I was having maybe a little buyer's remorse after coming home from Wildwood with a new (used) 4m Access XC. It worked beautifully in Friday's gusts (my weekend's best run by far).

But I figured I would hardly have the winds to really use it much.

Fast forward to today's gusts up to 40mph!

I took it, the bug and my Core 16 to a big, clear field. The little "non-lifty" 4m (fully depowered) immediately hoisted me about 4' up and skidded me on my hip. Out came the Dakine waist harness, the Shoei helmet and the Rockgardn armor jacket and assorted knee and shin guards.

I think they all got a piece of the action this afternoon. So did the Access safety features. I finally stopped when I wretched my knee holding on to a mysteriously detached CL (funny - I liked the XC's DD better than the mk1 DD).

Like I said on the topic before - armor will sure help against bruises and breaks....but those twists and bad landings..???.:shocked2:
(no worry - those big perma-grins after an exciting session are the best analgesics you can..uh, can't.... buy!)

Glad to hear someone else braved the crazy winds yesterday. Rdavis and I went out as well and got to fly for a few! we both got rocked after 10 or 12 passes. Better to put the toys away for another day sometimes!LOL

I would love to have seen that kite cruisn in those winds!
Talk to you soon lad

Just curious lad, you said you had the xc fully depowered but you didnt have the harness on? If the chicken loop isnt hooked in, even with the trim strap all the way in, the kite wont be all the way depowered youll be somewhere in the middle.
Where you guys riding anyway? I wanted to get out but theres no place close thats good for that wind direction.

I've had problems with Ozone CL's coming out of a Daikine harnesses before. Multiple times. Not fun. You should probably use a leash so you don't lose your kite when it happens the next time. Or possibly look into a different spreader bar for your harness.

Now that i think about it, i notied something funky going on with a few of the kites i was flying. When i get home ill pull out my bar and check. Its an ozone LEI bar but i dont think the problem was bar specific, was happening on HQ bars.

I think my initial boo-boo was launching directly downwind the moment before a gust caught me. I really didn't think the little guy was going to lift me off like that - but it shot like a rocket!

The XC CL/DD certainly LOOK like they'd be snug in there. My Mk1 access DD had the velcro-on deal and subsequently got lost (since it couldn't go on a spreader bar that has a pad). I was a little hesitant to leash the kite when I'm down so low near the buggy wheels - will look into rearranging the leash set-up.

BTW - rc said he got his best time at WW on that little thang! If you read some of popeye's racekite posts, he keeps a 4m Access handy too. The old mk1 3m probably would come in handy for some of those insane gusts - but prob. wouldn't pull much in the lulls.

It was great taking some of those little hills in the gusts, tho! :bird: