Andy Mac

Alan, Sorry to miss you ot Ocean Grove - hard to catch me on the phone when there's a southerly wind and low tide happening. Got a buggy AND a kitesurf in today and went up and introduced myself to some Austrian guy with a Blade III thinking it might have been you.... See you in Kingston! Hey Joel - can we update our smileys? It's too warm for Santa hats now.....

Joel et al, Craig and I will be out surfing in the morning at Ocean Grove main - conditions looking better for us Friday at Point Henry is looking better on the forecast but hopefully we get a seabreeze for Thursday arvo. It strengthened in the arvo at Ocean Grove today but stayed in the east - better luck tomorrow hopefully! Cheers, Andy Mac

You can almost picture black tyre scuff marks on those nice creamy tiles after the Christmas morning test phase.....

Hey! If I go over can I sleep on its couch? Just for a night or two...

I think I'm insulted...

Mick - Craig and I will be road tripping the Kombi and trailer over. Look forward to seeing you guys there - do we need to book a site at the CP? Will email Craig (At work in NZ) and try and send t-shirt sizes through (I'm XL - he's probably L ) Look forward to doing some more video footage on the claypans - have to add in some buggy jumping stuff if we can this time.... Others travelling from Vic - there may be a bigfoot session during the week prior down at Bridgewater, border side of Portland on the coast. It's the scene for the Portland dune buggy club (Somewhere down there we think) and could be a wicked time with the fat tyres on... will post news closer to the trip. Cheers, Andy Mac

Backrest looks good! Bent PL giga axle? I've even got had them in two different sizes (Current small one doesn't get a lot of use so still intact).... Just provides a nice camber and lower center of gravity for racing.

Good write up Joel - wish I was there too. Good to hear the Michael and his trusty Blades came along - and John is the ever reliable timekeeper/race marshall. Worryingly (I may have just made that word up) the image that remains after the full read though was of you and Gav sharing a nice romantic dinner for two after a tough day at the beach. Hope you didn't ply him with red wine too 8)

Mate, car and food troubles aside, was good to have you down and to have someone to cruise the beach with. Well, ok, cruise mightn't be the correct description for the Wednesday - that was fair dinkum WILD, and dropping the Razor over the dune in the gust that came through with the front was the low point for me (Although the upside was that I got to stand stationary with my back to the hail as it came through ) As a lead up for the things to come in summer as the sea breezes come in though it was pretty good. And the one person not affected by dodgy Indian? Me! They're all soft..... McDonald's is more dangerous unless you stick to eating the packaging

Welcome to Oz (In advance)! Phil and Annie run the kite factory in Adelaide if you want another alternative. Great people, lots of experience, will have anything you need or know someone who can get it, including kitesurfing lessons and latest gear. They help run the yearly Adelaide International Kite Festival. Contact details and info on the site below! http://www.kitefactory.com.au/

Got some time to kill? Check this Kiwis websites out. A Star Wars movie made from scratch, a slot car onboard camera, a homemade jet engine!! http://www.asciimation.co.nz/

what out for those overpasses though, and the crosswind on the EJ Whitten bridge can be tricky...

I had a 6.5m for a while and loved it. They were the weapon of choice in the buggy racing in Vic when they first arrived (Probably because they got in first and the arrival of the Ozones and the likes of the Libres was a little slower). Pull like a train, great in the buggy, not as advanced in the window as the sleeker Razors but you can still upwind turn reasonably comfortably. Across the wind there isn't much in it between them and the newer, sleeker buggy race kites and they operate better at the low end of their wind range (Razors need to be at the high end). They do take a little more flying ability than the likes of the Blade and can be prone to the old bowtie. Learn to feel for it though and as you gain experience it will be a rarity as a bit of pressure on the brakes prevents it. Once experienced it's only in dodgy gusty conditions that it'll be a potential issue (In which case it's not that much fun flying anyway). Good quality kite - if it's a bargain, buy it.

Don't think it'll be a stock item somehow. Not exactly a large market call for them after all..... You might have to get creative - the best ones I've seen were from the Adelaide crew who got the blocks made with the engraved plate on the front and then added their own little feather made from kite materials. You could consider something similar with a picture on it perhaps?

Kingston - open claypans, miles of hard flat beach (Where we discovered that those fair dinkum land yachts REALLY move - not the toy puffcart things ), good steady wind (Or we've just been lucky in past years), top area for land or surf kiting , good caravan park camping facilities and great atmosphere (Always a fun mildly competitive atmosphere when Victorians and South Aussies get together ) - highly recommended!! (Local servo does great lobster + salad rolls too).

You'll have to come down to OG again .Joel and we'll do a swap for the experience - you can try jumping with the Razors (The smaller the scarier :shock: ). I'd love to try it with something like the big Blade - the 6.5m would be great (6.8m Razor current weapon of choice for the task). You're getting some good height!! VERY nice work...

Someone say "pub"? I'll be there....

Gee Nigel, borrowed kite, stock PL buggy, no seat belt, and I still overtook your Libre with whatever size that Phantom was you were flying. Didn't pike at all by those standards, just saving my best efforts (And energy given Sunday's hungover condition) for the beach

Go the combination sport aspect and get out there with a kitesurfing rig and a trolling line off the back of the board Go out further for those BIG fish with the pointy teeth...

well there you go! Saved us a job....

Mate, that is excellent. I've got an ex-Salvos couch (Nowhere near as flash as the set up on the video - although with a throw rug maybe we could dress it up some) set up as a trailer that has been up and down Ocean Grove main beach in the summer. Comes complete with umbrella holders on each end, and we've had up to three people on it being towed behind the buggy Look like a bunch of idiots getting down there but it was funny.....

Is that like 'quote unquote'? Or you don't want to brag cos it was only a 2m kite? You'll always go faster with smaller kites in high wind than big kites in similarly overpowered conditions. Add some more weight to your buggy (If you strap in only) and you can fly in even HIGHER winds with that 2.5m kite. Scary but very entertaining My fastest recorded speed (76kph) was flying an old Skytiger and using a standard copy of a land lizard buggy with sand filled 180mm plumbers pipe strapped to the sides! Still waiting for the day I get out onto an open area to see what the Razors will really do. Hard to do better than that going across or just off the wind on even a relatively wide stretch of beach....

Hope Craig has fun on his own - I'm away for work for a couple of weeks...

I used to think I knew how to fly a kite, using Skytigers (Similar to old Blades). Then I started flying Razors. Same with anything high performance I reckon - they take a bit more skill to keep in the air, and most of the race foils will leave the arc for dead. Justin used to do well and keep pretty close to us cross wind with his big arc (Flying MASSIVELY overpowered on occasion. That he could still buggy forwards rather than sideways amazed me) but upwind performance of the race kites is considerably better. True, they don't like gusty conditions and are harder to keep in the air at times but the benefits outweigh the downside for go fast junkies. My fastest recorded run is still with the old 2.2m Skytiger so really looking forward to having a true crack at it with the performance gear one of these days.

i use a car seatbelt arrangement - clasp on either side allows release with either hand if you finish upside down, but (As with most buggy seatbelt arrangements) there is no quick release on the belt. I then have the kite attached to my harness with a swivel and a pin shackle that does release, but probably not under full load. It's all a bit agricultural though and not ideal from a safety POV.