Yesterday, the Bay Area was having a huge windstorm, and I got out to Shoreline Park right as the winds were at their peak—averaging 25mph with 35+mph gusts. Had a wonderful time with a 1.5 vented, doubled leading edges, and 120' 150lb lines. The kite felt really, really solid and did high speed passes straight through the center of the window on the gusts sooooo smoothly, without a hint of squirreliness or frame shudder. And what lovely, intense pull!
Today, we had nice clear air in the late afternoon and very very smooth winds, that diminished to sub-5mph as the sun began to set. Had my standard 1.5 up with Race Rods on 120' 90lb. Wonderfully peaceful, zen-like, floaty session with just perfectly butter-smooth, gentle wind, and a gorgeous sunset.
Through both of these extremes, my Revs felt perfect, completely in control at all times. But there was still endless challenge to be had—from keeping good speed control and hovers in the high-high gusts to avoiding wing-flip while doing slow reverse circles in the super-light wind, allowing the droop of the 120' lines to keep the proper tension on the sail because even the slightest hand pressure would overwhelm and stall the wing.
These kites are amazing, supremely durable, endlessly fun and super challenging. Provided you sort of know what you're doing and have the basic set of equipment, you can fly them in literally any conditions that are safe to be outdoors in, and be totally rewarded. Not sure what else to say; this was a pointless post just to gush about how much I love these kites.
