KiteJan

Saturday

And so it was in mid November I found myself heading over the pennine hills to Ainsdale beach in Lancashire to meet up with some fellow fliers in order to "get some learning in". Obviously doing anything outdoors in November is somewhat risky - but in the days leading up to the weekend it looked like we were actually going to get some nice weather. However on the Friday before the weather forecast showed bands of heavy rain and strong winds moving over the UK - one band on Saturday and another on Sunday. Oh dear, I thought, forecasts are often wrong lets see what happens. So during the journey on Saturday  I got rain  around Manchester (as usual), followed by beautiful sunshine over Wigan, followed by very heavy overcast clouds over the beach - with the promise of lots more. Hmmm. The plus point was that the wind was blowing - definitely a vented kite day. 

Anyway at about 11:00am I parked up and, rather nervously, walked across to the other Rev fliers who were in the middle of a team exercise. I stood and watched  and was rather impressed. The expert, a very nice Stephen Hoath, left the team practicing and came over to check me and my flying skills out out - and got me straight away in the team trying some simple moves. Wow - this was great! My first time flying in anything approaching a team - lots to take in and to pay attention to (trying to follow the commands from the leader was especially difficult). This was also the first time flying on long lines (120ft / 40m) so the kites looked a long, long way away. However I managed and really enjoyed the experience. 

Over the course of Saturday we tried various things with the others - launching to half way up the window, getting the kites into a ball and moving out to the edges and back in again, rotating, etc. Steve, Bri and David were already flying as part of a Revolution team (The Revelations) in the North West, and so were familiar with the moves necessary. I found I has having to learn quickly (and pay attention and not day dream/get distracted). I also found strange problems with 'clockwise' and 'anti-clockwise' - for example forgetting which was which. 

Over the day the wind really picked up (Bri thought somewhere around 30mph) which meant it was hard work flying precision on  a standard Vented Revolution. So Stephen  brought out some super-super vented sails - where instead of having mesh panels  various small/medium/large holes had been cut in the sail. I had a go with a couple of these kites (one had lots and lots of small holes, another had few medium holes, and the last had few very large circles - in fact more hole than fabric). And they flew fantastically - fully controllable, very comfortable, etc. Possibly my next kite making project since I had been thinking about a super vented Revolution.

There was a nice mix of people and abilities and Stephen spent quality time with each of us making sure we were getting the most from the time and giving valuable pointers to how to fly better. A special mention has to be made for Fazer and his epic voyage down from Glasgow to join us for the day. And I thought I had it bad going from Sheffield! 

At the end of the day as the wind was slackening off and night was falling I got out the night flying Revolution sail (or 'stealth' Rev as it has been nicknamed) to try out some new LEDs I had been playing with (a string of 50 white LEDs). Even though it wasn't fully dark it looked good and I only stopped when one of the bridle knots gave way and locked the kite into a spin of death resulting in some interesting tangled lines.

And so it was time to pack up and go on our way for the night, which for me was staying over with my Dad in Blackpool (which, as a discovered, is a lot further from Ainsdale than it appears).

Sunday

During the night the promised band of rain arrived and it rained and rained. The day itself dawned looking rather damp and if anything even more cold that the Saturday.  I arrived at a desolate Ainsdale beach at 9:30 and got myself setup, this time taking advantage of the offer of a decent line set (note to self: must buy better long lines) - and what a difference did it make! The kite was much more responsive. I could even do axels and flic flacs, something I had failed to do the previous day.

There were less of us around on the Sunday - and it was pretty much straight into team flying - trying to understand a pass through (where the kites fly from the outer edge to the other outer edge missing each other). During the 'understanding' phase there were a few collisions and tangles but still good fun. Eventually we understood the concept and it started looking good. At this point Dave was the leader and had us getting into a ball, doing a couple of slow bursts and then doing the pass though - then repeating it several times. Once we landed for a well deserved rest we all got a round of applause from some people on the beach who had obviously been watching. A nice moment.

Over the course of the day Stephen and his wife, Susan, got us doing more complex things - such as a team of six with some things done all together, and some done as two groups of three. Together Stephen and Susan got us doing a fairly complex routine that had the beginnings of being really good. I certainly found some of the flying extremely challenging, particually reverse flying in a circle. Definitely a move  I need to practice by myself. One of the fliers, Clare, was doing a fantastic job of learning the fine control at the same time as coping with the team flying. Even when things went wrong it was good fun working it out and trying it again. Of course we did get some tangles with the lines - nothing more fun than trying to untangle lines...........

Stephen spent some time  going through Revolution flic-flacs and axels,  which was a help - and gave some good pointers for future practice.

All too soon the light began to fade and so it was time to pack up the kites, say our thanks and goodbyes and head to our respective homes.

During the journey back the second forecast band of rain arrived and to make life even more exciting it decided to fall as snow over the pennines just as I was traveling over  them. Neither me or my car copes well with snow. But I arrived back safe and sound, but very happy and tired. An excellent weekend. Just need to find  few Revolution fliers from around Sheffield to start some team flying. Any takers?

Highlights

• Finding out that my fears that I had learnt loads of bad techniques (I'm mainly self taught) were unfounded and I could hold my own.
• Doing loads of team flying for the first time and loving it.
• Meeting a bunch of great people.
• Getting a round of applause (I could get used to that).
• And having a full weekend of nothing but Revolution flying.