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Florida Update: USLA Kiteboarder Rescue Class For Lifeguards

We were asked to make a presentation on kiteboarder rescue considerations to 29 candidates enrolled in the United States Livesaving Association (USLA) training course being held at on 12/12/12. Lt. Jim McCrady of the USLA and Ft. Lauderdale Ocean Rescue got in touch about putting on the presentation. They had a large turnout for the Academy including lifeguards traveling from Puerto Rico, Missouri, Alabama in addition to participants from throughout Florida.

There were lifeguards in from all over!

The following summarizes some of what was conveyed in the session but certainly not all. Ocean Rescue is a hazardous business goes without saying not only for the folks in need but also for the lifeguards. Thorough training, skill development and regular practice are key in helping to assure rescues go as we would like them to. Kiter rescues are no different and shouldn't be casually undertaken without proper training in rescue along with a thorough kiteboarding orientation to reduce the odds of problems for the one being rescued or the rescuer. The following information is provided to professional lifeguards for discussion and in no way replaces proper training in these procedures.

The class was held at the Breakers Resort on Palm Beach. What a great five star venue for a course like this!

I updated a similar Powerpoint presentation that Gio Serrano of Safety & Rescue Training, LLC (and Ft. Lauderdale Ocean Rescue) prepared and Neil Hutchenson formerly of Tiki Beach and I put on at a USLA National Conference in Cocoa Beach, FL in 2008. So we had a good base to work with.

Going over the Powerpoint presentation in the class

Kiteboarder rescues can be complicated by a kite which can exert high force through wind and wave effects, four 100 ft. sections of high strength line pulling the kiter or drifting around, submerged to tangle and possibly cut further impacted by a potentially impaired or unresponsive kiteboarder and still other factors.

I got in touch with Luke Svanberg, manager of Adventure Sports Ft. Lauderdale about putting on the current presentation. Luke graciously agreed to help out putting on the practical beach exercises dealing with kite landing, QR activation, hands on kite flying (subject to weather) and other considerations. Luke has done similar kiting orientation work with lifeguards in Long Island and Puerto Rico.

The Powerpoint PPT presentation can be downloaded from the link below.
http://bit.ly/UZSyyH

The video clips have been removed from the Powerpoint presentation but can be accessed below.

We had also talked about out of control looping kites, what they look like and the problems they can present to both the kiter and rescuers. Here is a video of a loop kite caused when two kites wrapped together. Anything that causes the kite lines to become uneven in length, often a tangle, may result in such looping putting the kiter at significant risk of injury in some instances. The kiter may soon be unable to depower the kite due to twisting of the lines, if he becomes tangled, he may be unable to completely release the kite either. The kite will continue to pull him with varying degrees of speed and violence largely depending on wind conditions until something breaks or the kite stops moving. It can be a complex dangerous situation to safety resolve. Proper training and preparation are important in short.

We then moved down to the beach.

We setup on the beach south of the hotel but unfortunately in the last hour the wind and clocked offshore and dropped in speed. This severely limited practical kite flying and landing exercises we had planned to conduct. Still the time was put to good use.

Luke is rigging a 2.5 m inflatable trainer and 9 m kite for some hands on work, winds permitting.

Luke maintained a running commentary about rescue points during setup and beyond. We also went over quick releases, what to look for, how to open them, the variability in systems out there today. Luke setup a drill in a pool once with lifeguards swimming over to release all the QR from another kiter lifeguard being rescued.

Going over the correct position to hold a kite during an assisted landing or near the center of the leading edge.

Using a lot of skill and exertion Luke was able to get a kite up and flying for a while despite real light uneven land shadowed wind. We would have covered assisted landing and kite securing with all the participants individually if useable winds had been on. We also would have had a station for the guards to fly the 2.5 m kite to getting a feeling for the flight and limited power of a traction kite.

Thanks to Lt. Jim McCrady for inviting us to speak, to Luke Svanberg of Adventure Sports Ft. Lauderdale for presenting, Gio Serrano for preparing the original Powerpoint presentation. It is important to note that both Gio and Luke can provide hands on lifeguard orientations to kiter rescue. Their contact information appears below:

Luke Svanberg is manager of this large South Florida watersports retailer location in Ft. Lauderdale. Luke is also a long term kiteboarding instructor with experience in providing orientations to ocean rescue squads. https://www.facebook.com/AdventureSportsFtLauderdale

Gio Serrano offers professional training across a broad range of topics to lifeguards and first responders through Safety & Rescue Training, LLC. The level of complexity and information these live saving professionals are required to known is impressive. He is also an active kiteboarder in addition to being a Lieutenant with Ft. Lauderdale Ocean Rescue.
http://www.safetyrescuetraining.com/

The Academy participants

One of many photos from a nice ten mile sunset roundwinder kiting session last year off the coast here.
More images at: http://www.fksa.org/showthread.php?t=11049

Photos - 2012 Kiteboard Masters

For the ninth year running, Christophe Ribot of Miami Kiteboarding, Neil Hutchinson of Slingshot Kiteboarding brought this great event to Crandon Park in Miami once again. When the wind is on this is an incredibly scenic venue both for riders and spectators. The wind gods delivered this year with a few lulls and the riders had a blast!

Be sure to checkout images from the past kiting events at Crandon Park HERE and HERE.

There was an exceptional turnout possibly the largest since this event started. Things kicked off with a course race which sadly I missed. Easter weekend and family commitments, what can I say? Fortunately, I was able to shoot most of the afternoon action which follows.

Christophe, Neil, Morgan and Juan, judges from The Kiteshop organize and watch the action.

Neil and Garry hold the captains meeting for the afternoon free style session.

Ugne of Miami Kiteboarding and sporting a stylin Roxy wetsuit gets ready to ride.

Lots of kites and among it all is new Cabrinha team member, Annabel van Westerop. She hails from Aruba and is both a strong and skilled kiter.

Damien Leroy, Cabrinha team rider and World Champion Slalom kiter is present as always riding very well and having a great time too.

Garry and Alexandra Menk get ready for the event, Alex as a competitor and Garry bringing the event about behind the scenes. Garry along with Ken Russell are national distributers for Jimmy Lewis boards.

Matt Collins (I think) passes one near shore. Say, if I mess up anyone's name or leave someone out please send me a message. Thanks!

The competitors through the various heats

Alex throws a donkey kick or I think that is what Neil called it. The wind was light for portions of the free style event with things going on weather hold a few times. Alex is working it as best as the lighter conditions allowed. She is quite a talent under a kite.

