picnic

[inferno]

ill be heading to picnic if it picks up in the next few hours......

[Skyway Scott]

Is it blowing?
It seems a little breezy.
Man, I wish Dunedin was closer.

[Erick]

Is it blowing?
It seems a little breezy.
Man, I wish Dunedin was closer.

Duniden 18mph =)
Picnic 9mph =(

11:30am.

[RM3001]

I was going to head to Cypress Park in about an hour. Should be nice and smooth. Anyone else going? rob 813 368-4417

[Skyway Scott]

I think it is blowing. I am outta here.
Yeah, it seems Dunedin usually gets SSW winds better than down here.

Oh, Erick, not to be technical... but the kite wants to go downwind and roll on the ground.
It's the strings that force it to rise up (against it's will). :)

[Skyway Scott]

Check out A.W. and tell me they aren't the best, they tend to underestimate a little, but get the trend (and timing) pretty correct. :)

http://www.accuweather.com/forecast-hourly.asp?partner=accuweather&traveler=0&zipcode=33712&metric=0&hbhday=1&hbhhour=7

[Erick]

Oh, Erick, not to be technical... but the kite wants to go downwind and roll on the ground.
It's the strings that force it to rise up (against it's will). :)

LOL

[Skyway Scott]

Danny,

Thanks for the original post. I wouldn't have ridden today if you didn't say it was blowing.

Donna's dad saw about 7 guys up in the Dunedin area today while he was fishing.
In his words "Fishing was horrible, it was way too windy."
There were about 20 riders at EB, and I suspect there were others at Cypress.

What kind of wind did you guys get that rode places other that EB, today?
We had solid 13 knots (never less) with waves of wind at about 17 knots.
The old 25 minutes at 13, 25 minutes at 17 deal, for about 5 hours.
Just curious, for comparison purposes.

[Danimal8199]

Nice session today at Dunedin Causway. Rode with Steve-O, Whitey, Chad, and a couple others. Solid 15-18 with gusts up to 20.

When it died off to 8 kts. Steve-O and Whitey were still riding on the new Ozone 13m with a glide. Look out Kite-4-Life!!!

[RM3001]

Rode for a bit at Cypress. It was only in the 8-12 knot range but with a 15m and an Underground FLX 148 it actually was OK and I'm 190. Cypress always seems to be lighter than everywhere else but it is only 20 minutes from my house in North Tampa.

How was Picnic Island? Never rode there yet.

[Skyway Scott]

I've heard that kite is great in light wind.
Little secret though, at the weight of Steve and myself, we could ride any reasonable kite on a Glide in as little as 9 knots. ;)

I can ride a 9m kite on my Glide in 9, no worries.
(Maybe we can make some sort of bet over how small a kite some one can make work in 9 knots). I think Jayson might win that one, with his "rocket" board.

[Whitey]

I believe you... I rode a 9m in 9 knots today upwind. The new cab revolver. I only have it for a couple of days to try out so, put it up and rode it. Very fast little bugger. Iv'e got close to 60 lbs on Steve-O. Old and fat, but I feel young and trim hauling ass across the water. That harness does a great job for my profile.

[slushy]

How much wind do you need to get up. Thanks

[Skyway Scott]

When you are first starting, my opinion is that 13 to 20 knots is perfect.
Any less and you are schlogging. It takes some skill to milk light wind. For a new rider, it can be a nightmare (it's possible, just not ideal).

More is up to the individual (and many might feel otherwise in terms of newbies) but I think 20 plus is where stuff happens fast and you can get hurt.
Probably best to wait at least 5 full outtings before going out in 20 plus.
I am talking local conditions. Some places have no options but to teach in 30, and as a rider you may not have much choice either. Around here, we can get 13 to 20, quite a bit (percentage wise of days riding... not absolute days/year).
I am talking ideal though, and that's not always possible. The fact is, the less days per year of any wind, the less picky you can/will be.

[Tom Stock]

When I first started riding I avoided East Beach, the Skyway, etc. So riding meant the gulf. In that case I needed a solid 20 to get up and riding (straight down wind mind you).

In flat water, 15 is enough.

Glad you guys got some! I was at work watching the sensors and the trees hoping SOMEONE was out there.

-tom

[ALBE]

yep i was watching from the 9 th floor of the new marriott hotel on T.I . and i saw 1 kite at the bilmar ,just wanting to get out,,