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The Geoff

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Everything posted by The Geoff

  1. The Geoff
    Common sense is the only real protection. Try to find out about the person you're buying from, if they're genuine there should be at least some public presence you can check out, like a Facebook account or something - if they send you one set up in the last week, or one where they're bragging about ripping people off...well...you know. I bought a van from someone on here on the basis of a few photos and what they told me - they had a low post count but were quite happy to give me the name of a kiteshop where people knew them and could vouch for them being a decent person. Made spending a few thousand pounds slightly less scary. Basically, use the Force. Try to find stuff out about the seller, and if they make you feel a bit twitchy run a mile.
  2. The Geoff

    Reviews

    The Geoff replied to stig31's topic in Kite Surfing

    What do you mean by "issues"? Could be something as simple as your review including "So I went out at Scunthorpe and...." and a swear filter is picking up on four letters in the middle...
  3. The Geoff
    Yeah, the maritime salvage laws did pop into my head, but even then people can charge a "reasonable" fee for their time recovering and storing things, which could easily add up to the cost of buying it back, even if it was covered. Reporting it lost in the first place is a good idea, and you should absolutely report it as lost to the coastguard so they don't waste time searching for a non-existent "lost kitesurfer" when somebody spots it bobbing about. Sounds like the law is probably on the side of the guy who found/has it, unless you can make things awkward for him with regard to not handing it to the police as lost property. Frankly, I think in this case you're going to have to take the hit and see if you can get it back reasonably cheaply. I'm one of the "no leash" brigade, but it does make sense to have something you can clip the board to if you end up having to do a deep-water-packdown.
  4. The Geoff
    I didn't have a bad back, then I crashed badly on land wearing an old Naish seat/waist. I pulled every single paravertebral, the muscles that "lace" your spine together, from my coccyx to the bottom of my shoulder blades. I'm absolutely convinced the huge amount of support stopped me breaking my back. Still on that old harness, it's about 10 years old now and needs replacing. I like the look/features of the Nitrous, but does anyone know of anything similar that comes up the back a bit further?
  5. The Geoff