Jeanice Stone of Stone Wear Bikinis transitions

Annabel passes one

Things became so light during this one heat that Damo invented this kiting easy chair to gain some style points. There wasn't enough wind to even get off the water at this point.

Checkout the wind plot from Crandon that day. I was there from about 1 pm and on. You can figure out the wind hold times.

Patrick sports a GoPro on an improvised monopod, (a windsurfing mast!) as Johnny Berger flys by.

Giovanni or Gio Messina with Miami Kiteboarding shows his stuff aloft.

Alex works back upwind. Lots of competitors had to beat it fast back upwind on foot during the lighter periods.

Rich Gardener and Andre Balzac go to it. Rich has been a hard riding standard at events all over for years. Andre at 14 years is fairly new on the kiting scene but riding very well.

Sprinting back upwind for all he is worth, good competitive spirit while Ms. Ribot captures the action!

Brandon Bowe is a strong up and coming Cabrinha rider from the west coast. He rode very well in this contest.

A Miami Kiteboarding instructor sets up for a lesson off the sand bar as a mega cruise ship eases out of Government Cut to sea.

Big Ian throws one in boots. A heavier guy like Ian needs a bit of wind to compete, who doesn't, looking good here though.

Tom Fields comes in for a landing

Patrick Rynne carves a smooth turn on his homemade traditional Hawaii wood board sans fins during one of the wind holds in the competition. The board flexes on turns aiding in the carving. He is working on a documentary on how to make these remarkable boards in short order. He later broke it this day but no worries he had it repaired the next day? Fast work and a novel board thanks to Hawaiian insight and wood glue.

Patrick's girlfriend goes out for a whirl. Despite lighter winds she rode upwind fast and easily. I think I need to look into making one of these boards once the "how to" video comes out.

Damo and Annabel experiment with a QuikPod Monopod. I understand this monopod works both in air and seawater. Some of us are trying it out currently for kiting, diving, whatever else comes to mind. It can be used with a variety of cameras including the GoPro shown here.

Here we are in a group shot taken with a GoPro HD and the monopod.

Wind is back on so ...

Damo following instructions, goes up!

Gio gets focused

Fortunately, lighter winds didn't prevail for the entire day. Near the end, some lighter squall lines passed to the north and south of Key Biscayne bringing a nice pressure gradient and WIND! The folks ate it up and an impromptu big air contest was called. I took some artistic license Photoshopping some of these images. The squalls were no where near as black or menacing as shown. Plus they were pretty far off too fortunately.

Brandon does a board off against a dramatic ('shopped) sky.

Some of the Cab riders started charging around boosting synchronized jumps. Looking good!

Five go up at once.

A closer look at the folks going up

Damo floats along

Jan Gianello boosts a transition bracketed by kites

Just add wind and a bit of skill and you're way up there!

Brandon throws a nice kiteloops way aloft

Another dramatic image somewhat exaggerated by Photoshopping. Still looks interesting!

Jan (I think) throws a big kiteloop

Here are the Results of the MASTERS 2012 posted by Miami Kiteboarding:

"FREESTYLE :
MEN
1-Brandon Bow
2- Damien Leroy
3- Leif Given
4- Matt Collins

WOMEN
1- Annabel Vanwestep
2- Alexandra Menk

Trophy of the #youngest Contestant : to Andre Bacic ( 14 year old )

RACING ( a reaching leg between 2 marks of 1/2 mile )

MEN
1- Damien Leroy
2- Matt Collins
3- Gary menk

WOMEN
1- Annabel Vanwestep
2- Alexandra menk

Trophy #1 Senior : Bertrand Lecoq

BIG AIR CONTEST : Giovanni Messina

We had a solid 20kt consistant toward the end of the day, and the Big air contest was a amazing Show. Special Mention to Damien's Cabrinha team riders, who put up a breathtaking spectacle in jumping together: a real aerial choregraphy !"

Christophe congratulates 14 year old Andre Basic for some excellent kiting.

Christophe awards Bertrand Lecoq for the number one senior riding spot.

Annabel receives her award

Alexandra, Jeanice and Annabel the women competitors

Gio wins the Big Air contest

The winning men's competitors

...

A study in airborne black and white

TRIP REPORT - Rum Cay Rum Bum Boogie

Sunset kiting off Rum Cay, life doesn't get much better than this!

A group of action sports enthusiasts were invited to participate in a boogie at Rum Cay in the Southeastern Bahamian Islands recently by Jesse Cors of Island Extreme Ventures, jcors@guyharveyoutpostrumcay.com . The event promoted both air and water sports including sky diving, kitesurfing, diving, surfing, fishing, standup paddleboarding and a good deal more.

Rum Cay is in the southeastern Bahamas about 380 miles out from Ft. Lauderdale, FL. Nassau is about halfway between the two points and is usually the place where plane changes occur. For larger groups direct charter flight from Nassau to Rum works. In other cases another flight leg from the Exumas, Long Island or San Salvador to Rum connecting from Nassau is necessary.

We stayed at Rum Cay Outpost Club & Marina at the southeast portion of Rum Cay. The marina is a man-made basin which serves as a pretty good hurricane hole too.

More about the Rum Cay Outpost Club & Marina at http://www.guyharveyoutpost.com/the-...s/rum-cay.html

Bobby Little created this out island destination and is shown here with his animal entourage who travel the island and seas with him regularly. I shot a video interview with Bobby about Rum Cay, the operation here, what it has to offer and plans for the place. The interview will be included in the next installment.

Rum Cay is a small island with an even smaller population of 60 full time residents. Our group of 20 equalled a third of the islands population! It is a quiet place, close to and all about the ocean.

A big part of the Rum Bum Boogies is sky diving. Here is a famous Harry Parker image capturing almost the entire island in one photo. Harry is well renown for his startling sky diving images along with other commercial photography exploits and marketing, http://theharryparker.com/

All images not marked were provided by Jesse Cors on behalf of Rum Cay Outpost Club & Marina. Sky diving, kiting, diving, surfing and other action sports are facilitated on Rum by Island Extreme Ventures.

Our Bahamian adventure started early with several participants in the boogie car pooling to FLL for the flight out to Nassau in the Bahamas.

A sketch map overlay of a satellite image of the island with points of interest.

Kristyn roams over the nearshore sands in search of conch for the evening meal. Foraging for seafood is a daily afternoon process to provide fresh conch, lobster and fish for dinner.

Our morning self-checkin with some distinctive luggage at Ft. Lauderdale International Airport. The fare from JetBlue was surprising reasonable for roundtrip to Nassau in the Bahamas.

