Post xmas ‘too much food’ kitesurf today under glorious skies and a decent wind …. tomorrow looks ballistic
Tag: troon
Weekend roundup
Well it was still windy – Saturday Storm Desmond Hit
‘their actions are unforgiveable’
And it was too strong for kiting … but Sunday the forecast looked much better. Packed the car picked up my pal and drove down to the coast.
It looked peachy but cold at 7degrees C. Gimped up in the wetsuit gloves boots and hood and hit the water with my 8m kite. Epic day with the squalls coming through and the strong gusts hitting (sometimes mid jump) meant everything was a bit unpredictable. Think I did some of my highest jumps ever – at one stage going so high that I rapidly ran out of water to land on – traveling a good 70foot before landing in about 1ft of water far too close to the beach … scary stuff and the stories that broken bones come from so a lucky escape. As i was coming down the mantra of stay smooth …. stay smooth was playing in my head.
What a good day.
Interesting when uploading the gps track to Strava – the Fenix has a barometric altitude sensor but if you look closely at the grey track you can see hard downspikes in the last 1/3rd – those are all wipeouts where i smacked the water and the sensor took a hit.
Finally I have less wind
After the extreme wind yesterday today looks a bit better and I can even see the sun
So off to do some of this
Hope you all mange your own form of worship this Sunday
Weekend round up
A strange weekend this as Autumn storms lashed the UK. I set out Saturday to go kitesurfing but the wind was quite incredible .
So saturday I had my new (old) Teak Danish dining table delivered and planned for the Sunday. Sunday was worse – I had the car packed with my gear and checked the beach station 47mph with a gust of 71mph …. Crazy weather and my smallest storm kite is not storm enough. So came inside unpacked and did 1hr on the turbo trainer then watched movies and ate chocolate listening to the rain hitting the windows (hard). The screen grab below from the airport – Behind terminal building so protected from true win in a westerly or north west wind
This morning – wind gone 180degrees and not a breath and also no rain so out for run …. 10km first of the month and slow.
Well at least it is better than nothing.
Friday the 13th – If I had known
the forecast was mental as tropical storm abigail came across the Atlantic and smashed into the UK …
Forecast
So decided I would kitesurf – took down my smallest kite the 6m Best Cabo (which feels bigger than 6m) and a twin tip board.
The wind was strong but what was worse was the gusts howling in …. I was on max depower of kite with rail buried and one time I was literally lifted sideways and plonked unceremoniously 20ft downwind (sideways) at force.
The jumping was good – even with a wave kite that doesn’t really shine in this area.
could only manage 40min before I was wasted – back to the west end for a quick steam at the club.
Yesterday was a beach
Wind was up and I finished my speaker demo at local store earlier so headed down to the beach … loads (LOADS) of people out – i counted 24 kites on sea which for troon is pretty high ….
photo by fraser – I am somewhere at back (top right) with dark blue kite …see the solo windsurfer lying down in the water.
Busy Day Nice Day
A day at the beach. Cooler than the Outer Banks last week and back in full wetsuit.
Was great – on smaller kite earlier with the twin tip lots of jumping and bankrolls on the water. Then some time on the surfboard before the wind dropped a bit so changed to bigger kite for more tricks and then again to the surfboard for wave playing.
Best of all get to eat lunch at the wee hurry on troon pier (best fish and chips)
Brrrr – why do i do this?
Just about to go out the door to kitesurf ….. think I am stupid sometimes.
Great day at the beach
Wind came through as predicted but high tide in the small window of opportunity I had today so sailed up the coast to prestwick then blasted back.
A grim day
years ago I went down to the beach and as i walked to check out the waves I started cracking the ice which was frozen on the beach …. today was pretty similar in that it was also a dismal failure. Drove to the coast on the strength of this forecast
It was sunny for 5 minutes and i walked down and snapped a tree which was washed in with the storms
And then those grey clouds on the left of the picture blew in in the 5min it took to get back to the car and this is what i got to see ….
But i stayed in the car for half an hour ate a sandwich then I came back to town – crappy …
Saturday kitesurfing
Great today but shaking off the remnants of a cold. A few litres of seawater generally good for clearing out the sinuses though.
All dressed with the board on back ready for tote to the car ….
