Paragliding in India

Flying like a bird.. experience the freedom.. take the controls in your own hands.. this is Paragliding in India!

Paragliding is something I wanted to do since childhood. As a child my parents sometimes took us on a driving holiday to France. We would camp out in between the mountains and look up and see these wonderful colorful creations fly high along the mountains and between the clouds. I knew then that that's what I wanted to do later. I went to India for a paragliding course. And I never looked back.

Arriving in Mumbai it took another 2,5 hours in a taxi to reach the flying site of Kamshet, India. Paragliding has been very popular here for a long time and various paragliding schools operate here.
Through colleagues I obtained a recommendation for one of them, Paragliding Mantra.

The team gave us wonderful warm welcome in their shared villa, where we stayed for 5 days and nights during the flying course. Accommodation, food and company was al included.

The first morning it was time to start the course. We headed out to the foot of Stellar Hill where we were told about all the basics of the glider. Leading Edge, Trailing Edge, Cells, Risers, Karabiners and Harness. It was then time to do our first inflations of the glider, learning to control it as it would rise above your head. Having had a lot of kiting experience it was quite a challenge to control the glider during a reverse launch using opposite hand movements compared to those you would use for kite flying. But with time all things can be learned. And when in doubt, a forward inflation can be the better option.

Having practiced inflation and ground runs, it was time to hit the practice hill with our paragliders. Of course not literally, the plan was really to walk to the top, set up, ad fly down. This was the most exhilarating experience, for the first time we tasted flight suspended under our colorful gliders and who is in control: you!! Of course there was detailed radio instruction to keep us from any harm or obstacles!

The third day we dared to climb Tower Hill where TJ told us all about this spot, the techniques to be used, and the landing zone we should be looking for! Winds were quite strong on arrival but lessened slightly during the day which meant we were able to take-off and fly our first 20 minutes down to landing. What a feeling.

Later days carried on in this pace and we made the most of our rented paragliders even catching updrafts along the slopes combined with the occasional thermals for prolonged flight! Flying with the birds suddenly becomes less of a beautiful saying and much more of an amazing reality!!

We created a nice video of our adventure that you can admire below. We also have been on many more amazing paragliding experiences since then and will be sharing those in the near future!
If you would like to stay posted, do not hesitate to subscribe to the blog on the side here, and / or leave a comment for us to get back to you!

Last but not least, a big thank you to Paragliding Mantra and it's owner TJ in particular for giving us wings! You can find them here:

ParaglidingMantra.com

Paragliding in India on Youtube

Paragliding Oludeniz

I have made an awesome video of flying at Oludeniz that you can check out here: Paragliding Oludeniz on Youtube

I have been paragliding since 2012, after wishing for many years to get into the sport but simply not being able to afford it or having the time. When I finally started in 2012 with Paragliding Mantra it was definitely a dream come true. Now in July of 2018 I joined TJ and the Paragliding Mantra team to do an SIV course. If you don't know what this is, I'll explain below. If you do, feel free to skip that bit.

SIV loosely translates to simulated in-flight incidents training. It means you're going to be learning what to do when the glider looses it shape, or stops flying unintentionally. Quite an essential part of the sport if you are wanting to get further in it!

I flew in to Bodrum from home in the Middle East and continued by Dolmus, a turkish style shared taxi, to reach Oludeniz about 5 hours later. An impressive thunderstorm was overhead when I arrived, so I hadn't missed any flying that day!

Next days we took to the Babadag mountain nice and early to try and get the first flight in. Conditions were super for the week but with the occasional half day of waiting around to get a flight in. Tailwind launches from the top of a 2000 m high mountain can be done but are not really recommended especially when training and or not completely familiar with the surroundings.

I got 13 flights in in 5 days, and practiced a whole series of maneouvers starting of with big ears, 360s gradually increasing into spirals, B-line stall, frontal collapse and of course assymmetrical collapses. Followed each time by a landing right at the beach of Oludeniz and perhaps a cold one to relax.

An epic experience that I would definitely recommend. Big thanks to the team of Paragliding Mantra and all the friends that came along and those I met there. Check out my video of this epic paragliding week in Turkey here!!

