Kiteventure

Location : Hampton Kite : 10m Switchblade Wind : 15-20 knot S   Another perfect day, blue skies, clean water, good consistent wind and no people.  Melbourne is fantastic for a kiting holiday between Christmas and New year ! Managed a board off - but didn't get it back on.

Location : Hampton Kite : 10m Switchblade Wind : 15-20 knot S Epic day - tree adventure in the morning, then hit the beach at around 4:30.  The wind was marginal - but I thought I'd head out into the middle of the bay to see if anything comes through.  During the first 30 minutes I was just able to hold a line, after that I had 2 hours of 18-20 knot joy.  Beautiful water, blue skies, great wind.  Did all the standard tricks and tried a few variations, nothing really new but what a blast.  Exhausted now.

Location : St Kilda Kite : 10m Switchblade Wind : 18 knot S First post Christmas kite.  Water is still brown at St Kilda, but it doesn't seem to bother the penguins - saw one duck dive right in front of me near the rock wall.  Spent most of the time in the flat "kiddie pool" section - there is no-one around so it was a joy not to have to fight for position there.  Discovered a pinhole in my kite - must grab the sailtape.

Location : Mentone Kite : 10m Switchblade Wind : 18-28 knots SE Headed down with Pete for a quick session in the afternoon once the wind kicked up.  Thought it would be only just enough - we got down there and it was howling.  Wind was up and down - from 18 knots gusting up to 28 and dropping out at times to 10 knots, direction was a bit all over the place from E to SE.  Got a big boost and travelled a large distance.  Did a few nice backroll transitions, otherwise it was a bit dicey for anything else new.

Location : Hampton Kite : 10 m Switchblade Conditions : 18 knot southerly Kiting is a joy when you have a perfectly consistent sea breeze, beautiful blue skies and 22c. What a day! Got to try all my standard tricks, plus attempt everything else in the book. Tried the dead man whilst holding on to the handle, fully inverted sure messes with your head. You are looking down on the ocean and it gets real confusing. Nailed a very nice raley, some good spins. Working on the board off, vertical transition and forward 360 transition. Did some forward Hand holds - got to get it sorted On both sides. Can't wait for tomorrow.

Location : St Kilda Kite : 10 m Switchblade Conditions : 17 knot southerly at the best of times It took a while to come in but by 6:30 there was around 17 knots blowing so I headed out to sea.  Not quite enough to jump in - did a few transitions but there was enough wind to go upwind so I had a bit of a look around.  Not an epic session at all, but always good to get out after checking out the wind all day.

Location : Port Melbourne Kite : 10 m Switchblade Conditions : 20 to 17 knot southerly A magnificent day all up - things are winding down at work for Christmas, a long lunch then off kiting at 5pm on a beautiful sunny day.  Perfect 20 knots when I headed out so I took the opportunity to try some new tricks.  Hence the title.  No real pain but I fell from height several times.  Among the tricks I have now mastered are the following: Single foot board off to faceplant Horizontal rotation to stall backwards 720 to unintentional kiteloop Riding blind to lame Yep - no progress but beautiful to be out in great conditions where there is a chance of relying on consistent wind.  Pete and Tarren were down the beach too - gotta love summer.

Location : Hampton Kite : 7m Crossbow Conditions : 25 to 20 knot southerly Christmas is almost here and the weekends are increasingly packed.  After a stormy Saturday night, we had to book in an early session to be back home by 9:30 to help Tina prepare for the next lot of visitors.  Peter and I got down to Hampton at around 7:30 and it was howling.  Went safe with the 7m, but had a feeling that the 10 would have been a better fit - and that proved to be right.  It really needs to be baseline 25 knots for the 7 to come into its own - I was going along easily enough and the thing moves real fast - but couldn't really get any air or do anything spectacular.  Good swell and waves so had a bit of fun, but the wind dropped 5 knots and I had to battle to get back upwind from Green Point.

Location : St Kilda Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 20 knot southerly Thank goodness I was able to get out after having lots of Christmas engagements the last four days - during that time it has been near perfect wind pretty much every day. Quite an early session so not many out - kicked off around 830. Mucked around in the section near the pier - fun in the little waves but the wind was a bit stronger in the middle of the bay so when tarren turned up we headed out there. Very consistent wind but I was not really nailing many landings today. Even managed to jellyfish the kite so had to go back in and untangle the lines. No progression. One thing is for sure though - an early morning session takes the pressure off and leaves you very content for the rest of the day.

