I note the WSSRC still have not ratified the + 50 knot records of the kiters.

Rob Douglas' 49.84 achieved on the 19/9/2008 is listed as the record on their web site. It was ratified and posted 2 weeks later.

Now it 6 weeks since that posting and since Alexandre Caizergues broke 50 and still no "official" record.

Was it suss?

something about a different category??

3 kiters over 50 knots and Genetrix team rider catman had a gps reading of 60knots ,you windsurfing lads are going to have to come up with a rig with less drag or something. maybe twin skin sails will be the next step.

ISAF rejected the kiters holding the overall sailing speed record, windsurfers still hold the record. ISAF doesnt recocgnise kite powered craft as sailing craft.

Roo said...

ISAF rejected the kiters holding the overall sailing speed record, windsurfers still hold the record. ISAF doesnt recocgnise kite powered craft as sailing craft.

Did they say why not?

Roo said...

Because they dont have a sail!

Thats just dumb (if true) MI doesn,t have a sail it has an aircraft wind stood on its end

That's ludicrous. Its farcical. Its Kafkaesque. he he he. I never thought I'd find myself applauding a dumb notion like that.

The guys who broke the record must be fuming. Do you think the ISAF may be in danger of rendering itself irrelevant if they place the world wind speed record outside their bailiwick? Cos that's what they seem to be doing.

i would have thought that any object on water that uses wind as propulsion would be eligible to take the record.

if they allowed kiters to enter in the first place then they should hardly be allowed to change their minds now.

who remembers jacobs ladder the kite powered catamaran that entered the weymouth speed trials in the eighties? kites aren't like an unknown quantity!

I agree a kite is not a sailing craft...
A sail has a mast,a boom,a luff,a leech,a head and a clew.
Quite simply,a kite does not.
By definition a kite is a kite not a sail.
So how can it even contend "The World Sailing Speed Record"?

Full respect to the kiters that get dragged along that fast.
But it aint sailing.
Have you ever heard a kiter say "What a great sail i've had today"?

Surely the ludicrous thing is that they have a sole "world sailing speed record" - there should be categories, like for kite pulled craft, fixed mast craft, windsurfer, cat, tri, soft sail, wing sail, hydrofoil, etc,- so there is a record for each category, plus the overall fastest speed could be called the "world wind propelled speed record". Something like that.

Excuse me for veering off topic a bit, but I'm getting a gps soon and have been trolling through the "speedies" territory looking for info, and notice there's no gps speed sessions posted since April. Whats the story?

I think people are just getting panties in a knot because how the most "prestigious" category in ISAF is named. The sailing speed record.

I think honestly kiters have to admit that the majority of them don't consider themselves sailors. Go down to the nearest beach and ask, point out to a kiter that his kite is a sail, you will soon be corrected. However from a technical standpoint it could be argued the other way. Yes they are wind driven craft, however, the only time I think majority of kiters would only consider themselves sailors is if there is a record for grab. However with windsurfing for example most of the time people actually say that they are going for a sail.

I think the fairest thing to do is to have two seperate categories for sailing and kiting like there is now, with a "outright fastest wind powered craft" record sitting on top of both. However possibly this would have to be run by another organisation as the ISAF is the International "Sailing" Federation. With a well defined set of rules, probably governing waterdepth etc, and the use of powered devices to assist the craft.

I think this is the best solution. It acknowledges the speed of kiters, and keeps sailors happy.

Of course kiting is sailing. The principals are exactly the same. You can't differentiate the sports on the length of a piece of string. Remember the old bomboras - rope universals - sail it no hands on the harness lines - you're kiting.

stribo said...

I agree a kite is not a sailing craft...


Full respect to the kiters that get dragged along that fast.
But it aint sailing.
Have you ever heard a kiter say "What a great sail i've had today"?

its not "getting dragged along," its close reaching, just as a sailboard or a yacht close reaches.

i think most original windsurfers came from a yachting background, so the sport carried on using traditional sailing terms. kiters generally don't have that background or use those terms, but the sport is still a form of sailing.

it comes down to semantics. if i'm talking to my sailing mates about kiting or kites i use yachting terminology to explain, and they know exactly what i'm saying.

It should be said that it is the ISAF and not the WSSRC that has the problem with Kites. 30 something years ago Jacobs Ladder was one of the more interesting craft at the Weymouth Speed Trial. It was a Tornado catamaran powered by flexifoil kites stacked on one another.



Kites have a long history in speed sailing.

You could come up with a stupid reason to exclude windsurfers too. In the end it is just stupid terminology. If it is wind powered, it is sailing IMO. However I will never say I'm going out for a sail, unless I am taking the piss. It all boils down to them not being happy that kiters reach 50 knots first.