We all have a job to do on Rum, for most it is taking as much pleasure as possible for the simple joys of the place. Visitors immerse, literally in ocean pursuits, fishing, diving, kiting, SUP, surfing, cliff diving, sky diving, exploring and just savoring life on island time.

The intrepid Rum Bum Boogie crew collecting on the tarmac at NAS to board the Pineapple Air plane for the trip from Nassau to Rum Cay. These folks are well traveled and experienced in the finer side of life be it hurtling towards the surface at 120 mph, throwing themselves skyward from a wave ala kite to paddling into some prime surfing swells.

Speaking of surf, Marcus is ducking under an incoming swell on his way out to the break. Look at that visibility! I shot some nice GoPro video of the guys catching rides, stay tuned for that.

About a half hour later we're on the ground at Rum, unloading and getting ready to travel to the Outpost, our digs for the Boogie.

Craig greases one into surface effect over water gliding into the beachside dropzone. He decides to up the degree of difficulty by dismounting his patent "jump" flip-flops along the way. The sun looks on as it slides to the far side of the earth, all is good.

Chris mounts his ride to the Rum Cay Outpost Club, one of the trusty ATV's that provide ready transport over the island.

One of many superlative kiting spots, this one on the salt pond just to the north of the resort. Rum Cay's current population is 60, prior to 1920 when the salt works shut down there were over 3000 souls on the island. The salt pond isn't worked anymore, except by folks on their immersion experience of Rum. It is a mighty fine place with nearby Arawak cave drawings to add to the singularity of the experience. It is ok to get mudded and rummed up first of course. More about that to come.

The rest of us mount up for the run to the Outpost. I understand they used to do this with massive land tortoises (not really). I understand these guys moved on to the Galapagos a while back. So, the trailer works well in their absence.

Arriving at the Outpost.

A look at the cut towards to ocean. Life here is as mellow or intense as you like it. Although there is a mandatory happy hour around sunset each day for an island time out.

Some of the cottages at the resort. There are several types of accommodations available from cottages, to rooms to barracks to entire houses. Still more limited accommodations are in development under the new Rum Cay Outpost Club & Marina.

Back out to the break, watching the shadow surfers ride overhead.

This place is definitely good for the soul.

Bobby and his able partner Rasta have mastered carving dead coral colonies into some amazing sculptures that are strewn throughout the development. Bobby tells me some of his creations are destined to be returned to the sea as underwater art soon.

A roof level view southwest across the island.

Bobby and Rasta prepare the evening meal daily this time aided by Jenny late of Australia. Jenny and Sam are moving around the Caribbean over the next year or so on their sailboat, taking an inside look at this unique waterworld. Foraging for food on the reefs and sand flats for lobster, conch and fish is a daily process here. The folks are expert at it and at preparing the fine repasts to follow.

The Chefs outdo themselves with a multiple course creatively prepared spread fresh from the sea and the crowd likes it!

Dinner passes, night falls and the moon rises as tropic breezes run through the palms around the central lodge. Folks sit around swap stories, plan dives, jumps, kite sessions, sample rums and basically chill out. It can become an addictive lifestyle.

Hanging out in the lodge

Loading up the pontoon boat for forays to other parts of the island, this time to the salt pond. Some of the crew travels overland via jeep and ATV. Even going point to point can be an adventure here.

Matt tacks upwind through the small tributary that feeds the salt pond to the open ocean. I headed out earlier, speaking of adventure, that is one in spades! Real scenic too, short tight tacks between mangroves upwind, going overland to the beach and then running out over exposed reef sections into bluewater. Bobby had an interesting shark experience in the ocean while SUP'ing here. The dogs on this island capture and eat shark. They'll even try to take down real big ones too! More to come about that in the video interview.

The "Rock Steady," the house fishing and dive boat ready to take folks offshore. In many ways, this place reminds me of the Bahamas of decades past. Something that will never return to some of the islands, except perhaps for here. It is well worth experiencing.

King Neptune gazes out to sea, another one of Bobby's sculptures.

Hanging out on the sand bar in the salt pond. Quite a few images in this post were taken with the GoPro HD2, it offers some unusual high quality imaging options in a hardened small package. I was surprised to see so many GoPro cameras among the participants in this trip. The camera works well in so many applications particularly action sports.

The big room at the lodge.

On the way north to the salt pond. Rum has exposed limestone cliffs in places breaking up the coast into bays and headlands in spots.

An aerial kite view of the sand bar in the salt pond.

The sun sets on another action packed day in the Out Islands!

There is some amazing diving close by including a drop off to thousands of feet with swim throughs just beyond the marina. They have dive gear, experienced dive masters to show you the undersea wonders surrounding this out island.

Matt pops another one over the bar and the dogs cheer. Bobby rigged a GoPro around one of his dog's necks to capture a pooches-eye view of things. Considering they go ballistic when kites fly nearby, you might need to take Dramamine to watch that clip without interruption!

Craig and Doug paddle out of the break tandem style.

Jesse in mud-mufti lurks in the mangroves, Arawak style.

Matt gives Craig a tow upwind.

Another day at Rum, jumping over Sumner Point and gliding in to land in the resort by the sea. Randy maintains his jump plane here catering to sky divers and students many months out of the year.

Craig paddles in from some SUP fishing on the reef.

A mangrove island upstream in the tributary feeding the salt pond.

Dogs in the mangroves no doubt on the prowl for handy sharks that they might pickup from the shallows. It is a dog-eat-shark kind of place.

Kiting beyond the salt pond making for blue water as the kite flies over the limestone cliffs.

Jesse poses underwater with a typically massive spiny lobster off Rum captured with his patent Hawaiian sling-mounted GoPro camera. This sling-cam shot a video of a similar speared monster lobster kicking to the bottom bottom dragging Kristyn his girlfriend down with it. These are some tough downtown bugs, handle with care!

Beachside fires are a regular thing on Rum. Bobby has conceived of quite a few spectacular flaming spectacles for the enjoyment of visitors. He has some new great ideas in the works too.

Making further offshore sliding through breakers on exposed reef. Be careful not to strike here, could be painful.

A visitor from another time to Rum styles with mud, knife and conch.

Jesse holds out two goliath lobster which will feed quite a few people. There is some GoPro wide angle size distortion but these were a pair of BIG lobster.

So, that is a first look at our time and adventures at the Rum Cay Outpost Club & Marina. There is lots more to see and do on Rum. Don't just take it from me, find out for yourself through your own Rum Cay adventure. Drop an email to Jesse Cors at jcors@guyharveyoutpostrumcay.com and he'll work out a memorable vacation for you at this excellent island destination.

