Well my new kites arrived in the weeks so all of the wind has gone (Sorry folks).
I decided to pack up the truck with Buggies, kites and son for a recki of Utah.
We picked Bonneville as our destination because we knew that there was a bit of land there to play on.
So after a beautiful 2 hour drive we arrived and set up the kites in zero wind.
Not to worry it was great out there all the same.
So it was time drive back and see if there was anywhere closer to home that we could use for some spur of the moment buggying.
As we were getting closer to Salt Lake City we say a building that looked a little like the Taj mahal by the side of the Lake.
The beach looked like it was wet but we would have a look anyway.
Wow!!!!! the beach was bone dry and it was the salt that made it look wet.
We have found a place to buggy within half an hours drive coolio.

So the place is called Saltair and it looks the perfect place for meeting fellow buggiers and boarders.

The cklub that we used to be part of in the UK was called SWATK (South West Association of Traction Kiters). It seems very appropriate to start up a USA arm of the SWATK seeing as we are South West here.

I will try post on here when we are going for a play and hopefully we can meet a few like minded people for some fun and frolics.

All the best

Woody

Awesome Woody,

We have buggies at Saltaire a couple times, when it is dry it is great, got some texture to the beach but you can go for quite a ways. We also head out west a bit to Knolls where it is a bit more hardpacked and also a great area.

We gotta hook up soon.

Whupp, whupp, whupp!!! Love this UT action. I know exactly where that Taj Mahol is. Weird isn't it, all hung out to dry in the middle of nowhere. OK, not nowhere, but you can almost see it from there.

Hope to see you on the Ivanpah Playa in exactly a week.

Hi Kent,

We will definitely be out as often as we can and as often as we have wind.
I have bigfoots so Saltaire should be ok underneath them. I also have some disk wheels for the hard packed stuff.
The only worry I have is how long the tires will last because they are only 2 ply.

I would be great to see if we can get some interest in getting a club together with some club racing and freestyle competition going.

All the best
Woody

Quote: Originally posted by Windstruck

Whupp, whupp, whupp!!! Love this UT action. I know exactly where that Taj Mahol is. Weird isn't it, all hung out to dry in the middle of nowhere. OK, not nowhere, but you can almost see it from there. Hope to see you on the Ivanpah Playa in exactly a week.

Hiya Windstruck,

It looks like we won't be at Ivanpah next week as I can't take any vacation time this year.
Shame because it would have been great fun.
I'm sure I will get there sometime next year though.

All the best

Woody

Quote: Originally posted by slapbasswoody

Quote: Originally posted by Windstruck   Whupp, whupp, whupp!!! Love this UT action. I know exactly where that Taj Mahol is. Weird isn't it, all hung out to dry in the middle of nowhere. OK, not nowhere, but you can almost see it from there. Hope to see you on the Ivanpah Playa in exactly a week. Hiya Windstruck, It looks like we won't be at Ivanpah next week as I can't take any vacation time this year. Shame because it would have been great fun. I'm sure I will get there sometime next year though. All the best Woody

I hear ya Woody. Sorry to miss you. IBX 2017: 3/27-3/31. Not to be missed!

Its in the Diary!!!!!!

Woody,

I hate to be a downer but organized racing just never seems to take off over here. Closest you will get is informal racing at IBX.

It is not like people haven't tried hard to make it happen. Our only organization is NAPKA. It was originally formed as NAPKRA with the R for racing. The need for the club so we can obtain event insurance lived on but the racing events just never took off. I think it is a combination of a few things. So few of us so far apart. A general lack of racing skills / understanding of the rules. When we gather in large groups and the wind turns on it is like herding cats. Every body is off doing there own thing. ( for me personally racing and fighting seem to go hand in hand )

We only gather in large numbers about 5 times a year. WBB, Jibe and Dead Bird. 7 if you count the 20 or so that attend SOBB each event. We Canadians have to travel down south for any events at all.

On a positive note! The thing people push for over here is top speeds. It sounds to me like you may be in the running for some speeds that will shock your mates back home! Ivanpah is where the records have been set but there are dry lakes closer for you. I have to assume you can hit some good speeds on the salt flats but think dealing with the salt may take away from the fun?

The Folks who are around you are terrific people. Kent can tell you the whole history on racing etc.. You are in good company!

:bigok:

Thank you very much for the information and advice.

For the moment I think I will just have some fun on our local beach and the salt flats. If people turn up then I am very willing to hold some race training and even some fun races.

I am looking forward seeing what sort of speeds I can get up to over here with the large expanses like Ivanpah.

50s and 60s were pretty common place over in England when the wind turned on.
I guess ever since I got into racing, PB speeds came second place really so time to bring out the small kites again!!!!

All the best
Woody

Hey woody, I hope you have settled in out there, and are getting lots of seat time. Are there any other buggiers out near you, other than your son? I bet you get plenty of looks when you are out there, tearing it up! Can't wait for some video!

Quote: Originally posted by bobalooie57

Hey woody, I hope you have settled in out there, and are getting lots of seat time. Are there any other buggiers out near you, other than your son? I bet you get plenty of looks when you are out there, tearing it up! Can't wait for some video!

Hi there Bob,
We are settling in great thanks but we haven't actually done any buggying yet. We dropped into the Slat flats last weekend but there was no wind.
There are a couple of kiters but not sure if they do too much buggying here so I will have to drag them out to the beach.
I will let you know how it goes after tomorrow because there is wind forecast!!!!!!!!!!!
10-20mph so that should get us rolling.
I'll charge up the Gopro tonight and hopefully have some video next week
All the best

Woody