Chrisp

Bollocks! I thought that puddle smelt funny. Time to get a splash guard!

If you're not already, you can weave the kite up and down, rather than just letting it fly alongside you. Keep the angle of the kite at about 45 degrees as it goes up and down. As it turns over the top turn, apply the brakes slightly to keep the kite powered up, and release the leading brake to bring the kite out of the dive. This keeps the kite powered up through the dive -> upward turns, and will increase your speed by a few mph past your normal wind limitation, as the kite is travelling a greater distance.

When I switch to static flying (usually on the 6.6 blade), I re-attach the killers. Static = insane workout. 15 mins static = 1+ hours at the gym. Then when I go back to the buggy, I take the killers off (I was speaking from personal experience of having the killer bungee wrap around the back wheel - fortunately, no injury). There's nothing wrong with using killers, but I've started to find they don't do much apart from get in the way. If I have an "Oh Sh*t!" moment, I just put the breaks on (whilst stropped into a harness of course...). I too needed the longer strop - 6'3" and 17st... When I used a strop for the first time, it was after buying the 4m Flow. It was so restricting that i tput me off using a stop/harness... until one of the guys down at the local meet gave me a longer one (ooer missus)... tried that one in the bug and it was so much better - had more room to move the handles about. I'm fairly new to kiting too, although I've clocked up quite a few hours of kiting now - I've only just plucked up the courage to take the KK's off the 6.6 blade and strop in - it was a lot easier than I thought, once I'd overcome the initial 'brown trousers' moment of the first pull as you get the kite off the ground, and it eases into the side-on traction... Although I've never flown on a bar before, I can understand why people who fly handles say it's more rewarding. You do actually have a greater amount of control on handles.

Stick with handles, imo. As you've said you're on a 3.5m rage, chances are you won't be doing much freestyling with that (i.e. jumps and tricks) - Freestylers tend to use larger kites (depower + bar). A 3.5m rage will get you good speeds in a decent wind. Ditch the killers and get a strop line (if you haven't got one). One thing I found using killers while buggying is that the bungee cords tend to hang down just in front of the back wheels of the buggy. Remember, your wrists are strapped into the bungee cords, and if the cords get wrapped around the back wheel... could be painful. Get rid of the killers altogether - attach a strop line. If you run into problems, just pull on both brakes (not much effort required as your harness has the power, not your arms, so you can let your hands slide down the handles to pull pure brake), and the kite will flutter to the ground. If you're at speed, it'll flutter around a bit, but will naturally position itself behind you and act as a brake, slowing you down (if you get into trouble). If you haven't got a strop line/harness, trust me, you'll wonder why you never tried one before. Instead of buggying for 30-40 mins before needing to give your arms a rest, you can buggy for hours effortlessly on handles. A tip - make sure the strop line is the right length for your preference - some of the strop lines (Ozone especially) are woefully short. A longer strop gives more arm freedom and less catching handles on bits of harness/legs.

That's a very impressive review Sand Yeti - I really want to spend more time kiting (life WAY to busy over the last 6 months or so - got married in Jan so financial sacrifices have been made ). I'm almost at the confidence stage of taking the plunge, removing the killers from the III 6.6 and stropping myself in... Still very green behind the ears, and your review has given me something specific to target - the V 4.9, which should sit nicely between the 4.0 Flow, and the 6.6 mkIII (the Flow also being a glorious kite to fly). I have experienced, first-hand, the shock and awe of the III 6.6 powering up in a strong gust, and remembering thinking "oh God, I'm going to lose my arms...", as I flew through the air... I'll also second de_flyer in wishing you the speediest of recoveries, and that you'll be back bugging those dunes again in no time! Chris

I find Weatherbug (Android) to be fairly accurate for a couple of days in advance. Like many have said though, it's almost impossible to accurately predict the weather more than a day in advance. I remember seeing an article in the paper last week saying that, from last weekend, we were going to get a 2-week heat wave, with temperatures in the high 20's. What a load of rubbish that turned out to be...

I was using an app called "My Tracks" on my HTC Desire, which has all sorts of sharing functionalities, one of which is an upload to Google Maps. I found RunKeeper was also good (automatic uploads to Track Your Running, Measure Your Fitness, and Improve Your Training | RunKeeper), for both the Android devices and the iPhone.

