Went out this aftenoon. Turns out it was gusting about 45 knts.
When i went down to the beach my 7m was kicking like crazy - i was fighting to keep it under control.
Self launched and landed all good, but not out for long- overpowered for my skill-level, also because the beach was so dodgy- previous storms had ripped away the beach so there was only about 4m beach before 3m high step-up to the dunes/bushes/fences.
I knew the amount my 7m was kciking around before i went out was more than seabreeze's 25-35knts- my inverted kite was almost lifting me, walking it down to the beach.
What are your indicators that its too much for your kite/skill/whatever??
First of all it was gusty, wind ranges of more than 10 knots make kites fly badly. A 7m kite has a wind range and you were out of it. Check your kite on the website and you should have been on a 5m. Self landing is dodgy and it those winds always release to one line and kill your kite. A wet kite is not an issue, self landing in high winds is, whatever your skill level.
Your explanation of 45 knots and bugger all launch land room is about my limit.
Also whether theres other kiters out makes a difference too. I'll definatly brave a more extreme session with a few blokes out.
I've flagged away 1 potentially epic session this year. 40+ knots, cross off, monster surf, deserted beach 50km from town, nigel no mates, boulder, rocks and cliff downwind of the surf impact zone. It spell out death if a kitemare happened. I walked away from that one.
I only have an 11 and a 9 because generally conditions in my area are 15-25. But then you get three or four big hits a year and you can tell straight away that it's crazy- the palms are bent at 45 degrese and my balls aint big enough for that. The local crew seem to go out for about ten minutes then come back in. Not quality IMO
hey Plummet
no one else out anywhere, but that doesn't necessarily mean anything here, although i had earlier seen one lone guy dragging into shore and dropping kite at more sthrn beach.
it's more the indicators you'd look at yourself- this was an almost directly onshore angle which i didn't like, but because the websites were saying 25-30 knts i was thinking i was OK. But when i fronted, i had to seriously lean into the wind and my inverted kite was kickin around almost lifting me as i walked it to the beach.
i figured i'd give it a go, with no drama about bailing from self-launch onwards, if overpowered. Self-launch all good, first run brought me into beach where i had to do walk of shame- kite kickin around pretty solid, when i had to drop to knees twice to prevent lofting, that was it. I walked inverted kite back up beach and it kept kicking like crazy.
Indicators for me are if inverted kite is kicking around and almost lofting you - then it's definitely borderline, particularly if you have any other dodgy elements- shyte launch site etc
If i'm finding it hard to stand its a good indication its borderline ,windmeter is a good indicator,not just for peak wind but more for gust varience,theres a big diff riding in 20 gusting 40+ to 30 gusting 40+ and how fast the gusts are hitting is a good indicator explosive or gradual,there hasen't been many days i've flagged it but there's been a few where iv'e wondered if it was worth it,although theres been way more iffy ones that have turned out to be awesome sessions.
Comes down to knowing your own limits and surviving to fly another day.
When you write about it mate
Edit ; not being arrogant(sounds like it i know) but i dont get the whole extreme high wind thing, is dangerous and what for ??
Just to say it was 45knts yesterday and i escaped !!!
10 months ago last summer. First attempt to complete a downwinder from City beach to Scabs.
Used a 12m RRD thinking that I'd be fine given it was rather windy. 28-30knots. Should have known better, but I was too keen. Warning bells should have been going off when I moved the kite from 11 to 12 and launched 30m down wind on the sand.
Managed to kite surf 100m off the coast before things came undone... Couldn't slow down, FAR%! in an effort to stop- i sent the kite to 12,(stupid idea).Got messed up then was sent skidding on my back for a time completing spin after spin,
Couldn't find my board.
In an effort to body drag for my board, the kite kept launching me out of the water, sending me down wind and making my ribs feel like they where getting crushed.
Moral of the story is that it's too windy when your not playing with your level of expirence. Think smart and have a great time!
when your worried and only the sailboards are out
go the safety always as we all know you can only depower so much
my stomach always lets me know when it is too windy for me....Then my anus lets go.
You sound like a good candidate to contribute to higher insurance costs next year.
. Buy yourself a good wind meter.
There's an excellent instrument available to make these decisions, it's called a 'gut-o-meter'.
We've all got one, and they are normally calibrated by the owner participating in a number of generally stupid, and/or near death experiences, probably not dissimilar to the 45 knot adventure you've just had. With a couple more similar experiences under your belt, your 'gut-o-meter' will be well calibrated and ready for use.
