Mille Yesterday

Tighe · Post by **Tighe** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 10:23 am

What a day. Riders at Malmo and Reddy. Partly cloudy skys with sessions in shimmering waves. Everyone was looking great.

My day was completely out of sinc though. Almost landed on Jeff, put a kite in a tree and blew a kiteloop and came in real hard and blew out my knee....oouchhh! May be out of commission for awhile.

Did get some more sessions on the Rev. What a nice kite. Don't believe me though. Take a demo.

Also had some more time on the Fuse board. So much fun in the waves at Reddy. Carves like a directional but can be ridden like a twin tip. Saweet!

Gotta go ice my knee

RobH · Post by **RobH** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 11:02 am

Nice pics! Reddy looked sweet yesterday. Lake Washington was also blessed with great conditions, about 8 kites and 6 windsurfers.

Good luck with the knee, if your looking for a Knee doc I have always had great success with James Schafhauson (sp?) out of Burnsville. I have his number if you need it

Hunter Welles · Post by **Hunter Welles** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 11:26 am

Yesterday was an awesome riding day. Got to spend a lot of time on the Rev and loved it. It is a completely different kite than the link with every part of it taken to a new level. Super fast, tons of pop, insane hang time, easy kiteloops with more C kite pull than the links, sick for wave riding, and on top of that sick safety features with tons of depower and range, to say the least, im in love.....

Also I was riding around on the Fuse for a while and its a SICK board. Points higher upwind than anyboard ive ever ridden, even when riding it the opposite way your supposed to. With all of the waves breaking in at reddy yesterday and me being a little underpowered on the 9 rev it made for a great combo, you do not need very much to stay planing and heading up wind on this board, and if you put yourself into a wave, you can totally surf it and sheet out your kites power. Also, the boards got a ton of pop still for being a directional surfboard, do not be afraid to jump on this board. I think this board would make an amazing light wind board and doubles as a fun fishy surfboard for superior, big reddy days or big father hennipen days.

Some of Jasons shots of me on the Rev/Fuse

Denis · Post by **Denis** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 1:07 pm

It was an awesome day! Only quick breaks between massive sessions. Towards the end, my body was just giving up cause I was sooo tired.

The winds were the usual Milly smooth. Carlsona was reporting 25, but I was on my 12 link all day. I should have been lit out of my mind normally, but this was very comfortable. Maybe the readings were a little off.

I had a chance to try the Rev. I agree with Hunter, there was massive improvements there. Being a Link flyer, I found the Rev to be more mellow. So, you give up some instantaneous control for a more stable kite. It still loops like a maniac though which is awesome for kiteloop transitions. The saftety system works really well. I lost the bar several times yesterday and the kite just gently depowered to a soft landing. After hooking back in, the launch was really fast, even when I wasn't touching the bottom. I had to be careful though. If I pulled on the back line too fast, the kite could fold a bit. Didn't affect the relaunch though.

The boost on the Rev is a little better than the link. Usually I would struggle to get inverted for a dangle pass, but on the Rev I had the opposite problem where my board will get stuck in my lines.

I did notice that the clam cleat slid out. It was during a powered kiteloop, so that might be part of it. It was just after I adjusted it also, so there may be something I didn't set right.

I tried the Fuse in the little waves on the break and it works pretty well. We are seeing the rejuvination of Mutant boards! I was able to maintain a really aggressive line going toe-side, and even in the 2ft waves, the board could carry you the point where the lines get slack and you ride the wave. I need some time in Duluth on it though.

Tighe, I hope your knee gets better fast.

Denis

djmadmike · Post by **djmadmike** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 1:16 pm

Yikes, sorry to hear about your knee Tighe. Injuries suck.

How is it today? Any report from the doc?

Drop me a line at michaeltnelson AT yahoo DOT com as there are probably some drills you can do to help speed the healing and reduce pain. Either way , at the end of one session if there is no change there is no cost to you.

Take care
Mike N

Si · Post by Si » Mon Aug 27, 2007 1:47 pm

Had a great day out at malmo yesterday. Travis and i were kiteboarding out on water for the first time (so awful that that hasn't happened yet) and it was a blast. we were both out on 12m td's and were well lit-up on our 140-150lb frames. i thought the learning curve was way slower than on a snowboard but still fun. there is something to being out kiteboarding without 6 layers and a frozen nose! great to see all the kites in the air. anyone else get lake itch? my lower legs are itchin pretty bad today.

