Big Wind
Entry posted by bartman ·
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I've tried the lower end on the wind scale so today I had a chance to dabble at the higher end. I can't say the stronger wind was my cup-o-tea. I went with the B-Series vented right off and the Race Rods. That lasted for about ten minutes before the wind got even stronger. I moved to the four wrap and kept letting the brake out a couple knots at a time until I could manage some control. Forward was difficult, but at least I wasn't getting dragged around like my friend with his two line foil. It was still tiring.
I continued to work on inverted hovers and inverted slides. Even with my favored vented the wild wind and gusts made it hard for me to maintain much stability inverted hovering or sliding. I don't think I could react fast enough was half the problem. I had a few windows where I could get a good slide going or a good hover before being jacked around again with the wind and fighting just to keep the kite under some control.
The nice thing is, for the most part, I did keep control even in the high winds. I don't think I could have done it a year ago so that is progress of a sort. With the high wind I also got some really wide slides which was pretty cool too!
The big thing I really wanted to do today was an axel. Now, I know it probably would not have happened and probably the kite would have spent a lot of time on the ground, but I had studied the tutorial by JB and I had the basic idea in my head of what I would need to do. Unfortunately it didn't happen. There probably is a way to get enough slack in high winds to pull this off, but there was no way I was figuring it out today. My game plan was to get a nice sliding going then jump in with the step forward, handle back/handle forward and just see what happened. Today I couldn't get any slack so I thought it best to save the attempt for when the wind is a bit more reasonable. I don't recall ever seeing an axel in high wind and if it is possible it is something for the pros, not me.
So, I was content with inverted hovering and sliding and just trying to see how much I could control with the wind what it was. In the end I think I did have moments of good control One of my friends came out to take pictures and I was able to keep the kite in position for extended periods of time while she shot. I'm hoping she captured something cool!
My kite flying friend Ken said he was all for heading off to Alberta in early May for a fun fly there one Saturday so that trip looks like it's a go too. Should be fun. Hoping tomorrow the wind is a bit less wild and I can work on fumbling the axel. I have Ken on stand-by to pick up the kite!
Bart
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