Wind Drought Almost Over... finally
 

Looks like the worst wind drought in FL history ( Thanks to La Nina ) might soon be over.... yippee!

maybe a little wind sunday early monday followed by quite a bit of wind headed our way next wednesday then again alot more the following weekend.

Keep your fingers crossed

It blew today, Raul. :D
This has been the worst since about 2002, if my memory is right.
It'd be nice to get back on track.

5 of us hit up Dunedin today. It was blowing a steady 18 knots with gusts into the 20's. We all didn't think it would be that strong or last for any decent time....so we rigged a size larger 12-14M. After an hour or so I personally started to get blown off the water. That has happened in awhile for me. Wish I was on a 10M...but fun nonetheless. What a gorgeous day out there.

Got to take out the Ozone Edge 13M for a bit. Very different from anything I have flown.....absolutely zero bar pressure. The kite is tuggin on the harness....but no tug in the hands. It took a bit getting use to but very fun especially when the winds got light. In 8-10 knots and the SS Glide it was serious cruizin!!!! Kept finding myself oversheeting at times and impressed with the little physical effort it took to ride. Very cool. Scott...I can see why you like your 11M Ozone....that has got to be fun when the winds get juicy. Got to try a few jumps in the gusts and could tell the kite has some potential for some great hang time.

Also got to try the new Revolver from Cabrinha. 9M and the Glide. It was a game of limbo with the wind. Ground speed was hovering around 10mph and was still cruising upwind while gently working the kite. Craig gave it a go at 200lbs and he was cruising as well. My guess was the wind up top was around 15mph or so. Interesting part about the kite is that it has the fewest pulleys I have seen from Cabrinha in recent years. This is a wave dedicated kite with superfast speed and the beefiest construction Cab has designed. We knicknamed it the flea....again took some time getting use to. Would like to check it out is some solid wind.

Today was one of those jewels that surprise us and what makes kiting fun....the unknown. Makes up for all the skunks.

Hope the weekend continues to be productive....if today was an indicator of what is to come....we'll I won't speak too soon. It is Florida.....

Ditto Steve-O

Donna's dad saw you guys out there, I believe.
That's cool you got to try that Edge.
I heard it was good, but different.
Did you feel overpowered at all? I heard it has great top end.
The original Instinct is pretty grunty, I sort of liked that at the time.
Now though, I am favoring less grunty feel. I am getting older and my legs can't edge hard for 3 hours straight. It's all rider preference at some point.
I heard the Edge is less grunty and really nice. Turns pretty fast (?) Is that true?

I got to demo a new kite today as well. It was a Flysurfer (can't remember the specific make) foil kite. It wasn't as fast (to turn) as many LEI's, but it had really good power and screamed upwind. It even unhooked nicely. I actually got ripped out of my board the first time I unhooked on it (about 13-15 knots). It caught me off guard with it's power. It was really stable. My old JoJo foil was the definition of unstable :(

I think it is pretty much always windier on SSE to SSW up in Dunedin, that's why I wish it wasn't such a long drive.
I always want to go on S wind directions, but then the thought of the drive kills me, especially when EB is about 8 minutes away.

I have said this before...it is kinda nice not being too close to any one particular spot...north or south county is about 30 minutes or so. I like being in the middle.

As far as the power of the kite....it is very powerful. Craig "Whitey" might be able to comment better about the high end as he spent the majority of the day on the kite when the winds were gettin it. I spent my time with it on the very low end of its range which for a 13M felt like a 15M. It was incredible smooth through the turns and crusing as well.....no effort. It felt like being in a car with all the power options. Would like to spend some more time on it but for now the best way I can describe this kite is it is very different from anything I have flown. Nice safety system and very clean bar.

west 25kts on thursday

Steve, I really gotta try out dat cabrinha revolver, sounds great!