Kitesurfing - Benone - 9th Sept 2019

Back out again tonight on the new kites, arrived at the beach after work at about 5:30pm, and was glad to see another couple of kites already there. The wind was quite up and down, but I set up the 12. This is the first time this 12 had ever been on the water.

The wind was quite onshore, which is not my favourite, and it was also quite weak, even on the 12, and so I did a couple of runs and then came in. Tried again a little later and it was the same. One of the other lads was going home so I asked if he'd help me leave my car downwind, and do a downwinder, and he obliged :)

What ensued was a fantastic hour of travelling about a mile downwind, sometimes lit, sometimes underpowered, some big waves, some big flats.


With the lighter wind I tried a couple of bigger boosts in the quite shallow water on my 12, and it is definitely a lot more boosty than my old kites.

With the lighter winds I also managed to do a few downloop transitions, both sliding and toe to heel, all sketchy, but fun, and definitely something to have in the toolbox for these lighter winds.

Kitesurfing - Downhill - 6th Sept 2019

First opportunity to try the new kites on the water tonight, went to Downhill as usual, and it was blowing well.

I was going to self launch by pulling the kite around, but the wind felt a bit uncertain, so I used the car as an anchor to launch, and that worked very well.

The session was epic, the waves were nice, the conditions were almost directly cross shore, and there were nice flats between the waves. With the shifting of the sand this year, it is almost like there is a lagoon in the shallow water, with knee deep water for quite a distance out before it gets deeper.

Staying upwind no problem tonight on this kite, not sure if it is the kite or the current or other conditions, but it was pretty good to be able to jump etc and still make it back easily to the same place.

Kite is fast, light, and easy to fly. Didn't do too many exciting things, as I don't want to tempt injuries; I'll go out a few times before getting too overexcited :)

Kitesurfing - New Kites - 5th Sept 2019

New kites arrived yesterday, second hand Naish Pivots, 9 and 12, 2019 model. It was a bit dark when I got to the beach, but I took the opportunity to blow them up and have a quick fly to make sure everything was ok.

And it was.

The 12 had literally never been out of the plastic, it was still folded in the factory fold, I've never seen a brand new kite before!

The kites only have 3 struts, which is a bit handier, but even nicer is the one pump system, which makes inflating the kites a lot easier.

I pumped them up, flew them for a short time on the beach, and packed up again. Can't wait to try them on the water!