Finally, after almost dying of anticipation, I made it down to
Sayulita, Mexico for my two week vacation! On Friday I took the V-16
out for the first time. The weather was very strange for the Puerto
Vallarta area this time of year. Somehow, the southern jet stream
pulled a front all the way down to 20 degrees north and I got my
first ride in cruddy pre-frontal winds . . . . blowing about 9-18,
averaging about 12, and spitting rain. I'm 175 lbs and chose a wide
board and 25M lines.

Being way to eager to spend time setting up my new PL bar/lines, I
attached my homemade S-ARC setup figuring I'd have plenty of leeway
in my clamcleat adjuster to dial it in. Well, as you all probably
now better than me, S-ARC to V is like a Pinto to a Porsche. I'm
accustomed to being able to judge wind potential by the pull on my
harness, and with the S when I pull the bar in I'm basically
tranferring power from LE to TE lines rather than really powering
up. I put the kite up with (what I thought were) fairly tight rear
lines, and the kite didn't seem to have that much pull.

I waded into the shore break and couldn't even get up and planing
(embarrasing myself in front of a crowd). I knew something wasn't
right because even on my 1120 I could have come up and sunk back down
easily in that wind. I thought it over, remembered everyone's
Arcusers postings, and let my adjuster all the way out to a position
that would have instantly stalled my S. Whoa! What a difference!
Up and planing right away. I can hardly believe the amount of
depower the V has. I soon discovered that full power to depower also
only takes maybe 8-10 inches of bar movement.

After that, I was out for a full two hours getting the feel back in
my legs and learning the kite. What a BLAST! Tried a couple of
jumps and it was just like a smooth elevator--right up and gliding.
I starting riding the swells just outside the break and was amazed at
how much easier it was for me to adjust my speed to stay on the right
part of the wave. Never dropped the kite, and never lost my board.

My budgetary constraints have kept me riding S-Arcs way too long, but
I think I benefited in some ways. Like snowboarding on ice for a few
years and then finally riding soft powder conditions, I felt like I
could handle anything with the V. Yesterday was cloudy and rainy,
but the sun is out now and I can't wait to catch the afternoon
thermals later!

I'm definitely feeling the stoke!

Gideon

--- In arcusers@yahoogroups.com, "flynwildting" <wildtings@a...>
wrote:
>
> --- In arcusers@yahoogroups.com, "gideonlow" <gideonlow@y...> wrote:
> >
> > Definitely not my buddies doing this! These comments are from
the
> > arsehole type! I've been teaching a couple of friends--of course
on
> > ARCs, and they love it.
> >
> > BTW, nobody ever gives me a hard time AFTER they've seen me
riding
> > the ARC. Definitely the best revenge.
>
>
>
> Hey Gideon!
>
> How's the east coast treating you? Miss 3rd Ave.?
>
> It's probably too cold there still to start kiting, but I'll be
> looking forward to your V review.
>
> -Eric