sunday

About a dozen of us ended up doing downwinders. For St. Pete, I personally thought today was about as good as it gets for a NW coldfront. Solid 20+ and not so gusty.(compared to the 16 to 35 I am used to).
Also, for St. Pete, we had some exceptional waves. Best time I have had in a long time. After lunch a bunch of us rode in front of the 'tow for about an hour and a half whilst Billy and a bunch of others continued the DW all the way to North Beach. I'd give just about anything to get wind and waves like that in St.Pete on a regular basis.

Thanks for the loner, Raul. (trying to secure another 11m tonight).

Thanks for the demo of the Mako, Bayflite.
That thing is unreal in chop/waves. (might have to get one!)

[BigR]

That's coool, next time in 24kts or more doing a DW I'll go with my gut instincts and rig the 9m XBow II while you and Donna are both on 11m Ozone's just to show off my madz efficiency skillz

Rode Backside today, it was up and down there all day but much better across the channel. Rode my 12m and jumped so big at one point that I was afraid it would get dark before I landed. Foxy Jr. showed up wearing his new kite girlie-pants. On another note--and I am dead serious--someone went to take a piss in the mangroves and found a stack of gay sex magazines and what appeared to be an unopened Moutain Dew. No one had the ballz to Do the Dew.

Props to Hauss for letting me chow down on all his junk food during a break. Props to Josh for the best wipeout of the day. Props to myself for treating everyone to some death metal at ear-deafening levels.

Note: newbies were getting worked all over Backside today and some others were tempting fate. If you are old school and ever ride there, be careful because the launch itself is mad sketcky with all the kookery going on.

Raul, I was really scratching my head watching you rip it up on the 9m at the 'tow.
Lori rode that earlier! Meanwhile, I was fully litt on the 11m out there and Donna rode that the whole downwinder! Two years ago, the sharing of the same kite between yourself and Lori or myself and Donna (both partners litt, but comfy) would have been simply impossible!! Pretty cool. Kind of ridiculous in a way though, since now Donna and I want to be on the same size kite at the same time (no more trading off of incremental kite sizes).

[BigR]

I think me and Lori coulda both riddin a 9m today and you and Dona an 11m. Maybe a 9m = 11m or vis versa?

[BigR]

This is Lori talk not Raul but too lazy to log off and log on

I would have been better off on the 7. I should have depowered the bar on the 9 but didn't, so I was pretty overpowered. Should have depowered the bar dumb. But generally if I can I like the bar powered as the kite moves faster but did make the wrong choice today cuz can only stick my arms and rear end out so far!

For me I do better when I generate some of the power in the kite rather then "holding it down" but then I am not trying to get huge air either. I quess that is old school though moving your kite for power so perhaps we need to just get with the time!

The wind picked up BIG TIME, about 20 minutes after we decided on our kite sizes, and 5 minutes before launching (typical). Me guinea pigging it out there for 15 minutes (and sinking and walking back upwind) was a total waste of time in determining kite sizes. All that "research" in garbage wind to have the wind fill in.... I was fairly frustrated myself that all of us (except the Donster on the 11m Instinct) were most likely gonna be super LITT.

But......with bows/hybrids... I guess my point is that even still, no one got t-bagged to infinity or worked like mad.

I still remember my last C kite downwinder (same exact run, mainly the same riders). It was also the first day I saw a Waroo, as well. It started off in the mid teens at the launch and ended at about 30 knots. I got my a## handed to me on my 13m Fuel once it went past 25.
Noel, on his 9m waroo, had a ball the whole time. That's the entire reason I started looking at non-C kites was that day. I was so jealous that Noel had one kite the whole time and seemed comfy the whole time. Meanwhile, I was out of control and not having fun, at all.

If those conditions occured today, I would have started on the 11m, been happy, and ended on the 11m, a tad happier, actually. (Well, if Donna wasn't on it!)