My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/ultimatefreggle
My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theultimatefreggle

More adventures

Meanwhile the summer in Qatar has passed. This is always such a happy time. Extreme heat and humidity are a thing of the past and gorgeous summery days with refreshing breezes and water that actually cools you down are here to be enjoyed every day!

I have been able to go out a few times during the summer too. The heat and humidity are almost suffocating during July until September. If a session goes well, you can deal with this. But if you find yourself with just not enough wind or any kind of setback preventing from kiting across the water, energy levels will very quickly drop!

The spot at Sealine has worked best, I have found quite a few days with winds of 8-9 knots onshore, excellent to keep learning on the foil. My level now is such that I feel quite confident exploring the whole speed range of the foilboard, and I can steer the board on a more upwind or downwind angle relatively easily. Stability in terms of keeping the same height above the water is starting to feel a little natural, most of the time it happens automatically now. This is where the real feeling of freedom comes in. During my last session I have been attempting to send the board through a gybe, but with flying the foil kite from one side to the other overhead. This is clearly not an option, it has to be downlooped to reverse direction. The consequence is that the kite is going to be quite powered up so a steering mistake would hurt somewhat. Then the foot change on the directional board needs to be considered. This will be plenty of 'material' for learning in my coming sessions.

Not to forget a 2 week trip to Bali has also been on the menu. The toy of choice for this trip was my beloved Ozone Buzz Z3 Paraglider. While I had a lot of fun visiting all sorts of places with my (extended) family, I also managed to enjoy two days of superb Paragliding. The spot of choice was Timbis, where I flew before in 2014. Nothing much has changed, although the built-up areas are certainly expanding. The winds were ESE allowing for good lift along the eastern stretch of the southern coastline. I ventured as far West as I dared on one occasion but then dropped out at Melasti Beach. Other landings I was able to carry out right next to the family who were enjoying their beach time down below. An amazing experience! I checked out Candidasa launch another day but found conditions way too strong and opted for a walk with the family instead. But clearly a spot with a lot of potential!

More adventures are upcoming. I still have to tell you about my paramotoring in Thailand and as a consequence the paramotoring safari's I am dreaming of doing.. in the next episode!

My YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/ultimatefreggle
My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theultimatefreggle

Kitefoiling At Sealine

It has been 3 weeks since my last session on the foilboard. I wish I could go for a practice daily but I've found out there are occasionally other things in life too!

I was afraid such a long break from the action would seriously hamper my efforts of learning to foil properly.. but that turned out to be unfounded!

So I went out to Sealine this time, armed with a paraglider, a kite and a foilboard in the truck. Wind forecast was easterly somewhere between 7-9 knots for the afternoon. Funny enough the actual at Sealine when I left home was still northwesterly at around 12 knots. But the wind has an interesting way of changing into a nice seabreeze almost daily anywhere between 10 am and 1 pm. And that is exactly what happened today. By the time I arrived it was pumping at a crazy 8 knots nicely onshore. My friends Chris and Sarah came out for the day as well and together we found a nice spot that looked paraglideable and was still directly on the coastline.. Time to get set up and hit the water!

At first I dolphined around for a good 10 minutes probably. My last session had been on a regular board where I needed lots of pressure on the back foot. Time to make a big adjustment and think forward foot only and go for it. That really paid off, i foiled my longest stretches without even touching down or crashing today! (Except for once or twice where a little waved caught me off gaurd maybe..)

Turning into wind and starting to lean and balance back more is becoming easier. Going upwind is no problem whatsoever. Going downwind is what needs a lot of work! So I try to point the foil downwind and have the kite besides me instead of directly in front. This is not easy. It is hard to work out where the kite should sit to have a steady downwind direction and speed. I can send the kite up and down and get back downwind that way but there should be more elegant ways to do this! Or is that something reserved only for the top race competitors in the kitefoil scene I see on Youtube?

Anyways I managed a more upwind and a more downwind angle than ever kiting on the water before, so in the end I can say I did make some progress today! I can still have hopes of eventually being able to go all over the place, gybing and tacking away and flying high above the water..!!

