2015 07 25 - Over the groyne
Met up with Dan down at Hampton for an early session, having viewed the best forecast I'd seen for a while. Met Kerrie Ferguson on the beach - small world !
The predicted north westerly was more northerly than anything and pretty sketchy. My first run had me drifting down wind quite a bit. On the walk back up to the top rock groyne, I decided to go over the rocks - bad idea. Half way across I was too focussed on the rocks and the kite dropped out of the sky. I had to run back to make sure it didn't drop on some gnarly bushes and rocks, luckily it dropped in the water but my lines were all over the place through some shrubs. Luckily Dan arrived to help me sort it out.
Once relaunched and on the water again, it was hard work. Just enough wind, probably 16 to 17 knots - so fighting hard to keep a line at all times. The sun came out at one stage and the wind swung a little more westerly which gave me a chance to do some jumps - but it was short lived. Still - we got 2 hours on the water which is a good time on the water - especially in winter.
Trialled my new wetsuit today - a Neil Pryde Fusion - fantastic. Chest zip meant that no water got in at all, and a very limited amount got into my legs. Very happy - it was probably the wetsuit that enabled me to stay in the water so long.
Trialled the new footpads and strap too - the strap is fine, the pads are a lot harder than the previous ones (weird huh - why would you make the next generation harder ?). Think I'll be mucking around with the pads to get the old ones to fit the new straps.
The predicted north westerly was more northerly than anything and pretty sketchy. My first run had me drifting down wind quite a bit. On the walk back up to the top rock groyne, I decided to go over the rocks - bad idea. Half way across I was too focussed on the rocks and the kite dropped out of the sky. I had to run back to make sure it didn't drop on some gnarly bushes and rocks, luckily it dropped in the water but my lines were all over the place through some shrubs. Luckily Dan arrived to help me sort it out.
Once relaunched and on the water again, it was hard work. Just enough wind, probably 16 to 17 knots - so fighting hard to keep a line at all times. The sun came out at one stage and the wind swung a little more westerly which gave me a chance to do some jumps - but it was short lived. Still - we got 2 hours on the water which is a good time on the water - especially in winter.
Trialled my new wetsuit today - a Neil Pryde Fusion - fantastic. Chest zip meant that no water got in at all, and a very limited amount got into my legs. Very happy - it was probably the wetsuit that enabled me to stay in the water so long.
Trialled the new footpads and strap too - the strap is fine, the pads are a lot harder than the previous ones (weird huh - why would you make the next generation harder ?). Think I'll be mucking around with the pads to get the old ones to fit the new straps.
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