Awesome racing. We'll have that soon in aus I hope. Can't wait for melb racing. Game on.

kiteboy dave said...

Some funky fins in one shot there...

I am guessing you are talking about the 4 fin setup, they are now longer used (about 3 or years old) , but shows the evolution.
remember they have been racing at that club since about 2005 so a lot of the local crew will still have what used to be good.

That's very impressive to see the speed over choppy water that they are keeping those 70cm boards under control. A very close finish after 16 minutes racing - they both seemed to think they had won.

I was a bit surprised to see how bent in Johnny was at the start. I thought the idea of the sheeting line was that you held the most powerful stance you could and adjusted the kite's power with your sheeting hand, but maybe when maxed over chop you cant do that and have to just use the bar?

Also, some of the guys seemed to be waving their front arm before tacking to warn those behind them they were about to tack?

Someone stacked it at both starts but in the first start he seemed to keep his kite in the best position to avoid tangling.

That's a great video to see how the racing is played out. Pretty sure if you look at Johnny his stance is still 100% for power. Your upper body should t make too much difference to pow as long as you don't have to lift your hips. All the power comes from the kite through your harness and hips then down to the fins. As I can see he is sitting up probably making sheeting easier and more accurate as this for him is fastest.

I'm more interested in his kite, seems right on edge ( no pun intended) the whole time upwind. I'm thinking really overpowered upwind just holding onto it to get the extra grunt and depth downwind? His kite seems really unstable upwind. Very Interesting. Thanks for the vid post.

stjepan said...

glad to hear him say that the equipment we use today will be nothing like we use in 4 years

It is only his view and nobody really knows what the gear will be like but I not sure having to buy new gear regularly is anything to be glad about