Living on South Padre Island provides many days of wind driven sports. The kite buggy gets out frequently during east winds but mostly with larger
kites. Most of our buggy expeditions on both beach and dunes use a 13M to 10M kite. Today was a special treat with winds ideal for a 4M Ozone Access.
Four meters provided plenty of power and speed for steep dunes and soft sand. The increased speed and agility of the 4M was refreshing after days of
waiting for large kites to travel across the sky. I don't think I went any faster or over any steeper dunes than with a big kite but the smaller kite
was a lot more fun. How many of you have a strong preference for small kites and stronger winds?
Count me in! 90% of my buggy sessions this summer have been with my "session saver", aka Flysurfer 12m Peak-2. No whiner I, I've been grateful for
the fun however I could get it, but I find myself constantly silently pleading to the Wind Gods as I approach my buggy fields "please give me enough
wind to pull out a small kite, please!" The 12m kite flies like a slow metronome across the sky, powerful but achingly uneventful. Small kites darting
across the sky is so much more stimulating to the senses and require a kind of concentration that I really like.
2 meter kites in 20-30 mph wind is my favorite. 30-40 mph wind with traditionally a 1.7 Sting(1.5 PKD and 1.8 Rage still yet to be tested) is my
second favorite. It might be my favorite if we had that wind more often, but we used to get 2 or 3 windy days like that a year. Then 1 a year. Now
for the past couple none. If it was blowing like that; it was either at night, or during the rain, or just after rain.
I'm with you guys, I look forward to those days I can use my 6m Access. It doesn't come out of the bag often, especially in the summer, but a good
session with it is refreshing. Probably the reason it's in such good condition for it's age.
On the other hand, the "small" kite days are those days that will spank you if your not careful. It's usually the small kites that get you and not
the big ones. I find it a treat to fly my Access in winds it's designed for. For me, launching and landing is the hardest part of flying high winds,
especially when I'm alone and on bare ice.
SS Turbine 17m
SS Rally 14m
SS Rally 12m
SS RPM 10m
SS Rally 8m
SS Rally 6m
FS Speed 3 15m dlx
FS Peak 2 6m
Ozone Frenzy 9m
Ozone Access XT 6m
PL Farc 1200
What I ride:
Home brew buggy
Volkl race tiger DH 210
Dynastar DH 218
Blizzard Cochise 185
Steepwater 179 twin tip
Aboards Reverse 161
I love the days where I can pull out the small kites, but they are few and far between for me. Other than Sandmagedon at JIBE and a few other days on
JI and SSI, my 2.6m - 4m kites have been in hibernation.
when the flag isn't just erect but blowin kinda up and the sand is lifting 10" off the beach and i only have to grab 1 kite my 2.9 to walk on...im
basically smiling the rest of the day....or till i knock my teeth out:D
i love it when i can use my 3 meter kites in a strong wind.
sand blowing all over place in eyes,nose mouth. you gota love
that crunching feeling you get in your mouth is pricless.
The best buggying is had when I get to fly my 3.5 rage well lit. Something about whipping the kite around and the raw power that comes from a down
loop followed by another to get you hauling just a little faster. Although I will admit if it is blowing that hard and I have hard pack I will
generally be boarding under a BIG kite cause that's even more fun:D
I buggy on all sand so I find that googles in high wind make the experience more comfortable. Found a pair that I can wear with my sun glasses and
have very comfortable googles at the same time. Big kites are like a block and tackle and small kites are more like a zip line. For me the high wind
alone adds to the excitement.
Holy cow, like a bee on crack! I often think of owning a 4m Uno for "those" days. Hard to justify almost $500 kite only for something I may use once
in a blue moon.
SS Turbine 17m
SS Rally 14m
SS Rally 12m
SS RPM 10m
SS Rally 8m
SS Rally 6m
FS Speed 3 15m dlx
FS Peak 2 6m
Ozone Frenzy 9m
Ozone Access XT 6m
PL Farc 1200
What I ride:
Home brew buggy
Volkl race tiger DH 210
Dynastar DH 218
Blizzard Cochise 185
Steepwater 179 twin tip
Aboards Reverse 161
The joys of too big a small kite in big wind. Also an old but goodie.
