Today
 

Didn’t see too many at the beaches today. I saw about 4 kites all day. It was killer, good side on shore. We havent had a good S, SW wind in sometime. It was nice to switch things up. The waves blew tho. Still, it was beautiful out there.. 15 - 20 all day. Rode from 10am to 4:30, and im beat. Im sure EB wasnt slammed ;)

i counted over 35 kites in the air at EB ..

was a great surprise of a day.

35 kites at east beach? Wow. I counted 4 kites all day including mine. One was a lesson going on at caladesi and the other two only stayed out for an hour or so. In a nutshell....I had north county to myself.....ALL DAY BABY! :D

The most impressive thing I saw today was Tom Stock powered up and doing kiteloops on a 9 meter Waroo in 15 knots. Thats amazing since Tom is about the same weight as me and I was on a 13.
Maybe I will have to consider riding the Roo's.

Tom was mixing it up today, that fo show. I saw him riding blind a couple times. Nicely done.

you forgot his attempts to a backmobe! mad props to tom!! he was coming pretty close, they looked ligit.

Yeah thanks for the help with those mobes Josh & Alex. I appreciate it. Never got it but I am getting closer (and feeling every attempt right now actually).

Mad props to the bird who cut my 12m waroo bridle and survived!

Jay you can try the 9 waroo any time.. I think you might like it but if you find you don't you can just say so, it's all good. It's just a kite after all and I'd like to hear what ya think. Scott really likes his and I'd like to hear what some of the other experienced riders have to say too.

When I dove it through the power zone it would yank me 2ft out of the water in only 17knts. That kite builds apparent wind like crazy!

BTW did u guys see Billy hook in, run up the side of his motor home like spider man, prance around on top like a reindeer and then glide off?

WTF was that?! He's nuts!

Wish I'd caught that on video.

wild bill @ it again.
cool thing iz...
i saw him helping people more than riding.
truly a world class individual.

thanks for the list of riding spots in the area. i bookmarked it. I went out with my instructor today at the Gandy bridge (more like beer can alley) on the south side just west of the two big radio towers but i didn't see that location on your list. is it not a good spot to ride? where is a good spot for a beginner to start at?

East Beach for winds from NE through to SSW is sort of "the" spot most newer riders go to practice. It can get crowded.

I have ridden where you were today on SE winds.
It's actually really nice once you get away from shore. Weekends is usually pretty crowded on the "beach" itself, as you noticed. I don't think I would consider going where you were today alone due to the powerline/road hazard.
With an instructor (especially if he got you out onto the grassflats in front of the powerplant) that's a good spot to teach at with particular wind directions, I would think.

Gandy is a bad spot. power lines, highway and submerged rocks and seawalls.

I ride there occasionally but ride way far out near the sign that says "NO TRESPASSING - HAZARDOUS WASTE" or something like that coming from the power plant!

Yeah, I don't mind the extra thumb, it was worth it that one day to ride up in there.

I just realized. I am very familiar with that area from fishing it. If you weren't that area really is a nightmare as Tom said.
There are submerged rocks and all kinds of features barely under the water surface in that area.
Depending on tide height, many of them are lost from sight, but only 3 inches under.
The obvious hazard is the launch, but I have seen worse.
My bad. I wouldn't go out there to ride. If you do, be wary of stuff around the channel markers and about 50 yards offshore, on the other side of the small boat channel.

thanks for the heads up. I'm glad i'm not the only one who thinks that it is a bit sketchy out there. on the way home (Venice) i stopped and saw a few out on the west side of the skyway causeway. there were no beach people and few obstacles to hit. i think next time I'll suggest we go there.

Okay. In terms of that spot. It does have a few hazards, most of them visually obvious.
Once you get out away from shore and on the other side of the channel, it's awesome. The launch is a friggin' nightmare on due South wind. It's blocked, shadowed, gusty and trees are very near.

Once you launch and get out away from shore though, it's paradise out there.
Other side of the narrow ICW channel is grass flats, for friggin' ever.

