I know in light wind most of the time a kiter will be faster but i was out sailing rye in crapy wind a few months ago after i just got me new jp excite. and all the kiters were over taken me on me 6.5 no cam sail then the wind came up for about 20 min to 15-20 knots, and i got on a plane. i was like faster than all the kiters out there.
So got me thinking, i want a full on race against a kitesurfer in not light wind but say a good 15-20 knots of wind. where we start and finnish at the same spot.
Who has had a planned out full on race against a kitesurfer and who one?
Does anyone know what knots a kitesurfer can do in say 15-20 knots of wind?
cheers WATCH THE VIDEO MAYBE WE SHOULD COMBINE THE 2 TO BREAK THE SPEED SAILING RECORD
If I'm planing, then I've never had a kiter overtake me.
Slogging well now that's a different story.
They are quick if they want to be, but only very very few have discovered the speed bug...
I'm a kiter, I have never been overtaked by a windsurfer when I tried to go fast. (of course I race windsurfers when conditions were good for me, and I don't know the level of windsurfer I raced with)
there are not many races between kiters and windsurfers because the windsurfers don't like kiters being too close. I'd like to race more
windsurfers are nearly always full speed
we don't kite for speed, we never go more than about half our max speed (when its 20knots or more) we have lot more things to do
to go fast means going downwind. about 110° to the wind. we already go downwind in every jump, surf and turn. so when q good kiter stay on water its for going upwind which is slower.
we also don't go to fast because its difficult to slow down, (jumping is a good way to slow down when real fast)
there is no kitesurf gear designed for speed in shops, if a kiter wants speed, he needs to buy/build custom boards. there are no kites designed for speed (in shops or customs)
windsurfers can go fast on choppy water, so you can go fast on every spots, kiters need very flat water to go fast, cause we need to edge the board. so on choppy water windsurfer wins. on flat water depends
kiters like 10cm (or less) deep water for speed.
there is also a problem for racing, we don't need the same angle of wind to go fast.
in australia the average kitesurfer is kiting for 1 or 2 years
the average windsurfer si windsurfing for way longer.
if anyone want to race...
Who cares about all this? I ride the car 60mph when I drive to windsurfing, which is faster than both, but I still windsurf 'coz it's fun. You guys just do the sport you like.
Last weekend at Pt Henry I was doing around 26 knots average and there were a couple of kiters out where I was and they were doing similar speeds. Horses for courses I say. Cant compare apples with oranges
Was discussing this with a very good windsurfer who has become a very good kiter a couple of weeks ago. He said the potential speeds in chop are comparable but a kiter's legs tire quickly at speed due to the pounding of the chop. A windsurfer can sit on the tail and let fin flex take out the jolts associated with generating lateral force in choppy water.
I think kites have soo much more potential to go fast. Kites seem to cope with rougher water much better, which is one of the major issues with real speed.
Not sure what craft has the best speed sensation though?
i found the speed sensation of kiting in normal chop similar to riding a hypersonic or an evo. You feel like you're going reeeaaaaaalllyy fast, until the people you normally overtake are overtaking you and then you realise just how slow you're going. i'm yet to kite on dead flat water so maybe it then feels different
aerohydro, its because there can't be any wave on water so shallow. so thats the best way to have dead flat water, offshore wind or not. when going fast kiter need 3cm of water (fins are 5cm, but the board is not horizontal)
I don't know if you know safety bay in WA, but there a big 10cm deep area, and its a dream to kite on
even if the wind is offshore, water is better when its shallow.
if a kiter crashes at high speed he won't touch the bottom in 10cm deep water.
you can see how shallow it is
That's interesting. Since you say that even with an offshore wind shallow water is better, it makes me think that there could be some other effect occuring. Perhaps this is something not exploited by speed sailing before kites. Any ideas? Intuitively there must be some physical difference between skimming over a thin film of water and planing on deep, smooth water.
Its "ground effect" from aerodynamics. Its the same thing in water. If the water is shallow it can't get out of the way so it provides more lift = less wetted area and less water to push around.
The critical depth is proportional to the width of the planing hull.
This is the reason that a wind speed sailing record authority (ISAF?) insists that the minimum depth for a sailboard record attempt must be 50 cm. (I could be wrong)
enciao i'm sure myself and a few others here would be keen to see how quick you can go. Of course it will have to be in around 50cm of water, and sorry around here their ain't alot of flat water when it is that deep.
Cmon 10cm of water, why call it a watersport at all. Even my board speeds up when i'm riding the nose and get into 10cm of water or so... hardly a skill.
I've heard so much BS from ex windsurfers who have taken up kiting who feel they have to justify their choice of sport, in general in the chop no way will a kite keep up. In shallow water provided the kiter has become a specialist then yes they will go very very fast, but I haven't seen too many focusing on speed around here.
pierrec45 stick to your wallies mate, but then again who cares about all that.
Each to their own ay
wont be over till the fat lady sings. its not really about us and the kiters anyway. its about every one all sail crafts to break tha new record now, that was set by the kite surfer. i know its just numbers and who cares but try telling someone back in the 1930s that a sail craft on water, will do 40-50 knots in the future. they would of laughed at ya and said keep dreaming son.
i think if ya told bjorn dunkerbeck it is just numbers you will make him one very angry dude.
i bet he is out there now on some speed strip trying to break the record as we speak.
so we have got to 50 knots, next 60 knots cant wait to see it on youtube