More to come in the next installment, stay tuned ...

Florida Update: Best winter start in past 7 years

A look north up the coast

We're having the best wind season that I can recall in at least seven years so far.

Went up north late in the day Friday after work on the way to meet the family. The wind was up (and down) so I thought I would hit Palm Beach and cruise a bit north and checkout Lake Worth Inlet and Singer Island. The winds were all over near the start, drifting below 15 mph but eventually settling in around 15 to 25 mph or so. The winds were ENE to E or close to onshore with 6 to 8 ft. waves, sometimes higher in the breaker lines. I tuned my 14 m Switchblade for max power on the pigtails being concerned about being able to get offshore much less navigate up the coast. I didn't want to use my larger lighter wind twin tip in all those big waves if I had a choice.

I shot these images using the new GoPro HD2 cameras mounted on my kite and helmet.

There is the historic Breakers Hotel followed by the condos on Singer Island a bit further north. Doesn't look that far, maybe three miles? Actually it is over five miles but the distance burns away fast once you're going close to a beam reach with a bunch of tacks thrown in. It turned out to be a nice few hour session covering over ten miles in good winds and waves.

The Breakers was originally the "Palm Beach Inn" constructed by Henry Flagler in 1896. It burned in 1903 and was replaced with the Breakers Hotel. Looks like quite a bit of dredge and filling happened prior to the present day.
http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/f

The Breakers in 1947 before the construction of the new eastern additions.
http://fpc.dos.state.fl.us/

Some nice sets rolled through on the way north, almost double head high at points.

You don't want to get too close to that massive seawall in onshore winds and waves!

I got going at around 3:15 pm and a couple of hours from sunset.

Might as well get going north, we'll pass by this way running back to the start around sunset.

Working up to the inlet

Made it to the south jetty, need to make to windward and around the inlet to the north.

Coming up on one of the south channel marker buoys

A good sized yacht moves into the inlet ala HDR.

Crossing the channel, there is the bypass dredge or Pumphouse, dedicated to shifting sand accumulated above the north jetty to a discharge south of the inlet on the receding beach.

It has been years since I last kited up here. The last time was for the three 60 mile kite races from Jupiter to Ft. Lauderdale. I noticed at that time with northerly winds anyway, that the wave heights dropped with each inlet you passed heading south. So, this was the first drop passing Lake Worth Inlet.

More about those great races including the first one in 15 ft. seas and 30 mph+ winds at:
http://www.fksa.org/archive/index.php?t-2489.html

Sliding along inside the break pending working back out again.

Looking north towards the condos on Singer Island.

The waves build and get a bit erratic close to and just north of the inlet. Things clean up a bit and grow larger slightly further north.

The pumphouse is a well known surfing spot going back years. I understand Kelly Slater used to surf here at times. I can recall seeing a bunch of guys tow-in surfing here on livecam (above). More about that at: http://www.fksa.org/showthread.php?t=537

The 14 m Switchblade kite proved to be a good fit for this session. It was light initially, barely enough to workout in onshore winds and good sized waves. After a while though the wind filled in particularly further offshore. The depowering came in handy at that point. When going point to point in the ocean it helps to have enough power to stay upwind without throwing in a lot of tacking.

Back to the Breakers and the sun is starting to drop.

Still playing around with HDR, it provides some unusual colors and contrasts.

The sun is about down, time to head in and call it a day. Its been fun!

I had wanted to get out kiting today and take advantage of the last day of good wind for a few. Trouble is it wasn't going to happen during the day. So, I woke up around 5:30 am, checked the wind, tides and time of sunrise and headed out. I wanted to get some dawn color shots for a change, sunsets being more conveniently scheduled as a rule. Here are some images that came out of it using the new GoPro HD2 camera.

The sun is up and climbing in this shot. I launched before sunrise despite which it was still fairly light out.

Winds were ENE about 19 gusting to 24 kts..

GoPro does a nice treatment on spray.

I wanted to try shooting around the inlet and through a gap in the north jetty. The wind direction, speed and tide phase were conducive. You don't want to get sucked into the inlet nor have your kite stall in wind shadow in a place like that. Also, it was before 7 am and there was no one on the normally crowded beach. This later point has stopped me from trying it for years. So, I decided to run through the gap.

George Saunders of kiteflix.com shot Andy Hurdman running through this gap in an early kiting video in 2003, "Day 1." It was always a favorite of mine for the score and visuals. I can't find the actual video on the Kiteflix website anymore strangely enough. It does show up at the link below, preceded by a commercial unfortunately. Anyway it is an excellent early video, a classic today I would say.

http://www.spike.com/video-clips/pv5css/day-1

You can read what George had to say about the video at the link below, including "Day 1 does not have to be January 1. With each day the Sun rises you get a "do-over." He has a point there, I tried it this morning. http://www.kiteflix.com/day1.html

Here is a short clip that I shot this morning in the cut.

Turnabout and head out back into the inlet.

I am glad I rolled out of the sack and came on down to ride through the dawn. It was a good start to the day or as George would say, Day 1.

Girl lofted into building captured on video!

For "real" on a hot Oz TV series, Rescue Special Ops.

You can see the kitesurfer lofting sequence and rescue in this clip. No blood or anything, totally conscious and just hanging around. Dramatic and highly believable TV, uh right!

Here is some background on the series:

"Dean and Chase Gallagher are brothers. Competitive alpha males, they argue over everything, agree on nothing, but defend each other from outsiders no matter what. They're also members of the Special Operations Rescue Unit. Experienced paramedics in peak physical condition, they're called in for complex search and rescue operations. With the latest in tools and training, they can access anyone, anywhere, under any conditions."
http://www.australiantelevision.net/.../articles.html

So, that explains two full grown guys wrestling like kids on the spur of the moment in the sand. No worries, the horseplay is interrupted when a twin tip almost slices into them mysteriously out of the sky.

A lady, previously shredding easily in lighter wind in waves is suddenly lofted hundreds of yards to the upper story of a condo. Fortunately she only snagged her kite on the roof and wasn't smashed to jelly on high speed impact with the wall? Hey Neil, do SS Rallys really boost this well in lighter wind on 15 m lines? I'm impressed! Then again she would probably be within 15 ft. of the ground on a normal line set, how would that play?

Removing the offending spreader bar, the second one?