Oh! I have finally managed to upload my first video episode of my Kitefoil Adventure to Youtube. You can check it out here!

New Toy and new sessions kitefoiling!!

The kite just before it's first flight

In my last post I mentioned the Ozone Chrono V2 18 Ultralight.. So it has now arrived!! I've been very keen to get hold of this toy and here it is. And I am not disappointed!

Funny thing was that in the first week after it's arrival the winds were howling. We had gusts over 30 knots at times with a lot of blowing sand around... But then Sunday 23d April '17 came and it was perfect light wind for a first flight. The name says it, ultralight, and that is how the control feels. It flies effortlessly and it seems like it stays up almost without wind. I'm sure this kite too has a lower limit wind speed but I've yet to found out what that might be. I'm thinking it should stay up nicely still in 4 knots..

It flies perfect!

On the day of the first flight there were about 8 knots of wind and I flew it at a cool spot south of Qatar at the 'Inland Sea'. Entering the water with anything that looks like a boat or board is not recommended here as the border area with Saudi is watched over carefully. So I was only flying on land this time.

My sister recorded my fly-by

Luckily the day after on the 24th the tide and the right winds hit my home town of Wakra! Water is normally quite shallow, but tides above 1.1 m give you enough depth to ride the foil. It is a long wade through knee-deep water to get to the deep stuff but definitely worth it! My sister was over so she came along all the way for support and to record some of the action. It was tricky to get going, I have the kite on short lines for now (20m) and the wind was certainly light, I'm thinking anywhere between 5-8 knots. But with a kiteloop for initial power up I was up and running after a few attempts. Water looked glassy and so clear you could see straight through it. Amazing! Later on though the wind did drop and it was time to wade back to shore which took a while.. But so worth the effort!

Kite launch at Sealine

For the next day, 25th April, I had been checking the forecast for another spot called 'Sealine'. It is a half hour drive from my place and has proper deep water very close to the shore, much different from Wakra. It tends to be unpopular with kitesurfers as the stronger winds are almost always northwest which means a direct offshore direction at this place! But for today a northeasterly was forecast with strengths between 8 to 15 knots...

Arriving at the spot I couldn't believe there was practically no wind to be felt. My windmeter is u/s at the moment but it can't have been more than 2 knots. So I considered driving around with the family instead, but within minutes we could feel a breeze coming in so it was Game On!! Wind was around 8 knots at first and gradually increased to 13-14 knots max. I went out and had a really fun session. It is amazing how quickly you end up far out to sea on this board. It really goes much faster than a regular board. And with less effort too! I managed to fly both ways and was shooting upwind like crazy. I'm still finding it hard to keep the board at the right height above the water, I can't say there is much stability there. I'm thinking that must be due to my inexperience and having to still develop a sense for this new dimension! Having said that, I only flew the foil out of the water once in a crash, so that was a pretty good score!

When the winds picked up more later on, I started to feel quite overpowered on my 18m. I think that is probably quite normal with 14 knots blowing.. It seemed impossible to edge more and lean back to slow down, so what worked instead was fly the kite up and push the front foot down more. This way I got the board in the water and had the additional drag to slow me down eventually. Still a maneuver that takes a lot of distance... Something to be aware of!

Entering the water at Sealine

All in all one very happy kite adventurer with a new toy and some amazingly cool new experiences on the water...!

Who knows one day I'll find the stability on the board and can start to consider tacks and gybes with the foil flying along.... Impossible to imagine for now, but I'll keep at it till I get there!!

Kitefoil sessions 8 and 9

In March 2017 I've been able to go out again kitefoiling. I've been out for one session at the Pearl, a popular sort of western looking neighborhood built in circles with water all around. There are many miles of beaches all around this residential area so excellent potential for kitesurfing. End of last year one of Kitefoil Gold Cup Races was organized here. So it seemed a good place to check out on the kitefoil!

