Speedkiting - Who does it ? and Where ?

here in WA or elsewhere in OZ.
Just curious .. I guess Augusta is a place with water flat enough but probably not big enough for high speeds. Are there spots over east with flat water and enough wind or is it mainly a European thing ?

regards
gmd

The speed freaks like to hit up Sandy Point near Wilsons Prom in Victoria. Similar setup to Augusta, but with a wider river. The shore also curves off downwind so you accelerate as you fly along 1m from the beach. The run would be about 500 m long? Maybe longer.

500m is not long enough unfortunately.. no chance to really compete seriously.
For speed kiting comps (among others) you need the fastest 10 seconds out of a run recorded by GPS. Lets assume you go at a moderate speed (not even close to the top speeds recorded so far) you will have done 500m in 20seconds. You would need 200-300 meters to accelerate, maybe 500-800m for your best 10 second interval and then well ... crash space

I guess we are looking at some 2k stretch of perfectly flat water. Lake Eyre comes to mind

I don't think we have anything along the coast lines, too much surf. But there might be some hidden away places like gls describes. The question though is how often do you have conditions good enough to go fast. I mean you want lots of wind but still very flat water, that is probably not possible in Australia as far as I see it, but I might be wrong .. that's why I am asking ... Mandurah Peels are still too deep and will build up chop. The ideal place would have only a water depth of a few centimeters where not much chop can build up. There are inlets over east, but I do not know them all and the wind conditions.

Someone should build a channel !

regards
gmd

I'd have thought longer depending on tide/wind conditions.

Have you even been out in 30 or more knots GMD?

You won't be holding a 'large' kite down! Plus we haven't had 35 knots in Perth for quite a long time now.

yes I have and I am good enough to hold a big kite mate ..
why is that always somebody has to schoolmaster ??
regards
gmd

lake illawarra, primbee point in a westerly...

there is this weed bank about 50 mtrs out which creates the smoothest water inshore, the runs would have to be easily over a kay down to the caravan park at windang...

it's just that westerlies are sooo flipping gusty...

you could get one killer run @30kts plus

then half an hour of 10kts

plus the lake mud stinks like a wogs armpit

Shallow Inlet/Sandy Point near Wilsons Prom is where MacQuarrie Innovations set their speed record a year or so back (two man sailing craft).

The actuall inlet is much longer than 500m but there is about a 500m stretch where it is damn near perfect


I don't think the link is their record run, but they did break 50knots in less than ideal conditons.

I just brought up Google Earth and measured the run. At least 2km of good kiting with a bit extra on the west end which is kiteable but gusty.



Merry the Kombi parked on the beach at low tide at Sandy Point

Great to see that ..
Thank you very much for the effort guys ...
Really appreciated
regards
gmd

A bit of history here, the ozi's held it for 11 years from 1993
None of this 10 sec premature ejac stuff, all these guys are serious at maintaining their performance for 1/2 a K
http://www.macquarie.com.au/mgl/au/speedsailing/background

And more recently
www.seabreeze.com.au/News/Sailing/Outright-World-Speed-Sailing-Record-to-Rob-Douglas_1855456.aspx

Luderitz Speed Channel

BennyB12

that is just courtesy and a habit
gmd is my short since I can remember and all mails and documents get signed.
The brain just does it to my fingers without me asking
regards
gmd

It looks to be downhill....Thats cheating....

some info for those who don't know:

1) Genetrix is the fastest kitesurfer in Aus. He is the official national record holder. Click on his profile to see some pictures from Luderitz, where he broke the record.
2) The session above is the fastest Australian GPS session on a kite (note the top speed - 53+ knots is almost 100 kph).
3) this also makes Parham in SA the fastest kitesurfing speed spot in Australia (although there are plenty of other good spots eg. Sandy Point in Vic.)

Anyone can try how fast they are - you just need a GPS (Locosys GT31 is the main highly accurate waterproof model) and register yourself on
www.gps-kitesurfing.com website (free).
Then find a stretch of flat water and away you go. Upload results to the website and check out your ranking:

www.gps-kitesurfing.com/default.aspx?mnu=rankings

Windsurfers have been doing this for a while and there are over 2,000 of them on their GPS site. I think kitesurfers need to catch up - there are less then 200 speed kiters world wide and yet (as a sport) we seem to outnumber windsurfers on the beach.

The Luderitz canal probably won't be used at all this year but there are a couple of other official kite speed events:

2012 Kite Speed World Championship (in July in France):

http://www.internationalkiteboarding.org/index.php?view=details&id=291%3AKite+Speed+World+Championship&option=com_eventlist&Itemid=81

and another one in September in Namibia

if anyone's keen the application forms are on the website and qualification through posting 500m GPS speeds on the www.gps-kitesurfing.com/default.aspx?mnu=rankings