I would like to see Upwind/Downwind races instead of slalom.I think it would help develop gear more suited to what i do when i wing.

But maybe it does not matter, probably the biggest factor in top speed is foil size,aspect ratio and profile thickness.And Aluula wings will probably be the standard in races soon.

IMHO race winning foils will become very close to kite foils and require lots of skill to get up on foil with a wing.

I think Gong's designer son won a wing race in France using a foil from their kite range.Of course he is super skilled and lightweight.

how are those duck jibes from the guy in the front!

I guess it depends on the speed you carry through the gybe. When most of us us mere mortals gybe we go through with near zero apparent breeze. He's really hooking into it so it's feasible that the apparent wind is actually coming from in front of him. It's actually an apparent wind tack even though it's a true wind gybe?

I'm pretty sure that is Johnny Heineken at the front, he has a definite speed edge. It would be very interesting to look at his foil setup. he probably has multiple options depending on whether it is with or against tide, and slalom versus course racing.

Jethrow said..
I guess it depends on the speed you carry through the gybe. When most of us us mere mortals gybe we go through with near zero apparent breeze. He's really hooking into it so it's feasible that the apparent wind is actually coming from in front of him. It's actually an apparent wind tack even though it's a true wind gybe?

Yeah it looks like he has so much speed going into the Jibe that the apparent wind comes from his front. I tried it yesterday, doable, but timing and enough speed are key. Johnny's are beautifully executed.

Nice "trick" to work on

that is an amazing video, thanks for sharing. such effortless style