Surfing with mixed emotions.

Had a sound bite on the news yesterday saying that it can get uncomfortable above 40mph. Here's a dude that seems not to mind.

If I'm not mistaken, the current record is around 63MPH.

Here's Eric Swiss "Surfer"

http://www.ktla.com/videobeta/57f8f683-0181-49d0-970c-cccb460b3878/News/KTLA-High-Winds-Knock-Trees-Power-Lines-Team-Coverage

Mixed emotions

Was mowing the lawn on a 7m off north beach. Wind was 25mph gusting 35+. I was lit but holding it down. Extending on the butter behind the kelp and the flat water between the sets of shapely 4-6 foot wind swell. There was one more kiter out with me.

I'm headed out, he's headed in, and we are headed closer to a collision course than I'm comfortable with. I shoot him an eye line and notice that he's staring at me. This isn't good as you tend to go where you look. I decide that rather than dick dance any further with this situation, I'll flip a quick one on the incoming roller, ride it back toward the shore for a second, bottom turn, and head back out below the dude.

I lay into the wave, get lost in the moment, ride comfortably close to the shore and accelerate into a graceful bottom turn on the building gust. As I come around to the upwind I spot Hugo (Not his real name) uncomfortably close to my intended path of travel. I have no choice but to abort my turn and take a dead-downwind bottom turn. This is bad because it leaves me with a ridiculous amount of speed uncomfortably close to the shore.

I get it around and head back out at ludicrously-uncomfortable speed.

Here's where it get's interesting. I decide to dump the speed by launching the incoming 6 footer. (you can turn excess speed into vertical lift and then bleed it through a controlled glide back to the water.)

The ocean obliges me with the perfect parabolic launch ramp and I'm on an express elevator to the 5th floor. I've never been past the 4th. I track in on the kite, loosing my horizon and reference for wind direction.

The next few things happen very quickly indeed. I feel the lines getting uneven in pull. I know that I only have one course of action so as not to stall the kite and drop straight out of the sky breaking my board or knees or both.

I cross both hands to the same side of the bar.

The kite loops.

Supposedly, the most power a kite can generate is in a loop

I regain a modicum of control. realize how high I am. Realize how fast I'm traveling. Get nauseous (swear to it, I had time to realize I'd gotten nauseous before I landed). Attempt to land my Popsicle stick on the havoc that is the ocean. loose it. Skip across the water three times before coming to a cold wet splashed down yard sale..

Here's where I have the mixed emotions. Part of me wanted to be mad at Hugo for putting me in a dangerous position in not-to-be-fucked-with-conditions. But then I realized, without Hugo, I never would have thrown the biggest, gnarliest, hang-time-to-discover-my-emotions Kite loop I've ever attempted.