http://50knots.xs4all.nl:3006/gps-kitesurfing/gps.asp?mnu=user&val=290&uid=10

Apparently this isn't a record though, because it was outside the recognised speed strip, but even so those kites are giving the record a good nudge. Won't be long...

So close yet so far.... 0.2 of a knot on the 500 from the magic 50.

Will he get another chance before Dave White at the Ray, Finian at the canal and MI at Sandy Point get there first in the next few months.

Kites are the way to go for speed, make sailboards look so slow,those speeds are unbelievable but they are doing them more and more.The top ten on the kite gps site makes the windsurf site look well slow

Whats the difference between a wake board being towed by a boat and a kite board being towed by a kite?

Nothing.[}:)]


As far as the WSSRC
http://www.sailspeedrecords.com/rulesbook/index.html
are concerned there are two distinct divisions for this discussion.

1. up to 10 sq.m SAIL area

and

2. a division for Sailboard with kite sails

may the best man win.

Choco.. "The top ten on the kite gps site makes the windsurf site look well slow"

Bold claim!

No.10 on the Kite GPS Top 10 2007 = 41.3kn

No. 10 on the Windsurfing GPS Top 10 2007 = 43.9kn

At Walwis where kites ran with windsurfers they were off the pace. I think the best kiter couldn't get in the top ten overall.

Their main advantage is that they can run in 10cm or less and they can go way deep off the wind. This skimboard ability may be one of the reasons they are not recognised by the ISAF for the outright sailing speed record.

However, this doesn't lessen Alex's superb effort. He deserves to be congratulated, as do all the kiters knocking on the door of 50 knots.

Yeah it is a bold claim but when you got a guy sitting on top with a 50.5knot average that speaks for itself.
I'm not trying to be smart but all the guys on sailboards are trying to achieve this holy grail of 50knots when it's already been done by a kiter,max gps display 54knots.You have to admire those speeds maybe one day us guys on our windsurfers could get that sort of performance with more developement in sail/board and fin design.
Everyone is hoping for more wind to go faster but maybe we should be looking at doing those speeds in less wind.Look at MI it's doing 45+ knots in 18knots of wind i think this should be the way of the future in speed sailing,triple the wind speed if possible.

I think it's brilliant what the kitesurfers have achieved, good on them. It should be no surprise either, Jim Drake, the inventor of the windurfer and physicist, stated 6 years ago that the laws of physics would determine that kites would put the speed record out of reach for every other water craft.

I think one of the issues here was that windsurfers for many years in order to differentiate and defend against the massive interest and defection to kitesurfing, would claim that windsurfers were much faster than kitesuring. This has come back to haunt us a bit.

Kitesurfing is deveoping it's own culture, and creating it's own boundaries, as it should, it's normal, and it's natural evolution.

Ask your self why you windsurf, most probably it's coz of the feeling you get, the investment you have put into it also creates the feeling, and some of the friendships you have made with similar minded people, also motivates. Is the only reason you windsurf, because it is a sport that held the status as the fastest water craft on the water?

For me personaly I have been windsurfing for 23 years and I have a lifetime invested in it. I am trying to reach the magical 40 knot barrier, it's what I'm striving for, and when or if I reach it, it will be a lifetime achievement and a magical buzz. I could get on a jetski tommorow, whack on my gps, and crack 40 knots, it might feel good, but what's it gonna mean to me? Similarly with kitesurfing, if I dedicated myself to it as I do with windsurfing, maybe I could break 40 knots within a coupla years, but it just aint gonna mean the same thing.

Viva la difference, good on the kiters, they deserve this, they believed in themselves, and were passionate about what they were doing.

Remember the famous words by President Kennedy "Why are we going to the moon......... Not because it's easy, but because it's hard!!"