Maybe the makeup helps her boost so well? We really need to know the secret, this could revolutionize kiting as we know it!
http://bit.ly/nefxRw

Just found a complete copy of the episode if you are curious at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5gCa...ayer_embedded#!

Another cliff hanger, uh hanging. How did she get up there anyway? Is this an Australian thing decorating buildings with unlikely Sheilas?

It makes me feel better to know that inane, poorly thought out TV drama extends beyond the US. Then again in fairness, I haven't see the complete episode yet maybe it really isn't that bad?

Check out Rick Iossi's Florida Kiteboard Forum.

Be Weather Aware

Had another cold front squall line bringing winds gust to 40 to 60 mph +, tornados, waterspouts and offshore wind shifts. This was the second violent front in a week. Many dozens of kiters have been killed in these worldwide and likely hundreds injured including paralysis, brain trauma, major and minor bone fractures along with damaged or lost gear.

Kiters still go out in them due to a lack of apparent understanding and respect for just how easily and badly they can be messed up. Gear has improved but not enough to allow you to risk this sort of violent weather.

These squall lines are usually easy to see and avoid. Some people just don't try or ignore them. This squall line could be seen days out working its way across the country and causing damage along the way.

Blown Away

After a recent severe Squall line that moved across Florida, here is an educational piece put together by Florida Kiteboard Association's Rick Iossi about the dangers of Squalls.

I understand a number of kiters like to go out in squalls others don't bother to think much about it. If it is blowing, they go. I would take a look at the following clip, consider the many dozens of kiters killed and likely hundreds injured worldwide over the years in squalls and think it over again. This was shot at the Sun n Fun fly in, in Lakeland, FL yesterday. It is horrible to have so many personal aircraft many home built radically damaged in an instant and at a fun annual fly in.

Want to fly a 7 m kite in that? Anyone who goes out in squalls has the opportunity, believe it.

How about the winds that blew over Egmont Key ikitesurf sensor at the entrance to Tampa Bay shortly before things went ballistic in Lakeland, FL about 30 miles to the ENE? Note the classic 90 degree direction change with the onset of the squall line. This has blown kiters offshore plenty of times in the past and with far less violent squall lines. Some have made it, some lost boards and still others lost their lives. These direction changes can be ANTICIPATED, along with strong winds, if you bother to look out for it. There were nine tornados identified in the Bay area however looking at the windgraph and duration of high wind, it seems likely that other sources of high wind were present throughout the area as well. Perhaps powerful gust fronts and bursts.

So, you ignore squalls/weather hazards and head out say at 10:30 am rigged with a 9 m. Having some fun until say 12:30 pm. They there is a good chance it is lights out time or a real nasty go to if you're extremely lucky. I could easily imagine kiters who ignore weather hazards or actively go out in them falling into this predictable but possible terminal scenario. Not all squalls are this lethal, just enough to make it a real bad idea to mess with any of them. Lots of guys have lost it in squalls blowing to 35 kts. Some may not believe it but you likely haven't hit a bad one or have had things go very wrong yet. I know some kiters rely on squalls for wind in some inland venues. It is tough but getting taken out by one permanently or messed up still make it a poor choice. Also, no way this is a "Florida" specific threat. Squall lines like this tear things up from coast to coast at times.

We were to fly back to Ft. Lauderdale, FL yesterday but were put on a 3 hour weather hold on the tarmac in Denver because of this same cold front squall line and all the tornados and other damage going on. I understand bow echos were identified in radar images along with tornado signatures. Some of the imagery suggests microbursts may have been involved too.

This was the radar image around the time of the windgraph shown above. That dark red curved area is heading to Lakeland.

This is what a powerful squall line or collection of supercell storms can look like from space. The higher the shadow the taller and more powerful the storm cloud stack.
http://www.mpch-mainz.mpg.de

This is an aircraft view of the one that ripped over Central Florida yesterday about 300 miles west of Naples and at 38,300 ft. or so. You can see the anvil of one thunderstorm out of many more in the squall line. There were cloud tops still higher than we were flying, powerful cumulonimbus.

Multiple gust fronts, tornados, straight line winds, lightening and hail, what is not to like?
http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/

The marine forecast for the Tampa Bay area that day was for 20 kts west, more HERE with a warning about tornados on some websites. Look what the weather hazard forecast was at 6 am the same day!
CLICK image for full sized photo
http://www.spc.noaa.gov/

Coasting along past an overtopping cloud in the distance 7 1/2 miles above the earth.

This was our approximate position at the time. The real violent stuff was already well to the east, hence the three hour weather flight hold from the FAA.

Here are some more images of the damage done by this squall line over a fairly large area:

So, the wind can rip the roof off a house, we're powerful and skillful enough to handle what comes with a kite the size of small car up, right? Not likely sad to say, this storm tossed ACTUAL cars.

A bent 220 ft. tall tower. Good thing kites (and kiters) are stronger than girder steel?!

A photo from beneath what may have been a shelf cloud later in the day. If you kite, it really pays to know weather and use common sense.
Damage photos from: http://www.baynews9.com

More on kiting weather planning and monitoring at the top couple of stickie posts at:
http://fksa.org/forumdisplay.php?f=29

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__________________
FKA, Inc.

transcribed by:
Rick Iossi

Join the conversation, visit the Florida Kitesurf Association

Kiting and Skydiving come together

Neil Hutchenson creates a new kind of event, kiteboarding and sky diving combined. Many know of Neil going back ten years in kiting, now he has expanded into coaching sky diving. The venue in Sebastian, Florida is ideal for this sort of thing. The LZ is about two miles inland from the riding area. The riding area is accessible by boat about a 1/2 mile offshore within the Intracoastal Waterway. Shoreside launches in the area aren't so good given abundant long docks in the area to tangle with. The riding area is a narrow spoil island. It is rideable with winds from all directions, with flatter water on one side or the other in many conditions. The Intracoastal is almost three miles wide allowing the reduction of land-related wind shadow which creates excessive lulls and gusts.

The first day of the event was on Friday, which I missed unfortunately partcularly as they had some good wind. I drove up on Saturday first to the Sebastian Municipal Airport. It is about 130 miles from Ft. Lauderdale, 93 miles from West Palm Beach, 90 miles from Orlando and 140 miles from Tampa situated on the east coast of Florida. More about the skydiving operation there, Skydive Sebastian at: http://www.skydiveseb.com/index.html

More to come latter on regarding the remarkable flat water riding venue just to the east in the wide Intracoastal.

There were a bunch of sky diving kiters there already. A few kiters including Neil, Evan, Jesse and a few others started to get into sky diving in a big way about three years ago. More have come into the sport since then in SE Florida. The reasonable wind independence can be a very good thing.