    new kites

    The Geoff replied to skimmer's topic in Kite Surfing

    The Taina, yes, very much so. The Arawak is a little squarer on the tips, bridle is slightly different, and it's far more at the C-like end of the scale. (That's the 2012 models I'm basing it on, but if Paul fancies sending me one of the new 12m Taina's I'll be more than happy to do a back-to-back comparison )
  6. The Geoff
    It's really just a personal preference thing. I like them fairly close together, so less movement of my feet gives more rotation of the board, but you need more strength to do it. A wider stance means you have more leverage on the board, but have to make bigger movements. Kind of like the big throw / low bar pressure and short throw / high bar pressure tradeoff.
  7. The Geoff
    If you want something even sillier, the Clydesdale bank once charged me £30 for having "a non-profitable account". I don't use a credit card, I very rarely go overdrawn, I don't borrow money - basically, they were charging me for not doing anything they could charge me for. I asked for written confirmation for the reason behind the charge so I could "send it to the newspapers" and they refunded the charge - then tried it again six months later, so I closed the account.
  8. The Geoff
    It's a knot used in climbing, you make a couple of loops, tie them to the rope, stick one round your foot and clip the other to your harness. They lock under load and slide on the rope when they're not, so you can climb up a rope with them. Brora's probably right about it slipping, they don't need to be hugely strong, they only need to hold your bodyweight - if it's a bit slippy it might not be ideal for a clamcleat though. @brora - tried phoning the chandlers in Inverness? They use clamcleats for all sorts of things. Just try not to buy ALL the toys when you're in there
  9. The Geoff
    I presume the 9m will have "12m" printed on it, because otherwise it's just a small kite, when girls actually need a smaller kite which seems to be identical to whatever the bloke's version is? Honestly, I don't get it. Other than a marketing exercise, what's the difference between a "girl's kite" and a "slightly shorter and lighter bloke's kite"? Flexi did a "Punk" colour scheme a while back, hot pink and black, I remember it being just as popular with the guys as with the girls, and the "Rasta" wasn't marketed exclusively at Jamaicans.
  10. The Geoff
    I got a review copy of the kitesurfing guide and the related wave riding book from the publisher when I was working in the bookshop - last I saw of them they were being passed around members on here, somebody should still have them if anyone wants a look. http://forum.kitecrowd.com/newcomers-q/kitecrowd-library-201062.html
  11. The Geoff
    Does this mean those kites are popular or that people don't like them and sell them on a lot? Lies, damned lies and statistics
  12. The Geoff
    Sorry, being a geek again. Just thinking about the whole biomechanics thing and trying to visualise a few moves. I think I might use the bar to rotate myself in flight a little, as in push it sideways against the depower line and you rotate through your "normal" vertical axis - eg you twist around inside your harness. I wear a seat harness, but I'm guessing you can use it to a greater effect in a waist harness (as in toeside). I can't actually work out if I'm doing that though
  13. The Geoff
    1: If you actually mean "on your own" as in nobody else around then you're right to be nervous about it. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone, I've done it myself on account of there being no kitesurfers round here when I first moved up, but I was exceedingly careful, stuck well within my comfort zone and tried to make sure there was somebody on the beach keeping half an eye on me. Kitesurfing's not a good solo sport, you're many times safer with other people. What happens if you crash and bust a knee or dislocate a shoulder? 2: Did they teach you the hand signals? The "I could do with a hand landing" (and launching) signal is patting yourself on the head. Kitesurfers are generally a pretty friendly bunch and usually willing to help out.
  14. The Geoff
    There's possibly one around 20m (2mins in) - remember that 30m is higher than the kite is when it's directly overhead. It's easy to jump that high, just go out stupidly powered up on a small board and really wang the kite back. Doing it safely, however, that takes experience. It's not about getting up there, it's about getting back down again.
  15. The Geoff
    Well worth having a look at the Starkites Taina, lovely all-rounder which is particularly good for waves, there's usually a couple of demo models doing the rounds if you want to test fly it. The 12m is the sweetspot as far as I'm concerned, 14-30mph on a 136 TT for me, I'm about 10.5st. (Disclaimer: I'm a Starkites team rider these days, but that's because I like the kit!)
  16. The Geoff
    Proper swell is driven by the pressure systems rather than the wind, so that's what you want to look out for - if the weather charts are showing a big low offshore then this tries to lift the water, and as it sloshes back down again it sends the swell rippling out to create the waves.
  17. The Geoff
    That makes a little more sense. What's the actual course? I'm not familiar with EPQs.
  18. The Geoff
    Yeah, I'm struggling to see what kind of graphs you're aiming to get out of that?
  19. The Geoff
    Yeah, anything will work but some are better than others. Foils are generally preferred because they're lighter to lug around in a rucksack and pumping an LEI up on soft snow is a nightmare, but you can use anything in theory.
  20. The Geoff
    It's copyright infringement, not theft Out of interest, did the entire kite deflate or was it just LE? If the whole thing deflated, how did the DWP go?
  21. The Geoff
    It's called resistance training. Like sprinting with a parachute attached, but in reverse.
  22. The Geoff
    Your phone isn't powerful enough to do decent voice recognition, so it records the audio, uploads it, a big computer does the voice recognition and then sends the text version back to your phone. So yes, it'll eat through your data. Like people said, either connect to WiFi, use a free data bundle or just type instead of speaking.
  23. The Geoff
    Our local beach was stripped back to the stones a few months ago, took a few weeks to recover, but it's pretty steep compared to something of that size.
  24. The Geoff
    this irritates me Trips ? when you go kitesurfing do you phone a taxi get someone to pack your gear ,tell you where to go ,some to hold your hand ? difference between a standard holiday abroad and kitesurfing holiday ,is ????? sports luggage simple and if there are two or three of you , you can three boards and loads of kit in one coffin bag and kites in standard luggage
  25. The Geoff
    Ha! Not very practical, but makes a nice change from stacking Phantoms
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