Ouch - Reading your description of events, I almost felt the pain from where I'm sitting! Hope you make a speedy and full recovery real soon Max! Sand Yeti - I think I'm gonna come and live in the desert after watching those vids!!

I can relate to that Batz! Except mine is bigger and slaps harder... my KITE that is... *grins* (I know, I know... the 4.9 is more likely to spank you than the 6.6... because it's a lot faster, giving you less reaction time). The difference between a 4.9 and a 6.6 is that the 4.9 can be held down in slightly stronger winds, whereas the 6.6 will just happily pick you up and set you down (at wind speed) in the trees at the other end of the field...

Looking good there matey - keep it up

Buy a nice big Blade - 4.9 or 6.5 (6.6 if you go with a BIII). I get lovely floaty jumps with my 6.6 - but like everyone says, you have to keep your eye on them. The moment you stop paying attention, you're in trouble. Let's face it - the same applies to driving a car. You stop paying attention, you kill or maim yourself and/or someone else. (Note to all you complete morons who think you can use your cell phone to hold a conversation with someone and drive in a straight line at the same time... you f'ing can't!!!)

My first entry - a respectable 27.4mph Track 17 - Google Maps Hope to crack 30mph soon!!!

Thanks for the responses guys, super stuff. I forgot to mention that I have the AAA Bridle adjuster fitted to the BIII, so I can reduce lift, making a little faster through the air. I guess I should have tried the BIII, but by the time I was up and running on the Flow, I was quite content to trundle up and down the beach at 20+mph (managed a top of 27.4mph and did almost 67 miles on the day). Quite a number of people have been singing the praises of the Ozone Access - I think this is going to be the one I save up for... but in the meantime, I'm going to wait a bit and see if I can find people with Vipers/Blurrs to have a play with. I'm now on a mission to crack the 30mph mark!!!

I'm still wistfully reminiscing on my Bolton Le Sands weekend a month ago (my first beach experience). The wind had been beautiful, however it wasn't much more than 15mph. I wasn't keen on getting the crap kicked out of me by the Blade, but the Flow left me yearning for more. With that in mind, I'm looking at other kites specifically designed for buggying. While I have several in mind, I'd like to get a feel for other people's opinions and preferences. I've buggied with my 6.6 Blade III, the 4m Flow, a 7m Pansh Ace and a 5m Pansh Legend. The Blade constantly wants to drag me kicking and screaming from the buggy - either sideways, or upwards (it doesn't care). The Ace was very powerful and again, very lifty... but quite tempremental, wanting to drop out of the sky at every gust or minor change in the wind. The Legend was... too refined, and left me wanting. The Flow remains my favourite kite that I've flown in the buggy, and the Blade is just the king of static kites... Bearing in mind I have a 4m and a 6.6m, I was looking for something to sit between them (around the 5m mark)... The Blurr: Excellent reviews, and designed for speed with good traction and low lift... but on the expensive side (however... top-quality) The PL Viper: Again, a kite designed for buggying, with good reviews, and I quite like the look of this one. The Pansh Ace: Damien (from Derby Course Kiters) was flying one of these down at Bolton Le Sands, and you could tell the difference between inland and coastal winds - it was rock solidly stable on the beach, requiring very little input to maintain speed. What's the verdict...? I guess another question would be, what do I want to do... freestyle, racing, or cruising... Well, I'm not really interested in freestyle buggying (I have an ATB for that)... I want to go fast, without feeling out of control. Now, don't get me wrong, in the right winds, the 4m Flow is a superlative kite, I love it to bits, however it's low AR (Aspect Ratio) means it's kind of limited in terms of top speed... What do you think?

On watching the return journey past the indentation, I notice there are also no buggy tracks in what must be very hard-packed sand/earth... ergo, scratch my thoughts about it being hard to not leave tracks....... It's still very odd though.......

Interesting, a perfectly-formed oblong indentation in the sand/earth, with no tracks or markings to suggest anyone had been there... I can't really think of any reason for it to be there. For all intents and purposes, it has all the hallmarks of a crop-circle, but on a field... like something 'landed' there and left a print. Curious...

