Fun day at the gathering

[Tighe]

Unbelievable how every gathering brings in the wind. Must be all that positive stoke.

Yesterday had great morning winds(12m), with mixed sky cover, then the sky turned mostly sunny and the wind backed off a bit. Big kites and big boards were the call for the afternoon.

Got a run on a Cabrinha Race board at the end of the day. Deb (90lbs wet) on a 14m was the only other one out. I took the 17m Turbine and this new board out. Firstly this board is quite different. It has straps like a race windsurfing board, out on the upper side rail. It also has four 10 inch high aspect blade fins to the rear. It is fairly high volume for a kiteboard. 168 length.

The wind was maybe 6-8mph, really. Not much of a sense of there being a breeze on your face. I pulled the kite up from TE down position. Seemed like there might be a bit more up high, Gee maybe 9mph. Anyway after a few sloppy attempts to get up on the board, I did get up and riding. That thing planes up and takes off quite quickly. Very light and nimble underfoot, it did took a bit to get use to. The board rides flat and you load the fins like a windsurfer, instead of the edge like a kiteboard. The wind had just shifted direction so I was hitting the waves a bit head on. The nose of the board did seem to bounce around a bit, though I think with tweaking the position of the straps and dialing in the best stance you could settle that down.
Bottom line, I was ripping upwind in less than a breeze. Unbelievable. Unfortunately I made the mistake during a jibe and put my kite down on the outside. With nearly no wind, I had no chance of relaunching it. Thanks to Chad who came out and fished me out on his jetski.

I think this type of board opens up a significant amount of riding that otherwise wouldn't ever even be considered. The only downside is that until there are more of these in the area you're not going to have much company out on the water.

Good to see many faces for the first time this summer, and to meet others.

ride on