Sunday, August 15, 2010

Strapless in a cold onshore wind at Hampton

Session 100, 15 August 2010 

Kite Switchblade 10
Wind 20 knots, SW
Waves Bay swell with shorebreak
Duration 5pm to 6:15pm (dark)

My 100th session!  I am deferring a bottle for champagne for a night by a warm fire.

Stuart and I headed down to Hampton late in the afternoon to catch some winter wind.  I got on the water just after 5pm with some showers coming through and a fairly strong SW wind blowing.  Stuart and another kiter were already out.

I decided to be brave and try going strapless on my S-Quad board as I have not yet refitted the footstraps after Bali.   The shorebreak gets a bit savage at Hampton in a westerly or south westerly and today was no exception.

I got going on the board after a bit of difficulty doing a water start.  The straps definitely help water starts as they locate your feet on the board and keep them there when you power up.  With no straps, you need to get your feet up onto the deck of the board and get some pressure on them with the kite.  This is more difficult than you would think.

When I did get going on a right tack I was goofy footed, so I had some trouble riding toeside on the reverse tack.  I got up after switching feet but was not heading upwind.  I ended up on the beach and walked back.

Stuart was finishing his session so I borrowed his twin tip.  I still had some trouble getting out through the shore break but I eventually got going.  The board is shorter than mind and the whole feel of a twin tip seemed very different.  You need much more power to plane and carve.

I got a few good runs in the moderate swell right up until it got dark.  Its the first time I have kited into sunset; it seemed a bit wierd kiting looking at the lights of the marina and yacht club.

Back at the car, it took me a while to open the combination key lock as I couldn't see the numbers.

It was certainly a lot colder than Bali, but the booties, gloves and wetsuit all work well to keep me warm.

1 comment:

Boris T said...

Congrats on the 100th session!