Leaderboard

Blowing again here in Esperance with the approach of a cold front. Farmers are REALLY desperate for rain, as a lot have gone ahead and dry seeded crops, so fingers crossed. Pink Lake is in prime condition and really handy being only 2kms from the Chook house. (Black dot in small circle below Pink Lake Rd) Greg and I headed out for a short sharp 1 hr run this morning and the wind turned out to be really gusty from the north and very unsettled, blowing dust everywhere. I managed to tick over 6,000kms (6,016kms) covered by wind power (kite buggy and land yacht) so far this calendar year. So having a ball. Have to wait and see if rain stops play for a run tomorrow as well.

Budgie the little Spark has a 2 axis Gimbal so smoothing those spins will take a bit of practice, however for a drone of suck size, it really did well in the windy conditions down there. it was the first 'Real' outdoor fly for both drones. We tested the wind resistance, the range and the return to home features, Everything was amazing. Mezz did some 'active track' with the little spark where you can get the drone to follow you based on shape recognition and it works really really well. These little drone are amazing considering the low price. The view from above shallow inlet gave a whole new perspective of such an amazing place. I flew the mavic out from the sand bar right out over yanakie, some 3.5 k away twice on one battery. very stoked about the range. This is Budgie the little helicopter, And This is his new big brother Lionel, the Mavic Pro Platinum.

Looking forwards to catching up with of you all throughout the year Hoping you are all well? @.Joel @jhn.holgate @Chook @Tiger37 @OBEwan @The Duke @nigel @Kathleen @bakersdozen @Darren Tibbey @Jo Baker @Clive @roblukin @cris italy @Dingo @DrWind @bull31 @Jase Shepperd @Grants

I dreamt of Budgie last night - time for a fly somewhere @igeighty - I guess after you've finished making up the cases (Doug bought some Kaizen Foam, which pulls away in layers, so a quick trip to Bunnings last night for another case, he'll be spending this weekend designing and creating the foam inserts) I think we've found the perfect hobby for when the winds and tides (and temperatures) are not at their best. Thanks for your comments @SoutherlyBuster - I just couldn't get enough of that sunset, it was soooo pweedy! That fly was just a general "get to know your drone" I can't wait to capture some kite buggy action along the beach. Should be well practise come our Kingston trip. @igeighty Prepare to get buzzed!

My friend left three kites for me. I have no idea what brand they are. He only told me not sell it cheap. One I saw the bag says MOST EXCELLENT FLY MACHINE. Could anyone that knows kites here to help me identify the others? Thank you very much!

mez took her new toy to shallow inlet on Sunday..

The wobble is normal and nothing. What I'm talking about is the LE folding between the wing tip and first LE bridle point. Of course the foils are more powerful, they present more projected area to the wind for a given size. As I've said for a long time though, if you're happy to live with the foibles of foils, they're bloody great. Unfortunately, the time for me has come to move on so I'm clearing out the foils. I've sold the Sonics, so if you want Speed3 12, 15 DLX or 21 really stupidly cheap, then give me a PM.

A long weekend just finished here in WA, = 3 more days land sailing. Yesterday was pretty light wind (1 gusting to 3 knots), so spent a couple of hours peacefully cruising with my 9.5m2 sail on my International 5.6 mini yacht in a crab fart of wind.

Hey Mary. Nice to hear from you. Last buggy was about 3 weeks ago at Balnarring beach which was fun. Have been juggling between kitesurfing, foilboarding, mtb riding, sailboarding, motorbike riding and paragliding. Too little time for too many (mainly wind based) intetests. Would be out on the buggy this weekend but the wind just isn't cooperating. Looking forwards to catching up soon.

A short video from our meadow:

Needs to next to no wind 4 to 6 knots for the Dreamflight Weazel Trek.

Wonder why my left leg was a bit wobbly when I landed a bit hard last year. Think all that was holding it to my body was a bit of muscle and skin, as left hip still attached to leg instead of pelvis.

Enjoy flying a North Rebel? It may very well become a Duotone Rebel or TRUE Rebel for 2019 North Kiteboarding is now Duotone Sports ( https://www.duotonesports.com ). Dealers around the world are currently having their meetings, with the new product range being introduced to them. Watch this space

Almost sounds too good to be true, Doug. Michael

@Emily Morris, Do you still wish to sell this kite ? as I said before I am for you to get in contact and arrange details. I have sent you a private message that will be able to read, however you may need 5 posts here in this forum to reply ? if so, please reply here. even if it to let us know that it is sold

Not bad Mezz, no crashes and a safe landing is a good day. More practice on smooth rations and avoiding pointing into the sun. So when will the flips be done? Na just kiding. Nice weather for the filming. The surf looks absolute magic, brings back happy memories.

The black bag looks like it contains a Maestrale from HQ kites. These were produced in the late 1990s http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y143/uktotty/kites/DSC02237.jpg They are large by modern standards, designed for precision, (not tricks) best in light winds. They don't come up for sale very often these days, and even then don't usually fetch particularly high price - say, $150 -ish. The MEFM is a sought after kite. If @ieighty hadn't put his hand up for it, I would have jumped on it. As for the pink bag, what does the label say?

Nigel is now an official Kite Maker !!!!!!!!! One very successful Workshop.... and some amazing creations made Rocket still not finished....

Free to good home, PGY Tech 12.9 inch iPad sunshade for DJI controllers. https://www.pgy-tech.com/monitor-hood-for-12-9-inch-pad It is Brand new, it is just the wrong size for my iPad mini. So if you are a rich prick with a huge iPad and need to keep the sun and rain of it while you are spying on your neighbors, then this is perfect for you! Sing out and I’ll pop it in the post.

