Olympic Kiteboarding Demonstration - Photos!

[ricki]

Some of the fastest kite racers in the world came to Miami to participate in the kiteboarding demonstration for the Olympic Racing Classes Regatta. The Regatta included over 700 sailors representing 58 countries. The kiters headed out to do the demonstration in an amazingly light wind forecast with their best low end gear. Winds were around 2 to 10 kts. averaging around 2 to 8 kts. with extended lulls in the actual race area. The demonstration was organized by our own Kent Marinkovic, John Goems and Kevin from the St. Francis Yacht Club from San Francisco, http://www.stfyc.com/. We met at Shake-A-Leg for the Captains Meeting and to take a boat out to a nearby spoil island to rig up and launch.


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The starting point at the Shake-A-Leg facility in Coral Gables, FL. Lots of varied sailing craft running all over for the Regatta including some high speed and maneuverable 49'ers like this one. They tried to acquire a permit to hold the demonstration off Hobie Beach but the antics of some kiters ruined that option for these world class racers.



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Here is a list of the riders who came to compete.


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Loading up an impressive quantity of cargo on the Carolina Skiff for a short run to a nearby spoil island.


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Damo Leroy helps out carrying down Garry Menk's latest kite racing creation. A novel three fin raceboard.



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Patrick Rynne opted to bypass the boat trip and SUP out directly. This got him on the water almost a half hour earlier than the next rider. The winds were light and fitful so the early start helped. Nice looking Jimmy Lewis Slice raceboard!



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After a very short trip, the riders off load the gear and stroll over to the next island to windward.



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Kent and Paula move out along with John Heineken, perhaps the fastest kite racer anywhere in these early days of the sport.



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Almost like walking on water, almost. A very convenient land bridge connected the windward island at low tide.



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Patrick is pumped up and ready to go as folks walk up.



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I headed out with John Goems on the boat being utilized to setup the race markers and then transfered to the Committee Boat run by Kevin. Here comes Patrick on a 16 m Crossbow on longer than stock lines and a raceboard. I thought everyone in the race was fairly light, but was wrong. Patrick at 6'2" weighs 175 lbs. but despite that was hauling butt in the light breeze around 5 to 8 kts.



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More sailboats head out to the race area. I could use some help with the identification of some of these sailboat classes knowing little about this subject.



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Ride by



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Another couple of kites are up. Breaking out further offshore into slightly stronger breeze will prove to be very daunting. Extended lulls, the kite drops to the water or forces the kiters to tack trying to find favorable wind to make it out. Very few were that fortunate, with lots of swimming going on that day.



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The 49'ers are pretty incredible lightwind machines.


Kent attended the awards ceremony for the Regatta. He said there were 716 sailors representing 58 countries. A total of 38 metals were earned during the Regatta with Great Britain winning 14 of them.

He described a wide range of sailing craft in the competition, many of which I hadn't heard of before. The 49'ers, Lasers, RSX windsurfers, 2.4 Disabled, 470, FIN, SCUD Disabled and Sonar Disabled.


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When I said it was light, it actually dropped below this at times. If it dropped too far into the low single digits, so would the kites. Water relaunching usually requires wind around 7 to 8 kts without something to stop the kiter from drifting. It would gust that high at times but rarely stay above stall speed long enough for guys to make it out into the bay for slightly stronger breeze.



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More kites are up and down in the hole near the launch. It would make sense to travel beyond the shoreside vagaries of wind shadow and lower wind speeds out to the cleaner winds offshore for competitions in the future if light conditions were on.



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Kent and Patrick both touched on the economics of Olympic sailing competition. Large vessel racing is primarily confined to the more affluent countries. Smaller countries may pursue more realistic sports like windsurfing, Lasers and the like. Many of these countries have Olympic team training programs in place, starting with kids and moving up to team membership in time. Kent indicated that the relative low cost and mobility of kiting gear gave the sport some distinct advantages.


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Eventually Patrick was lulled out. Unfortunately, he was taken into shore by the chase boat to really light and unstable winds once a direction shift occurred.



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More sailboats being ferried out to the race area. Between boats being pulled out, fast and coaches running into shore, there were a lot of powerboats moving around.



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Michael (Gebi) Gebhardt of Florida and Victor Fredianelli of Brazil break out. Gebi was on the USA windsurfing Olympic team and has been a successful International coach in that discipline for many years.



