schmik

Grant, yes i am going up this arvo. mike

Yeah.... stuck at work till 3pm. Forecast for Sat looks shocking.... except for a kitesurf in the late arvo. mike

I guess someone has to stay behind and man the keyboards. Gotta stick with what you do best i guess mike

I agree that most of them are a55holes but one day one of them may rescue you. Also, you have the whole bay too. You don't need to ride back and forth within 100m from shore. Go on a trip, spread out from the pack. Also, if some c0ck on a jetski cuts me off i will do my best to chase him down (as long as he doesn't hoon of into the distance) and hopefully not get accidently lofted straight into him fins first. He has to give right of way to sail power craft. mike

Dude.... if that laptop is like sex on your desk then quite clearly you are doing it wrong. DVI port on my OLD OLD G4 powerbook finally gave up. St won't connect to the LCD TV anymore as a 2nd monitor. One of these new ones would be nice. mike

Awsome vid...... I often get home from kiting and state "My ass hurts!" The wife always gives me a strange look. Does your ass hurt? mike

WOW!

Small boards in good wind are the best fun. There is no denying that but if a little underpowered a big board makes a huge difference and it is easier to switch a board than to rig a bigger kite. Maybe i just say that coz i love boards . If your into TTs then get two. A small and a large. Otherwise just get a mid sized board. Just keep in mind that it is not just size that matters. THese are generalisations but mostly true: more rocker = better chop handling but not good for upwind. wide tips = better chop handling but not good for upwind. flex = lots is great for chop and carving but kills a little bottom end. Depends on how you want to ride too. If you have tree trunk legs and don't mind edging hard then size up. If you love being super powered with the kite but not burning out your thighs then size down. Do you wan to cruise? oldschool? wakestyle? .......... this why i always end up with too many boards. They are so fun! and all so different. mike

I just did a reshuffle of kites and boards. I now have the below kites: flysurfer speed2 15m 8-18kn flysurfer psycho4 10m 18-25kn flysurfer psycho3 25kn + Those are the intended windranges that i will use them in. The range of the kites is greater than that. Eg, the P4 would work from 15 - 30. The boards i have are: UNderground flx 135 spleene zone malibu surfboard, 9foot 6. I could use a smaller board than the 135 but i only want to own 1 twinne so i chose something mid sized. The zone is 'da bomb'. See this thread for pics and review. http://www.extremekites.com.au/forums/showthread.php?t=5757 The malibu is something i need more practice on. I have friend who can ride his mal in 6-7knots with a FS speed2. As long as the kite flys he can ride and stay up wind. At 10kn he is screaming along! If it gets choppy the board is long enough not to bounce around like a shorter surfboard does.ie the board length is longer than the frequency of the chop. As soon as i get some better skills on it he and I will do some long distance kiting on the mals. If it goes tits up far from shore at least you can paddle home on a board that big with the kite rolled up. It's also sweet fun sailing it around in low winds and smooth smooth water. Here is a random longboard/kite vid

I'd like to see some weight taken off the wheels off a buggy. Lighter hubs and tyres would be great. These are the points furthest from your center of gravity so weight makes the most difference. I new axle is a great start though. Especially something with a bit of flex. They should call is the SS axle..... ahaha not for stainless stell but for Spine Saver! mike

Just thought i'd give an update on this board. I've had it for 8 months now and it has become my favorite board. I'll still leave a twintip on the shore so i can switch mid session but i like this board most. If i have been kiting alot and am 'match fit' i ride 3-4hrs on it as a directional, the rear leg does get tired after a while but not too bad. The TT is onshore to give my right leg a rest. I upgraded my TT to an 08 underground FLX. Then zone is still more fun. This board handles chop like no other board. And the best part is ZERO spray in your face. It is still challenge to ride toeside overpowered or in really gusty conditions but I rarley fall off now, maybe get pulled downwind a bit but that is all. For those conditions I set the front strap to neutral and switch feet. Jumping is excellent on this board. The technique is different to a twintip: you use less pop and more steering using the fins to tension the lines before take off. There is just not enough board behind your rear leg to be able to load it up like a TT. Spinning or tweaking a directional is unreal. BTW, this board is sooooo light. Lighter than most TT. The range is huge once you learn the board. The bottom is basically flat under your feet and all the rock is in the nose. This makes it early to plane (if you ride with a lot of weight on your front foot). It is also great for holding down power due to the short tail and thin rails. There is a 2009 model in the works that is supposed to be bigger and has a quad fin setup. I'd love to try one but just CAN'T be allowed to own any more boards mike

Congrats dude! BTW..... the internet is cool, you gotta get some of that action. I hear women show their boobies on that there internet thing. mike

oops... batch process © logo needs work. mike

more.........