Location : Port Melbourne  Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 16 to 20 knot easterly It doesn't really work in an easterly. The wind strength was ok, but it is generally pushing you in the direction of the ship- which is definitely not where you want to be if things go wrong. Plus the wind kept cutting out when I was a fair way out into the middle of the bay- so I was happy with 1 hour in the water and no misadventure.

Location : Hampton Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 18 to 25 knot westerly First day since it started warming up that I have abandoned the wetsuit.  It was glorious to be out on a sunny day, water 18C, consistent wind and back on the progression trail.  Managed to really consolidated forward 360s in both directions, and the backroll transition was working a treat in the stronger winds.  Tried a raley or two but must work on those a bit more.  Kiting in summer is such a different proposition - better winds and more opportunities to try new stuff.

Location : Sandy point Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 25 to 16 knot south westerly I was a bit scared.  The forecast was not disimilar to my biggest kitemare ever at exactly this location - a front was going to hit with about 35 knots of pain at some stage during the day.  After setting up and seeing the wind pick up I thought I was in for a big adventure.   Headed out and it was all over the shop at the north of the inlet.  Gusting from 15 to about 25 knots, really damn nasty.  I headed to the south of the inlet as the wind seemed to be more consistent there - but it was blowing pretty hard.  I thought I'd have to go in and get the 7m - but everything scaled back and I had a fun time doing some transitions. Photos courtesy Peter Campbell at  http://www.peterskiteboarding.com/

Location : Sandy point surf beach Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 14 knot southerly The surf beach was so inviting - beautiful day, perfect water - that I just had to give it a crack.  Not quite enough wind, but kind of fun still buzzing back and forth for a little while.  Hardly counts as a session - but the mammoth morning session would probably count as two.

Location : Sandy point Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 17 knot south westerly Rushed down to Sandy point for our planned sailing weekend with Peter, Stu Styles and Grant.  All keen to get on the water - when we arrived it was a fairly light 15 knots or so.  I headed down the inlet a long way as I couldn't stay upwind - further down the inlet towards the ocean there was a fair bit more wind.  I was out for ages just keeping the same tack - about 1 hour in the wind picked up and I was able to go and meet Stu and Grant.  Great fun mixing up with those guys.  No progress with my hit list of tricks - its a sketchy place when you ditch a kite so I put them on the back burner - but was great to just buzz around and race Stu and Grant. Photos courtesy Peter Campbell at  http://www.peterskiteboarding.com/

Location : Hampton Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 16 knot south westerly Just to cap off a magic kiting week I thought I'd push the envelope this morning - so after dropping the kids at school and kinder I gave Pete a call and headed down to Hampton beach.  It looked promising upon arrival, we even discussed doing an upwind tour but once on the water, there was just enough wind to keep going.  We headed downwind past Green point to Brighton, staying a fair way offshore.  Good to be back on home turf, I feel very comfortable cruising around the bay. Tried riding blind again with the same result, crashed kite.  I've got to sort out the steering !

Location : Inverloch Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 16 knot south westerly The wind was teasing most of the day but ended up coming in quite late.  Just enough to hold a line at first, but it got better later on so got to have some fun - but generally feeling pretty tired after a solid couple of days.  I seem to be fighting off some kind of cold too which is saping my energy a bit.  Great to get the session in.

Location : Inverloch Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 20-25 knot south westerly After the epic downwinder in the morning, Pete, Tarren and I hit the surf beach in the afternoon - as that was the best part of our downwinder.  Conditions were a perfect 20+ knots - having being underpowered in the morning I put the 10 up and it was fantastic.  Great to have a little more power in the surf to be able to put on the gas if you are in trouble.  I had a fantastic time getting onto waves and backing the kite off to surf them in - its an absolute blast. Did a couple of standard jumps and rotations but didn't want to try anything radical in surf as ditching the kite or board is kind of bad.  Absolutely stoked after this session - and tired !

