Mac Bego 600

I've finally done it and bought myself a Mac Bego 600, mainly cos of the good reviews rather than a test flight or anything. And my first flight with it on Saturday suggested I'd made a good choice. Kite arrived Saturday morning, unwrapped it and found it filled the lounge, quite scary really. Seems bigger than my 7.3 Frenzy, but I think thats cos its a bit longer. Alistair at Atmosphere Kites set it up for me, and supplied a nice looking set of handles and lines. The only problem was I'm not used to wrapping lines round handles, so I managed to twist the lines when I unwrapped it, 45 minutes later I managed to get them straightened up and the kite laid out on the ground nicely My first flights weren't very long, the wind was a bit gusty between 6 and 12 mph I think. At 6 it was really nice, but the bigger gusts were enough to lift me off my feet without too much warning. Fun :) When I had control of the kite it was very nice to fly, developed lots of power and responded well. It did have a tendency to luff a bit when I tried a couple of jumps, but I think I need to keep it moving as I jump, otherwise it stalls. For a shot of what happens when you let it stall, check out the first video below (2.5mb, sorry about the size - any pointers?) At one point I got surprised by the power of the kite, and accidentally let go of the handles. I had kite killers on, but the velcro of one of them got pulled off my wrist - there's a lesson to us all, if you're going to use kite killers, make sure you put them on firmly! Overall first impressions are excellent, can't wait for some more light wind days to learn more. Power on the board seemed very easy to develop, felt comfortable. Roll on the summer :)

		Here's a couple of videos from the day. Many thanks to the Aussie tourists who learnt how to use my camera. Video 1 - accidental scud Video 2 - boarding action If anyone can help me with making them smaller I'd appreciate it

Click on the thumbnail for a larger version!