For once more windsurfers than kitesurfers at the beach – most windsurfers 4.0m-4.7m and I was on my 6m kite. Pretty gusty. The nearest live recording sight is prestwick airport but quite low readings there 20 gusting 30
Still any day on the water is a great day. Jumps were so high today that hurt my feet landing hard As they got squished into the strap …..
Came in and landed by German kitesurfers who had been out earlier … ‘Goodness your jumps were huge’ she said – I nearly blushed….
Weather this weekend … ? Rain YUP, Cold YUP … who cares when there is wind enough for kitesurfing
Got to love the wild autumn/winter mad october that comes to Scotland every year.
that is a 3 star weekend …..
Great Day Stand Up Paddleboarding
Had a great day down at the beach today. I normally only ever go there if it is really windy and then i hardly ever see people there. Had the girls and the weather was hot (for Scotland) 25C and no wind so took them down to the beach with the SUP
Took the girls out and spotted a really big jellyfish (called a Barrel Jellyfish) about 75cm long 60cm across …. and about and then had a few jollies out by myself.
then a few jaunts launching off the stone into the sand
then fish and chips
and a selfie
Kitesurfing at troon
Was a good day but forgot to check forecast in last 48hours and the wind was peaking earlier than I thought.
Was a big danger that I had missed it
Was out on the 8m – my largest kite but was a but underpowered at times. Gust were decent though but nowhere near the 26 knots predicted.
Bumped into two old kite buddies I hadn’t seen for years and had a quick natter too ….. Jason said – ‘I’ve been married and divorced since I last saw you….’ Big kids
Now it is the flat routine – board and harness washed
Kitesurfing weather …. eventually.
Leaves on the trees outside starting to wave as opposed to shuffle made me check the latest forecast …
looks like 18 gusting 29 knots on Friday ….. Hoooray.
Cleanup – fantastic day on the water
2 hours on the water – think tonight might be an early one – off for a quick steam to ease the muscles
Wet, windy, cold weather – time to Kitesurf then
Should be good
Wind already 20knots …. Can’t wait
A day on the water
It doesn’t look windy but it was – well gusty windy blowing 18-35knots that is almost a doubling of wind speed. Nearby prestwick airport has a more sheltered and more stable reading 18-31.
I went out fully gimped out on my 6m kite – having the remnants of a cold which didn’t last long as a few litres of sea water flushed neti style through my nostrils …. Nice.
After an hour I was done in ….. February kiting sure makes you feel alive ….
Was using the New Cabrinha Tronic board (137cm twin tip) – only used it with the 6m kite so want to have some time with a 8m kite before I review it …. but it’s good
a warm,wild, wet and windy winter day
Whilst the rest of the country deals with flooding and storm damage (and I have sympathy for their plight) but we in Scotland make the most of the weather and so today was Kitesurfing day. Initial plan was too leave early and get a session in before the rain came in at 1pm but the funny thing is that when the wind is westerly the island of Arran off the coast seems to deflect the worst of the weather especially when it is howling.
Kites Best TS 8m and Best Cabo 6m – Got down later probably after 12 then rigged up. Firstly pumped up the 6m kite as it felt like a good 28-32 knots …. but then the wind lulled before i even left the grass so pumped up the 8m (now officially my big kite as i hate cruising on big kite days) and went down to the beach as the clouds passed sucking in even more wind in its tail … so ran back shoved the 8m in the car and out again on the 6m.
Wind was gusty but good 
you can see the stats here 18knots gusting 32 when I got on the water and then for the next hour was 17 gusting 28 …. 17 was a bit low for the 6m but in the gusts it was great.
I took the new board down it is a Cabrinha Tronic 137 and it is amazing in the choppy conditions and with the bigger fins (than my last board) it kites a lot flatter so the spray is a bit cleaner and not one eyeful of spray into your eyes …. i love it straight off and the H1 pads and straps are fantastic so comfy.
I tried a few little speed sections between the waves and the board felt fast – but only 21.7 knots max so i am sure the 8m will be quicker as the Cabo sits quite deep in the window (well it is a wave kite)
7m day
Looks great, was gustier than i thought – 18knots gusting 28+
Kite*Surf*Bike*Rambling 