Location : Inverloch Kite : 7m Crossbow Conditions : 20-25 knot south westerly What a perfect day for kiting ! Good wind on - initial thoughts were that it was going to spike out about 25 knots so I rigged the 7m crossbow just in case.  We kicked off a downwinder at the surf beach, the surf was fantastic fun and the flat sections in between waves was fantasic.  PredictWind had indicated that the wind would drop out so we headed down the beach towards the mouth of the inlet.  This was unpleasant last time - and was again this time.  Waves and currents are going in all directions here so its real bumpy and not that much fun.  We got into the inlet and ran up and down in the flat water.  Unfortunately the wind backed off to around 20 knots, and I only had my 7 up so there wasn't much airtime to be had.  Wish I had my 10 !   All the same, it was a great session in fantastic conditions. Photos courtesy of Peter Campbell from  Peters kiteboar...

Location : Inverloch Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 17 knot southerly Inverloch can be a little bit hit and miss - we've been going down there for a couple of years now for the cup day weekend and haven't really nailed it in terms of kiting conditions.  All that was about to change. Its a great start when you can get a kite in on the first day - it takes the pressure off a little.  We'd got the band back together - Tarren had finally recovered from his ankle injury so it was an absolutely joy to launch at the surf beach, get out in the swell and look across and see the lineup of Tarren, Pete and I and some nice little waves to muck about in.   Not fantastic surf, but inbetween waves it was beautifully flat so a good chance to warm up.  The wind was perfect for about 1 hour - after which it dropped out completely and we headed back to shore.  Happy campers !

Location : St Kilda Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 17-35 knot westerly Headed down to St Kilda for a quick session whilst my parents looked after the boys.  Always tricky to get out at St Kilda now - lots of beginners doing unusual things with their kites.  The first 45 minutes was fantastic - did a couple of the standard tricks and had a lot of fun - then everything changed.  It blew up to around 35 knots and got crazy. Knowing that the prediction from predictwind was a little unusual I had headed a long way out just in case a big gust hit.  It was still a bit of a surprise not being able to back off the kite enough - it was blowing very hard and I had to use all my nous just to keep from being blown away.   Managed to head back in to kite another day.   Bit surprised there wasn't more carnage - a lot of folks were seriously overpowered.  Its always good to know your limits and pull the pin if things are looking shady.

Location : Hampton Kite : 7m Crossbow Conditions : 17 to 25 knots south westerly In the kitesurfing handbook ( https://sites.google.com/a/peterskiteboarding.com/kitesurfing-handbook/gear/gear-maintenance ) we've recommended cleaning your kite with fresh water a couple of times each season.  Imagine my joy when I had the opportunity today to both have a fun kite and also cleanse my kite - all at the same time. Wind was very strong when I hit Hampton so I went with the 7m - just in case.  There were a lot of fronts around, it was hitting 25 knots and there was noone else around - so safety first.  Quite a decent bay surf on too ! Once out, the 7m was a bit of a pain - it took me a little while to get used to it again - it flits around so fast - and the wind was at times a little light so I had to work it quite a bit. The water was very brown - so not quite as picturesque as the last couple of sessions.  No real progression but always good to get out and play in ...

Location : Mentone Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 17 knot south easterly Perfect spring day with the perfect wind.  Fantastic to get out and roll out some of the old favourite tricks - pulled off a couple of 720's, backrolls, backroll transitions, forward loops, inverts.  It's all happening again ! Had another wardrobe malfunction - I don't know what I did but the safety fired off and I had to go in and reset the kite.  Twice in a row - hope this is not going to happen again.  I think I must have stuffed up the donkey dick or the valcro on the safety gave or something.  I kept a good eye on it during the session for any clues but didn't see anything after resetting.  Thanks goodness that has never happened in a tricky situation.  It did give me a chance to practice self rescue, I still have to work on reeling the kite in on the lines.  Bring on summer !

Location : Mentone Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 20 knot south easterly Last minute run after an important birthday party for sonny and a fun afternoon with Alexander - an alexander party. Got there at 530 to see grant and stu styles on sailboards. Setup quickly and was glorious to be out in a consistent onshore breeze with little kicker waves. Wasted no time in getting back into bankrolls and rotations, managed a 720 and had some fun in the waves. Unluckily e loop slid out of my harness, kite crashed and inverted so I had to go in and untangle, when I got back out there was no one else there and it was slowly getting dark. Great to get out, here comes summer !

