Stumpy

Slingshot - good kites. Fuel is Pokey too. my x3's (8,12 and 16) are great (fast and very lifty) if you have the right wind but if it drops 5 knots you are stuffed. And definitely not a beginner kite. UK is cold, but we have some really good spots. The beach i taught on was about 4k long, with a fairly regular 2-4 foot swell to play in. We are having some access problems in various areas but they are being fought down to th wire. Councils are scared of insurance claims because you do get the idiots who don't know what they are doing or think they know best. I used to carry a hook knife and if it looked like someone was in danger of getting us banned then goodbye lineset (and if you are really good you can do it out in the water as well!) at 120 quid a go they think twice about doing that more than once.... Only needed that twice though, usually the rest of the local crowd sorted them out before that was needed. Wouldn't mind a bit of kiting in Cali though, if i make it to Perris in April and the wind is up.....?? Never try to eat more than you can lift

You put your privates in a bag and hang them out the window?! You guys are kinky! Never try to eat more than you can lift

Jeez - how big is your kite!? My record - 10 mins from car fully dressed to riding my 12m x3 in a winter suit I was in a serious hurry however!! Never try to eat more than you can lift

Nah - its not hard, but GET LESSONS!! (i charge a reasonable rate ) Too many people at the moment can go out and buy a kite, and there is none of the regulation that there is in skydiving - you can buy the equivalent of a VX with no questions asked, and it does have the potential to damage you badly. I used to teach a 3 day course, and wind permitting by the third day i had 90% of my students up and riding in both directions. (Incidentally windsurfers are the hardest to teach because a lot of things you do in windsurfing are bad habits when kitesurfing and need to be unlearnt!) Top tip - buy a reasonable traction kite, learn about the wind window, where the edge of the window is and where the powerband is. 90% of kitesurfing is flying the kite. If you can do that right the board will pretty much take care of itself.... Oh - and if you can wakeboard AND fly a kite then better still! Never try to eat more than you can lift

Got your traditional bottle of JD next to your computer whilst editing?? I bet thats the problem.... Never try to eat more than you can lift

I have hit about 30 foot - the trick is to keep the kite above you to slow the descent, but still start diving it so that you have some power when you land so that you go straight back on the plane. 50 foot is easily possible if you have the skill, talent and big brass clanking ones Kitesurfing is a serious rush but despite teaching for 2 years i don't do much any more - can ya guess why? Oh and there are 2 control lines which is essentially the same as a canopy, but these types of kite don't need as many suspension lines because the inflatable skeleton they have maintains the structure of the kite itself. you can change the angle of attack (and hence the power) by moving the control bar in and out. People do still kitesurf on traction kites, very comparable to a parachute. Iwan - you should try kitesurfing - much easier to get half decent at than windsurfing. (but can hurt just as much!) Never try to eat more than you can lift

13 daze is one of the newest and has some seriously cool stuff on, including the scariest bit of footage you will see of someone getting boosted above a beach in some sort of thermal/dust devil type thing, just keeps going up... I have seen 13 daze, space monkeys, unhooked, strung out, zero 3, small craft warning and flow, and of those i like 13 daze for cutting edge kiteloop handle pass type stuff, and unhooked for really fast wake stykle power moves, bit more retro but its one of my favs. all of those are pretty good though. Never try to eat more than you can lift

I know what you mean - i was the same but the paramedic had a quiet word with me when he turned up after i had done 30 mins of CPR - the chap had had a heart bypass or something equally serious a couple of months earlier, and was on a walking holiday in th Hunter Valley in Oz . Basically, like you said, he told me there was no way a whole hospital was getting this guy back, let alone little ol me. Still an experience i could have done without though... Never try to eat more than you can lift

Try doing CPR on a guy and watching him die Been there. Not fun. Especially with his wife right behind you screaming while you are doing it Never try to eat more than you can lift

No. Thats half the problem..... really wish i was now. Have fun if you are going up (and check out the new picture on the canteen wall ) Never try to eat more than you can lift

Aha - cheers mike. I'm not v. sharp this morning [edited to add:] or ever in fact... Never try to eat more than you can lift

Hey Amazon - good to meet you (admittedly only whilst drinking!) at Eloy! Didn't understand a word of your post - what does that mean? (and you are up early/late!!!???) Never try to eat more than you can lift

Anyone else have a sh***y day yesterday? Or was it just me..... Never try to eat more than you can lift

I teach kitesurfing and know the IKO IE for kite snowboarding. Its really good fun and VERY fast if you get good

HA HA HA HA HA You got lorna'd!!! Oh lloyd is not going to live that one down!!!! Never try to eat more than you can lift

Someone once said to me that helicopters don't really fly, they are just constantly in a state of controlled crash Never try to eat more than you can lift

Have to disagree with zep here, i think the Honda VTEC is one of the best engines in the world. It will go all day at low revs and be relaxing to drive but bang it into the higher rev range and put a smile on your face. One of my teammates has an S2000 - its a fantastic car. Oh and i did here that out of all the VTECs built (ie loads) there have been virtually NO warranty claims. Very reliable motor. Never try to eat more than you can lift

et voila Never try to eat more than you can lift

- like the attachment! Never try to eat more than you can lift

Actually - I'm with JohnRich on this one (except for the violent crime blah blah blah comment - but then i think JR likes doing that to rile people up ) The story in question is totally ridiculous (and yes it is recent) and the police have been roundly slated for it all by pretty much everyone. A plane, various cars etc etc, to extract a £60 fine!? How much was the operating costs of all that resource?! But it gets better - the police excuse was "the plane happened to be in the area, so the added cost to its normal routine was about £60" Yeah right and i'm Mother Teresa. What about the court time, and more importantly the time they could have been spending catching real criminals. (On the same day there was a story in MCN i think about someone who saw something being stolen from a neighbours house - flashlights in upstairs windows etc - called the fuzz and they took 40 minutes to get there, by which time the theives had long since scarpered WTF ) Never try to eat more than you can lift

So by the end of 170 jumps you are good enough a camera flyer to be a professional videographer? Didn't realise it was that easy. Never try to eat more than you can lift

Fraser Island and the Whitsundays are great advice, Byron is nice - personally i liked some of the less crowded places. Was watching the sun come up at a place called Nambucca heads and a pod of dolphins swam past about 30 yards out - and when i waded into the water they all swam round me

So they selling well then?? Depends how you look at it i guess!! Never try to eat more than you can lift

From memory at the eloy boogie: No you don't need to get it before you go Yu get a temporary membership valid for a month(assuming you are just visiting?) It costs $15. but it might have been $25 Although that was for UK jumpers - Australian licenses may vary for this. Never try to eat more than you can lift

Thanks - i had already been enlightened actually Wasn't there a curry sauce by sharwoods recently that had a name that translated literally into whichever language it was as "Shit"? Mmm come and have some shit curry And you can't forget the vauxhall Nova which went down really well in Spain.... "Doesn't go" Never try to eat more than you can lift