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Unfortunately, the wind lulled out in a big way soon. Cameron Biehl by intent or good fortune chose to be become becalmed within swimming distance of the Committee Boat, twice! This allowed him to breeze wait away from the nearshore land windshadow and lower wind speeds. Most of the riders were stuck in poorer conditions at the launch island which made a critical difference in access to the riding area. Perhaps having buoys, individual support boats to secure the kites to while wind waiting in the riding area would make sense for races in similar venues in light wind conditions.


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Cameron breeze waiting on the stern. Being in the right place, (out of wind shadow), at the right time (when an extended puff comes through) can be everything at the low end.



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Victor is riding nicely in a good puff.



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Look at all the whitecaps. This was a gust by comparison to lighter conditions for much of the day. Probably hitting close to 8 kts.



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Cameron rounds the marks for the course after the second lull but before the third and final one of the day.



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Damo makes for a mark.



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Getting some lift off those big fins in a puff.




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Most of the racers were way to the east just to the west of Key Biscayne. The winds were funneling down Bear Cut and being amplified off the western shore of Key Biscayne. As a result a wide variety of sailing craft were being ferried to the race area via powerboat. It would make sense to do the same thing for kiters and/or to do boat launch near the actual racing area in light conditions.



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Gebi took a page out of the book of some of the other sailing classes and hitched a ride out.



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Lasers being hauled back to the dock after their race.




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Victor moves in on a mark.



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Damo is shredding in a puff.



x3RcZ_70k1A
A video summarizing some of the classes racing in this regatta.



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Gebi readies to round a mark.




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RSX one design windsurfing rigs being transported out to their race area off Bear Cut. The Olympics are considering the entry of one new sailing craft to the Summer Games. The choice is between kiting and RSX. RSX is distinguished by a large wind range but with a lower end above that which can be realized by kiteboarding. One of the purposes of this demonstration was to allow committee members a chance to observe a kite race in light wind conditions.



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You can tell how light the breeze is from Damo's short wake, no whitecaps, lightwind riding! These Pros use a lot of different tactics for light wind racing. Larger efficient kites that can develop good apparent wind, longer lines, constantly evolving raceboards and fins and a good deal of wind sense and tactics. Back in the day we would double lines, take two sets of 30 m lines and make a 60 m set for two line kites. This increases your moment arm or stroke distance when sining the kite. This should allow more force to be conveyed to the kiter over a longer interval than shorter lines. Trouble is at some point the line air drag becomes a factor.



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Damo and Gebi race along.



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Damo does a ride by of the Committee Boat.



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Gebi confronts a pair of lasers.



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More RSX's are ferried out to the race area.



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So, see you from the OCR in Miami. This was a first effort to show off kiting to the folks in the Olympics. Conditions were quite adverse but despite that some were able to make it out through prolonged lulls and wind shadowed areas. Even out there the wind would drop to 2 kts. or so for an extended period pulling the kites out of the sky. Still, we did run in lower than 6 kts. at times, the wind minimum for the RSX class. What does the future hold, we'll see. It would be good to read some perspectives from the folks that were out there that day.


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[BGreenkite]

Awesome! I didn't think that there was any wind to do the event. I should have been there!
Is that a Rally I see in those pics?

[kent]

Yes, I'm guessing that if we were on the other side of the bay that we would have gotten a race or two off. In truth, 6 mph is totally fine but lulls to 4 will kill us. We were really interested to have a chance to ride with Heiniken in the light wind as we just spend nearly 2 weeks with him in 20-25 in Baja. It is obvious that Tri's are competitive up wind and maybe even better than quads off the wind in the rough stuff, but now we need to find out if they hang with quads in the light breeze.

The good thing is that there are several competitive production race boards out on the market and fins are getting easier to find. Florida is a hot bed for training as some of the best guys live here and most are eager to share some info and provide tips.

Gebi, Garry, and I went out before work today and rode 16's in 8-15 mph. We were reaching speeds of 25 knots near shore in this breeze. Learning to tack and jibe will take some time, but the learning curve it pretty steep. In truth, I don't really care one way or the other regarding the Olympic designation because it's tons of fun and I can do it 3-4 days a week even in the summer in Miami. Lots of water time and a good work out. It can be a bit techy in the early stages, but things have calmed down quite a bit now. It's pretty cool to see several of the worlds top dingy sailors choosing to race on kites now. The sailing community is even starting to give us a bit of respect. I'm sure that we will see some clinics starting to pop up around the country so if you are even slightly interested, give it a go.

