Mystic Warrior 2013 safety upgrade

I´m a big fan of Mystic harnesses, during all these years kiting I´ve only owned warriors.

This summer I´ve purchased the lastest model, as the current was a bit wasted and it was paintful to ride without wetsuit.

Overall happy with the purchase, but I saw that the latest model lacked a feature that the old one had. 

I'm talking about the back rope release. In the older version you have a front handle to release your leash in case its releasing system failed (which can happen) and the good thing is that this handle is always in the same place (left side almost in front of you). So i'd decided to switch the rope using the one from my old harness.

In this picture it can be seen that the attachment to the right ring is the same as the newer version (its fixed).

While in the left ring instead of being fixed, the rope goes throughout the ring.

And goes attached to another rope that its fixed to the hook. The releasing system is that red handle.

If you pull the red handle, the velcro will open releasing the back rope.

The pull of the leash will make the rope go throughout the left ring releasing the leash, bar and kite.

I know it sucks to loose your kite, but its worst to have a terrible accident cause you could not release yourself in a complicated situation.

I dont understand why Mystic has removed this system as i see it more safe as you will always know where the handle is (it doesnt happen with the leash release as it can be tricky to find in a difficult situation).

Buenos vientos

Code of conduct

As the sport is becoming more accesible it´s growing each year. This is great news but it has a drawback... local goverments are passing more restrictions over it. I know that it´s not everybody fault as common sense is spread, but just a single person can cause a damage that we as a community have to pay.

What I want to state here is a list of good behaviour (for newbies and pro riders too)

• Respect all beach users, the beach is not yours. 
• Try to kite inwards, in order to avoid crashing the kite on the beach.
• Warn anyone you see that its causing hazarous situations with their behaviour.
• Learn the prerence rules. (You did that for driving your car...)
• Help the other as one day you might need their assistance.
• When approaching a new spot, always ask the locals for tips and information.
• Dont leave your trash on the beach. Keep it clean!!
• Smile please!!

Buenos vientos

The origins of the sport

This documentary explains the birth of the sport plus its initial steps.
A must see for any kitemad.
Enjoy
Buenos vientos

Puerto pollensa Bay kitespot

Mallorca,

Is a well known destination for germans, english, french (and now russian) people.
There are 4 main kite spots in the island during summer: Can Pastilla, Playas de Muro, Son Serra de Marina and Bahia de Pollensa. I´m going to talk a bit about the last one, which I know quite well.


Ver Puerto Pollensa Bay en un mapa más grande

Beach: It´s long but is quite narrow, as it has a road parallel to it (connecting puerto pollensa with alcudia) so people prefer to go to other beaches, therefore we have the opportunity to have a big piece of shore to enjoy our sport. The beach is a mix between sand, small shells, seeweed and some wood sticks.

Water: The water is shallow for the first 100m. No need of wetsuit during summer as the water is in highs 28 degrees. Maybe a shirt or a lycra to protect yourself of the sun. You will find choppy, with small waves (0,5m) so no surfing here.

Wind: N, NE, E, SE, S winds are appropiate for this spot, being NE, E, SE the most rideable and steady. N & S become a bit gusty. You can have a look to any website to see the forecast which can be more or less accurate. The most common wind is thermic, completelly onshore (E)  which starts to blow from 11-12 till 15-18 hours. Do not expect high wind here because its rare in summer. You will find more days at 10-15 knots (everyday) than 18-25 (maybe 1 day per week).
*Small tip* it´s more windy inside than in the shore (as windsurfers know...).

Recommended quiver: Bring your bigger kite and your wider board. Low wind range is the name of the game here. Think that there will be a lot of people learning plus onshore winds, you want something that can head you upwind as fast as possible (in order to avoid learners). Normal size here is between 12-14-16.
Im 90kgs, and I ride here my kahoona 2011 13,5m with one of these 3 boards (a door, surfboard or the alaia). This year I brough the 9m with me and I only used it 1 time in 2 months (frankly speaking, the days of 20-25 knots I preferred the 13,5 with normal twintip to boost really high).

