Early Impressions of the Nitro Version 3

About three months ago I received my new 12 metre Nitro V.3 and Controller V.2 in the mail. I repeat, three months ago, I get a new kite, and only now am I able to post some thoughts on it here. A situation like this is quite unusual for me, as I am a gear hound who goes to great lengths to get out there and put new equipment to the test. A couple of posts ago, I wrote about our less than spectacular wind this season. And so, after finding myself skunked at the beach more times this spring than I care to admit, this past Sunday about noon, I received a text message from Paul the Flying Dutchman that the wind was up at Pleasant Beach on Lake Erie. Immediately I jumped into action. I hopped on my bicycle, put the phone on handsfree and called my local rental car agency as I pedaled like a madman exclaiming "get a car ready for me in ten minutes!" Within a half hour of getting Paul's text, I had the car packed and hit the road.

The wind was building to 16 knots on arrival to the beach 90 minutes later. Three other kites had just entered the water as a storm front carrying horizontal rain and thunder had just exited the area. I quickly rigged up the 12m Nitro and Control Bar, asked another rider's wife to launch me and I hit the water.

About two hours later, the wind started to wane, dropping under 12 knots and so I planed downwind back to shore. I was as stoked as I had been in months! The water was warm, the sun was shining, and my kite and bar performed flawlessly.

Some thoughts on the Nitro are as follows.

Build quality is as good as ever. Switch hits the mark with every release, and the incremental improvements are noticeable. I especially like the new cover over the inflate valve. I am less pleased about the rubber connecting hose from leading edge to central strut. It's a little too long and kinks naturally, so to fill the strut without some hand manipulation. This is my only gripe so far.

Performance of this kite is amazing! So much improvement over the first Version. It pulls hard through the tight, quick turns, and gets me up on the board moving fast!

Depower is OK, not as stellar as the Element, but this isn't really a big deal for me. I want raw power and grunt, especially through the kite's turning radius.

Upwind ability is superb. No problems there.

Bar pressure is a huge improvement over previous Versions.

And I had to once relaunch when the kite dropped as the wind died. I am happy to report that this kite relaunches in light winds! Superb!

Those are a few of my first impressions. The forecast looks light for the next several days but I hope that things turn around for the weekend to come.

Steve

PSA: Switch Rewards to Replace the Team Rider System

And now for a Public Service Announcement. Switch Kites is moving away from the current system of having Team Riders to a new Rewards-based system under which ALL Switch customers can benefit! I hope I get some of these details correct for the new system that is imminent and due to be unleashed: SWITCH REWARDS!

The old Team Rider system has its good points and its flaws. I can't say I'm completely sold on a Rewards-based system that I have yet to participate in, but I give huge points to Switch just for the amount of thought and hard work that has gone into this new approach. It looks complex, to say the least, and it must have a massive IT architecture behind it, to be able to track all the reward points that would be accruing to each and every Switch customer account.

Rewards points can be accumulated through purchases, referrals, submitting online reviews, creating video reviews, having been born, and for various social media activities such as Liking, Tweeting, Pinning, or Instagramming. If I wish to personally participate fully, I have a huge learning curve ahead of me (BTW, I am now known as @stevennorrie). Figuring out what a hashtag is will come at a later date...

In the meantime, and for the foreseeable future, I will still be advertising locally through old-school Kijiji, equipment Demos "on demand." I have found a lot of joy in showing off Switch's various products and letting them out to the community to "give a go" on.

So go ahead and check out the full details on the coming Switch Rewards system at: switchkites.com/rewards_welcome

Hope to see you at the beach,

Steve

Not the Best Wind Season So Far...in Ontario

So it's approaching mid-July and this past weekend myself and about a dozen other kiters hung out at our local beach waiting, and waiting, and waiting for the wind to pick up. This has been a regular occurrence this season. Getting skunked. It's a terrible feeling, made only worse by the wind sitting at the cusp of ridable - about 11-12 knots.

Another 1 or 2 knots or so and I would have jumped into action with my 15m Element.

In my afternoon on the beach soaking up the rays, I watched three kiters launch, veer downwind, and get rescued by the local authorities. I'm glad I held back or I could have been one of those statistics and the source of many laughs and lamentations back on the beach. I've never had the experience of being rescued, and I don't wish to add that to my repertoire.

And life goes on, and the worst year of wind I've experienced in the last five years rolls on, and as I keep busy at my martial arts school, I think about the windy days of past and those to come.

