In 1999 I acquired my first traction Kite, it was a Peter Lynn Peel 5m. It was love at first sight. Or rather first flight. The feeling of the wind in your hands in this 2 line traction monster (Then) was an immediate adrenaline rush.
I became an avid beach jumper until deciding that the beach was becoming hazardous and water was a safer landing strip. Finally, a year later, I entered the world of Kitesurfing . But along the way, I had come across an interesting magical kite: The CQUAD
I had seen the first kite surfers in Cape Town in 1999 and had been attracted to the sport immediately but at the time just couldn’t afford the gear. By a set of circumstances I was then living in Italy. And so with my Peel 5m, I would go down to Fregene Beach and meet up with Andrea and Pierfrancesco from airkite.com who were passionate Kite flyers and taught me everything. Pierfrancesco was then on CQuads going out in the water (While everyone sat on the beach with their Wipika’s and later the ARXs.) I was lucky enough to try the C Quad a few times back then.
And so 13 years later, during my trip to Italy, I bump into Pierfrancesco in Fregene.
And he tells me he still has the Cquads.
So we decide to re-visit the past, dust off his 6,3 C quad, and send it up in the air.
What a surprise! This CQuad, with faded colors, had lost nothing of its magic. An amazing piece of engineering.
Of course you need skills, kite flying skills that is.
This one was set up on handles.
Back in the day, you had a bar option too, but handles make the kite the most responsive and maneuverable. You really feel the power in your hands and the kite keeps pulling even right on the edge of the window.
Of course no option to re-launch!
Amazing to see this 14 year old kite still perform (in the right hands).
And to See it 14 years later next to the latest Generation Peter Lynn LEI
Here is a little cruising Video while messing around with that C Quad
[youtube]http://youtu.be/7YGzXODjIYc[/youtube]
Thanks to Tania Romagnoli for pics