Hazards: The road, period. Just be careful to rig your kite well, because when launching you do not want to have any problem. If you cruise between spot 1 and spot 2 be careful as there is no beach, just a breakwater and then the road. Apart from that, it´s not so dangerous as the wind is steady and not so strong so you will have time to react against any problem.

Kiteshops: In this area there is Pura Vida, link, in which you can ask for lessons, hire & buy material.

Recommendations: Just enjoy the place and respect the non kiting users of the beach (to preserve this place from bans).

Nightlife: You can go to Puerto Pollensa or Alcudia, in both places you will find restaurants, bars and clubs.

Accomodation: Plenty of places in both villages, plus fincas. There is also one farm close to the spot 400m away link.

Some pictures:

If you have any questions please let me know.

Buenos vientos

Footstraps opening?

Hi guys,
I own a clash 138 and had the problem of the straps opening all the time, which is annoying. (Search on forums and it seems that its happening to everybody).
But is not a big deal. The board is a awesome :-)

This "small fix" will help clash owners and anybody else that has problems with their straps.

1step: set the straps as you like and feel comfortable.
2step: use a small rope to tie together the tab of the upper part of the strap with the metallic ring on the bottom.

The only problem is that if you want to move the strap again you must untie it. (for instance, if you want to borrow your board to a friend)

Hope its useful.

Buenos vientos

Naish Alaia

I recently bought a Naish Alaia.
Not so ago I didnt have a clue what these boards were up to. Saw them for the first time on one video promoting one strutless kitesurf in Hawaii and they looked cool. After reading some reviews (are hard to find) I took one chance to buy one as I was looking for some fun in light wind days (In the place where I live now is quite often). For those winds I already have a door and a fish surf board, so I wanted to try something different.
The cool thing about the alaia is to manufacture it yourself, but didnt know where to buy the paulownia plank, didnt have the time, neither the skills. So instead of waisting my time & money and hating this concept of board, I went straight to the shop.

What are these type of boards about?
The key features would be: strapless, finless, rockerless. All made by a plack of Paulownia tree.

There are some videos on the web that can give you an idea of what could be done with this type of board: video1 video2

See a couple of pictures here:

The top of the board is a bit dirty due the wax

Here you can see that this board is completely flat

The board has a noticeable concave in the bottom

Here you can see how beautifull the wood colour is 

Review:
the board goes upwind like nothing else I have, it starts running by barely moving the kite and it´s really playful. Despite not having rocker, you don´t dive the nose under water. I red somewhere that the wood deforms under load creating a natural rocker.

I can say that this board excels at:

• Long distances. it goes with really low wind and you can also edge hard in case there are strong gusts, your stance on the board is super comfy as you dont have straps so your position can vary all the time. So you can end up doing endless distances. As as comment, I did go to places that with other boards I wouldnt have the guts (wind varying so much).
• Low wind: as said before, it excels at this and you can do some stupid stuff as ride it seated. 
• Freestyle: whatever you can see on the videos, practice practice practice. (I´m on it).    

Sumarizing: I´m really happy with it, and I think it´s the best bang for the buck for low wind out there.

Buenos vientos

Kitesurf trolley

My kitespot is 300m away from my house, so it´s a nonsense to go by car. The problem is that we enjoy thermic winds so unless you go to the shore you dont have a clue how much is blowing.
You can do 2 things, go check it yourself and come back and take the right equipment and go again to the beach, or take as much as you can. The 2nd option is not that bad in the way to the beach as you are excited of going kiting, the problem is after kiting  3-4 hours to come back with all that load.
I recognize, I´m lazy and therefore I´ve developed what I´ve called the kitesurf trolley.
It´s an old sunbed in which I´ve attached some beefy wheels to it. Rope for pulling almost mandatory.
Here are some pictures:

The best of all? you or girlfriend can use it on the beach!!!!!

Buenos vientos