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Gear of the Future
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isobars



Joined: 12 Dec 1999
Posts: 20935

PostPosted: Thu May 02, 2013 4:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Only if ya stop too quickly ... just as on the highway. Wink
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cgoudie1



Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 2597
Location: Killer Sturgeon Cove

PostPosted: Thu May 02, 2013 5:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I doubt it too, and now you're actually to the reality of it. Some
guys just rip, on Kite boards or Windsurfers, and not just in straight
lines. They can do it on 30 year old designs too (well not Kite
designs because the sport hasn't been around that long). You
might be able to get'm with a power boat, maybe. But "nonsense"
is how some really interesting ideas get started ....... and more to my
interest, funded. ;*)

-Craig

isobars wrote:
pzwinakis wrote:
Drag-raced a kiteboard? People do that? Never even crossed my mind

But when I was wound up on a broad reach on a wave board and fin and heard something approaching me from behind, looked to be sure I wasn't going to cut somebody off, and saw Glen creeping up on me, I couldn't just let him go by unchallenged. I closed the gap, hiked out and back, fed more boom through my hands, bore off a bit to my optimal angle ... all for naught, as he still crept by. I doubt an electronic batten or downhaul would have helped.
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MULLDE102f



Joined: 15 Jun 1997
Posts: 131

PostPosted: Fri May 03, 2013 3:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

[quote="isobars"]
pzwinakis wrote:
Drag-raced a kiteboard? People do that? Never even crossed my mind

But when I was wound up on a broad reach on a wave board and fin and argle bargle on and on.......
Mike got schooled by a kiter. What a surprise.
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mac



Joined: 07 Mar 1999
Posts: 17742
Location: Berkeley, California

PostPosted: Fri May 03, 2013 4:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Perhaps a bit brash?

Quote:
I haven't lost a drag race to a Kite boarder since they became
popular


I doubt you've lined up with Johnny Heineken on the open Bay. http://www.johnnyheineken.com/

The fastest windsurfers and kiteboarders have been racing each other on San Francisco Bay for nearly a decade, with top pros lining up periodically in the Nationals and showing us what fast is really about. For quite a while Formula boards would dominate upwind and kites down, and the results would be in question. No longer, kites kick, with significant progress made by Mike Zajicek. Johnny is the best of the best, and no windsurfer can keep up with him.

With that said, and verifiably the case in triangle racing, top speed in a straight line or around a slalom course can vary according to the preferred point of sail. Top speed for a while isn't necessarily top speed for the whole course--which is why the Aussie 18's often beat kites and windsurfers in the Ronstan Bridge to Bridge: http://www.surfertoday.com/kiteboarding/7785-johnny-heineken-sweeps-the-ronstan-bridge-to-bridge-race-2012 (not in 2012)

What is missing here is a more serious discussion of the design challenges of foils, and can a windsurfer, or kiter, ever achieve control on a foil? It is theoretically possible that getting up onto a foil would reduce drag, and the difficulty of sailing over waves, and thus achieve a higher speed. But actually controlling the bloody things remains a huge challenge.

Look at the AC's for cutting edge speed. I was with one of the Bay area's best, Steve Sylvester, lined up with AC 45's. They are a little faster than windsurfers on a course that is kindest to a formula board, or a slalom board--and way faster on many points of sail. The big boys are quite a bit faster--but you don't want to tip one over--even if you don't have to pay for repairs.

Can anyone speculate about scaling foils down to windsurfers and/or kites?
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D-wo



Joined: 13 May 2004
Posts: 239

PostPosted: Fri May 03, 2013 5:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Sonic Boom. You hold it up to the wind and the sound (pitch) of the air rushing through the adjustment holes tells you what size sail to rig. Everybody needs this.
_________________
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xander.arch



Joined: 23 Apr 2009
Posts: 217

PostPosted: Fri May 03, 2013 5:50 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The foil board is here.... Love to hear a review of this.

http://www.ahd-boards.com/models/afs-1/en
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pzwinakis



Joined: 03 Aug 2000
Posts: 42
Location: Santa Cruz

PostPosted: Fri May 03, 2013 5:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you really want to have a discussion about "gear of the future" outright speed has no part in it.. I came from Windsuring.. what percentage of people raced? Almost no one when you figured percentages of the whole.. Now I am kiting.. still, it's the same thing. Free-sailing/kiting is where the progress needs to be made. It's what 90% of people are doing. Considering how much easier it is to get more performance out of a Kiteboard, I think that is where the designs of Windsurfers needs to be addressed. It's not that you can't get a huge amount of performance out of a Windsurfer, it's just that it takes a lot more skill and time on the water (experience) to do it.. I acknowledge that there has been progress in this area but it still needs to take a huge leap.

Consider that I kite in the bay area, mostly in the surf. I sail anytime the conditions are good and all I need it two kites and one board. This gets me on the water in about 15 knots or so (light enough that there are absolutely no windsurfers in the water) and I can comfortably kite in up to about 30+ knots.. I talked to one of my Windsurfing friends at the beach and he was telling me about the increased wind range of the new Windsurfing gear, yet he still had 4 sails and two boards! And I can be on the water more than he can with my limited gear.. This discrepancy is what needs to be addressed (in my opinion) regarding Windsurfing. Gear is expensive! A lot of gear is hugely expensive AND a pain to haul around/travel with.
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xander.arch



Joined: 23 Apr 2009
Posts: 217

PostPosted: Fri May 03, 2013 6:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pzwinakis, Give us a break man. The original post here asked us to dream a bit - to think outside the box. Let's not turn this into a kite vs windsurf post. That's just plain boring at this point. Maybe you can offer some cool ideas from kite surfing that could improve windsurfing tech? Kind of like the evolution of shape skis that partly evolved from snowboards. thanks!
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nw30



Joined: 21 Dec 2008
Posts: 6485
Location: The eye of the universe, Cen. Cal. coast

PostPosted: Fri May 03, 2013 6:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

xander.arch wrote:
The foil board is here.... Love to hear a review of this.

http://www.ahd-boards.com/models/afs-1/en

They've actually been around for quite awhile, a friend of mine take his foil out windsurfing or kiting every so often, for years.
This is some french guy from 2009.
But for some really great foil surfing, ala Laird, and his friends, check this out~
http://www.cat-up.com/video/352/laird-hamilton-foil-boarding-hanalei-march-2010



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cgoudie1



Joined: 10 Apr 2006
Posts: 2597
Location: Killer Sturgeon Cove

PostPosted: Fri May 03, 2013 8:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Perhaps. I'm not a fast guy per se, and don't really have that much
interest in speed either. A few kiters have come up on me (in the Gorge)
and said "let's race". I've obliged, that's it. I've been blown off the water
by Burce Peterson, and he was just sailing his normal sail, didn't even know I was trying to catch up.

I'm really more of a swell rider. It was a marginal attempt to get people
thinking that crazy ideas aren't always stupid.

Surfers probably thought nailing a mast and sail to a short board
ala Mike Waltze was a crazy stupid idea. I bet a few of them still do.

-Craig

mac wrote:
Perhaps a bit brash?

Quote:
I haven't lost a drag race to a Kite boarder since they became
popular


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