I am stoked with how it turned out. Great riding and editing. The unstrapped looks sweet. THe big jumps over the cameraman turned out well and that no footer mike

Guys... smoke some weed and take the carbon neutral option. Just unpick the stitching and sew yourself a new one. Make some new lines from hemp (from the plants you grew to make the weed). Carve a new board with your bare hands from renewable forest wood. Seriously though, all this financial shit! For every loser there is a winner. Some c0ckhead is making money out of all of this somewhere. mike

Dude... you got it all wrong. She must like photography (to take pics of you kiting) or baking (so you come home after a hard sesh to a hot meal). Seesh, the youth of today. Or just a really loose one... she'll find something to do while you are out kiting. mike

I thought about the entire buggy off move. You need to find the centre of gravity of the buggy. ie between the front and rear. I guess this is somwhere on the side tubes. Is it possible to grab there? If so. Mark it with coloured tape or something. Have a look at landboard board off moves. The ones where they kick both legs out parralel to the ground. Maybe possible to grab the upwind side rail and then kick both legs out towards the kite. The bugg will swing down like you are doing a side winder. Pop your self back in and finish the side winder. Redirect and roll away smooth. Pump your fist and let out a big "C'MON".............. go for a beer. hahaha. Too easy! mike

Nice one. There is some nice sh1t there. I bet you have ALOT of editting to do. The standing start looks good! Jumping over the camera came out ok too. Need a higher frame rate to get the super slo mo. Got $1000 for camera? mike

I'd have to suggest a FLYsurfer as they can be used on water too and the performance is A1! but they are expensive. Checkout the HQ Neo. Prices are damn good and the kite can be used on water or land. Depends on what the winds are your local spot as to the size. As already said 8 - 12 is a good guide. 8 is probably too small and fast but if you live somewhere very windy then it is what you need. 10 or 12 would be sweet. http://www.briskites.com.au/index.php?l=product_detail&p=158 I've never flown a neo but i can assure you that on a 35degree summer day you won't want to landboard. You will want to go in the water and the neo/flysurfer/peter lynn will let you do that. mike

Too funny. "How can i face them on the beaches?" hahahaha

Check out this for some strapless tacking. The man has skills! Maybe i should be sick tomorrow and go and practise! Dailymotion - Kitesurf - No straps, a video from ma600. kitesurf, frejus, marseille, nostraps, nomad mike

For consistency and future proofing i vote for 'unstrapped'. Then there will be unstrapped 360, unstrapped footout............... Ahhh fcuk. So how do you differentiate between unstrapped air and unstrapped rolling 360. This is too hard. My only though on it is to save the name buggyhoff for a complete buggy off (if that is even possible). mike

Sheesh.... i don't remember giving XK permission to put a logo on MY images. And.... I don't think that is a buggy off. It is a very cool trick and although a small jump by Lukes standards it looks very hard to steer the kite and manipulate the buggy at the same time. I think it adds a whole new dimension to the possibilities of freestyle buggying. He now WILL need lighter buggies. IMO a buggoff would be both feet out of the pegs/straps too. Now that would be very very hard. Having said that I think that a term needs to be made to describe buggy jumping with no seet belt. Kinda like teh strapped/unstrapped kitesurfing thing. Anyway. Nice moves bro! Risky business.... hopefully you won't need to get the bugg surgically removed. mike

Wow... that screen grab looks good. What do you call that move? the "ass out"? BTW, i'm 90% decided on getting a fisheye.... FCUK i'm going to have to get even closer. I just know i'll get a buggy to the head sooner or later. mike