Kiteventure

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.