Rock on. 
ok what indicators to tell me theres too much wind?
well my facethometer works to about 35 knots. After that i can tell the difference between 35 and 45.
Basically i use the beaufort scale. I long ago stopped using a wind meter.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaufort_scale
I also check the forecast, live weather stations and rain radar I pretty much know before I hit the beach whether its on or not.
My rule of tbumb when checking the live whether readings is go out if its 25-40 with squalls hitting 44 max. If its over that I don't have a small enough kite!
Hey Gibbo. My most memorable sessions have been in howling screaming wind. They truely are EPIC. I now hunker for a 30+ knot storm session.
but its all about your comfort zone. if your ****ting your pants at 30 knots then don't go out in 40!
whats the point of having insurance if not for days like that?
. Buy yourself a good wind meter.
It's not the going out in that sort of wind it's how you go about it and with what size kite that matters.
. Buy yourself a good wind meter.
^^^ go jas73 the bigger the wind no such thing as too much hell they even make a 3 meter that has got to be good for at least 50 kns . i have been in 40 kns with a 4 meter and had a blast how ever i did think about it first (safety weres i will be if it stuffs up) and the old puckker factor said go for it i am glad i did megger fun and the speed of the kite was just a blast .
So the answer is if you are experenced enough go for it keep in mind the safety and what could happen . The only way to find your limit is do a quick calculation and grab the right kite size and get out learn your max wind there are epic sesions out there you just got to do it .
If it takes 6 car tyres to hold your kite down, it's too windy.
prefer to old school it, rather than get a windmeter.... and are they reliable?...
this may be stupid, but can the force of say a 20 knt wind vary? like with waves - a 3ft wave with 3sec wave period has very different grunt to a 3ft with 15sec period. Is this the same with wind- does air pressure or anything give the wind different grunt. Seems i've been out in 20knt-ish wind and sometimes it just has more grunt - or maybe its just a cleaner less gusty wind.
Think a wind meter could be more reliable than yr gut.
Windmeter is def the way to go for reading gusts and speed of gusts ,you can have a 20-30+ knot day with gradual gust and a 20-30+ knot day with explosive gusts,on a gradual day i can easily hold a 10m on a gusty day (explosive 2-3 sec gust) then a 8 can be a handfull, but the wind meter will give a real good indication of what to go out on,cheap investment.
thanks teabaggin, anyone got a link to the New Scientist article?
Might look into windmeter. I've come at kiting from surfing so know f*ck all about judging wind and that's what was interesting the other day. THe white-capping didn't look more than 30knts-ish but the wind felt a lot stronger than what Seabreeze was saying. After i came in, Seabreeze showed it had kicked 40-45knt gusts while i was out.
Fair call, kiteboy dave, if that vid is solid 45knts- its nuts. It was only gusting to that were i was, but yeah, it was serious, i had to dig my knees into the sand to stop getting lofted. Second time that happened was enough, time to ditch the kite. for the rest, if you can't self-launch/land in sketchy conditions you should be out... and whether you beleive me... you weren't there, so i don't care... he,he,he
anyway, i wasn't so interested in a "what's too much wind?" topic, as "what tells you from experience that it's too much for your kite etc" - from this one, if i walk to the beach and my inverted kite starts to lift me, then i'm overpowered
Watching those kites flapping in the wind makes my sphincter go tight just thinking about it catching some wind and powering up.
True. It does come down to experience. I am still asking questions when it's up over 25knts on what size i would be best on etc and i normally get that info from guys who are kiting with me. I know it's good to have seabreeze graphs and live readings to look at but you need to look at what others are out on and ask questions if it's heavy for your own saftey. At least then you can make solid wind into an awesome session.
i use several wind meters. One is the amount of sand blowing down the beach.
trouble is it varies depending on the beach (sand grain size) and on the conditions (if the sands wet or not). Still get used to looking at it every session and it will give you a bit of a guide. Sand at my local is extremely fine, starts moving around at about 15 knots or so, is streaming down the beach at 20 and stings your legs at 25 knots. 30 and i'm in the car with the doors and windows closed.
i'd say in your 40 odd knots you'd have been feeling it! maybe that's the guide you were looking for
then you can look at white caps - though they also can be miselading, depending on time of day (sun angle), wind direction, amount of cloudcover etc. but still it helps, just keep taking note at your local what they looks like in different conditions. as the guys said, experience is everything.
also I don't know what you mean by having the kite inverted, if my kite was inverted in 40 odd knots while i was standing on the beach i'd be pretty concerned - did you mean depowered?
