drewgarth

Hi Guys, I found what looked like house keys (3 keys), burried in sand at Altona today (Sunday about 7pm) - pier end of the kitebeach. I hung them on some tape that is wrapped around the lightpost near the footpath in the hope that whoever lost them may seem them. Hopefully they have been found by their owner, if not, you now know where they are:) cheers Andrew

Hey Joel, I presume you ride down at Sandy Point? or somewhere like that? Where the wind is 30ish knots a lot of the time My girlfriend and I started in Feb this year so have our progression firmly in our mind . I guess one bit of advice we would have is dont underestimate the amount you will use the smaller kite. As we have progressed we find ourselves regularly pulling out the smaller kites and working them. They turn faster and we love our smaller kites...fun to fly. On days when i used to ride my 12m kite, i will regularly borrow my girlfriends 8m kite and she will go for her 6m because we enjoy the smaller kite. We have Gin Nazcas and love them... Im 73kg and I ride the 8m gusting up to about 35knots (from 20knots) and the 6m in up to 35 to 40. My girlfriend who is 50 odd kgs rides the 6m up to about 35knots. Obviously keep looking for a bargain, but i would guess living where you are, that something like a 6 or 7m kite will actually get a lot of use...possibly more than your 10! So dont worry too much about hard earned dollars spent on a smaller kite and not being used Happy kiting cheers Andrew

Thanks for the advice, that was pretty much the conclusion i was reaching. In terms of the most "elegant" way of doing that, Do you do that at the edge of the wind window close to the ground? Or is there somewhere better so that the kite comes down relatively gently and doesnt get dragged around the sand to the downwind position? Cheers Andrew

G'Day folks, just thought i would join and say hello to the fellow kiters out there. For background my girlfriend and I have a pair of Gin Kites and are learning at both St Kilda and Altona. Im after some advice on self landing the GIN Nazca. Ive read plenty of forums, watched the videos and watched the guys doing it in practice, however i cant work out what technique to use for the Gin kite. For those that arent aware, the Nazca is a 5 line hybrid. The Two front lines come together about 5meters up from the bar and then come down to the bar as a single line, together with the 5th safety line. (http://water.ginkites.com/products/nazca-bar.html) The techniques i have read involve either pulling the top lines(viewed when close to the ground near the edge of the wind window, (particularly the front one) and/or releasing the bar with the leash attached to the safetly line (being the top front line) on a 4 line kite. However with the GIN, pulling the two top lines, pulls both the front lines (since they are joined well above the bar) and letting go of the bar, letting the leash pull on the safety flags the kite out from the middle front. Neither technique would appear to have the effect that it would have on a 4 line kite. I know that many people will comment that you should get someone else to land the kite, but sometimes that isnt possible. Any advice would be appreciated cheers Andrew