From our last session, we were so pumped that we decided to go and try wind as strong as 30 knots (15,4 m/s). So far we have avoided mostly winds stronger than 22knots (11,3 m/s) because of our insecurity and lack of small kites.
Our arsenal consists of 9m2 and 12m2 kites. Obviously these are too much for this kind of wind, therefore we decided to loan some from our friends. Triin was able to try Slingshot RPM 7m2 and Anne-Mai got to try out Gaastra Toxic 7m2.
This time our location for kiting was one of our favorite home spots – Laulasmaa. Off the topic, Laulasmaa in direct translation means “singing ground”. It is believed that this place got its name from singing sands, not sure if it is true or not but beautiful story anyway.
Laulasmaa is located in northern Estonia, ca 30 km from city boarder. The beach is accessible from Kloogranna tee and with few minutes walk through pine forest and beach meadow, you will be greeted by white “singing” sands. Laulasmaa is the spot to be with west winds. Due to its distance from city it isn’t so crowded as i.e. Kakumägi in the city, therefore lots of room to practice new things! This is one of the reasons why we are so fond of this place.
Both of our chosen kites were bit unusual for us due to their movement speed and we needed some time to adjust to loaned gear. From our previous experiences with new and loaned kites, we took it step by step before trying the things that we learned last time. Just to get a good feeling and avoid stupid mistakes which can cause lots of trouble if you’re too cocky. As agreed with Kristiin, we decided to practice on our own for next few times and go see her when we are ready to try out something new.
So on water it was tricky on that day. The wind gusts made it hard to practice because we constantly had to adjust the range of depower during a session. So far we have not trimmed our kites through knots on the back line pigtails of the kite. Typically you can find 3 settings on: low (end knot), medium (middle knot) and high (top knot). It can vary depending on the kite brand. These knots can help you to adjust the kite exactly for the day. The basic idea is to adjust the angle of the kite related to the wind to control the amount of wind impacting the kites surface. Anyways in theory it all makes sense and we have tried out few times but we have not got hang of it yet. Sometimes you cannot feel the difference and the other times (when it is very gusty) we just have not had the courage to mess around with kite. This is something that we most surely have to learn to have the best experience on water.
Despite the constant game of depowering/powering we were able to remind some of the things from our last session with Kristiin. Luckily with dominant leg we haven’t forgotten riding in toeside nor turning from heelside to toeside and vice versa but the other way around … well, lets say beautiful faceplants were back in business. Small waves didn’t help either in this case 🙂 After 1,5 hour session we were so tired and decided to call it a day. While we sat on the beach and watched others surf, Martti (member of the Laulasmaa Surfclub and also one of the few people who has kited from EE to FIN and back, trip lasted around 6,5h) confronted us why so short session on water? We didn’t have any good answer, just smiled and admitted our physical condition is not so good as before having babies, but it is work in progress! Although kiting isn’t physically tiring and you don’t need to have large muscles, it’s rather the constant wind, sea and sun which wear you out.
After packing our stuff and walking to our cars we were happy about surfing again. It is funny but when you are a surfer, you keep finding yourself after sessions in zen mode. Not much talking, just chilling and smiling. The true feeling of a satisfaction 🙂
You must be logged in to post a comment.