The 'issue' with not knowing what line setup to use shouldn't really be an issue at all. While I can see where Mick's coming from with his reasoning, I have to say that I was flying my Blade happily for 3 months before someone with a great deal more experience than me had a go on it, and they did several 'tests', one of which was how the kite sat at the Zenith. Despite me having the logical intellect to know about line lengths (2x power lines being the same length as each other, and 2x brake lines being the same length as each other), I didn't actually think to check the inch-by-inch measurement, as I'd been quite happily flying the Blade for those 3 months, and was extremely pleased with how it handled, and assumed that the lines were correct... however... the expert was able to 'feel' that the lines were very slightly different lengths (probably from stretching over time), and brought the kite down to check. Sure enough, one of the power lines was about 2" longer than the other one. An extra knot to bring them perfectly in line was all it took to further improve the kite's stability and handling. It's quite amazing how much difference a couple of inches makes (ooer missus), even on the biggest of kites. I suspect that Leon was just looking for reassurance from other Blade flyers more than anything else... Leon, one thing to remember - put the kite on the ground and get someone to hold the handles. Pinch the 2 sets of lines together (power+power, brake+brake) and measure the lines to ensure the power lines are the same length, and the brake lines also. There are many diagrams online of how adjusting the brake lines alters the responsiveness of the kite. You will find that (apart from the setting that you are most comfortable with) the best setting is where the brake lines "drag" (will look loose) when the kite flies through the air, but applying a LITTLE bit of brake to one or the other handle will turn the kite. You should not have to move your arms much at all, just your wrists to alter the angle of the handles, to turn the kite. If the brake lines are too tight, as you found, the kite will be difficult to launch. If the brake lines are too loose, you won't be able to fully apply the brakes unless you let go (with kite killers of course). You can make as many knots along the brake leader lines as you like - just mirror them on both sides and make sure the brake lines stay the same length overall. You'll 'feel' if something's wrong. Just make sure you've got killers on in case you get into trouble while playing with brake line length

And for all the newbies out there... THIS is why you: 1)Don't launch in the power window 2)Don't try and fly a kite in a wind that's too strong 3)Wear your kite killers The flip at the end had me in stitches for ages...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1WbC9eJwMc

Good to hear

Two things... Firstly, Ped, thanks matey - I was struggling to identify the name of the item - I searched for 'Spring Clips' and all the other names under the sun that I could think of - those clips I have were from Wilkos and they're really flimsy - so I'll look at upgrading those ASAP! Secondly, Roors, you identified a 'worry' that I initially had with the close proximity of the frame to the rear windscreen - Although it would take an extremely hard bump to bring it into contact (I could not make it touch the screen, no matter how hard I pushed/leant on the buggy), I was looking at designing a simple joist for that purpose. It would also negate the need for the bungees, so yes - I'll do that I also need a simple 'pocket' or strap on (steady) to attach the spare reg-plate behind the buggy so I'm not breaking the law.

I said I'd post some pics - here we go... (yeah I know it's not pretty, but hey... it works )

It turned out to be blustery as hell. The gusts would have killed me on the Blade, but the lulls had me sitting there begging for more with the Flow... nearly 4 hours on the field and I managed a good couple of bursts of speed, some at around 20mph (I must remember to take my SatNav with me so I can measure how fast roughly). There was a guy called Stu down there too, doing some static jumping and scudding - I was laughing real hard, as he was just tobogganing on his ass some 20-30ft at a time on the damp grass, it looked hilarious (and good fun too, I'll bet). I think I need to buy a Flow 5m, as the 4m seems to struggle to get my fat ass moving...

It's looking like it's gonna be a cracking windy day today - got my buggy and gear in the car - will definitely be heading down to the Racecourse about 17:30. Looks like it might even be windy enough for a decent session on the Flow...

If you have a snow sled (or dustbin lid), you can try sitting on that whilst being pulled along by the kite as well - anything that reduces/removes the friction between you and the ground works - just make sure you've got a lot of room The only downside is that, as oppose to wheeled transport, there's no way to redirect the traction into 'sideways' movement (as you can with a buggy/board), so you'll probably find that you have a long walk at the end of every no-friction scudding session. I don't think it dampens the sheer fun though