A late start for me today, I arrived on the heath at about 11:30 am.
The breeze was basically from the west and some of the time it was about 17mph. Xtra Vents were the kite of choice and by default 4 wrap spars. It soon became evident that these were too heavy during the persistent lulls so we switched to Race Rods. Temperatures were sometimes summerlike but the thick broken cloud kept everything variable, including the wind direction in a typical summer Blackheath manner.
The swifts were
While other sites might have been in the low clouds today the drizzle mostly held off on Blackheath but the temperature was not summer like. The mown grass reflected a normal season, as in somewhat brown, but the low grey clouds suggested an entirely different time of year!
The northerly breeze mostly held up the 1.5 vented sails with green race and was good for ‘low wind’ flying in that respect.
Last year we travelled north in mid August and the conditions were Xtra vent windy. We may plan
Etienne and Veronique Veyres put a small bamboo and paper kite into the Cervia auction which I bought. Pauline and Frances very kindly agreed to transport it back to the UK and Basingstoke was the earliest venue where we could meet so today we didn’t fly on Blackheath but arrived at the Basingstoke event just before midday.
There was a light variable breeze and as there was no designated space apart from the demonstration arena we limited our flying efforts to a short session with CR sails wit
Driving west out of London on a sunny late May evening can be a bit dazzling. Turning left at Bristol was a relief!
The slightly re-modelled Exmouth site was the venue for a complete presentation of the team kit, from 1.5 diamond framed to xtra vents with 4 wrap spars.
Along the way we did fly the JMH vented kites with diamond frames which were really OK at about 17mph but we lost a vertical at about 24mph. <grins>
We were mostly six fliers. The northern contingent had to catch a trai
A lighter westerly breeze today and given a level of variability it was difficult to choose the most appropriate sail. Mid vent was about right and race rods made sense but full sail and full vented were also in the mix.
Rowan was back on the line today after the conclusion of the university examination season. We did a couple of runs through Plan B – A as a five person team.
Next weekend is Exmouth so logistics were part of the discussion today as well as shuffled line sets.
Felix
Another somewhat blustery WSW airstream today and although it was mostly sunny there was a chill to the air which felt a bit unusual for the middle of May.
Vented 1.5s with green race today. The closest that I got to re-visiting the longer lines was to locate them in the kite bags. We were still shuffling old line sets after the Cervia event and it was good to find another set of ‘close knotted’ leaders that I had forgotten about. Although it is fairly trivial to prepare a set I have not got
The Hackney ½ Marathon meant that there was only one route out this morning which happens to coincide with the way to Blackheath, more or less.
A bright morning with a southerly breeze that was mostly just enough for 1.5 vented kites with race rods. A brief team demo for an ‘interested’ passer by was all the formal flying that we did today.
Re-organising line sets, handles and de-sanding kites was a priority as we get set for the UK based events during the summer. Exmouth is next followed b
I travelled to Cervia on Wednesday 29th April arriving in time for some late afternoon flying. Four full days followed with varying conditions, the highlight day being Saturday 2nd May when the onshore breeze started early and firmed up sufficiently for a very well received arena performance towards the end of the afternoon.
Along the way we entertained the local audience and ourselves at the north end of the festival site.
The invited fliers from ‘up north’ contributed to this event as well
Blackheath was unavailable today because of the London Marathon so we met at the north end of the park just to the west end of the cycle circuit. There is a small area of ‘lawn grass’ rather than the plantain infested area that we had used previously and as line preparation was on the agenda this was the better site.
It just happened that the NE breeze meant that the limited space between the rows of saplings was just viable.
I ran out a new set of lines and topped them with a new set of le
We had a slightly scrambled departure from London on Friday 17th but convened at ‘Mister Bed’ in Rang de Fliers for a late evening ‘picnic’.
We were on the beach well ahead of ‘opening time’ at the tent on Saturday 18th but did take a break to register and pick up the ‘tickets’…
The first two days we were concentrating on the eight person team with two ‘ringers’ from up north. They fitted in really well and we had some great flying in the slightly tricky ‘off the town’ breezes.
We had a red
By contrast to last weekend it was a strong south westerly airstream today, mostly 18-20 mph with occasional lulls. Xtra vents with four wrap just occasionally felt a bit heavy but a little bit of ground work and some long arm transitions kept the kite in place for me. Once again, the avoidance of obstruction to free movement was apparent…
Mostly free flying today with a few ‘not so neat’ encounters. All down to the temperament of the flier on the day!
We are off to Berck next weekend and th
Light easterly breeze, occasionally fading to nothing, so 1.5 sails and diamond rods were appropriate today.
As checking kites was on the agenda today we used the downtime productively. Most of the 2008 JMH sails need a bit of sewing attention at the leading edge fold line but nothing too dramatic. We reshuffled spars as well and find that we have just what we need in the diamond and green race options for the team kites!
As the Easter Circus had occupied the northern part of our usual f
Heavy rain this morning with 24/48 mph was not conducive to flying so we’ll have to make up next weekend with a possible extra day for checking kites ahead of the Berck, Cervia and Exmouth events.
