Sunday, February 24, 2008

Peter Lynn Synergy 15 Session 2/24/08

Yesterday I had my first properly powered session on my new Synergy. The pre-frontal wind was blow from low teens to upper twenties on the outside, but more like 4-25 on the beach in the straight sideshore angle and a 40 foot bluff behind my launch at Santa Maria in Santa Cruz . . . shifting 45 degrees suddenly, dropping out, rotors causing updrafts and major over-flies, your basic launch nightmare.

Somehow got it filled, launched, and to the water. I don't think any kite I've owned in the past would have had a chance, and needless to say I was all alone on the water. Once actually riding and out of the beach wind mess the kite handled the shifty/gusty winds like a champ. 12 to 28 in 2 seconds? Well, even on an Arc that gives you a bit of a yank, but with the long-throw and some edging it was totally doable.

I had a fun 1 hour session mostly focused on trying to work my way directly upwind about a mile to Pleasure Point break and navigating 8 foot wind swell mixed with maybe 3 foot long period. In 20 minutes I covered 3/4 of the distance, but then the wind mellowed and the sky looked extremely weird . . . not trusting the wind near the beach or the weather in general, I stayed away from the (anyway very sloppy) break and used my downwind space to carve some turns and launch some floaters.

So my best session yet, but still just testing the limits of the kite rather than the limits of my riding. So far the kite is winning this race :-). Later this week three days of NPH 15-25kt wind and 10 foot swell is forecast, so maybe I can FINALLY write a proper review of some wave sailing.

BTW, today was one of the craziest scenes I've ever seen on the Santa Cruz beaches. Breakers were pushing 30 feet plus and breaking up to nearly a mile offshore . . . mixed with every period, size, and from S to NW directions to create what looked like a boiling cauldron of an ocean . . . huge surges of whitewater dropped multi-ton redwood sections and big boulders onto East Cliff Drive where it bridges each of the lagoons East and West of my house. One of these is the spot where I launched yesterday. The beach stretches 150 yards from the road to the water--not enough to hold the ocean back. Wow!

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