Susie Q's bar on the water and opposite the sand spit riding area. Lyle Presse runs a pontoon boat as sea taxi to take experienced riders and students out from the dock there.

They started out the morning with a traditional sky diving competition event, seeing who could land closest to a depression in the ground filled with gravel. Neil is flaring for a landing here, coming very close to the target. Unfortunately, this shot was following the formation training jumps.

A dockside view of the Intracoastal and sand bar from Susie Q's.

Quite a few kiters showed up like Matt Sexton here, felt like a normal kite event with some new twists.

The kiters came out in force for light pretty uncertain winds on Saturday. I understand things were well powered the day before.

Neil walking in with Lyle Presse. As Neil has been a pioneer in kiting, Lyle has been a pioneer in recreational sky diving. A great team to have in place to bring participants from both sports together. Lyle ran the sky diving competition while Neil organized the kitesurfing.

The on site pro shot owned by Lyle Presse. Close to the sky diving LZ or landing zone and not far from the kiting area either.

They have organized Kiteboard Sebastian to service kiters in this great riding venue.

A look at the inside of the shop. Gear for sky divers and kiters all in one venue, impressive!
Click photo for full sized image

The "Island!" Narrow, sandy, good with wind from most directions, fairly calm waters and just offshore from the local bar.
Click photo for full sized image.

One of the chute packing areas. They were running a LOT of sky divers through here with two jump planes running continuously throughout the day. We estimated they might have over 1000 jumps in a day. The recycle from jump to jump is pretty short too.

They have a camp ground immediately adjoining the jump preparation area and aircraft tarmac.

This may be Pete's VW, makes me feel like I'm in a time warp. Used to see these all over Ft. Lauderdale Beach when I was growing up there in the 1970s. Still running and good for water people on the move.

One of the two planes being readied for loading up and another spiral over the field up to 13,000 ft. I understand free fall to chute deployment may last around 60 seconds.

The sand bar north of the island, great riding area in wind. I understand they even get thermal winds in the 20 mph range out of nowhere fairly often. AND, they have some summer thermals too. I suggested to Neil and Lyle that they set up a wind alert for regulars who kite up that way.

Joe Ruscito comes in under silk, although I think the use different canopy material these days.

A closer look at Joe and his lady. Joe also hang glides in addition to kiting and sky diving. These air sports compliment each other with some shared knowledge and skill base. I certainly learned a lot of practical knowledge and ideas to adapt to kiting from hang gliding in the early days of kitesurfing before we had much of a clue about anything in the late 1990's.

They have a bar and restaurant right by the pro shop.
Click photo for full sized image

Evan another long time kiter got into sky diving about three years ago along with Neil and a few other riders. Evan is also a pilot keeping him focused on air activities more than most. Here he is showing off an camera integrated into his helmet. You will see full sized DSLRs and video cameras on mortar boards of sorts stuck to the top of some jump helmets. Bulky but they do deliver great images.

Matt floats into the LZ

Jesse a well known kiter walks in. He started about the same time as Neil in sky diving.

Some of the more aggressive experienced sky divers come in real hot, like 70 mph worth. Sky diving is all about managing drag, like kiting really. The less drag or projected area you present the faster you go. You can hear these guys ripping in just from the noise the air makes as they fire down to the LZ.

Enrique from SWFloridakiteboarding.com came over from Naples for the event. He was smart to rig a 16 m Crossbow and ride a Plasma light wind board. He was one of the few able to ride upwind, at times.

The run tandem jumps on many flights usually with these folks situated at the back or more accurately forward section of the plane jumping out last.

I decided to do a tandem jump to be able to get some shots from the plane and to relive the experience. A good friend treated me to a jump for shooting her wedding 19 years ago at Clewiston, FL. I think the more recent jump was more interesting. The jump area is incredibly scenic to say the least. Neil wore one of my GoPros and captured this shot of me in the forward section of the aircraft and the tandem folks near the pilot compartment. I jumped with Ian Brown a very capable, well informed certified instructor with only 14,000 logged jumps!

No need to even get wet the way Lyle barrels on on the spit.

A shot out of the window of Sebastian Inlet. Some may recall some fun downwinders AJ ran from Cocoa Beach to Vero by here, photos at: http://fksa.org/showthread.php?t=8052

Sean shredding across Sebastian Inlet with Kent hot in pursuit during the downwider.

A shot of Neil with the Slingshot helmet decal by the aircraft door.

Mike from the Otherside Kiteboarding was invited to come up to provide kiting lessons. Brandon from Miami Kiteboarding came up to help out Mike.

When the green light goes on and they say jump you want to do just that without delay. I recall the aircraft holds about 23 and you want to get the folks out while they are still over the jump zone.

Terri swings out at about 13,000 ft. above ground level (AGL) as I recall. This was captured from the GoPro video Neil shot from his helmet for me. She next stuck a leg back a few times and then pushed off into space.

A look at the airport from a lower altitude.

There she goes!

Riding into shore to grab my gear as the breeze is up. Not for long though, it had faded before I got my riding cameras sorted out and had returned to the dock.

This was actually shot by Neil using my GoPro later in the day during formation practice. Still it provides a nice perspective of sky divers flinging themselves out of the plane and falling down at over 100 mph.

Harry Parker is a professional photographer and an avid sky diver too. He shoots some excellent photos as exemplified from a recent trip to Rum Cay in the Bahamas. You can find more of his images at: http://harryparkerphotography.com/HPBlog/

An example of Harry's shooting.

A tandem pair flies overhead.

Neil lands

That is a look at the morning and mid day, I still need to wrap up the end of the day with the formation practice jumps. Have some interesting photos from that one so stay tuned!

Join the conversation at FKSA.

Boca Chita to Crandon Park Downwinder In Photos!

How about an inter-island downwinder?

Christophe Ribot of Miami Kiteboarding graciously invited me along on a downwinder from Boca Chita Key to Crandon Park on Key Biscayne in Miami, FL. As winds were clocking to east to southeast, we ran to the island to kite back with something like a broad reaching breeze. Winds were around 15 to 20 mph for much of the run. Seas were light given that we rode inside the Florida Reef Track for much of the way.

Five of us were on the downwinder including left to right, Jay, Christophe, our Captain Alan, Para, Maryanne and myself. We're shown here in the harbor on the island.

The distance as the crow flies is about 12 miles from Google Earth but I understand Jay measured 27 miles on his GPS for the overall run.

