And we had another great day today, winds not as strong, so 9m all afternoon. Waves were big though, forecast swell at 4m, and down at Big Bay they were coming through in sets bigger than that, and further north they were peaking way high. Credit to a couple of guys on strapped directionals who were tearing them up and ripping down the line through the crescents. And one amazing guy on a strapless board - respect! I was mostly jumping over and off them on a TT, and when riding them in desperately trying to make sure I did not catch a front edge while scooting along. Awesome stuff, one tired puppy tonight.
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Monday January 7 2019.jpeg (101.62 KiB) Viewed 1393 times
Each to their own re wetsuits - when I went (a loong time ago) a 3/2 shorty was toasty.
As for accidents, as noted before, newbies to the beaches be careful as the intensity/density of the wind is incredible - a mate's brother is an orthopaedic surgeon and is kept very busy with an operating theater full of kiters in the summer season.
Based on my one and only trip to CT 2 seasons ago, riding mostly at Kite Beach, I found it staggering how many intermediate riders are riding massively overpowered. I'd be lit on a 6m (admittedly on a directional) and it struck me a 9m 5line kite was the kite of choice for a lot of the riders. I kept thinking to myself that this is where small C Kites come to die. It was amazing how many riders were over-kited and frankly under-skilled for the conditions. Maybe they were training for KOTA?
I'm hoping the shine has come off the 5line C kites over the past couple years.
Add to that it's pretty darn busy and probably getting way more busy since I was there and I'm surprised there aren't more injuries.
Re suits, I rode mostly a full 3mm when it was windy, and was ok in a long sleeve shorty on lighter days. I understand when it's really blowing for a few days it can get colder, but I didn't think it was too bad. As stated, nice and warm on shore.
Bummed I'm not there right now. Love the thick, dense wind and waves
Thanks guys I will take my old 2014 Rip Curl E-bomb (5/3) with cut-off short sleeves en cut off pants just below the knees. Hopefully that does it... I mean, end of Jan is more or less the warmest seawater period around Capetown isn't it? http://nl.surf-forecast.com/breaks/Big- ... st/six_day
The issue I see most dangerous when launching people is they stand way too far upwind of the kite. This happens every single time there are a bunch of people at our site. Even experienced kiters get lazy doing this or excitement to get on the water. It's not a big deal in 15 knots, but once you pass 20 knots this can be a real problem if the holder can't hang onto the kite. This is one area I think teachers should pound into the brain of their students over and over....rig downwind and walk upwind slowly and get those lines sorted out as you approach perpendicular to the wind.
It was pretty hectic at KiteBeach today, see below. As The Russion and WMFG note, the wind feels dense and hence even stronger than this meter suggests. A couple of guys pumped 12m kites around 4PM, but quickly discovered the error of their ways. I quickly landed my 9m, and went to 7m and even that was hard to hold onto. The hotshots were on 9m kites, but very few five-line kites these days, WMFG.
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Tuesday January 8 2019.jpeg (88.55 KiB) Viewed 1136 times
Well, yesterday was a disappointment, with a weak SEaster trying to come through for a couple of hours. Just enough to get going on surfboard and 9m Pivot. Worked my way upwind from kitebeach to Dolphin beach watching kites fall in the water downwind of me. At Dolphin watched the first real kook of the season, a guy with a 12m Core kite with a board leash and no clue what he was doing. Landed up on the beach a couple of times, and the last time allowed someone to hotlaunch him, leading to the inevitable body-drag down the beach, unfortunately including a downloop into those standing nearby. As far as I could see noone hurt, but I can only hope he learnt something from it, although I doubt it. Would have made for a classic YouTube video.
Generally I agree, Toby. Several times I have refused to launch someone, indeed strongly suggested with a guy who was new to the beach that a 7m kite was not going to work as the wind was clearly dying back to the south, with three kiters stranded in the water outside the wave zone (I ended up walking the km back to Kitebeach as the wind backed off completely and everyone packed up). But this guy seemed incorrigible and the hotlaunch happened before I could do anything about it. After that he did pack up. I suppose I could have tried having a chat with him in the parking lot, but who knows how he might have reacted to that.