I picked up a GPS unit from windforce to find out how fast I can kite and how far.... well cruising in scarborough seamed to pull around 28km average.... top speed 35km...... tested it at peli point on flat water hit 42km (on a new small board).... I would expect to hit 60kmh with some practice... I know the record is around 80 but I do not want to destroy myself...

any tips on going fast (better to use a smaller or bigger board? twintips) and handling the speed.... at over 40... it feels like the board is skipping out of the water and a crash would be likely at much higher speed...

hawaii,

i have one of those speed boards on order. when it arrives i will let you take it out of a sesh....in return, lend me your gps

in my opinion, peli is too choppy for speed runs, especially at higher speeds. try woodies. i plan to do speed runs at woodies once everybody goes home around 8pm...

also, i saw a speed canal in madurah near the bridge. looked around 300m long. not bad.

i will PM you when the board arrives and if you are keen lets go for a sesh~!

kenta.

Ooh, can I play too? I haven't gotten around to organising a board yet, still keen on getting Mike at Fetish to build one and working on it with him. I have GPS to play with and have sussed the software for proper track analysis:

www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=4752

Have also got a shortlist of spots and ideas to work on.

Oh, and I hit a instantaneous max of 39.4kts (~73km/h) according to the GPS readout once in Namibia on my normal board

Mac eh? hmmmm. Them's funny machines, but it would probably work, it's done in java. We could have a go at it, and we can always download tracks to my PC to look at if it doesn't work.

I was riding a Liquid Force Element 134. I do think the channels and swallowtails added a bit to the experience, but I've always had a thing for them. It's probably just me. I was about 112kg at the time and I stand 6'2". I was flying a high aspect 10m c-kite in 30-35 knot winds on the speed strip in Walvis Bay where a lot of the world records have been set.

Surprisingly, it's quite painless to wipe at that speed. Because the water is so flat and you are so low to it you just skip across the water for a way while you shed speed and it's all good. They make you wear protective gear in the competitions, but I was just there by myself on any given Sunday and wore none of it. Not saying it's the right thing to do, but it was my choice and I'm happy with it.

As for spots, I can't go listing them on a public forum man, you know that's against the rules. We'll go suss them all out when I'm back in Perth, how does that sound?

What direction is your board set up for?

I have seen a photo of a twintip speed board, but all the guys who compete have theirs set up for a particular direction:

www.seabreeze.com.au/gallery/gallery.asp?imageid=6786

If I ever get my act together I'm going to get a starboard one built. That's the direction of the run in Namibia and it would also be the best for Woodies, if we can get any sneak runs in there when the homeboys aren't all there carrying on like pork chops.

There are two other spots I've yet to test out, though I hear one of them is best to starboard as well.

if it's deeper than your fins it's a bit too deep.

Kenta, your track looked like this yesterday:



with yellow being slow and dark blue at 30kts (I cropped the legend off).

PM me your email address so I can attach larger files and send you more.

Your statistics were:

Total Distance = 9.085 Km , Average speed = 12.42km/h [6.7Knots] , Total Time = 43 minutes

5 bests' average = 52.68km/h [28.45Knots]

Best Speed n°1 = 55.62km/h [30.03Knots] (77.2 meters in 5.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°2 = 55.38km/h [29.9Knots] (153.8 meters in 10.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°3 = 51.03km/h [27.55Knots] (85.0 meters in 6.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°4 = 50.74km/h [27.4Knots] (98.7 meters in 7.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°5 = 50.64km/h [27.34Knots] (126.6 meters in 9.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°6 = 50.37km/h [27.2Knots] (70.0 meters in 5.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°7 = 50.1km/h [27.05Knots] (97.4 meters in 7.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°8 = 49.9km/h [26.95Knots] (41.6 meters in 3.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°9 = 49.61km/h [26.78Knots] (55.1 meters in 4.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°10 = 49.48km/h [26.72Knots] (110.0 meters in 8.0 sec.)


5 best 100 meter (at least) average = 51.87km/h [28.01Knots]

100 meter run n°1 = 55.38km/h [29.9Knots] (153.8 m. in 10.0 s.)
100 meter run n°2 = 52.99km/h [28.61Knots] (147.2 m. in 10.0 s.)
100 meter run n°3 = 50.88km/h [27.47Knots] (183.7 m. in 13.0 s.)
100 meter run n°4 = 50.64km/h [27.34Knots] (126.6 m. in 9.0 s.)
100 meter run n°5 = 49.48km/h [26.72Knots] (110.0 m. in 8.0 s.)


5 best 200 meter (at least) average = 50.11km/h [27.06Knots]

200 meter run n°1 = 55.46km/h [29.95Knots] (231.1 m. in 15.0 s.)
200 meter run n°2 = 50.45km/h [27.24Knots] (238.2 m. in 17.0 s.)
200 meter run n°3 = 50.41km/h [27.22Knots] (224.0 m. in 16.0 s.)
200 meter run n°4 = 48.63km/h [26.26Knots] (270.1 m. in 20.0 s.)
200 meter run n°5 = 45.6km/h [24.62Knots] (266.0 m. in 21.0 s.)


5 best 5 second (at least) average = 52.68km/h [28.45Knots]

5 second run n°1 = 55.62km/h [30.03Knots] (77.2 m. in 5.0 s.)
5 second run n°2 = 55.38km/h [29.9Knots] (153.8 m. in 10.0 s.)
5 second run n°3 = 51.03km/h [27.55Knots] (85.0 m. in 6.0 s.)
5 second run n°4 = 50.74km/h [27.4Knots] (98.7 m. in 7.0 s.)
5 second run n°5 = 50.64km/h [27.34Knots] (126.6 m. in 9.0 s.)


5 best 10 second (at least) average = 51.66km/h [27.9Knots]

10 second run n°1 = 55.38km/h [29.9Knots] (153.8 m. in 10.0 s.)
10 second run n°2 = 52.99km/h [28.61Knots] (147.2 m. in 10.0 s.)
10 second run n°3 = 50.88km/h [27.47Knots] (183.7 m. in 13.0 s.)
10 second run n°4 = 50.41km/h [27.22Knots] (224.0 m. in 16.0 s.)
10 second run n°5 = 48.66km/h [26.28Knots] (148.7 m. in 11.0 s.)

Better run today, though I found the GPS was set to 'auto' track data recording interval, curses. Should be 1 or 2 seconds. But anyway, sorry to the guys I cut in front of down at the bottom there twice. Not that it was tight, but I felt bad about it anyway.

The readout on the GPS showed a maximum of 67.6km/h [36.5knots] and the track data showed:

5 bests' average = 65.9km/h [35.58Knots]

Best Speed n°1 = 70.29km/h [37.95Knots] (195.3 meters in 10.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°2 = 65.77km/h [35.51Knots] (127.9 meters in 7.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°3 = 65.77km/h [35.51Knots] (127.9 meters in 7.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°4 = 63.91km/h [34.51Knots] (142.0 meters in 8.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°5 = 63.77km/h [34.43Knots] (141.7 meters in 8.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°6 = 62.67km/h [33.84Knots] (87.0 meters in 5.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°7 = 62.53km/h [33.76Knots] (34.7 meters in 2.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°8 = 62.2km/h [33.59Knots] (103.7 meters in 6.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°9 = 62.01km/h [33.48Knots] (103.3 meters in 6.0 sec.)
Best Speed n°10 = 61.33km/h [33.11Knots] (51.1 meters in 3.0 sec.)

I'm still trying to work out what would be more accurate, I don't quite know which max speed to trust, so let's just say I was somewhere between 67 and 70km/h today .