The island was owned by Mark Honeywell of Honeywell Corporation in the 1940's. He constructed several of the quarried rock structures including the lighthouse. The lighthouse reportedly was never placed into operation as it was never properly registered as an official aid to navigation. Boca Chita literally translated means "quiet bay." Well, it is pretty calm in there, outside of hurricanes anyway. More about the more recent history of the island at: http://ournationalparks.us/index.php...park_visitors/

After some maneuvering in the strong cut current, the boat is anchored. Christophe demonstrates the kiter recall horn.

Walking the gear ashore to rig up and launch. Alan carries a dive cylinder in which he used for inflating the kites for us.

Rigging up

The key seems very far away and shares quite a bit in aspect with some of the Bahamian out islands. Still, look north and you can see the Miami skyline in the distance. The pelicans seem indifferent to that however.

Christophe gives me a launch. I am carrying to GoPro cameras, one on my helmet and another mounted on my kite.

A kite view of the lighthouse, camp ground and our boat along the north end of the island.

Tacking out off to the south of the island

I rode a 2011 13 m Crossbow which was a great choice with a wide wind range and particularly good low end. The wind ebbed about the time we hit Crandon.

Popping a small jump around the cut.

Chrisophe walking his long skegged raceboard through the shallows. Those things do kick butt particularly in light winds but you need to watch your depth!

Going to sea but land is always visible in the distance, frequent islands and sandbars along the way. Also, Capt. Alan in our trusty chaseboat is on our "6" ready to help as needed.

Gang is all here and making northward. Christophe takes the lead while Alan trails the group with the boat ready to assist as needed. Both are in radio contact with one another and all the kiters received a safety briefing on procedures, rescue, recovery, etc..

The goes Para

A look south down the Ragged Keys towards Boca Chita.

And to the north

We stopped at a sandbar along the way, taking our time tacking back and forth to stretch things out. There were frequent shallows along a good portion of the run. I thought the pace was pretty easy going as it was a pleasure run after all and for fun.

That is Jay in the red hat following Para with Christophe's kite easing up into the frame.

There is Christophe running up on Marianne I think.

Jay rips along beneath

Para moves out

Marianne rides on as I pass over Alan and the chase boat.

So, that's a look at the first part. I need to go over the images from the rest of the run and add a few more photos. Also, I have a video to put together as well. So, stay tuned ...

Thanks for a great run Christophe and Miami Kiteboarding!

Join Rick Iossi at:

http://fksa.org/showthread.php?t=10495

Nice wind, attack fish, man-o-war, sharks and other sea pests?

Lots have probably seen lifeguards post on their stands under "Sea Pests" recently, "man-o-war and sharks." Well, they have a point I guess.

About 2 seconds before things got interesting. The GoPro was firing still shots every 2 seconds making time keeping pretty easy.

Anyway was out today in some nice wind with a brand new Crossbow 13 m eating up some nice wind for a change. The kite performed marvelously, really stoked on this kite. I had ridden out about 3/8 of a mile and saw a weed line. I looked around for evidence of feeding fish, bait kicking up, diving birds, shark fins, etc.. Didn't see anything and so went across it. I turned around and headed back towards the beach when within about 10 seconds I saw something jump out of the water flying right towards me.

I was hoping I caught something on my GoPro and amazingly lucked out right about the time the fish launched towards me. Thinking he might have gotten interested when I first passed over the weedline.

A cropped closeup of the above image in normal form and as a negative to improve definition.

Only got a one second or so image but thought it might be a small 2 to 2 1/2 ft. spinner shark or mackerel. Next thing, BANG into the board and I am pitched into the water. Well, if it was a shark, there are likely others and my board is a good distance away. Not my favorite body dragging venue.

Two seconds later ... this!

Two more seconds and time to get the board, hoping nothing nails me as I recover it and water start.

So, I got to the board body dragging as quietly as I could, went to water start when I saw some spray kick up about 15 ft. away with some blood in it?! Things keep getting better. I don't know if I cut the fish that collided with me and something else hit it like a shark, another one of these guys hit some invisible bait or ?

So, I launch and book into shore a good clip thinking weed lines are not a good place to hang out during shark migrations. On the beach, I still wasn't certain if it was a shark or not. I saw several real little spinners like that from the Lake Worth pier a few days back. I headed back, electing not to go near the weedline and had no more incidents for the next couple of hours. I did see one spinner shark jump and spin about a 1/4 mile south and flocks of feeding gulls about 3/8 mile offshore but that was about it. I resolved to stay away from normal signs of feeding. I had already given up on riding with dozens of visible spinner sharks based on what showed up in a video shot from a kite recently, untoward interest in kiters. A bunch of larger man-o-war had showed up nearshore and on the beach within the hour as well. Didn't get hit by any of those guys, second day in a row too.

I was thinking with our combined approach speed, a shark might have done some nasty damage just from impact alone to my leg. If the teeth were involved, worse still of course. First time I have heard of a kiter being hit by a mackerel or whatever this thing is. Houndfish, needle fish have pierced both kiters and windsurfers in the past. Still not sure what this fish was, other than it isn't a spinner. Michael has suggested it might be a bluefin tuna, Brian a blackfin tuna. It does resemble both fish from illustrations online.

http://fksa.org

Join the conversation: http://fksa.org/showthread.php?p=47720#post47720

The Shark Migration Is Back

The Florida migration is on and I there seems to be some larger sharks mixed in with the spinners/blacktips in the video shot off Palm Beach. Perhaps bulls or tigers. Kitesurfer Steve Schafer suffered a fatal attack almost a year ago just north of this area.

Thousands of sharks spotted off Palm Beach. Here is a video:

http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/local_n...off-palm-beach

http://fksa.org

Join the conversation: http://fksa.org/showthread.php?t=10379

Olympic Kiteboarding Demonstration - Photos!

Some of the fastest kite racers in the world came to Miami to participate in the kiteboarding demonstration for the Olympic Racing Classes Regatta. The Regatta included over 700 sailors representing 58 countries. The kiters headed out to do the demonstration in an amazingly light wind forecast with their best low end gear. Winds were around 2 to 10 kts. averaging around 2 to 8 kts. with extended lulls in the actual race area. The demonstration was organized by our own Kent Marinkovic, John Goems and Kevin from the St. Francis Yacht Club from San Francisco, http://www.stfyc.com/. We met at Shake-A-Leg for the Captains Meeting and to take a boat out to a nearby spoil island to rig up and launch.

