Kitesurfing Brighton and Green Point with some good bay surf

Session 460.  A good 20 knot wind in the afternoon; the lads did a downwinder from Ricketts to Brighton.  I was tired and had a nap after some hard mountain biking in the morning so I missed it. I got down to Brighton later in the afternoon kited easily upwind to Green Point to catch some waves, then followed the reefs back down to Brighton.  The guys came past finishing the downwinder, lucky chaps!

Kitesurfing Hampton to Brighton on the big kite, almost made it back too

Session 446. I arrived at Hampton with about 18 knots of wind blowing.  I rigged up my Union 10m but it dropped just before I entered the water.  I wasn't able to really get going so I landed the kite and packed it away in the car.

I was about to drive home but the wind picked up a bit - 16 knots at Fawkner Beacon - so I pumped up my Ocean Rodeo Flite 14.5 (the "Session Saver") and headed out.

Its a miracle kite.  You can get going nicely when there "isn't quite enough wind".  I got out past the groynes then down to and past Green Point.  A couple of kites were in the air at Brighton close the beach.

The sun was shining and the wind was nice and  I kited right through a large flock of birds in a feeding frenzy above a school of fish. Life is good!

I turned around at Brighton marina and dodged through four racing sailing dingys then set a tack back to Green Point.  I didn't quite make it around on the first tack but I did on the second, wary of the reef at the point.

Then the wind dropped. I re-powered the kite to no avail so I came into the beach near a groyne and landed.

Winter wind can be fickle.  I was happy it didn't conk out when I was some distance offshore.

It was really good to get this session after yesterday's no go.

Kitesurfing Brighton

Session 442.  Good kitesurfing in 20 knots+ northerly at Brighton with good speed runs on flat water and a short tour up to the Brighton Marina.  Nice to get a session in before my upcoming trip to Norway.

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.  

Kitesurfing at Brighton, winter is here

Session 416. There wasn't much wind in the morning but during the afternoon a strong gusty northerly came in.  Stu headed to Seaford but the wind wasn't getting in there. I drove to Brighton and set up.  The wind was around 20 knots so I pumped up my 10 and tied off on the lower rear knots.

So nice to be on the water again; there have been few good wind days this winter.  I missed the last one due to a fracture in me left little finger (fell over in a paddock!).  It was no problem today wearing the small finger splint under neoprene gloves.  

I did some long runs and a couple of speed runs back in clocking a max speed of 46 km/h.  It wasn't crowded.  There was some bay swell to surf too.

The wind strengthened for the second half hour with some gusts up to 35 knots - about the safe limit for the Union 10m fully depowered.

It wasn't too cold with booties, gloves and a helmet on but it was a chilly day.  We headed to Brighton for a nice coffee afterwards.

GPS log

Nice kitesurfing with some big yachts about at Brighton, watching out for fronts

Session 413. A nice northerly at Hampton today. Very consistent and not gusty.  Did an upwind tour past Brighton Marina up as far as Elwood, passing a few large yachts racing along the way.  My speed was good and going upwind easy.  A couple of smaller yachts capsized near me but were able to get going again without assistance.

I passed a couple of guys on SUPs who were having some trouble with their balance and were on their knees padding.  I kept an eye on them but they eventually made it around the Brighton Marina breakwater and were able to get to shore.

Speed runs downwind, surfing a few bay rollers and some biggish jumps added variety to this session.

The wind was very consistent for a northerly when I was out from 10:30 to 11: 30 but look at the  gusts the came through with the south westerly change later in the day!

I drove down to Dromana to bike up a folding bike I bought from Ben Goodall, who makes really cool Human Powered Vehicles - bikes with fairing enclosures.

I had a look at Rosebud. There were kiters out on the fairly flat water with the tide in and a few small waves further out, but the south westerly wind change was imminent so I didn't go out.

When it did come through there were some bike spikes gusting up to 35 knots which would not have been pleasant with a bigger kite.

Strong winds forecast for tomorrow - 30 knots or more.  Could be good!

GPS Log

Kitesurfing at Brighton, first session after Japan

Session 409 (number out of sequence). Just back from Japan ski trip. SO GOOD to get on the water. A good northerly at Brighton provided some nice kitesurfing on fairly flat water.  A race of big yachts was in progress further out.

Great to be kitesurfing again. Yeeha!