Location : Brighton Kite : 7m Crossbow Conditions : 25-35 knots north westerly 25 C - fantastic.   Pete and I had a great run - wind was a bit gusty close in but pretty consistent further out.  We went upwind from the very congested area and were able to cruise, jump and muck around in freedom.  I don't understand why so many people choose to stay in such a congested area at Brighton - the beauty of the kite is to be able to go and explore the surrounds under your own power - having to avoid traffic jams at high speed is no fun ! No real progression today - I'm still waiting for some onshore winds.   The water has warmed up a lot though - the time to ditch the wetsuit is nigh.

Location : Hotham Board : White Conditions : 50 cm snow, softening Fantastic to get on the board.  Snow was suprisingly good given the warm conditions over the last couple of months.  The kids loved learning to ski - I was even able to ski down 2 runs with Alexander - which made me very proud. No real kickers for snowboarding, but it was good to do some fast runs.

Location : Brighton Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 20 knots north westerly After yesterday's harrowing experience, it was great to get out at Brighton in normal conditions again.  Was out fairly early - got down there by 8:20 am.  So much nicer when the wind is a little bit stable - I was able to do the normal repertoire without going too crazy.  The water has warmed up though markedly, next week I should be good to pull out the trick bag again.

Location : Brighton Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 15-35 knots northerly Terrible conditions down at Brighton - started out with 15 knots but gusting up to 35 knots.  It was like riding the old c kites - there were moments when I was so powered that I had no real control anymore - pretty harrowing.  Jeremy had come down to have another crack at kiting but I had to put him off - it was no time for getting back on the horse.  Saw 2 guys in trouble and one lost a kite.  Shocking conditions - but it did unnerve me a little as I couldn't even do the most basic trick.

Location : Brighton Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 15-23 knots north westerly Beautiful day so Pete and I headed down to Brighton to pickup the wind as it came in.  Been a long time between sessions, was a little rusty but soon shook out the cobwebs.  I'm still not too keen to try anything crazy - the water is very cold - but had a great upwind session.  We went from Brighton up to Elwood in very consistent north westerly conditions, we ended up being out for about 1.5 hours.  Awesome ! I've spent a bit of time over the last weeks working on the kitesurfing handbook with Pete.  This is basically a how to for beginners that are learning to kitesurf.  Check it out : http://kitesurfing-handbook.peterskiteboarding.com/ Pete asked me how many sessions I've clocked so I thought I'd give it some consideration. In the early days I was getting out heaps - up to 3 or 4 times a week, but I figure an average based upon the current measurements would be...

Location : Brighton Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 15-20 knots northerly Great to get out on an average day.

Location : Brighton Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 15-30 knots northerly This season has been a bit atypical - consistent winds and some southerlies coming through.  None of that today though - back to the winter of old with a gusty northerly to contend with.  PredictWind was spot on again - we were first on the water and got the best of the breeze by going early.  Trickiest wind I've kited in quite a while - it was all over the place.  Too cold for any crazy tricks - and too gusty but transitions are all good. Managed to kite a bit upwind with Pete to around Brighton harbour - fun to do a mini tour.  Great to get out and wash away the cobwebs after a night on the town on Friday.

Location : Hampton Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 15-20 knots westerly After a holiday in the sun, this was the perfect way to readjust to Melbourne's temperature.  A kite in 12C at Hampton in a very consistent westerly.   As mentioned previously, I've put a bit of a monatorium on new tricks as it is freezing in the water when you ditch the kite.  So nothing crazy today, but great fun to be out in just enough wind, quite a swell around so some fun to be had in the waves.  A boat busted a mast so I did my best to help take a lady to shore - but she was too freaked out to be helped much.

Location : Long Island, Whitsundays Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 15-20 knots south easterly The stars seemed to align during the week, predictwind indicated that the wind would be perfect for the first day of our holiday.  I looked around Long island on google maps and found what seemed to be a perfect kite beach just 200m from where we were staying.  Yeehaa ! It looked like a beautiful spit, perfect for a south easterly, with great sand for landing and launching.  Check it out and you can see why I got excited. Reality however, looked a little different.  What appears to be a sandy beach is actually a rocky beach.  Not little rocks either, but rocks with barnacles and pieces of coral - all very sharp.  So did I go out - hell yes.   Luckily the tide was outgoing and revealed a sand bar around 4m by 4m. I was able to launch from this sand bar, and navigate out through a passage inbetween the rocks.  Rocks were everywhere, in the water, on t...

