Switchblade 14
Wind 15 - 20 knots
Waves – around 1.5 to 2.5m
The waves were not so big today. I got out without much trouble. Once out I concentrated on getting upwind, switching feet. I then rode toeside into the surf zone and had a couple of good runs in on unbroken and smaller waves
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2010-08-06 Wavecamp day 5 kitecam and kite video |
It is very difficult to get the rear foot into the strap when riding toeside, you need to slow down to reset the stance.
I was feeling much more confident today, the situation seemed less daunting, and I was determined to have a go at a few waves.
On one run in I ended up riding toeside extremely fast as a went downwind, even with the bar sheeted out, but I was able to maintain control. I still have some difficulty keeping the speed up toeside, but not this time. The key for me is to enter toeside with a fast turn, and the rear foot already out of the strap.
I was able to do a few turns in the waves and keep ahead of trouble. I tried the figure 8 setup and sure enough the kite drifted down the line, with absolutely no power. This seemed really weird as I as I was not really surfing a wave. This technique means you can surf waves with virtually no pull from the kite.
I landed at the shore for launch and to reset the kitecam from stills to video for the next trip out.
In total I went out four times. On the last occasion the wind had dropped which made it difficult to get out, and I ended up in the “trough of disillusionment” and got smacked by a couple of broken waves. I persevered and got out however. The light wind made it difficult to make good progress; I cruised past the gnarly rocks glad to be clear of them, then came back in further upwind. I decided to head for shore while I still had wind and got in without difficulty.
The kitecam stills and video came out well.
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