Is it possible to design for strength, if the designer doesn't really understand what strength is?
8m speed wings.
Ozone Samurai 3m
Sky Country Reflex 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10m new 6m!
Sky Country NaSCa 2 11m
Sky Country Alasca 10m - sold
Rhombus Firebee 3m (ret).
Libre Vampir Race Pro 2.6m
Jojo Rage 8m
Just picked up a Flysurfer 4m Peak-2 for nuking days. When they come I want to be ready. Winds in the Wasatch Mountains can get pretty ferocious
when big cold fronts move through and are most certainly not anything close to clean. Up to now the smallest I could sling up in the air was a 2.5m
NS3. A small little dart to be sure but FB. I really look forward to my first session with the 4m "wasp on a string"! :evil:
Cheddarhead, I understand your comment about the cost of a small kite and the number of times you might get the wind for that kite. I had the same
view until I bought a 4M Ozone Access. Turns out it gets used a fair amount as it is there for my friends, kids and wife to use as they get into the
sport. Small enough to move and learn the basics but not big enough to get hurt. I get to use it when the wind is 20+ and I have people to buggy with
because the small kite works for the newbies. Must admit that I am a kite junkie both land and water so I would have purchased a kite for high wind
anyway.
Wind came to the Wasatch mountains with a vengeance yesterday! For about four hours mid-day winds were consistently 20+ mph with gusts into the low
30s. There was a front moving in and the weather got beautifully blustery.
I had just gotten my "wasp on a string" (4.0m Peak-2) in the mail that morning and got it up in the air along with the smallest kite in my quiver, a
2.5m NS3. You'll see that the NS3 is getting flown from a custom bar I made up with adjustable width settings. I had it at the most narrow setting (50
cm) to damp the kite down a tad (normal Born-Kite bar is about 55 cm).
Chris had made some slight modification to the bridle, shortening two segments. It flew superbly well. The Peak-2 launch you see in the beginning of
the video was this kite's maiden voyage out West!
The 2.5m NS3 handled the wind like a champ, leaping around like a scalded cat. It was a blast to fly both of these kites under these conditions. I
never felt overpowered or about to get OBE'd. In fact, if I had more time I would have landed the 2.5m and put up my 3.2m! I think that would have
been a lot of kite to handle in those winds, but it would have been a blast!
Steve, I saw this video where you posted it on XK and LOVED it... great job! it was fun to see the 2 SS kites flown side by side.
I agree. Very rare footage if not the only video of a 4 meter peak and nasa star used on the same day and same conditions. That 3.2 might have been
sweet as well. I'm guessing you'll need some more high wind days to sort out which of those sizes to use. I still catch myself undecided between
sizes on certain days. That's where the peak will shine, it will make kite choice easy with the larger ranges.
I would say that the Peak has better upwind capability than the Stars. It seems though that I can get pretty good upwind performance with the NS3s if
the kite I have up in the air is borderline overpowered, likely because I can then point upwind, go way down the power scale, but still have enough
juice in the tank to pull me slowly upwind.
Agreed completely that it is a joy to fly kites pre-tuned by Chris. Three of my peaks were previously his demos (4, 6, and 12m). I almost got my 9m
as a demo too but it went to somebody else that had asked him first. That one was brand spanking new. It came with stock with the outside lines tied
at the middle of three knots under the foam pads. Out of the bag I was getting some nasty tip tuck. I moved the lines to the farthest knots from the
bar and it improved. I haven't had enough time with the 9m yet to know if I have it dialed in or not. So far it is not flying quite as well as
Chris' old kites.
I can't speak for Chris as to whether he is in communication with Flysurfer about potential improvements for possible P3s but I hope so (and I hope
they are smart enough to listen).
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