As I went out we chose a nice relatively quiet beach so we wouldn't disturb anyone and pumped up the kites. Wind was around 12 knots or so building to a little more later on. When were about to hit the water we were met with security investigating what our plans were. Initially though we were good to go. So I hit the water with the foil and had a great time. Stupidly today I forgot to bring my helmet so I decided to go ahead but be really careful with it. It did pay off, I managed to get the foil flying both ways quite a few times! And I didn't crash.. But I also probably didn't learn that much. But it was great to get some time on the water again and put all the equipment to use!

Not long after that, I saw security walk up to our spot on the beach again and unfortunately it was game over... So we packed up again.. Now we do know there is a useable spot called QQ beach just nearby.. this place is doable but plagued but gusty winds due to a line of trees on a peninsula just in front of the public beach and a line of huge buoys attached to it. They are apparently there to stop jetski's entering the swimming area, whereas, lucky enough, kitesurfer are tolerated as long as they jump the buoys quickly and get out to the main waters... Jumping being something quite advanced for kitefoilers!! I might have to write this location off for a while, unless I can find somewhere to launch, and then spent the rest of the day on the water until it's time to come out and pack up somewhere else again... Must be possible.. Another option would be to get a boat and launch from that, but that requires a bit of a support crew really!!

Just about a week later I managed to get out to the north and have a go at foiling. The forecast was for pretty light winds but seemed doable with a 21m kite and a foil board... It turned out I had been a bit too optimistic.. My 21m kite is more than 5 years old and has had a big repair, it just does not perform as it used to. Add to that my very limited experience on the foilboard, and I just wasn't able to get going. Except for maybe a couple times where I was foiling along but then struggled to start back up to get back.. In the process disappearing downwind a bit too quickly!! I've now realized it really is time to get a new light wind kite... and the choice has fallen on a brand new Ozone Chrono V2 Ultralight! My expectations are very high, I hope I will not be disappointed. Getting more and more ready for foiling fun on the water... At the same time I'm prepping my support team (mainly my family ;-) ) to be able to take some quality footage of all the (funny) action.. so exciting times ahead...!!!

Waters around 'the Pearl', Doha, Qatar

Kitefoil session 7

A few wednesdays ago I was able to go out for another day of Foiling. I went to the same spot up north now known as Foil beach, actually in between Fuwairit and Al Ghariya. The beauty of this spot is the depth of the water. Only a few feet in to the sea it becomes deep enough for the 90 cm foil mast to not hit the bottom. And at low tide it still works! The water is sheltered as it is tucked into a bay. This keeps it quite flat too. The only downside being that the wind comes rolling in over the northeastern corner of Qatar, so it isn’t very stable. It has a tendency of being a little offshore too, but today it actually worked out being perfectly sideshore!

For the homefront too there is a wall built across the beach that gives almost 100% shelter from the winds. An excellent little spot to top up the tan or play in the sand, whereas all over the main beach itself the wind makes it too cold to really enjoy, during these wintery days in Qatar.

The foiling itself was good fun! I started off on my 9m Rebel, sizing up to the 12m by 3pm, as the winds dropped from around 16-17 knots to more like 13 and then less by the end of the afternoon, just like the forecast off of Windguru..

Waterstarts are becoming more consistent! The right amount of power and the right movement of the board coordinated with my feet and all at the right speed keeping also the correct balance are really a handful in the beginning. Like everything, you need to just do it over and over to develop an automation within you that will eventually enable to do it without crunching the brain and muscles as to what should happen next! The feeling of progression, however small, is so exciting!

Actually foiling along is magical. Once the foil is flying all noise and drag seems to just disappear and you are gliding along. At good height above the water! And with such a lightness combined with effortless speed… just amazing. I can now start to assess the right height above the water when having the foil flying. It is very easy to overcontrol the thing, meaning you will be too high so the foil comes out of the water momentarily only to result in a steep nosedive and then a crash.. I need to just spend more and more time to get familiar with the visual picture.. Unfortunately time is precious and even the weather here in Qatar has taken a wintery turn meaning lots of showers, combined with very inconsistent winds.. Whereas normally practically every day in Qatar is a kite day!

Until the next adventure… keep flying and sharing my blog!! =)

Oh! I've included a video with some retrospective talk back on the beach.. didn't want to let this episode go by without any image material!