October 2002

Newsletter, October 2002.

Noel Coward advised: "Try everything once except incest and morris dancing"

So, I think I'll try plagarism:

"The spring is sprung, the grass is ris,

I wonder where them birdies is.

Them little birds is on the wing ,

ain't that absurd,

them little wings is on the bird."

I can't say it better than that! Spring has definitely sprung, must have happened sometime during the two months I've been away, amazing.  Glorious blue skies and beautiful warm spring weather.

This morning I drove from Ashburton the 100km to our K.D.C (kite development centre, otherwise risibly called the beach house) at New Brighton (on the beach front in Christchurch) to compare 2 versions of a new size of the kite that dare not speak it's name*.  Out on the sand not 100metres from the K.D.C is as perfect a place for kite testing as it's possible to imagine (on warm days that is); enticing surf, km's of buggyable beach stretching invitingly in both directions, useable onshore wind (and this at10am!). We bought the KDC for it's location, the ramshackle shanty that currently squats there will be re-decorated by bulldozer some day soon (er or later). 
.

Here at the NZ end of Peter Lynn Kites we do four things; make all large single line kites, make small single line kites for Australia and NZ, distribute all Peter Lynn products to Southern Hemisphere countries and develop new kites. Mostly I'm involved with the last of these.  Also on research and development are Pete Lynn, (son,), Chris Brent, and occasional visiting kitemakers who come for the summer. The KDC will be very crowded this season, with at least five of these extra's expected. Chris came to visit about two years ago and didn't leave- he's become one of the family.

Pete is based at New Brighton while Chris and I are still primarily at Ashburton. Clearly Chris and I  should shift also- come to think of it, Chris seems to have already, or at least his bed in Ashburton hasn't been slept in for the last week or so.

At the Holland end, Dominique Scholtes and Stefan Cook (Jenny and Clyde's son) work to convert our ideas into saleable products.

Maybe our approach to R and D sounds a bit incestuous** but it's producing good results in all the kite sectors we covet- single line, buggying and kitesurfing.- plenty of hybrid vigour still in evidence and no signs of inbred deformities so far I think- occasional just plain ugliness notwithstanding!

The NZ/Holland split has proved to be an excellent way of organising things because when we get something to work, NZ gets the credit, while all failures are blamed on Holland.  New Zealand hasn't  been able to get one over the Dutch like this since some local toughs persuaded Abel Tasman not take possession of the place for Holland in 1642.

Just thought you might like to know all this.

I'm off to the US for Mix '96 in Sacramento and the AKA at Ocean City in Maryland (25th anniversary of the first and the first that I went to)- looking forward to catching up with the original band of brothers and sisters, unless, as I suspect, all the other first day kids have long since climbed out of the playpen and moved on to socially useful careers, that is.)

See ya,

Peter Lynn, Ashburton September 27, 2002

*Oh well shucks, can't keep a good thing secret forever, time for some 'outing': Our new model of the Arc for kitesurfing is called the "Guerilla", ("guerilla, n, politically motivated combatant opposing forces of the establishment."),  G Arc for short.  

Appropriate name don't you think?- took a bit of bullying to persuade the more politically correct elements in our business to go with it but.

It's to fill the gap between the Standard Arc and the F Arc, and replaces neither.

So, that's the name, but what's it like?- Shhh!, still supposed to be a secret, but we are already hearing "viva la revolution" from some interesting  directions!

And when is G day, that is, when do they hit the beaches? - surely you don't expect me to reveal that do you?   

** And no, I'm not about to take up morris dancing.