Location :Brighton Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 15-25 knots north-westerly One of the most consistent northerly breezes I've seen at Brighton.  Had about 1.5 hours out in fantastic conditions.  Good opportunity to consolidate skills, managed backrolls and 360 forwards in both directions.  Stuffed up a raley and learnt again that the water is quite cold - I'd hate to be in it for any length of time.  Had a terrible crash - tried a reverse 360 on my good side and totally stuffed it up - I was about the same level as the kite and came down with the board square underneath me.  Lucky that I didn't break anything - board or body.  Managed to pull off an inverted twist on both sides - ace. Still astounded that some folks persist in going out with a leash but without a helmet - terrible accidents happen this way.  

Location :Hampton Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 15-20 knots westerly Beautiful to get out in the morning.  Not quite enough wind to do anything special, just nice to cruise around.  Interesting that you seem to need less wind in winter, the air is apparently denser.  Not nearly as cold in the water as I expected.

Location :Brighton Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 15-25 knots northerly Bit of an enforced winter break - lack of daylight savings constrains kitesurfing opportunities to the weekend.  Beautiful day with a strong northerly all day let us get out really early - about 8:30 start.  Light at first in close - brighton is always a bit iffy on a northerly so its always a bit tricky to know whether to go out further to get better wind or stay in close and stay safe.  Its not really the place to pull off any massive tricks in a northerly - if anything goes wrong its a one way ticket to antartica.   No progression today - did one backloop and a forward rotation, a few hand in water transitions but by the time the wind picked up to around 20 I was starting to tire.  Feel like a bit of a sleep now !  Can't wait for the next session.

Location :Hampton Kite : 7m Crossbow Conditions : 15-25 knots south-westerly Did my back about 2 weeks ago and have been itching to get out kiting ever since.  I figured the pressure from the harness would pull it back into shape - plus I just wanted to get out anyway.  Was great to get out, fantastic to do something with a pretty average day.  Very windy when I got down there so I opted for the 7.  I think it was a good choice given the conditions, I was never really overpowered, but there was a huge variance in conditions.  I just wanted to play it safe - I didn't want to have an epic adventure if I couldn't rely 100% on my body.  Didn't push the limits with any tricks, particularly with the 7 as it moves around very quickly.  Just doing standard tricks the kite ends up in some unusual positions, I can't imagine the strife I'd be getting in trying rotations.  Having said that, even looping the thing does not generate extreme power so.....maybe...

Location :Hampton Kite : 10m Switchblade Conditions : 16-20 knots westerly Long session from 9am to 12am at Hampton in perfect conditions.  Fantastic fun. Worked on raley, transitions and rotations. Have worked out the hooked in raley, just need to progress to unhooked. Have sorted the board rotation - fav side is fine, the weaker side needs work. Tried the vertical transition - didn't really get around it but I can imagine now how it will work.

Location :Sandy point Kite : 16m Cabrinha CO2 Conditions : 5-8 knots southerly Nowhere near enough wind at one of the windiest places in Victoria.  The kiting weekend that had no kiting.  Frustrating session where we were barely able to get planing.   Had a great surf on Sunday though the way surfing should be - just us 4 having fun in small surf.  Fantastic ! On the todo list for tricks - riding blind - unhooked raley - back 720 on weaker side - vertical forward 360 transition - board rotation at top of jump with backhand hold - deadman

Location : Brighton Kite : 7m Crossbow Conditions : 20-30 knot northerly Winter is not too far away when gusty northerlies blow in.  Really happy I ended up taking the 7m out - it varied between 18 to 32 knots - good to have some variation and the ability to hold on in heavy winds.  Northerlies are so gusty that its always kind of crappy - but it was nice and warm and the views were fantastic.  Still heaps better than not going ! No real progression - just concentrated on adjusting to the 7m kite - it flies so damn fast you have to really watch it constantly, particularly in jumps.  Managed to work out how to land the damn thing and do a few transitions, be damned if I'll be trying any crazy tricks in an offshore gusty breeze though ! 

