Sunday, July 11, 2010

A sunny day with a good northerly at Brighton

Session 92, Sunday 11 July 2010
Kite: Switchblade 14m
Board: S-Quad 
Location: Brighton
Wind: 15 to 22 knots N
Duration: 2+ hours
Weather: Sunny


There was a good northerly blowing at Brighton during the morning and early afternoon, after the gale force winds of yesterday.


Stuart and I headed to Hampton and got on the water about 10:15.  I used the S-Quad surfboard to get more familiar with it in preparation for my upcoming trip to Bali.  


It was about 18 knots when we started, then after half an hour it dropped back to around 15.  The advantage of the big kite and board meant I could keep going while others ended on the beach.


I did some longish runs out against the bay swell, then coming back in I was able to surf the swells quite well.   The wind picked up again to around 20 knots so going upwind was easy.


I tried moving my rear foot out of the rear footstrap and up behind my front foot.  It worked well.  It is similar to a Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) stance.  I could relax, the board speed drops and going further upwind is easier.


To turn I am still doing water restarts - manually grabbing the board tail, flicking the nose around, re-setting my feet in the straps and then powering up again.  I am getting more proficient at this.  A bit of pull from the kite helps locating my feet in the straps; just toes in is enough to get going then I can wriggle further in once moving.


No kitecam today - but a northerly would get some good shots as the kite and camera would be pointing back towards the shore and city.  Next time . . .



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