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My wife flying in the video 1st flight

Just stumbled across these

Mark has clearly state my position on competition above. Enjoy yourself and don't worry about anything else! Some folks are burned-out in only a couple of years, doing their absolute best every time and then taking on new challenges. I do competitions to hang with my friends and keep the activity alive thru continued support (financial and sweat equity) so other can have that same experience I enjoy so much. All the coolest tricks and latest technology will be on display and you can confront the competitors about their craft, keeping the best knowledge and dumping the rest. I am still a soul flyer (since 1999), with no preplanned routines or even selected music before the event. That is half of the fun, making it up as you go along. Heck you might not win (in fact it is highly unlikely!) but nobody is having more fun that you either! A carefully planned routine set to killer music will come out winning, unless the flight conditions are just deplorable. In that case, the individual with the most experience in those same crappy conditions will come out on top. I only "win" when the wind is below 2 mph or above 28. The sport kite activity rules state that competitions shall take place between about 5 and 18 mph. Sometimes you get to the event and the wind is missing entirely or just booking' across the landscape so hard the port-potties are about to be blown over! Folks came from all over to attend, are we going to hold the competition regardless of these conditions? Most of the time the answer is YES. Borrow equipment of you have to,.. or withdraw. Again you are being exposed to the best fliers dueling in the worse of all possible conditions. How do the people handle it, what did they do differently, how is their equipment modified??? Take their best, dump the rest! I highly recommend everyone give competition a shot. Meet some new folks, broaden your horizons, compete against others in the same rank as you. I foolishly flew one-handed in 2004 and was forced to move up to Masters. I won the Eastern League jacket in 2015 and 2016 in three events ( OIOU, MMP, MMB). That means for eleven years in a row I lost!!! My buddy Dennis Smith is my most significant nemesis, but the soul flyer has come out on top 2 years in a row. Den is a superb musician, tactical flier with carefully planned routine. He doesn't listen to music or play, he authors it! Being published musician is no easy task in this day and age. Make some new friends and smile, it's only kites, not nuclear weapons. ENJOY