Kitesurfing good Northerly at Brighton

Session 585. Strong winds forecast for Port Phillip Bay arrived mid-afternoon. On the water at 3:30 pm and shared the session with three other kiters.

Northerlies at Brighton can be dicey if you have equipment failure or get your kite tangled - its a long hard swim back to shore against cross-offshore wind. I kite conservatively in offshore winds.

The wind was good further out but not as strong as the 30 knot forecast. The Union 9m kite was nicely powered.

I tacked up to near the Brighton Marina breakwater then surfed the back on the bay swell.  The wind was gusty closer to shore.

A kiter jumped and crashed his kite. He was having a lot of trouble relaunching it and looking like he might need to swim a longish way back in.

I kited past slowly and grabbed and dragged one tip of his kite that was jellyfishing (full of water).  That was enough for him to relaunch it. It was nice to help out.

I got back to beach easily, very happy with the outing. Nice light, good wind, not crowded and not too cold.  Smiles all round.

Kitesurfing session at Brighton after COVID-19 restrictions eased

Session 507.  Kitesurfing again at last!  Headed to Brighton with a strong northerly blowing.  There were whitecaps further out so I took out my Union 8m kite and was very glad I did.  It was so good to be back on the water, just being there.

The wind was around 20 knots when I started. I tacked upwind past Brighton Marina with the wind increasing steadily.  Some big gusts around 30 knots were coming through so I headed back downwind doing slalom turns on the swell then headed in with the wind lifting sand off the beach. 

There were about 5 other kiters out, far from the madding crowd at Rosebud.

Gusty northerly at Brighton strapless on the Nugget

Session 302. A gusty northerly is always challenging at Brighton. I headed out on Lithium 9 depowered and the North Nugget.

There were quite a few other kiters out and lots of blue blubber jellyfish in the water further out.  I got yanked off my board a few times and found doing a water start tricky at times, but most of the time I made my jybes.

I could ride the bay swell in for a while when further out past the other kiters.  I was wary of ending up in the water among the jellyfish though.

 I think I will fit the footstraps to the Nugget as I think it will become my board of choice for downwinders.

Look at all the jellyfish!

GPS log

Cruising downwind in 8 knots with the Zero

Session 285.  Watching the wind all day. A light sea breeze arrived in the afternoon and got to 10 knots by 4pm so I headed down to Brighton.  It felt like less than 10 knots on the beach as I pumped up my Lithium Zero.  The kite was easy to launch and keep in the air, so I headed out on my surfboard.  I was going well enough with the kite de-powered, but on the return tack I was loosing ground and heading in towards the Brighton Baths.  Powering the kite (toggle adjustment) actually seemed to slow it down, so I depowered it again on the way back out.

Decision time- bail out now or go downwind?  I went downwind.

I passed a couple of fishing boats then headed out past the Brighton Marina.  Coming back in I was not going to make it to the sand so I went out again eyeing off the long section of rockwall downwind.

I didn't go too close in as I was fearful the wind would drop out, but I wasn't going too far out either in case I had to swim in.

I got some nice tacks in then landed at the south end of Elwood beach, passing a windsurfer along the way. I landed the kite without difficulty in the light wind and chatted to the windsurfer on the beach - he had a new big sail but wasn't able to get going as well as he hoped.

It was nice to be out though - nobody on the water other than fisherman and a couple of very noisy jetskis.  It was a longish but pleasant walk back as the sun headed down to the horizon.

The Lithium Zero flew well in the light wind, but I am still having a lot of difficulty staying upwind.

Kitesurfing Brighton Beach on the surfboard after work

Session 213. Got down to Brighton after work for a short session on the surfboard.  Nice wind, nice sun and not at all crowded. There was about 5 kiters out.   Cesar was out too.

A really nice session.  I was practicing jumping off the waves with the front foot in and the rear foot out; not too high though!

Downloop turns are going well - they are easier on the surfboard as its easy to turns.  Gybes are going well too - I am concentrating on speeding up with foot swap "one, two".

I still can't get my head around duck tacks. I point the board up into the wind, I try and swivel, then I fall in the water.

GPS log

Brighton quiet and Hampton crowded

I called down bayside last Monday after returning from Sandy Point.  A good westerly was blowing so I checked out the action at Brighton then Hampton.  I'm still nursing a cracked rib so no kiting for me, which is very frustrating.  Its healing though.

There were two guys out at Brighton on twin tip boards have a good time.

Hampton was crowded by comparison - about a dozen kiters on surfboards enjoying the bay swell whipped up by the westerley.

Here is the full album

Brighton in yet another northerly

Session 150 Thursday 21 October 2011

Kite: Switchblade 10
Wind: 20+ knots, N
Location: Brighton
Time: 11:00 to 12:00
Board: Naish Haize twin tip

The forecast for some reasonable north winds looked better than nothing, so Carrado and I headed down the Brighton Beach.  There were a few kitesurfers out and the wind was strong enough for me to choose my 10m kite. I am glad I did, as I has to depower it occasionally.

Carrado headed out but was not used the gusty conditions.  He came back in and then rested on the beach.   I got some biggish air on jumps when gusts plucked me up while airborne.  It was sunny and warm too.  But it is usually a scary and unpredictable place to kite in a northerly.

Bring on the sea breezes.

Carrado with his kite