As expected, the wind blew like mad on Friday and Saturday and was too much too soon, as I only arrived the afternoon before. I had a hard wipe out late on Friday afternoon which knocked the stuffing out of me and I bruised some ribs, but I'm on the mend and should be ready for action tomorrow (strong wind forecast). The wind here seems to either be either off or on, and when it's on it blows big time (40+ knots).
I had a 39.05 on Friday and a 40.85 on Saturday. I'm happy I broke the 40 knot barrier for the first time on my second day of competition, but I'm annoyed with myself for being too conservative and using such a small kite (5 sqm), I now realise that you have to go for it when the right conditions present themselves, and I was too conservative, this hurt my speeds as I was underpowered for the last third of each run as the course becomes more downwind towards the end. My entry speeds on average were also very slow (35 knots).
So my plan of action is to come into the start of each run much faster and take a bigger kite to still be powered at the end. I'm weary of getting too close to the barrier wall to get the flatter water, as there's a real danger of heading up into it in a lull, that's what caused my wipe out on Friday; a sudden lull and I was forced to whip my kite the opposite way to pull me away from the wall.
I feel fortunate that I can still make amends in the wind that's forecast tomorrow and Thursday, I just hope there'll be enough water.
I'll go much bolder for the next session.