Location : Aspendale Kite : 10m Switchblade IDS Conditions : 15-20 knots south westerly  Brain was pretty fuzzy after a couple of nights out - great to wash it out with a session this afternoon.  Pretty fickle conditions - ranging between 15 knots to 20 knots.  Pretty lucky to arrive, have about 90 minutes of good wind before it dropped away.  Got to work on all the normal range of tricks, getting real consistency with the weaker side jumps.  Even rotation both directions on my weaker side.  Got to watch the video again to get my next range of tricks.

Location : Port Melbourne Kite : 10m Switchblade IDS Conditions : 25 knots south westerly dropping to 15 knots Got out after work on what has turned into a bit of a break.  The weather has just been rubbish in terms of wind, and looking after the kids 2 days means thats two potential days out of the kiting calender.  Spent most of the session working on jumping on my weaker side - really made some great progress now that I have figured out what I've been doing wrong.  Both hands on the bar, bum almost in the water for max tension and moving the kite upwards a lot faster.  No real progress with  new tricks, but good to work on the baseline stuff.  Have to watch the video a couple of times before going down to Sandy point.  Was blowing hard when I arrived so I depowered the kite a fair bit for the 25 to 30 knot winds, by the time I finished up - and Pete arrived - it had dropped off dramatically.  Frontal winds - they are a pain !  Got a good...

Location : Mentone Kite : 10m Switchblade IDS Conditions : 20 knots easterly PredictWind wins again !   Sunday had absolutely no wind - but Predict wind told us that 18 knots would arrive at about 6pm so we headed down to Mentone to check it out, expecting an easterly.  By the time we got there it had kicked in.  Fantastic location, water and sand are great, wind was a little off and on - but being that it was an easterly this is to be expected. Tried the backroll to toeside but couldn't really land it - damn !  Plus my forward 360 was not really working today.  I did work a lot on jumps on my weaker side and think I've got it sussed now - must bend my legs more and stick my bum out with two hands on the bar as per my stronger side.   We did a downwinder across the big bay to Beaumaris - lots of practice on riding toeside so my weaker side got a workout - was great.  On arrival at Beaumaris there were heaps of kiters and reef - different scenar...

Location : St Kilda Kite : 10m Switchblade IDS Conditions : 20 knots southerly Perfect conditions - hasn't happened terribly often this summer.  Fantastic to be out on the water on days like this.  Progression at last. Backroll to toeside - Landed !  After many stacks.   Riding blind - ok for short periods of time.  Very wierd feeling. Backwards 360 on weaker side - landed sweetly.  Just have to get the 720 nailed. Stoked to have achieved so much today.  Time to lookup some new tricks !

Location : Beaumauris Kite : 10m Switchblade IDS Conditions : 25 knots south westerly dropping to 17 knots As this was the only day that was going to be any good this long weekend, we headed down on a predictwind prediction that the wind was going to change and come in hard.  It did - but predict wind didn't tell us that it was going to be accompanied by a storm front.  Heaps of rain and up to 35 knot gusts greeted our arrival.  Had a good session though - some good waves to be had off the point, but it is a perilous place for kitesurfing - rocks everywhere and not a very wide beach.  No real progression today - but really nailing transitions now which is nice.

Location : Phillip Island, Cleeland Bight Kite : 10m Switchblade IDS, 12m Noise, 10m Switchblade IDS Conditions : 15 knots easterly, 20 knots easterly Got out for 2 sessions. 1st session in the afternoon was pretty lame - just enough wind every now and again to do a couple of runs, then wait around.  Had a go on Peters Noise kite - it had enough power to have some fun, but not quite enough to have a ball.  Turns quite well for a big kite, but handles very differently to the little kites I have been flying.  Pete is often having trouble stacking it in the water and relaunching - so don't think I'll be in a big hurry to buy one. Amazing session later on - after dinner we rushed down to the beach, hit the beach at 7:30 with a strong wind blowing.  Fantastic fun - total action - and at last enough wind to have some fun.  I was a little anxious being on such an open stretch of water at feeding time, but great fun for the hour we were out.  We returned h...