Best spot around, possibly on a South (the open grass flat area).
Just beware, the launch is sketchy and it can be blowing 20 out on the water and feel like 10 in the windshadow of the launch area.

as i beginner i really liked north shore just as long as you stay away from the sea wall near the pool. 35 kites at east beach?? i was completely lit and loving it all by myself at north shore the wind was really sick, but im glad no one knows where it is. i had all the space in the world.

That's a great spot. I was with Donna somewhere similar.
Still quite a few places to ride in seclusion if you want to.
I like kiters and all, but I didn't get into kiting to be in a crowd.
2 was perfect today. I bet you had more wind than EB did as well.
I know we did.

galego,
just curios...
is your instructor a local?
l8r

Tom.. i too saw you hitting things that defied logic .. i was riding and powered fine on my 16 waroo.. i look over and you are 20 feet off the water on a 12m.. wtf!!? damn impressive.. didnt see the bird incident nor the mode attempts.. bravo for leaps and bounds you've taken in the past year..including putting some AMAZING boards out in the market.

i FINALLY got the nerve to try kiteloops again.. at the end of my session where my legs felt like jelly.. i hit 3 in a row! not high altitude, super-loops by any standard.. but holy crap am i stoked!

if anyone is a bit timid to give them a shot.. i began the day doing small jumps to toeside with a downloop.. did that over and over and over from both directions.. when i gave the full kiteloop a try it was definitely more intense, but the downloops had given me a good feel for the speed of the loop w/o the power..

define 'local'?
he is local to venice/sarasota

Awesome! Same here.. I rode for 7 hours straight, doing unhooked tricks only except for a few hooked in jumps and kite loops. I finally stopped when I did a tack out, and my arms cramped up first so i couldn't steer the kite, then my abdomen cramped up so bad I couldn't breathe. I could barely yell for Billy to grab my kite it hurt so bad. First time that's ever happened so I am guessing 7 hours of unhooking is my limit. lol.

That's awesome. You are really starting to progress too, next you'll be unhooking! Those down loops are REALLY fun. I did some unhooked jumps with a downloop transition (for the first time) yesterday. That was really fun. Crazy Jay is the absolute master of those unhooked kiteloop transitions ... hope i can do them like that some day.

BTW my new years resolution is to loose 40 pounds. Wish me luck. That means no beer and less wine so my forum posts should tame down substantially. :D

Yesterday was good all around the area. After setting up at backside, I rode over to E. Beach spent about an hour there and the road the flats from E. B. to backide and over to the bridge.

After packing up, while heading over the Howard Franklin, I saw somebody riding at Cyoress. I stop there and it was to much to resist the tempatation, so I re inflated and rode there for a while.

Decided to venture out a little and rode over to Rocky Point and around Crabby Bills. Wind was onshore more or less so I just road down Ben T Davis and down the coast.

Ended up at Clearwater side causeway!!! Plenty of area to land the kite over there and I just flagged down a cab. Cost about 30.00 bucks to get back with the tip. Can't say thats the last time I'll do that. It was great riding the coast of the bay.

yep.. im done w/ beer myself.. this last couple weeks w/ the holiday has been crappy on my diet.. but i am going to do it..

dropped 30lbs a few years ago.. took about 1 full year to gain it back.. but i was drinking A LOT of beer.

red wine is much better ... and if i really need to drink i'll take a rum and diet coke. :)

You Guys were both off the chain yesterday! I had to leave early. The in laws were at my house setting up for a combined Xmas, New Years Get together. I put down my 9M when it tappered off around 1:30 and P Fox was nice enough to let me ride his 14 ERA. Of course it picked right back up. I quit the Beer on a bet(bet you can't) in August, but I'm thinking I'd better start drinking heavily so I can add a little Ballast. I couldn't unhook on the 14M ,but I managed a couple Raillies with the 9M. I was starting to get them wired both ways when we started our windy season and the wind disappeared. Now I have to re learn them. I hope to get some ridding in tomorrow before the real cold stuff gets here.

Bob

WORD!
Ive said it before and I'll say it again..
Jay has the BEST transitions/loops I've seen in person or on any video.
Not to mention the most intense f-16s you'll ever see.