Last saturday I popped in at Suntrax to see when the new Naish kites were arriving. (I wasnt planning on buying a new kite till Sept/Oct/Nov)

So the Naish Helix’s were in. DAMNIT. So I had to buy one. Naish Helix 2008 12m2.

I managed to get out on langebaan lagoon on sunday in the north wester and there was just enough wind. I mean it was gusting up to a reasonable level, so the rest of the time was a bit trying.

I find the kite great, far more responsive than my Naish 2006 12m2 Boxer. Its not that easy to relaunch in the ultra light wind, no 5th line (thats what I am used to!) The line and bridle did drag in the water a little, but I think this will improve dramatically with decent wind. The kite turns over nicely on relaunch with the new leading edge shaping.

Otherwise I think the kite is awesome! It flies brilliantly, turns are quick and it is very responsive, massive depower, low bar pressure. It also handles gusts really well. My girlfriend who hasnt flown a kite until about 1 month ago even flew it for about 30mins and loved it. (What was I thinking!!!) But it was all good, no damage, no tears (although I must admit my heart was in my throat a few times!

So, I gotta see how it will perform in the South Easters! I am also gonna check the Torch 08’s out, whilst chatting to Brian @ Suntrax he did mention that most of the pros are using the Torch’s and not the new sigma series yet.

I will try post some new photos when I get out into some decent wind, its still a bit light in Cape Town at the moment.

The wind is PUMPING today. I used Greg’s new (2nd hand) 2006 10m2 Naish Torch (thanks Greg) and he was on his 8m2.

Progress:
I can go upwind now!!!!! This is major progress. It was my backfoot that I wasnt using correctly. I needed to extend my front leg fully and put more pressure on my back heel. This slowed me down when going ridiculously fast and I was feeling the kite and board much better.

Weather Report:
24knots SSE. 18 was predicted – Windguru is giving me a headache! 19deg. Directly onshore. Bluebottles by the million. I got stung like hell on my hands, feet and ankles several times and it hurt for about 2 hours after I got out the water.

So I am trying to organise a 10m2 kite for myself now.. The hunt is on. The debate is what kite to get. I really enjoyed the 10m2 Torch – a C type kite. My main kite is a Naish 12m2 bow kite. So looking at the Torch 2006 kite – I just cant bring myself to pay the new 2007 prices! Also checking out the BestKites, North, Cabrinah.

So i managed to get to the beach just after 6 today.

But… There was only about 10knots of wind – we had hoped it would pickup.

Greg and I flew. Only 1 other person was flying. But there wasnt enough wind to get going. So we abandoned and decided to come back tomorrow.

Weather:
10knots SSE (14 predicted)

Headed up to my holiday house on Langebaan Lagoon on friday. Wind predictions were 16-18knots.

But it was North West and very gusty on saturday and it was raining a bit. It then started pouring and the wind died.

But I got a good session in for about an hour. Greg managed to lose his board! So we spent a while trying to look for it on the other side of the lagoon (about 4km away) but there was no chance of finding it unfortunately. (He has now discovered the value of a board leash)

I appear to be improving, but my upwind skills are not great yet and I am still struggling with it. Greg then did a detour to Suntrax on his way home on sunday and purchased a second hand Naish Torch 10m2. (But still no board!)

Well…. So i left work at 5:20pm and motored to Sunrise beach..

I start setting up and pumping up my kite. And I look over to my car and realise i forgot my board…..

Whats more depressing is that the wind was good!

We managed to sneak off from work at 16:30 and go to Muizenberg after fighting the traffic. Collected my kite from Second Wind at 2pm – they did an excellent job. They are so busy they were not accepting any more kites when I got there on friday.

Unfortunately the official 2 videographers have taken up kiteing again and were otherwise busy respectively. So no pics! (the official videographer will return next week, however, having been released from duty for once!)

Weather Report:
Wind 13-14knots WSW (i think) Cross-onshore – slightly onshore. Perfect!
Sea temp was 20.5degC.

It was excellent although wind was a bit light for me.

Well, I am getting a bit better at it now. But the wind wasnt strong enough to really get going nicely.

And just for good measure – I woke up at 6am and took some photos of the sunrise – it was awesome.

Finally, Matt sent me some of the Video! This is me, yes, i can actually go!

Yeah, its quite shallow!!!

Greg losing his kite!

We finally managed to get to Langebaan at around 2:30pm. (It’s definitely a male thing, not being able to arrive anywhere on time) After buying more kit… I also had to buy a second skin because it looks like someone is trying to strangle me with the rash on my neck. Greg had to get a new wetsuit and Matt a new board. Its not a case of ‘I want’ anymore. Its migrated to an ‘I need’ situation!

Weather Report:
Wind: 22knots at 3pm. South. A little gusty but really good wind. Cross onshore. 24degC.
Kite: 12m2 Naish Boxer – overpowered – needed 9m2

The Pics: First one is from left to right, Myself (Mark), Matt, Greg

Teaching Matt or rather Matt flying the kite and I am going for a drag:

This is me starting – up first time!

This is me starting – up again!

Well, after all that. I only got to Kite for 30mins. Because i managed to rip the kite to shreds. I hit the water after a wipeout and it split next to one of the struts – about a 1m split. So its off to 2nd Wind to get it sorted out this week before my next weekend.

We went kiteing again on saturday to Muizenberg – wind was excellent. Around 16-18knots. Never seen such good wind there! Unfortunately i came short a few times with the onshore wind! Pics coming shortly.

Masses of entertainment was provided to the crowd on the beach, who ran up and down after all the kites, even following Greg’s into the car park! This is not a sport for the weak hearted!

Weather Report:
Wind: 18knots at 2pm. SouthEaster. REALLY good wind. Straight Onshore.
Kite: 12m2 Naish Boxer – good power

I managed to break myself severely on the beach a few times. I have a great bruise on my left leg. More photos are available at a price…

Bruise update: it looks more horendous than ever! – I managed to mangle myself on Saturday on my board when crashing onto the beach. Ripped my wetsuit as well. Seems i was providing the entertainment for the people on the beach.

Pic from Saturday:

Pic from Sunday evenin: