I headed out for another session at South Milton to build my hydro skills further. The conditions were spot on for a big kite adventure, and the forecast looked solid until the evening, so I thought it was time to cover some distance.

I followed the path above in an anti clockwise direction. With a straight south westerly wind, initially I tracked up to Burgh Island. I was maybe riding at half my upwind capability to achieve this and got some serious speed on, with a couple of tumbles over the first mile or so whilst I got my eye in. I was pretty surprised at how fast I got there and how little fatigue there was on my legs. Now I have the balance more sorted, it’s a question of looking at where you want to head to and relaxing.

The main goal of this session was to sort my switch riding out downwind, which I had struggled with a bit. What better way than to ride 5km downwind on one tack to Bolt tail. I might pop my phone in a waterproof case next time GPS track the affair. Downwind riding is definitely better at speed, as then the foil gives you a more stability. Maintaining a very neutral body position and a kite that doesn’t mind running downwind is massively helpful. I am very glad I kept hold of my mono strut kite.

For this little journey, I was on the Solo mast (30″) Time to increase the mast size back to the full size one.

It occurred to me on this longer and way more controlled session, that the most comparable feeling (I am getting asked about how it feels quite a lot) is riding deep powder on a snowboard.