Jason's lesson was spread over 2 sessions of 3 hours. The first day was mainly on the land, but he did get into the water for some body dragging. The second day started with the body dragging refresher and then the Board was introduced.Jason went off to Rockingham by himself on the first day as I had the 5 hour killer of all bike rides to do! SO there are only 2 photos of the first day... as it happened it was the better day of the two.
A pro out on the water.
The second day of lessons started pretty early for us as I had a triathlon race to do in the morning before driving down. My race finished just on 9 and we had to be there by 10am for the most optimal wind. So the pressure was on for me to race well and finish within my estimated time. I had a good swim and cycle and as I went onto the run I heard Jason say "there's no time pressure". I interpreted this to mean that as I was racing well we had heaps of time up our sleeve. I didn't pull back on the run portion of the tri though.Once I finished the race Jason let me know what he really meant... he had heard from WestOz KiteBoarding and the lesson had been delayed due to lack of winds!!! So we managed to stay around for the triathlon prize giving.
It was pretty windy in Perth so we headed off down south with high expectations.... unfortunately the wind never eventuated and we sat round for a few hours waiting for it. At about 3pm we decided to call it a day.
At 7am Monday morning, Jason heard that it was on for 3pm Monday afternoon. We both managed to get out of work early (f0r a change) and drove to Rockingham for the third straight day.
We arrived and it wasn't a disappointment like Sunday, the wind was definitely blowing. I set up camp on the very windy beach... mmmm sand in the mouth, and Jason started day 2 of his lesson. I thought this was an apt warning sign for some of the wipeouts to come hehehe.
Here Jason is blowing up his kite.
This is Jason's kite for the day. The only problem was that both Jason and the other learner had blue kites so I was getting worried about taking photos of the wrong person. I didn't need to worry as the other guy wasn't very good at all and hardly got off the beach.
Here is Jason buckling up into the harness.
...and the helmet (which had a in built microphone so that the instructors could talk to the students while they were out on the water).
It looks like quite a handful to me, but Jason was managing fine.
Here it is, all ready to go.
A few last minute pointers from the instuctor.
And Jason was off... here he is concentrating hard.
After a few body drags through the weed Jason was itching to have a proper go at it.
And before I knew it he was off on his first ride. The instructors were very impressed and said that he was a natural... hmm any surprises there anyone???? A few of the other students looked on with disbelief and jealousy as Jason made it look a lot easier than anyone else out there learning.
Direction wise, for a beginner it is easier to go one way over another so for the first few runs, the students bring the Board and kite back up the beach rather than trying to fly it back.
And just like that he was off again.
Kite Boarding is very hard to take photos of I discovered. I had to take shots on an angle to get both Jason and the kite in.
Finally the kite waqs a little lower so I could take some better shots.
This shot really says it all... look at how much Jason is enjoying himself!!!!
I got it!!! I cought Jason's first jump on camera. The shots were blurred but I got it, which was the main thing!
Wipeout after jump number 2!
All in all Jason had a primo time and the instructor told me that Jason was an absolute natural and that if he didn't take the sport up it would be a waste of talent. Uh oh... there goes the budget I think, I can see a $2500 kite board trying to fit in sooner rather than later!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment