Page 3 of 4

Re: Seriously Strong Wind On The Way?

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 8:30 pm
by exuma kitesurfing

Re: Seriously Strong Wind On The Way?

Posted: Fri Oct 26, 2012 10:04 pm
by Bille
I Like the 35-40mph stuff
But
I checked the 3-day for Mohave at 9:45am today and it was 37 Gust 45,
and the current forecast is for 24 Gust to 50 .
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph ... it=0&lg=en

Not what i would call Fun , when the Gust's are more than double the steady winds !!!
I'll work on my T-rex 450 today ...

I had two days of Perfect (SSE - 30+) on Sun & Monday this week ; you'd "Think" i'd be content
with That ?
NAH --- i Want/Need MORE !!!!

Bille

Re: Seriously Strong Wind On The Way?

Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2012 3:18 am
by RickI
Good luck with the cleanup in Jamaica and everywhere else Sandy messes things up ashore. It is interesting the wind went from not much to hurricane force with little buildup. There are lots of variations in weather out there.

With the eastward shift of Hurricane Sandy away from Florida, I was able to get out for two fast hour or less sessions yesterday with the diminished wind and squall activity at the time. One before work and one after. There were no squalls when I launched in either case. One did show up in the afternoon, a nasty looking one that sent me in to secure early, see photo below.

Image

While I was tearing things down I was astonished to see two kiters LAUNCH just ahead of the approaching shelf cloud squall that had sent me into shore. They were about four hundred feet north out of earshot, not that they would likely listen if I told them to come in. One with two years experience with none in high wind asked me before I launched if he should go out, no squalls then, to which I said no. He took the advice to heart and decided not to go out, at the time. Seas were head high to over three times head high outside with a ripping longshore current with winds averaging about 27 kts and gusting higher.

Apparently his friend who had been kiting for five years talked him into going out anyway. They promptly drifted about a 1/4 mile south and stayed inside the break in large measure. The shelf cloud came overland and within five minutes the wind spiked into the upper 40 kt range, three times over about five minutes. Blasting wet sand, seaweed and foam all over the place. They both released their kites entirely eventually. One when his kite looked like it was about to invert upwind and starting spinning of a rock ledge on the beach and the other grew tired of being teabagged further offshore I would guess. Both made it to shore eventually and intact fortunately. Turns out a condo resident called the EMTs anyway, they showed up as I was walking back with one of the riders. They were lucky, lots of other kiters were far less fortunate in similar and even lighter conditions over the years.

If you can't use common sense, be lucky, trouble is luck doesn't last forever. Best to use your head from the start, launching into a squall is just plain dumb. If it looks black or threatening, don't go out but secure well until it passes. In a mass of clouds the squall may be a darker mass perhaps with a distinctive shape. The wind doesn't always come before or even during its passage over, sometimes it follows the cloud so have a care.

FKA, Inc.

transcribed by:
Rick Iossi

Re: Seriously Strong Wind On The Way?

Posted: Sat Oct 27, 2012 3:27 pm
by SupaEZ
My wife and i "came in at the right time" thursday late afternoon..to put down our kites..my Rebel 8 and her Rebel 6M

We were both on our strapped North Kontacts 5'9"x16 7/8 ..in 25-30 knots..Jetty Park..overhead clean wave sets

At 5:30pm the "HUGE" Disney cruise ship "Mickey mouse" as i call it...was heading out to sea from port Canvaveral

As we witnessed that... we stayed on the outside a bit more to stay away from the wind turbulence it creates downwind

"Suddenly" as the ship got to about a mile out it "totally disappeared in a solid white out mist"..like a pirate ship in fog!!!!

We both knew at that moment..that something potentially dangerous was minutes from hitting us..we signaled each other

By the time we rushed back to the beach...and put kites down...only 30 seconds passed and Kaboooom!!!!!

The wind hit 40 knots++ with white out rain stinging sideways...+ a rogue wave (maybe ship) created a 6 inches sheet ...

...of watersurge that slid our kites all the way in to the dunes..... a distance of 50 ft++

Safety first...and communication with my better half...saved the day....staying out of arms way !! "In doubt= Abort"

This was one of the best waveriding session ever...and jumps..side-on to side-side-on wind...no drift..very little whitewater

Of course as a tradition returning home..we did a drive-tru for some well deserved Supa large fries at McDonalds :thumb:

Re: Seriously Strong Wind On The Way?

Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2012 3:00 am
by Dimitri M
These pictures are from today while testing the RENEGADE 7 and REEF 6'0" surf board during Hurricane Sandy here on the Outer Banks NC.

P.S Who needs the INFINITY kite......

Re: Seriously Strong Wind On The Way?

Posted: Sun Oct 28, 2012 4:24 am
by Bille
Dimitri M wrote:These pictures are from today while testing the RENEGADE 7 and REEF 6'0" surf board during Hurricane Sandy here on the Outer Banks NC.

...
DANG Dimitri ;
That looks Intense !!

This one here looks like Ya ignited a jato bottle, & powered out just before
ya almost get spanked ; and make it----- HA ! That's Great !!!

Bille

From now on ---- when people ask me what Kite Boarding is :
" I'll show them this picture". :D

Re: Seriously Strong Wind On The Way?

Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 3:31 am
by Dimitri M
These pictures were taken today Oct 28th from day 2 of HURRICANE SANDY here on the Outer Banks NC "USA" in (40 to 60 +++ mph) winds. Decided to try the JUNIOR PRO 4 but because of the strong gusts, decided to pump the TUTOR 2.5 m trainer kite.
After 40 minutes of fighting with the wind, sand and rain decided to abort testing the TUTOR in these conditions. I had such a hard time setting up the kite on the beach and could not even stay straight, plus my body was getting blasted by the sand like I never felt before. This was one of the smartest moves I ever did. Now I know what "Hell" feels like. So don't mess with mother nature and know your limits.
:angryfire:

Re: Seriously Strong Wind On The Way?

Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 2:18 pm
by SupaEZ
Good call to abort...i made similar call when we had that crazy nutty wild danger wind on friday

Times like that..reminds me that i could have been safe..in the river..(ocean here was nuts/no time to jibe)
...on my windsurf " Columbia gorge gear" from mid 90's

2.5M was the call allright...i had a Hot sail gridlock that small and a narrow 7 ft windsurf board back then

All in all last week was great !!!
I rode..on each day..almost...sunday 19..monday 12..tuesday 12..wednesday 10..thursday 8..friday "off"...
....saturday in river on 5M..sunday river 10M...all on strap surfboards...even in stinky river

I enjoy saying no to TT's :thumb:

Re: Seriously Strong Wind On The Way?

Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 2:46 pm
by Peter_Frank
What did the local "average wind" stations say at that time ?

(not that it should matter - because to "abort" is always the wise decision, instead of saying c'mon do it...)

Interesting what will happen now when Sandy is very close to the US coastline...

She has taken 60 lives in the Caribbean now - hopefully people are prepared for the worst now !

:wink: Peter

Re: Seriously Strong Wind On The Way?

Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 3:00 pm
by Dimitri M
The average winds were from 51 to 58 mph. The gusts were way above 60 mph. In few words I had no more balls left...
:cry: