Hi there,
the ISAF has chosen Kiteboarding over windsurfing for the 2016 Olympics.
Here's the link to today's (05/05/2012) official release from the ISAF:
www.sailing.org/38281.php
let's go racing guys ;0)
Congratulations to kiting.
Gear question
I guess it will be on one design gear right? When do we know that?
Format question
Is it just racing or like a pentathlon (racing ,distance, freestyle etc)?
In the RSX class most competitors are similar in body type. Most guys weigh 76 kg for Weymouth. They were 71 kg in china 08.
Rio is expected to be very light winds.
Hopefully they will have big kites to attract average grown men.
I have always raced Mistral One Design and RSX. I think Olympic status is a good thing for a sport. You can use the same gear year after year and you always have very well run completions to enter and you end up a better sailor as you are mixing with the best.
Anyway exciting times for kiting. It now has the prestige of the Olympic games. Can't wait to see Sail Sydney grade 1 ISAF event. Kites all over the harbour.
Seems the first ISAF kiteboarding event is to be held in Melbourne in November or December
Hey bike riders don't use all the same bikes! The current kite race Box rule works perfect, means easy to get boards/kites & cheaper, more riders can give it a smash.
WAKSA now has a kite race committee & for 2012/2013 season we are talking about a goal of setting up 3x full time moored kite race courses around Perth so we can race all wind directions. More info on revised & improved 2012/2013 kite race season with regular practice nights each month and 2013 WA state race champs to follow at end of season. All interested riders welcome to add their thoughts/ ideas/ etc.
NICE! 
I wonder if it would get several different disciplines as snowboarding does. Would love to see a bit of freestyle in there!
Who knows, the winners of this years nationals in Townsville might very well be in Rio in 4 years!
I asume the equipment required is through IKS ?? Max brd length1.9m and Max 700mm wide Max kite area 19sqm?? etc Have list but would not up load
As predicted Racing is about to grow exponentially. Congratulations go to those that got this through.
2 kiters would get the chance, one guy and one girl :)
Also I believe restricting it to a one design class will make it more expensive by having one manufacturer who has a monopoly on the market and can charge what they want. Competition is key to keeping prices reasonable. Yes R&D is expensive but ozone edges from last year are still winning world class races with $0 spent on changing the design. As long as the rules are able to keep the equipment similar then it would be competitive racing. I would say the box rule and 3 kite max rule is on the way to doing that. I would also say there needs to be a restriction on fin sets registered to 2 maybe to make it a level playing field for those not sponsored by a fin company :)
Just my 2 cents...happy sailing:)
This is definitely going to take kiteboard racing to the next level, although it is a pity windsurfing had too leave as well.
The IOC must learn from its previous mistakes by making windsurfing one design which pushed prices for the RS:X up notably, pushing many athletes out of the sport and estranging a great many windsurfers from racing.
Kiteboarding has always had a few things going for it: relatively cheap gear (compared to other sailing disciplines) and youth and spectator appeal.
If we make the Olympics one design then we will lose that cheap gear as the market becomes less competitive through only having one manufacturer.
Instead they should implement a 'box rule' where kites can only have a certain aspect, size, safety specs and line length in order to keep the competition safe and have close racing whilst keeping prices low, as many companies can make the kites.
It will be interesting to see the courses in action and the rules they implement.
See ISAF's evaluation here: http://www.sailing.org/tools/documents/EC8bKiteboardingTechnicalReport-[12451].pdf
Can't wait for Rio 2016!
So I wonder if this means my 3rd party insurance for kiting will slip in with my 3rd party insurance for sailing through the AYF, seeing as kiting is now considered a sailing discipline...
great to see the kite racing hitting the olympics but to push out windsurfing sucks, they are both great sports.
now some of the poleys are going to hate us even more :(
This will be one design.
Olympics has always been this way. It's the way the do things.
1 x Design = down to person hanging on to the thing.
Cabrinah? North? Naish? Only an example who will it be? This is yet to be announced.
Its great in some respects but...
1. Australia is going to battle to compete largely because we are already quite a way behind a lot of countries who have been doing this for a while (I stand under correction though but thats the impression I get)
2. It seems that equipment has a major impact on your performance and although there are limits to the equipment (minimum number of boards sold), the sponsored riders who test the gear are going to have access to the boards prior to any of the other riders which gives more time to get used to it.
3. This has the potential to grow kiting substantially which I am not sure is a good thing when we consider the congestion at current locations.
4. It doesn't impact 95% of riders other than the ability to watch it on TV in the olympics
From kiteforum - people in the know with info say will be current box rule, IKA reg production kite & boards. See below post from today.
Gebi
Post subject: Re: Kiteboarding in the 2016 Olympics...windsurfing outPosted: Tue May 08, 2012 12:06 am
Medium Poster
Joined: Sun Dec 04, 2005 9:32 pm
Posts: 93
Kitesurfing will race in the Olympics. IKA has a list of the board and kites registered to race on. Its a box rule, production kite and board set up.
Go to internationalkiteboarding.org/ as all the info is there.
Competition rules, courses, equipment, calendar of races, etc.
Lots of Gebi
Top
i think they will issue standard same kites to everone, haha what about the Ozone Reo ?
Keen to know how many course racing kiters there are in Aus, I personally have only seen 1 demo race board here in SA.
Its great that kiting is in the olympics, would have been nice to have both windsurfing and kiting in, but thats life,
How good would it have been for a combined freestyle Kiting and windsurfing comp? that would have been huge on the beach at Copa Cabana - or further up the coast at Jeri even?
Now we get to see relatively, and I mean this in the nicest way, boring (hey even RSX is kinda dull) racing,
See you at the beach
Yo Rick why the crossbow, it hasn't won any titles over the last 4 years, on a world stage as Adam koch and jonny heineken have been dominant on the edges, it'll be interesting due to sponsor obligations , riders should be allowed to ride whatever board or kite they want, as long as its on a size comparison.
you are allowed to use different brands of rowing boat for rowing, different brands of bike for cycling, different brands of skiis for skiiing, snowboards for snowboarding, kayaks for kayaking, raquets for tennis and badminton, sticks for hockey... you get the picture
as long as they are kind of the same there is no need for one design!
You are allowed to use any kite or board as long as it is standard production kit. Meaning that series production runs of 50 or greater for kites 10m or above and 15 or great for kites less than 10 m.
So the riders will be using off the shelf kit.
Equipment
All equipment used in international course racing events must be included on the relevant IKA production equipment list for boards and kites on the first day of the event latest.
It is each competitors sole responsibility that the equipment on which he is racing complies with the class rules.
Attention is drawn to the IKA class rules in their latest version.
a. A production board is a board that has been registered with the IKA and fits into the new box rule. This means it must not exceed certain measurements (70 cm wide and 190cm long), and it needs to be built in a series production process (which means that all boards are close to identical), of at least 30 pieces per model. The same applies to kites, they have to be production manufactured in a series production process of at least 50 pieces per model (for sizes 10m and bigger) and 15 pieces for smaller kites.
c. Only three kites are to be registered for an event. Only one board will be allowed to be used at an event.
d. When registering for an international event (on site at the registration day) the board and kites to be used during the competition must be registered. Equipment
inspection will take place randomly during the competition days, however it is the
responsibility of every competitor to have a look if one of his competitors is using
equipment that he either did not register or which is not production. In this he might protest the other competitor.
Good news, that means $ for the sport and makes it legit right? I wonder if anyone has ever really looked at what it takes to be good at this sport, but they will do it now because there are dollars at stake.
