Well I got my first mountain board yesterday (MBS Core 95) and I was all excited to give it a go over lunch today. The forecast was calling for 16mph wind and I’ve had the NEO out it that before without any problems so I went for it. Got out to the field and noticed that the wind was blowing pretty hard for “16mph” but passed it off as just an extended gust, certain that it would calm down a bit in a minute. So I proceed to throw a couple of weights on the kite, un-wrap the lines, stake the brake strap and chicken loop, walk back and pull the kite up to start inflating it, check the bridle lines and pulleys, walk the flying lines back to check for twist – everything looked good. I could hardly contain my excitement about finally entering the world of motion in my power kiting development. I walk back to the van and remove that shiny new mountain board, ignoring that the wind was still whistling in my ears. I carry the board back to the ground stake, reach for the harness, glance over to my kite, and can’t help but notice that it’s fully inflated and dancing around like an angry bull in a bullpen. I’m used to launching this kite downwind, half inflated, and letting it jellyfish to zenith, where it’s usually fully inflated when it gets there. So, there I am, standing in the middle of the field, with the wind blowing 20-30, with a pained expression on my face, when a voice from my left side says: “What the heck are you waiting for dude, man up, get your harness on, hook up and launch that kite – it’s a depower for crying out loud!” ...and then a voice from my right side says: “Yeah, a lot of good depower is going to do you when you try to launch that thing, fully inflated, directly downwind in this gale!” ...and then the left side says: “Your kite is rated for winds from 4 – 27 dude and it’s probably not even gusting to 25, put it up in the air and realize its full potential for a change! What would your PKF buddies think if they found out you chickened out, you wimp?” ...and then the right side says: “Yeah, that 27mph upper end is for very experienced kiters that weigh more than you – pack it up and live to fly another day!”. My left and right sides go back and forth like this for a good 10 minutes. In the end, I commenced to pack up my stuff and drive away without any air time. Probably no point to my story, other than I need more kites in my quiver to handle these situations, so just sharing...

Good story. I thnk most of us have been there once or twice at some point. Better to back off and pack up and wait til conditions are a little more friendly.

Sometimes the "one more time meter" needs to start with a negative number.

Better to walk (as opposed to limp) away from a sketchy day than spend a couple of weeks/months "gun-shy" of your kite/board.

Some days measuring the size of your balls just means you get to take them home in a doggy bag after Mother Nature is done chewing on them for awhile.

ATB,
Sam

Often the one more time can be the last time. Safty first.

this is coming from from someone who has had experiance with the left and right guys. dont ever listen to the left guy if the right one doesn't halfway agree. i did once and after 3 very painful obes and 2 buggies landing on top of me i learned my lesson.

Better to err on the side of caution... There will be another day... :wee:

Pong,

when that lil voice in your head says "no", make sure to listen........................you did fine!

You did good pongnut! Putting any 11 meter foil up in 20-30mph wind takes more experience and less experiment.

better to say no today then not be able to kite for three months. Even during the session it is best to know when to say when. I usually launch like you usually do. Once I launched fully inflated like that in the powerzone with my 11m in a 21mph gust. I ran about 30 yards to try and get under the kite. I was headed toward rose bushes and so I sheeted in and jumped. I flew over the bushes, over the rocky shore of the river, over the shallows with big rocks and landed into the river deeper than my head. I kept thinking I will break my leg if I land in those rocks.

If you are going to push your limits I suggest you wait till you are in the water, wearing a helmet, and a PFD. That has really helped me.

whewwwww! Not a single razz - you guys may be characters, but you all are also of good character - thanks!

What would we have said. You should have done it that is not something for Newbies to be reading at all.

Hey pongnut...thanks for sharing that story...you definitely did the right thing. If there's ever any doubt...don't do it...good call! Live to fly another day...

Good decision! The little voices are annoying, but usually right.
So... you pull out the Beach, and spend some time scudding around the field so that the afternoon's not a total writeoff. The board'll still be there waiting (taunting:-)

don't be dumb like this guy...

WARNING; Frightening to watch..:o

Wise choice PN

beautiful world of motion.... how it provides clarity!.

the SHINY board thing....only another dimension my phriend.

what fun choices ! KNOW YOUR LIMITS !

I'm sure you got the message, but I'll chime in too...good decision! Kiting has enough risks as it is, erring on the side of safety is the way to go.

Plus, you may want to rethink that range a bit, 27mph would be the upper end on water where you have tons more board pressure to use against the kite. With landboarding, it's going to be lower.

well stated KD...........in 27mph wind lanboard or buggy Im on the 6m Pulse 2 or 5m Waroo.............yesterday I was out on my 13m EH Ovando in 15/16 mph wind which isnt alot of wind but this is a very POWERFULL and FAST kite...................after playing in the waves for an hour or so I could feel the wind picking up thru the kite but decided to send her back hard..............the voices were telling me no but I did anyway as I knew this kite was fully powered and then some.............the initital lift and pop caught me off guard but was able to maintain control and stick the landing.........I could have easily been yarded but got lucky and I do how to control power.......................basically I broke one of the cardinal rules............keep
listening to those little voices and youll be kiting for a lnog time..................