Tighe · Post by **Tighe** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 1:53 pm

Got some itching as well. Surprised since that lake is cooling down nicely. Don't itch them. Put some bleach on them. Or fingernail polish. They most likely are chiggers.

Eric P · Post by **Eric P** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 6:04 pm

I had a great time on the 11 Rev yesterday. The first thing I noticed was the speed. I was on my favorite kite, the 14 M Vegas, until I tried the rev, and the comparison in speed was like night and day. It was a smaller kite, therefore faster, but wow what a difference. My first tack out was almost out of control fast. Only it wasn't out of control.

After that tack. I turned around and started coming back towards the beach. I see a nice wave, sent the kite hard, kicked off the wave, pulled in the bar and POOOW, I was going in the other direction (against gravity) at probably around three gees. I stopped at what I would guess about 40 feet and started to drop fast, looped, and landed it nicely. Then I crashed cus the adrenalin was pumpin. That was the fastest up rip I’ve ever felt. No way could I have kept the board on without the wakeboard boots. What I couldn’t believe was the fact that I got the kite back over my head and then looped in the opposite direction before coming back to earth. In other words, this is one fast kite. Not just in the turns but threw the air as well.

After that I had more respect and keep the sending under control and tried some unhooked tricks. I found the timing to be different from the Vegas, but I really liked the pop that it generated, even if you didn’t get it just right. Forgiving and quick to recover. I never dropped the bar so I didn’t get to test out the safety system, but it looked like the safety worked better than anything out there. Including fifth line. All in all a great kite, and I’m sure the 11 had a great low end, but I really think I was testing it in it’s perfect power zone. Thanks to whomever I borrowed it from (I think it was Tighe who set it up), it was the ride of the day. I might actually have to buy one of those when the prices come down and they are trying to sell them out to make way for the next greatest kite ever.

Oh Yea, the day was great too. I’m sore in all the usual places. You’d think your body would get used to that and acclimate. I guess not. Hope your knee heals quickly Tighe.

Kevinousdigian · Post by **Kevinousdigian** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 6:35 pm

I've been avoiding places with swimmers itch reports all summer. I thought it was gone from malmo too. I had an itch or two yesterday and many more itches on my legs today. I should have worn my 3/2 with long legs instead of the shorty. The worse part is my 5 and 8 year old had fun in the water for a long time yesterday but they are itching too - at least not whining about it yet.

So you think the finger nail polish or bleach helps reduce the itch or reduce the amount of time they'll be itching (ie from 1 week to 2-3 days)?
What about benadryl cream?

Kevin

Tom L · Post by **Tom L** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 7:31 pm

I'm out of commission again due to my shoulder, but that's another story. Bummed I missed such a great day.

Any way......I got no chigger bites at Malmo (on July 25th). I was out all day teaching my son to kite, thrashing in the water for hours. That day we applied 3m Ultrathon repellent and over that Coppertone Sport Sunblock Spray (not lotion, the clear stuff, in a blue bottle). Neither of us got any bites.

Then on Tonka 3 days later I was in an area where I had to sail back & forth over a Milfoil bed that was really thick to get in & out from my launch. I did not apply Ultrathon that day and I got about 20 Chigger bites. I have never had Chigger bites on Tonka before so I think that the theory that they hang out in the weeds is correct.

So thats my .02.....it might work....seems to do it for me. Someone else should try the combo of those 2 chemicals. They are both like spray paint and maybe they form a physical barrier more than anything else. If you hate the thought of applying chemicals to your skin it might not be the solution for you.

Denis · Post by **Denis** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 8:25 pm

Here's some pictures from Jason and Melissa:

The full album is here:
http://www.mnkiting.com/joomla/index.ph ... 7&catid=26

Eric finishing a kiteloop in style.

Hunter grabbing tail on the Rev.

Dangle pass

Hot landing for Chris after a kiteloop

Jeremy judo kick

I believe I can fly... right before hard reality hits.

Tighe · Post by **Tighe** » Mon Aug 27, 2007 9:16 pm

Thanks for the link to the album, Denis. Someone had emailed me that the other link was dead. Glad they're still up somewhere. Great shots for sure. Jason and Melissa are really taking some good shots. I was also really amazed at how good Jeremy and Jacob are getting. wow.