. Tune up day.

http://static.flickr.com/54/133062819_65825362b3_m.jpg

Current was slightly negative on a slight flood tide, but less than one knot. Bigger board was a good offset.

http://static.flickr.com/56/133062815_93cfb48227_m.jpg

Depower strap pulled 1 inch most of the time. Kite was not out of control. No jumps attempted. Permanantly removed the harness line on the 4 - line bar - better to ride the kite fully powered in high wind by pivoting against the depower knot. Also better to fly it with hands centered on the bar. Smaller board may have been advantageous wrt handling, but bigger board offset flood tide so safer. 3rd Av beach held steady at 18 knots on the inside with a W direction.