They look great. I like the one with the different coloured diamonds.

Works pretty well Probably more to do with the tire size than the board. But the suspension makes cruising over bumps and carving great. My biggest problem is it's too heavy to haul on the subway...

@bakersdozen and @plummet you guys would like Flexboardz. They're unfortunately not around anymore. They're spectacular for going fast and cruisey turns and very stable, but heavy and not the greatest for jumping. Even though they're pretty solid, I think the weight breaks them if you come down too hard. I think the only difference between the 3 models is the wheel size, the Haize being 9". I was thinking of putting the grannies on it, but no real need right now, the 9" tires work great. Chad (from PKF) has a bunch of old videos kiting with one: https://vimeo.com/37216443 or https://vimeo.com/35670612

Really nice video put together of some casual buggying at Les Hemmes...

I will padlle and. Sail down the loire end june.

Ask @andy666 how much power an 18mtr foil has in low wind. All we heard was "Holy shiiiittttt"..........as he headed towards the surf with my kite!!!!!!

Good to hear from you Mez. Certainly look forward to catching up may be at Speed Week at Sandy Point later in the year. All good here but getting colder so will be in the caravan heading north for a few weeks soon!

LAND!! i can't even take off.

that is one massive shout out Hope you all are doing well. I have been working LONG days, Harassing traffic and ripping up peoples roads. Up before the sun and home after it sets for months now. and on the weekends I sleep too much. I have Budgie the little helicopter to keep me busy these days if I can get it off Mezz for a fly I hear @bakersdozen has one too ? @roblukin has a bigger one, @bull31 too, and Joel has a few. should be plenty of film at Kingston this year

The old bloke seems to be getting out in the buggy quite often!

I'll be lurking round Mez!

You too Mary. You always cheer me up with your banter. Roll on Kingston.

@rednblackmatuka mentioned his boat....

Thanks Andy. Just had another quick breakfast session before knuckling down to weld up a broken trailer drawbar. The muppet the owner lent it to, jack knifed it reversing back forgetting he had it on the back. Lucky we haven't had the fires like over in Albany 500 kms to our west with all the high winds.

As Eppo would say, too on/off and disconnected feel between front and rear lines. And simply couldn't handle my weight -- buckled all the time when loaded up for jumps etc. Might have been the setup or my technique though, I might be able to ride around it now... Hated the valve, too I do miss the Infinity bar's unspinning though...goddamn single-front safety no swivel fashion victims ruining bars for the rest of us

Just updating this thread as I got a call to explain my mods. My mods done to the tops of all my Peter Lynn handles to convert them to the "xxtreme kite handle" method to attach the one piece of heavy dyneema as leaders/strop combination. This system certainly minimizes wear, as all the leader movement to the handles is achieved through a simple knot and not wearing as it exits through a plastic grommet. I have never had to replaced them since converting them. They do take a bit of fiddling first up to get right, but when a strop length is achieved I copied the system onto all my other handles. Note; Measurements in thousandths of an inch (as that is what my lathe is calibrated in.)

I thought i was going to see a 360 deg gopro mounted to a poodle on a beach..... But alas it reminds me of the time i went to the zoo to see only a small dog in a cage. It was a Shih tzu.

Fanging it....

No just standard which is blue.

Here's a quick video I pulled together from IBX 2018 earlier this month on the Ivanpah Dry Lake Bed on the border of CA and NV in the Southwestern USA. Great time, great people, and a great event!!! This video ended up becoming a bit of a Born-Kite love fest because I only had helmet cam footage and I was only flying Born kites this year. Hope you enjoy it!

Yep, look into hiring a van and travel with the buggy. Let us know when you head over as we have riders from WA, along the south coast to Victoria, then up the east coast, so plenty of guys who will show you the best spots and will become life long friends.

@nigel did a great job all weekend... in more ways than one!

8 people voted and we have a joint winner:- (Sorry for the quality of the photos, I had to capture some of my videos) 2 votes for the 18 m Ozone Chrono 1 (Owned by @Chook) 2 votes for the Vented Frielein (Owned by @Chook) 1 vote for the 6.5m Vapor (Owned by @igeighty) 1 vote for the 9m Flysurfer Peak 1(Owned by @Tiger37) (Thank you for the photo) 1 for the Box Kite (Hand made and owned by @igeighty) 1 for the Purple/Teal/Black/White MEFM (Owned by @igeighty)

I usually carry a smaller foil in my cars, either my 1.5M or 2.5M HQ alpha. (I would also like to get a small-medium single skin kite to also carry with me.) I hope for high wind days after work and hope that nothing else comes up so I can get out and fly for a little bit. I am wondering how many of us carry a kites randomly in our cars, just in case? If you do, what style, brand or size do you carry. Do you carry stunt kites, foils, single skins, lei's? How often are you able to take advantage of this? Eric

I think that spells.... E X C E L L E N T F O O T A G E

Okay, a little delayed but here's the video: And by the way, about a week later now and my bruises are just about gone.

Some video footage of our new stomping ground in New Zealand

Second day I can test the big 10" wheels. On soft sand with harness and Nasa 7m. It's a bit difficult but I think I can do much better with more practice. On concrete and grass with hard sand. Here the wheels are amazing. Completely absorb uneven ground and you can overpass stones and holes much easily than standard 8" wheels.

Whoaaa Check out the cells on that!!