It's a fundamentla psychological principle, meaning and a sense of achievement is positively correlated with degree of difficulty!

no one ever thought of putting short hydro fins along the sides of the sailboard so it'b a hybrid of the hydroptere and kiteboard..yes there is a hydrofoil from rush sailboards but what i mean are short ones on bothe sides infront and tail part but i guess they someone tried that before..if not it just might break 55 in an instant....

quote:

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Originally posted by jp747

no one ever thought of putting short hydro fins along the sides of the sailboard so it'b a hybrid of the hydroptere and kiteboard.. [snip] if not it just might break 55 in an instant....

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Short answer - unless those foils are specifically designed not to cavitate, it wont work.

For those interested, look up some cavitation pics and see why cavitation plays such a significant part of the problem of achieving 50 knots.

quote:

---

Originally posted by yoyo

Their main advantage is that they can run in 10cm or less and they can go way deep off the wind. This skimboard ability may be one of the reasons they are not recognised by the ISAF for the outright sailing speed record.

---

There are numerous possible reasons why kitesurfing isn't considered to be classified as sailing:
- the sail is not attached to the hull, so it isn't a "craft"
- sailing in 10cm has been given the term "liquid ice" for a reason; you get a change in drag and lift, when the water is very shallow. Compare this with world-class swimming and why the pools are a least a certain depth; you swim faster in shallow water.
- Under some scenarios, the kite flies at a different speed to the hull (and sailor); when this occurs, you need to measure average speed of both pieces of gear.
- on an official course, the distance from board to kite (along the path of travel) changes significantly; one could argue that such a craft would be required to have the same length (along the path of travel) at the start and finish lines, otherwise there is an unfair advantage (relates to previous point of different speeds).

Of course this all depends on your point of view...

The water depth is an interesting one - strictly speaking, ice-sailing is really just water-sailing where the water layer is extremely thin, and as it turns out makes an extremely slippery layer. Since ice-sailing is really a sail-powered craft on a water layer, they already go real-fast.

One could argue that windsurfing also runs in "too shallow" water, but the reality is that most sailors arn't crazy enough to sail in 20cm of water, just in case they catapult head-first.

Having just written that stuff, I'm not trying to take anything away from this achievement.

quote:

---

Originally posted by mathew


- on an official course, the distance from board to kite (along the path of travel) changes significantly; one could argue that such a craft would be required to have the same length (along the path of travel) at the start and finish lines, otherwise there is an unfair advantage (relates to previous point of different speeds).

---

Hmmm interesting... I guess if you were to take this to the extreme, you could attach 500m of fishing line to an arrow, and fire that at the finish line. I can see why it's a difficult problem for the officials.

For the kiter though, a smidgen under 50 knots is very quick, no matter whether it's recognised officially or not.

Hey Matty, good read mate

I think it's different apples, and teabagging's not for me, but 50 on anything would be awesome

Bugger me dead JP, some one was only saying yesterday at the beach if hydro foils would be the go.
Got me thinking, on very flat water there isn't much contact between board and water anyway, the fin is acting like a hydro foil

quote:

---

on an official course, the distance from board to kite (along the path of travel) changes significantly; one could argue that such a craft would be required to have the same length (along the path of travel) at the start and finish lines, otherwise there is an unfair advantage (relates to previous point of different speeds).

---

This to me is why kites at the moment won,t get to a 50kt 500m record. Whiping the kite to get a boost down the course isn,t sailing. Put the gps on the kite.But running anything at those speeds takes guts.Good luck to them

then here's another one---why not put spoilers on the deck of the board to stabilize at at full speed rather than board dancing around at over 40kts..crazy options but never know..i know you guys would be thinkin' to lessen wetted area and with spoilers it would push it down further but that'd be better than breaking your stance cuz the board wants to fly and dance uncontrollably at times...

Get a smaller fin Jp

bob just between you and the rest of aussieland it's on it's way by the way just after freakin' weeks' wait got the straps screws and 2vent plugs..so it's pointing the right direction to say the least...50kts