The starting point at the Shake-A-Leg facility in Coral Gables, FL. Lots of varied sailing craft running all over for the Regatta including some high speed and maneuverable 49'ers like this one. They tried to acquire a permit to hold the demonstration off Hobie Beach but the antics of some kiters ruined that option for these world class racers.

Here is a list of the riders who came to compete.

Loading up an impressive quantity of cargo on the Carolina Skiff for a short run to a nearby spoil island.

Damo Leroy helps out carrying down Garry Menk's latest kite racing creation. A novel three fin raceboard.

Patrick Rynne opted to bypass the boat trip and SUP out directly. This got him on the water almost a half hour earlier than the next rider. The winds were light and fitful so the early start helped. Nice looking Jimmy Lewis Slice raceboard!

After a very short trip, the riders off load the gear and stroll over to the next island to windward.

Kent and Paula move out along with John Heineken, perhaps the fastest kite racer anywhere in these early days of the sport.

Almost like walking on water, almost. A very convenient land bridge connected the windward island at low tide.

Patrick is pumped up and ready to go as folks walk up.

I headed out with John Goems on the boat being utilized to setup the race markers and then transfered to the Committee Boat run by Kevin. Here comes Patrick on a 16 m Crossbow on longer than stock lines and a raceboard. I thought everyone in the race was fairly light, but was wrong. Patrick at 6'2" weighs 175 lbs. but despite that was hauling butt in the light breeze around 5 to 8 kts.

More sailboats head out to the race area. I could use some help with the identification of some of these sailboat classes knowing little about this subject.

Ride by

Another couple of kites are up. Breaking out further offshore into slightly stronger breeze will prove to be very daunting. Extended lulls, the kite drops to the water or forces the kiters to tack trying to find favorable wind to make it out. Very few were that fortunate, with lots of swimming going on that day.

The 49'ers are pretty incredible lightwind machines.

Kent attended the awards ceremony for the Regatta. He said there were 716 sailors representing 58 countries. A total of 38 metals were earned during the Regatta with Great Britain winning 14 of them.

He described a wide range of sailing craft in the competition, many of which I hadn't heard of before. The 49'ers, Lasers, RSX windsurfers, 2.4 Disabled, 470, FIN, SCUD Disabled and Sonar Disabled.

When I said it was light, it actually dropped below this at times. If it dropped too far into the low single digits, so would the kites. Water relaunching usually requires wind around 7 to 8 kts without something to stop the kiter from drifting. It would gust that high at times but rarely stay above stall speed long enough for guys to make it out into the bay for slightly stronger breeze.

More kites are up and down in the hole near the launch. It would make sense to travel beyond the shoreside vagaries of wind shadow and lower wind speeds out to the cleaner winds offshore for competitions in the future if light conditions were on.

Kent and Patrick both touched on the economics of Olympic sailing competition. Large vessel racing is primarily confined to the more affluent countries. Smaller countries may pursue more realistic sports like windsurfing, Lasers and the like. Many of these countries have Olympic team training programs in place, starting with kids and moving up to team membership in time. Kent indicated that the relative low cost and mobility of kiting gear gave the sport some distinct advantages.

Eventually Patrick was lulled out. Unfortunately, he was taken into shore by the chase boat to really light and unstable winds once a direction shift occurred.

More sailboats being ferried out to the race area. Between boats being pulled out, fast and coaches running into shore, there were a lot of powerboats moving around.

Michael (Gebi) Gebhardt of Florida and Victor Fredianelli of Brazil break out. Gebi was on the USA windsurfing Olympic team and has been a successful International coach in that discipline for many years.

Unfortunately, the wind lulled out in a big way soon. Cameron Biehl by intent or good fortune chose to be become becalmed within swimming distance of the Committee Boat, twice! This allowed him to breeze wait away from the nearshore land windshadow and lower wind speeds. Most of the riders were stuck in poorer conditions at the launch island which made a critical difference in access to the riding area. Perhaps having buoys, individual support boats to secure the kites to while wind waiting in the riding area would make sense for races in similar venues in light wind conditions.

Cameron breeze waiting on the stern. Being in the right place, (out of wind shadow), at the right time (when an extended puff comes through) can be everything at the low end.

Victor is riding nicely in a good puff.

Look at all the whitecaps. This was a gust by comparison to lighter conditions for much of the day. Probably hitting close to 8 kts.

Cameron rounds the marks for the course after the second lull but before the third and final one of the day.

Damo makes for a mark.

Getting some lift off those big fins in a puff.

Most of the racers were way to the east just to the west of Key Biscayne. The winds were funneling down Bear Cut and being amplified off the western shore of Key Biscayne. As a result a wide variety of sailing craft were being ferried to the race area via powerboat. It would make sense to do the same thing for kiters and/or to do boat launch near the actual racing area in light conditions.

Gebi took a page out of the book of some of the other sailing classes and hitched a ride out.

Lasers being hauled back to the dock after their race.

Victor moves in on a mark.

Damo is shredding in a puff.

A video summarizing some of the classes racing in this regatta.

Gebi readies to round a mark.

RSX one design windsurfing rigs being transported out to their race area off Bear Cut. The Olympics are considering the entry of one new sailing craft to the Summer Games. The choice is between kiting and RSX. RSX is distinguished by a large wind range but with a lower end above that which can be realized by kiteboarding. One of the purposes of this demonstration was to allow committee members a chance to observe a kite race in light wind conditions.

You can tell how light the breeze is from Damo's short wake, no whitecaps, lightwind riding! These Pros use a lot of different tactics for light wind racing. Larger efficient kites that can develop good apparent wind, longer lines, constantly evolving raceboards and fins and a good deal of wind sense and tactics. Back in the day we would double lines, take two sets of 30 m lines and make a 60 m set for two line kites. This increases your moment arm or stroke distance when sining the kite. This should allow more force to be conveyed to the kiter over a longer interval than shorter lines. Trouble is at some point the line air drag becomes a factor.

Damo and Gebi race along.

Damo does a ride by of the Committee Boat.

Gebi confronts a pair of lasers.

More RSX's are ferried out to the race area.

So, see you from the OCR in Miami. This was a first effort to show off kiting to the folks in the Olympics. Conditions were quite adverse but despite that some were able to make it out through prolonged lulls and wind shadowed areas. Even out there the wind would drop to 2 kts. or so for an extended period pulling the kites out of the sky. Still, we did run in lower than 6 kts. at times, the wind minimum for the RSX class. What does the future hold, we'll see. It would be good to read some perspectives from the folks that were out there that day.

Join the conversation at http://fksa.org/showthread.php?t=10382