Seen a pretty solid forecast predicted for Lancelin today, drove the hour to turn up to see bins getting blown over. Super excited by this stage, blues sky's etc, threw the wettie on pumped up and at last minute decided against it. Couldn't hold my kite upside down, sounded like it was going to tear in half.
So I had this internal struggle questioning weather I was just being a pussy or should I was being smart.
Curious to know what others red flags are for canning a session? It's the first time I've got that far into settings up and not followed through.
If the gusts are really spooky and give you a funny feeling then its time to wimp out.
e.g. 20 knots suddenly goes to 45+ knots and possibly swings 15 degrees. Then goes back the other way.
Solid 40 knots can be "manageable", but not when it's being sneaky and spooky and unstable.
I think someone hacked Wishy's account.
Old mate is right though.
Has anyone heard of a kite tearing from too much wind?
You just have to trust your gut feeling.
If you are spooked and decide to head out, you are probably more likely to do something out of character and get your ass handed to you.
And it's pretty terrifying when you are experienced and yet you are still feeling out of your league. And yeah, when its gusty/ direction changey it gets all pretty unpredictable. I remember once a massive lull followed by a 40+ knot gust, caught my hindenburging kite and smashed it through the power zone, snapped both front lines, and nearly my spine. Kite didn't tear though, 2004 Fuel, bombproof apparently
TBH I used to get out in any storm front going, in all honesty I've had one session that last was epic , most are like today, messy waters, and 50knts to 15 knots mainly onshore or usually on your wrong side, couldn't be arsed with it today everything was wank blown out frustration
Traditionally I have been really bad at not going out. It has to be bat**** crazy and then i'm still wanting to go.
Here's my flow chart decision decider.
1) Do i have a small enough kite? Yes? proceed to Q2, No... dont go out.
2) Is the wind angle/gusts/squalls actually ridable? Yes? Go to Q3
3) Is there a space to launch/land? Yes, Proceed to kite.
The worst part is when you try to land, youre alone and its so windy your kite didn't sit on the beach a ton of sand on top before hand, and now I have to self land...
This is how to safely self land with an Ozone control bar and any of their inflatable kites. In strong winds and on beaches that have a lot of debris the LE can get damaged, but its only happened once to me in more than 1500 landings.
Wildest day in Perth metro I've seen, it got crazy windy in the afternoon, and very large messy seas.
The ozone flag out line doesn't last the life of the bar because the bar and strings last 5x longer than other "top" brands.
In 40 knots, I can barely trust my kite to sit in the sand without a ton of sand let alone trusting it to land properly.
I went out yesterday arvo with Matt in 30-40 knots at Horrocks. It was good fun and I think the wind eased a bit too.
You just have to go with your feeling on the beach, but also be aware as to what is coming up, and have a bit of an idea as to what youll do if it goes to ****. Yesterday would have been dump the lot and swim in.
I was a lot more scared first day at Gnaraloo a couple of weeks ago when the wind was only 20-25 but really offshore. Didnt go out that day. Which I regret but that was my feeling at the time.
It's been like 4 years since I have kitesurfed in anything +30 knots. Welcome to QLD where its 12 to 15......
This vid was Gero one 2014 Christmas Day.
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