The Windsurfing Team (Karin Jaggi, Bj?rn Dunkerbeck, Patrick Diethelm, Sebastian K?rdel and Richard Stauffacher) have handed out a severe beating to kiters at this years Engadinwind 2011 8)
More here:-http://www.continentseven.com/2011/08/16/engadinwind-2011-windsurfers-beat-kiters/
great format, checkout the twist on Bjorns sail unreal;
Pic: Marc van Swoll/Engadinwind
Na, Im just trying to work out why you guys need to compare yourselves to kitesurfing?????Its two different things.
But you all seem to want my opinion so I wont disapoint.
If it matters so much to you guys,,,try and break the speed record,,,really dont get why all the threads over here are always comparing to kitesurfing?????
Why the need????
Yawn
Maybe this is why no young people get into poledancing??
They think they want to,so come to this forum to find out about it,
but only find endless threads of old guys whinging about kitesurfers and how windsurfing is no longer popular.??
Or that it takes till your a old and grey to even get half decent at it????Thats not gunna attract teenages to try and have a go.
good luck
It depends a lot on the conditions and format who would finish first. There's been little or no development of kite slalom gear. There were 3 slalom races and two course races. Speed courses for windsurfing and kitesurfing are different angles.
Karin Jaggi is a top level slalom sailor. Steph Bridge is the World Champion at course racing. They each won all the ladies races in their own speciality.
Two sailors finished second and third in the course racing, but no-one's interested.
The "board-shorts over wetsuit" on the guy behind Bjorn cracks me up.
Is it compulsory or summat ??
I agree with lotofwind, however a self-proclaimed turd he may be.
I get little in comparing speeds.
For instance when we drive to the beach we go 100 clicks,
does that make us sports people because we're faster than windsurfing or kiting? no.
Windsurfing is inherently better a sport because it's a sport, period. (plus we don't take all the room, endanger people and cause beaches to close, that sort of stuff.)
I'm happy with that.
wahahahaha. Nothing like winning a Slalom World Title then jumping on a plane to go and get kicked at a local event on a Lake :-/
The things people do for sponsors ;-)
I still think it would be interesting to have kiters and windsurfers in the Rotto race that they ran last year.
The times from the kiters seem to be similiar to what windsurfers did but it was only one way (less fatigue) and windsurfers haven't donethe race for about 15yrs or so.
Would be an interesting exercise and if annual it would encourage development and training by both camps due to healthy competition.
in a rotto race situation (big chop) a tuned sailboarder would smash a tuned kiter for speed - probably by around 5 minutes or so
on flat water the kite would be faster - as has been proven in speed trials
Slalom, Speed and Course Racing.
Slalom: I think it will be a long time before kiters are remotely competitive with windsurfers around a slalom course or in a Rotto style reaching race. Partly due to the inherent geometry and stability issues across the wind in bumpy water and partly because kiters have yet to pursue board development in this direction. Windsurfers can use the semi rigid connection between boom and board (via mast) to increase their resistance to pitching, while kiters at speed (so not on twintips) across the wind struggle with this at the moment.
Speed: On flat water at broad angles the numbers speak for themselves.
Course Racing is where it's interesting. Kite raceboards are undergoing a similarly rapid development curve as that in windsurfing which followed Ken Winner's winning the US nationals on his "flapper" in 1996. Boards, fins and technique are being reinvented and outdated every few months. I'd really like to see the top course racers from each sport have a go at windward-leeward courses in a range of conditions.
Windsurfers may be interested in this vid which, in between the fin pimping, shows Adam Koch at some nice speeds and angles.
Interesting how those kiteboards look like little formula boards but with 3 fins. Fins which look quite similar to windsurfer pointer fins.
This sort of kiteboarding probably won't be all that popular as the kiter has to gybe and tack, transitions that look quite boring but require practice and skill to do well.
Where's Col when you need him? He has a great video of Chris Adamson blasting past the kiters in the Rotto race
Can't find the sucker tho...
Love to give the Ledge to Lancelin windsurfers a drag on my kite race board. Maybe the organisers can let a couple of fast kiters in for fun & comparison. Love to give it a go.
LOL
LOL
Yawn,,,see your still trying to compare and compete???
Do you care that much ,that you desperatly clinging onto to race that happend many moons ago before most of us were born??
Would you not realise that mabe winds,tide etc might have been a bit different on that day way back when dinos roamed the earth.LOL
Why so keen to prove one is better than the other?
get out there and enjoy it
