GoPro Video - Best Kahoona 9.5m First Flight 082009

C Johnson · Since 17 Apr 2009 854 Posts Seattle Opinionated

Got the Kahoona in the mail on monday so I've been dying to try it out all week. finally today the wind showed up. felt nicely powered, not maxed out but in the sweet spot Smile

. a couple friends of mine were out on 9m and 10m C-kites and were fully lit!

Video done processing Smile

http://www.vimeo.com/6205072

jcohenx · Since 28 Aug 2007 250 Posts Portland Obsessed

Nice

Where is this video shot?

eli_anderson · Since 04 Jun 2007 507 Posts Addicted

water and clouds look good

C Johnson · Since 17 Apr 2009 854 Posts Seattle Opinionated

pkh · Since 27 Feb 2005 6549 Posts Couve / Hood Honored Founder

You definitely have a nice spot there. How often do you get wind?

C Johnson · Since 17 Apr 2009 854 Posts Seattle Opinionated

it will work year round but the best bet is evening summer thermals

its been dead for the last 2 weeks but I've probably gotten a good 50 sessions this year. most of those were at that spot.

alien · Since 01 Aug 2006 114 Posts Portland Stoked

Are there any certain sensors/conditions/factors/times of year you look for to see if it's going to blow there? My aunt & uncle live right up the hill from there in Sequim, but every time I've checked the spot out while visiting them it hasn't been blowing very hard. Would be great to catch a session there sometime.

C Johnson · Since 17 Apr 2009 854 Posts Seattle Opinionated

Probably the biggest thing everybody should know is that there are some rules here.

it is a small park so it can maybe only support 10-25 kiters max.
all land with the exception of the property in front of the park is private. so watch where you walk and be respectful. the dungeness spit is off limits totally to kiters and the majority of it is off limits to people completely. So its not okay to go hang out or wash up on it unless its a matter of life or death.

The launch at cline is an advanced launch. there is logs. barb wire fences and powerlines directly downwind of the beach so a good prerequisite for cline is being able to ride up wind immediately after entering the water.

Now that I got the painful stuff out of the way. here's what you need to know about wind.

NOAA Central Straits forecast is the one I watch most. I look for small craft advisory and W, WSW or WNW, NW 15-25kts or higher as the minimum to get out and ride. yesterday and today have been 20-30kts forecast which usually means 8-10m conditions

windonthewater.com shows the dungeness lighthouse sensor. thats probably your best bet. its not exactly the same as cline spit since its 3 miles out into the strait but I've often found it to be blowing stronger at the spit. I've noticed the wind tends to be stronger and gustier along the shoreline.

its pretty difficult to forecast it much more then 2-3 days in advance. which makes it hard for most people because it is a trek to get here. most people prefer to just hit the gorge or the coast then drive out here because the promise of wind will ususally hold better for those places. I only live 45mins away so I can usually hit it after work on these long summer days.

during the winter it tends to blow east more frequently and for that there is better spots. but it still does get the occasional westerly during the winter.

this is what it looked like in January.

Link

alien · Since 01 Aug 2006 114 Posts Portland Stoked

Yeah, I notice the sketchy launch and barb wire. I was aware of the Dungeness Spit's protected status, but thanks for posting it up for public knowledge.

Appreciate the forecast info!

Cap · Since 12 Mar 2008 50 Posts Hood River

Nice video. It gave me a flashback! My son and I started kiting there almost 10 years ago on Naish AR3's after windsurfing there for 15 years. After putting those early kites in trees and popping bladders on barnacles we decided we liked P.A. or P.T. better but now we're in H.R. I have some great memories of that place. Windsurfing after dark in the full moon and robbing the crab pots. We used to go over the Spit and go outside for the waves. There was a guy at the White Salmon Bridge the other day with a crashed Kahoona that he couldn't relaunch due to some problem. He said he was OK and going for WA shore. I hope the Kahoonas don't have the problems of the Best kites I used to ride that blew out on me a mile off the OR Coast and at the WS bridge on a 35 knot day. It's what made me switch to Windwing. I could buy any kite I want and I think I'm on the best, but it's Windwing.

C Johnson · Since 17 Apr 2009 854 Posts Seattle Opinionated

Kahoonas are cheap kites so my guess is they probably won't hold up as long as some of the more expensive kites out there

so far I've had many crashes and haven't had any issues on relaunch. The Kahoona is supposed to be the easiest relaunch kite best has ever made. Coming from foil kites I've gotta say the Kahoona is stupidly easy to relaunch. that's one of the reasons i decided to get one. so I could relaunch over and over again while I start learning unhooked tricks. Smile

PA and PT both have great spots too. I just usually hit cline since I don't have to worry about tides like I would at PT and its a lot closer then driving to PA so I can usually get a longer session in since my drive is shorter.

C Johnson · Since 17 Apr 2009 854 Posts Seattle Opinionated