Aspendale Fliteboard to Mentone and Gnotuk FB#45

A calm morning provided excellent conditions for my Fliteboard tour from Aspendale to Mentone and Gnotuk. Nice riding past Mordialloc Pier up to Mentone then back a bit further out. 

I stayed up on the foil most of the time, enjoying turns.

I got back to Aspendale with more that 50% battery (Explore) so I continued on down the Gnotuk Av and back. 

I swapped out the battery for my Nano battery and did some loop and fast turns up the pier and back. 

 

Frankston to Mentone kitesurfing downwinder #569

Session 569. The wind and weather was good for a downwinder so we took the opportunity to kitesurf from Frankston to Mentone and weren't disappointed.

The bay surf was good, the sun was shining and the wind was solid.

Kitesurfing Mentone in a strong easterly #510

Session 510. A strong gusty easterly at Mentone made for some interesting kitesurfing. I rigged my 8m Union kite to the bottom knots (depowered) and headed out on full depower to find there was almost too much wind at around 25 knots, gusting above 30!  The new Cross board was great surfing on the bay rollers.  

There was a guy out using a foil wing who was coping with the windy conditions very well. No other kiters were out but I could see a couple off Ricketts Point.

I did a few small jumps but avoided going into orbit.  

A lovely sunny day - I enjoyed just being there.  Here is the video:

Kitesurfing downwinder Mentone to Brighton, a good 16km tour

Session 437. Second session of three today. I got my backpack from the car and stashed a kitebag and my wateproof phone pouch in it. Anthony very generously offered to pick me up from Brighton. 

I tacked straight to Ricketts Point, then around the corner. Job and Luca were setting up on the beach at South Ricketts and there was one kiter out their.  I dodged the reefs and kept going.

Closer to shore the wind was lighter with the south easterly running parallel to the shore or even a bit offshore.  I stayed out where the wind was good.  I swapped feed a couple of times and rode toeside in both directions to vary the load on my leg muscles. 

The HMS Cerberus wreck is breaking up badly now.

It as great to do a pure downwinder and surf swells most of the way.  From the breakwater at Sandringham Marina I headed straight to Green Point, but the waves there were small.  The festival on there was very busy.

I came into Brighton without any difficulty, very happy to have completed this nice short tour.  Anthony had just arrived and I spoke to Natalie and Graeme who were setting up for foil board racing. 

A coffee and some chips at the Brighton Pavilion cafe was great, then Anthony drove me back to Mentone.  

Bay waves and nice kitesurfing at Mentone

Session 436. First session of three today.  The south easterly wind coming in nicely to Mentone was good for kitesurfing.  A solid session with some jumps and long "touring tacks".  There were only about 5 kites out, including Stu Styles, James and Anthony.

My leg/hamstring was fine, its not bothering me while kitesurfing.

The small bay waves were nice too.  There were a few Blue Blubber jellyfish of Ricketts Point but not enough to be a worry.

The wind direction was good for a downwinder - the next session.

GPS Log

Learning to foil board behind a boat off Mentone

We decided to try some foil board training getting towed behind a boat to get used to the foil board without having to worry about a kite.

I was interested to see if this would accelerate learning.  The water is flat and there is no kite to control so the focus is on the foil board.

The drill was to keep weight on the front foot and weight forward and get the board planing on the water.  The theory seems simple, putting it into action is much harder . . .

Here is a video of the action.  This was the first time on a foil board for Stuart, James, Cameron and Grant.  I wasn't able to participate due to my hamstring injury.

There was general agreement that it is hard to do!

Some learnings:

• Watching the video, its apparent that getting forward on the foil board is difficult when getting towed.
• Moving the rear foot out of thin in front of the rear foot strap might help
• Ivan tells me that they use a SUP with a foil when doing tow practice behind a jet ski - no water start is required and moving weight around on the board is easier without footstraps