Maybe it's time for a serious lightwind kite...

First Water Session of the Season: Cold but Worth it!

I had the opportunity to catch some sufficient winds at Wasaga Beach 5 on Saturday April 26, 2014. I saw no lingering ice on the beach, nor in the water (thankfully), but a little further north along the coastline, things were looking mighty white still.

It was a balmy 4 or 5 degrees C, and the water temperature was about 2 or 3 degrees. Without a doubt, these conditions were the coldest I've ever experienced, and after about two hours or so of riding, I packed it in. But throwing in the towel isn't the point of this post. Rather, it is to reflect on a couple of hours of super-awesome freeriding in smooth 15 knot winds, not too gusty, and a well deserved season opener after six months hiatus due to our long Canadian winter.

I unraveled the new Controller Version 2 at the beach. The lines are a little on the stiff side, compared to the last bar, but if they are more stretch-resistant, then it will have been worth the extra minute or two to untangle the ends. The functionality of the bar remains about the same, but this new version bests the Version 1 in a few key areas:
- The rubberized grips are nice to hold and create a little bit more "friction hold" between my hand (or gloves in this case) and the bar;
- The clippable stopper at the end of the trim line is a godsend - no more flailing trim lines to wrap around my steering line; and
- Aesthetically it just looks better, the blue and black scheme is nice (white just gets dirty).

Those are my initial thoughts on the V.2 Controller bar. Last week, while suffering from a flu, I made my first ever video of an "unboxing" when I received the new bar in the mail. Later in the week on return to work, I found out that it's not actually that "cool" to video the box opening ritual. I never tried to hard at being cool - but my video is still out there if you have 10 minutes to spare...

Winter Wraps Up, Now We Wait Again...for the Ice to Go Away

Well I must admit that after our longest, coldest and snowiest winter in several years, I think I actually got out less this year than in previous years on the snow. I had some great luck at the start of the winter season. The ice formed up solid a month or so earlier than last year. And the snow fell in plentiful amounts. One problem I kept finding though, is that when the wind came up, it came with just enough force to blow much of the snow away. This left me to kite on ice for more sessions than I would have liked. It was still fun though.

I put together one little video from this winter season. It was from my first day out this winter on Bass Lake. Unfortunately, my Go Pro suffered some irreparable damage on my next trip out. A note of caution to anyone considering a backpack-boom mounted camera (I have the Wizmount pack), be extra careful when sending the kite back when transitioning - in my case I turned the kite aggressively to catch a little air and my steering line just happened to catch my camera boom and wrap around the Go Pro just as I left the surface...leading to a seriously scary situation!

Steve

Offering Demos on Demand Throughout the Winter Season

Welcome 2014. Winter has fully set in over Southern Ontario. My favorite snow kite spots are well frozen over, and the snow is falling as I write this. As I usually do with the turn of the season, I refresh my offers to the community of kite equipment demos through Facebook and local advertisements, and now here on this Blog. 

My equipment is offered to those with experience and can handle a kite safely. I would prefer it, if launching on the ice, that you also bring your own anchor to launch from (an ice climbing screw is best). That said, if you are brand new to kiting, I can understand the feeling of intimidation as I was there myself about five years ago. I still encourage you to contact me if you are a neophyte - I can put you in touch with a good instructor for an introductory session to set you on your own course to becoming a kiteboarder. 

If you have some experience and want to try a Switch Kite on for size, I have four kites in sizes covering wind ranges up to about 25 knots. I personally cut myself off around 20 knots on the ice anyway. In the past when I felt particularly brave on a strong wind day, I would take out my 3m trainer or 4m foil on those nuking days...but alas, a couple of months ago my small kite totally disintegrated in a 40 knot gust whilst landboarding at Wasaga Beach. 

So, contact me at norriegga@gmail.com if you are interested in Switch Kites or kiteboarding at all. I'll do my best to help you out. In winter, I frequent Lake Simcoe, Bass Lake, Luther Marsh and a few other spots in Southern Ontario. 

Cheers. Steve

A little fun with iMovie, waiting for the snow kiting to begin....

Hi! It's New Year's Day and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that in a few days, I'll be breaking the seal on this year's snow kite season...I hear there's snow up north of Toronto, and I know that the ice has formed early...just waiting for some favourable wind.

In the meantime, I've just edited up some footage from Oliphant this past September. A super day of sun and wind in the flat waters of Lake Huron.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mcgQKKKRSd8