DOWNWINDER! April 29th

Don Bogardus · Post by **Don Bogardus** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 7:59 pm

Did the downwinder happen today or is it postponed?.Wind was
horrible. :?:

panzerfaust · Post by **panzerfaust** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 9:38 pm

oh man, nobody made it to pt emery, almost all 50 kites in the water at the berkeley marina.

andyandmarlys · Post by **andyandmarlys** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 9:44 pm

Everyone was rescued though.... Wind seemed decent at TI but really dropped down towards Berkeley...

Scotty · Post by **Scotty** » Sat Apr 29, 2006 10:48 pm

The wind was very light at Crissy on the shore. Once you got out on the bay, there was plenty of wind. I don't think there was a sad face on the whole team. The only time it got light was once you got past TI. Only a handful of people actually made it to shore. No one got to PT. Emery. Everyone got rescued one way or another. It was a true team effort out on the bay. My hats off to all the sailors who not only were jet ski support out there, but also the random boater who just checked on people. A great experience.

Flat-water · Post by **Flat-water** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 9:08 am

Great ride.. Nice site to see so many kites in the bay..

Well organized and great support. Nice job Emily, Jeff, Bob and the whole crew!! =D>

9000ft view of the trip..

AntiJF · Post by **AntiJF** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 12:26 pm

Did anyone take pictures? (Maybe from the boat) I'd love to see some...

jjm · Post by **jjm** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 1:03 pm

I saw pictures or video being taken of the expession session down by the pier...

bhsu24 · Post by **bhsu24** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 2:39 pm

Oh yea there should be some good pictures from the expression session it was an amazing expression session.

Greg · Post by **Greg** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 6:39 pm

I EXPRESSED my sincere thanks to the guys that plucked my soggy butt out of the drink....
This was a GREAT learning experance for everyone involved!
At one point I looked around at all the people attemtping to self rescue, it reminded me of Man-O-War sloooooowwwly blowing to shore... I also made it VERY clear how truly helpless kiters are in currents and fluky wind. With out the support crew I'm sure someone would have died from exposure.
I hope everyone knows, a trip on the bay is nothing to take lightly. NEVER GO ALONE, Make a plan (and stuck to it), tell others (on shore) when and where your going and what to do in the event you fail to return. Lastly I think its very important to carry a FLASH LIGHT, finding a person with a flash light at night is possable and even HIGHLY LIKELY with night vision glasses where as the chances of finding a person without a light at night is EXTREMELY SLIM.
L.M.G.

kitechick · Post by **kitechick** » Sun Apr 30, 2006 8:48 pm

I took a whole bunch of pictures of the expression session at Berkeley. Cool stuff. It was like a Biathlon...the 50 athletes kited the first 6 miles and then swam the last one. Everyone who arrived was greeted with cheers, helping hands, applause and a cold drink. Smiles all around :)

Expression session Downwinder April 06

BayAreaKiteboarding.com

DOWNWINDER! April 29th

Plenty of wind

9000ft view

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