Had a couple of goes on the Thruster 8m, post cyclone Helen - gusty winds and rain.

Enough has been said about the "hurricaine" tough build quality of the Eclipse kites.

Went out Sunday morning, was raining a bit, had the whole beach to myself except for a couple of walkers. Would have taken out a bigger kite but did not want to risk losing control as I was alone and the winds were onshore. (and I am still a relative Newb)

Self launching was a piece of cake - I had enough room and had no one else to worry about - the sand is pretty good except a few shells. Used the method demonstrated on the Eclipse website.

Tried to get my 80 kilos up on my 130cm board through the chop, got up a few times but only for a short time - lack of ability and lack of wind.

Was able to water relaunch no worries, pulled on one of the middle lines and up it went.

Kite seemed very stable and moved quickly on the "slow" turtle setting.

Attempted a self landing but was unable to do this neatly, ended up flagging the kite onto one of the "o ****" rings, I was happy that the lines did not mess up much. I need some practice on the self landing I admit.

It was raining reasonably hard and the seas were churned up because of the past cyclone I think so it was hard for me to judge the wind speed.

Went home and checked out the BOM website and to my surprise the wind was in the low teens.

I can't wait til I can try this kite in higher winds or with my bigger board and with cross shore winds.

After a session last Friday at Altona, wind probably around 22-24kts.
(I'll have to try and check the BOM site for archives of wind readings)

My 95kg and 125cm board required the 8m Thruster to be given a couple of power strokes to get planing. once speed attained the session was lots of fun.

So at 80kg perhaps look at 20kts as a start point for your 8m.

Sburlo, FYI.
the Thruster8m in 22-24kts at Altona, sort of gives you an idea of how it flys.
kiteforum.com/viewforum.php?f=200/component/option,com_videos/task,show/id,2149/Itemid,30/

Thanks Ral Inn I have downloaded and watched it a few times - I note the power strokes to pick up speed and the narrow grip that I know I should be using.

Are they coming to perth?

Select to expand quote

poor relative said...

Are they coming to perth?

Does perth get wind over 22kts?

On a daily basis..

Its not a question of when its how much?

Select to expand quote

poor relative said...

On a daily basis..

Its not a question of when its how much?

kites will be there between 11am and 1pm Thursday. have fun

Had a great fun session today after work on the Thruster 16m. - first time used.

A few guys were out just off Nightcliff - I decided to go outside the surf club so as not to get in anbodys way - also not too sure about the rocks there.

First thing I noticed was that the kite was huge compared to the 8m .
I got puffed out just pumpin it up - man I am unfit.

Self launch was easy as pie, again I had the area to myself except for a bloke walking his 2 dogs - had the whole stretch of beach to walk but still walked close enough to be in the way.

The winds were in the low teens I think gusting to the mid to high teens. The kite is really stable in my opinion. As a newb I have always had trouble with worrying about the kite whilst putting my feet into the foot straps - I am extremely happy that I did not have to worry about what the kite was doing whereas on my old c kite and bow kite I would have to pay close attention and even then I would often lose control.

I was able to get up riding, upwind at times - I still need to practice to achieve this consistently. On my old c kite I use to get going but got too quick and lose control. (Although I did use use a square 2, a big floaty board).

So today a combination of a 130cm board for better edging and the use of pushing out the bar I was able to maintain control.

I did practice a water relaunch and found this easy also today.

Jumping - I wish. I'll let some of the more experienced guys have a go and see what they think next time I'm out if others are around.

I was able to self land this time using the method shown on the website.

This kite is certainly beginner friendly and I hope this year I can progress to the point where I can do its high performance abilities justice.

Great work, if you can go upwind then it's time to jump.

Look for a little wave and just before you hit the face, move kite up.
then as you crest the wave face, bounce on your back foot then tuck that back foot under ya bum.
then pull on front of bar to bring kite down and point board to kite for landing.

the 16m thruster just revels in these little ollies. the 14 and 16 both seem to have something that lets you get great pop from these type of ollies. The 8m does as well but with more speed, plus it sends down a vibe that says "Loop me". I'm sure it's the devil talking[}:)].

Thanks for the tip Ral Inn. It will be awhile still, as need to practise just riding and turning without faliing into the water. I'll refer back to those points soon I hope.
Just need to spend more time on the water this year.