The last two days when Sunday flying was not sensible were in November so it has been a ‘good’ winter by all accounts!
Felix
It was a sunny start to the day but the cloud had very few breaks from c11:00am on the heath.
The NE breeze was consistently variable settling for minutes on end at anything from 7 to 15 mph. Given that the temperature was only about 8C moving around to cope with the lighter wind moments seemed the best option so it was 1.5 Vented sails with green race today.
Flying slow demands even more flier input, some of it very energetic, compared to the slow movement of the kite. Long arms with handle
Anticyclonic murk again today with Blackheath having it’s own cap of low cloud that threatened rain.
The east/north easterly breeze was lighter than forecast, about 7mph gusting up to about 12mph occasionally. Standard 1.5 sails with mostly green race rods were only occasionally overpowered.
Some neat free flying today, plenty of varied pace and related large and small moves which make the standard ‘team’ flying moves look a bit bland by comparison. The challenge is going to be finding a way
It was a clear blue sky except for a bank of cloud out to the west just after 10:00am on Blackheath today. The temperature was well into double figures Centigrade and the wind c10mph from the SW.
Initially I set up a full sail 1.5 with the white race rods but eventually decided that it was a bit too much like hard work and so switched to a full vented with green race. Along the way I noticed that for holding the full sail left or right facing the difference in ‘hand position’ pulling the top
Mostly sunny but with broken clouds driven by a close to westerly breeze that was mostly fluctuating in the mid 20s but with occasional long gusts at or above 30mph so did not exactly make for comfortable flying today.
Xtra Vents with 4 wrap were the only option. We decided against setting up the new lines to ‘stretch them in’! Interesting to note that the last time we had to take breaks when flying this set-up was back in August at Southshields. It has been a quiet winter and we have not ha
The very thin high cloud was only just obscuring the sun but was effectively filtering any perceived warming effect. As the weather front was approaching the high cloud thickened and eventually a band of lower cloud rolled in.
The forecast c18mph breeze from the SW was reasonably consistent so Xtra Vents with race were only occasionally underpowered.
I really enjoy applying ‘low wind’ techniques in high wind conditions without getting ‘arm ache’ from struggling to hold on to the kite so c
Anticyclonic murk gradually gave way to brighter moments with a light and then lighter variable easterly breeze. We started with full 1.5 sails and race rods but as the airflow slowed we had to switch to the diamond rods.
Nothing too elaborate on the flying front today but some interesting ‘counter point’ flying and some reasonably tight low wind following made for a sense of achievement anyway.
A couple of ‘passers by’ introduced themselves as ‘representatives’ of The Blackheath Society an
A mostly smooth c7mph NW breeze and limited convection/relief cloud had us somewhat dazzled but at least slightly warmed today with full 1.5 sails and standard race rods.
The consistency of wind speed really does have a major impact and today, I would say, that there was a gradual increase through the session which meant that the sails were slightly over powered at the end. Along the way though we saw some spontaneous in line stops and inverse pendulums. That’s always a good indicator of ‘tre
A blustery NW airstream kept a cloud cap on the heath today with tantalizing glimpses of clear blue sky to the NW. The sun almost broke through on a couple of occasions, not that it would have made much difference to the wind chill.
Xtra vents with 4 wrap mostly were a bit of a handful in the lulls but the long arm horizontal handles of light wind technique filled the gaps for me and the physical activity helped in keeping warm…
As Berck and Cervia are organized we need to arrange a March eve
Broken cloud, light SW breeze 5-6mph so full 1.5 sails with diamond rods worked OK until the breeze firmed up and we decided that changing spars would be too much effort <grins>
Discussion today was about ‘precise’ stops assisted by vigorous throwing forwards of the handles rather than applying brake through ‘wrist’ adjustments. All good in my view and precisely in line with the ‘fighter kite’ sensibility! There is plenty of room for adjustment as well given the ‘full arm’ possibilities
The cloud was breaking as we left Hackney this morning and for a brief spell on Blackheath there was ‘full on’ sunshine. As the light wind was from the North it was a bit bright!
Full 1.5 sails with mostly diamond rods, the green race were occasionally just a bit heavy apparently.
Some impressive free flying today with the occasional called sequences for the amusement of passers by.
With a little help from our friends Cervia is set and flights mostly booked. Berck logistics are in hand and
Bright and breezy from the SW at about 20mph most of the time so Xtra Vents and 4 wrap mostly, only occasionally let down by lulls.
Mostly called today including a run through Plan A or was it B?
I hope to finalise arrangements for Berck and Cervia in the next few days. It is always an anxious moment waiting to hear back from all the fliers in order to be able to put proposals to the event organisers!
Felix
It was very murky on the heath today, wet underfoot and in the air but no actual precipitation. 3C and a light SW breeze so it was 1.5 sails with mostly diamond rods.
Five fliers so there were some called moves but nothing too energetic. <grins>
We are getting the 2015 event schedule arranged and note the changed Portsmouth dates announced today, 15th and 16th August.
Felix