[experienced1]

Rick:
Great shots..Oh, FYI...the 470 near the top of the mainsail should be a clue as to the class for this one :=))

[ricki]

Thanks for your input Kent and Happy Birthday by the way. Glad you got a nice session in this morning. How about that, kiting for an entire summer HERE? Boggles the imagination! I think that alone should get more kiters into this. Are you folks still having the Wednesday evening races in Miami?

Good point Steve! Until I had spoken to Kent, I had never even heard of a 470 before. Much less had a mental picture of what it looked like. I noted the countries of origin on the sails and moved on!

It was a very challenging day even for some superlative riders. Mainly because of the lighter and more uneven winds in the launch area. Further out in the bay it was rideable part of the time. It still turned off even there at times dropping kites to the water. Conditions were better where most of the other folks were racing closer to Key Biscayne.

[ARCSrule]

no foils?

[ricki]

Not this time. Were there in foils in the course races in Mexico? How did they work out?

[uride2]

What kite is Gebi on here?
3 struts?

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[ricki]

Gebi was on a SS Rally I understand.

[kent]

Gebi is riding for SS and that was a 3 strut Rally. Nope, foils are not legal for kite course racing currently (well, they actually may be under the rules if the foil does not exceed 50 cm). The main point is that currently they don't seem to be beating the new course boards around a course. They are super competitive upwind, but still suffer off the breeze a bit. I personally like the idea of the foil and used to have one many years ago. It looks like the new versions are much better and can be ridden in straps. I'd like to try one again some time soon.

We may do some fun course racing in the bay on Saturday witht the first race being at 10 a.m. we will probably run 5 course races and keep scores. anyone interested?

[tonykite]

If the Naples Race is a no go. I am in!

Tanguy

[kent]

yeah, if Naplea is on, we will be attending for sure. Looks like the forecast is kind of suspect. i hope it happens though. fingers crossed.

[tonykite]

Kent,
Naples race is cancelled. I am in for a ride Saturday AM if this is still a go.

Let me know.
Tanguy

[ricki]

This is what NWS forecasts, what do you think for tomorrow Kent?


Tonight...South southeast winds 6 to 9 knots near shore to southeast 10 to 13 knots well offshore. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Dominant period 6 seconds. Intracoastal waters a light chop.

Saturday...South winds 10 to 13 knots. Seas 2 to 3 feet. Dominant period 7 seconds. Intracoastal waters a light chop.

Saturday Night...South winds 9 to 12 knots. Seas 2 feet. Intracoastal waters a light chop.
http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?map.x=275&map.y=102&site=mfl&zmx=1&zmy=1

[kent]

That's more than enough for our gear. It's kind of funny that 10+ is a great forecast now. Garry, Patrick, and I will be out for sure and we may be able to get Josh Noe to stop by. I'm sure that one of the young guys from the shop will also hop on a board as we have finally received some race ready fins for the Cabrinha race board. I'd say that we will have 5+ on the startline. We will do 5 races with one through out. They will all be windward / leewards. Even if you have a good surfboard, you can learn quite a bit. Tacking and jibing come quickly with a few pointers.

Our plan is to be at Matheson by 10 a.m. and we will go from there. If something changes we will post here.

[kent]

great wind forecast for Matheson today. we will be there on course boards. Probably won't make it until 10:30. we will try to set a mark and race a bit. very informal. Pray for no weeds!

[kent]

huh... just talked to Pat and Garry, better make it 11:15. they are finishing Pat's new board, "Turkey Hawk"

[ricki]

How was it? I wanted to come down but was looking after BG. Did get out for a sting-free session up here with a gazillion portuguese. I would think you had them at Matheson as well?

[kent]

We got out on Saturday and Tony came down. We rigged 16's to start, but ended pretty over powered. I think Tony had a 15 and then Garry came out with at 13.

so.... it was Garry, Patrick, Tony, and myself to start. A 49er Olympic class racer came down with his race board to ride and Todd, who just landed at 2 p.m. back from a Cabrinha design conference in Maui even make it out.

We just used a few channel markers and did a few windward leeward runs. It was more of a training session than a race, but we learned quite a bit.

Three of us were riding with some cool new GPS units that map your progress. Each is time stamped so when we got home we could see each of us racing around together. It showed speed, angle, and even VMG. I can't believe that we tested so long with out these units. I'm sure it will help us to tune in our kites and fins a bit more, not to mention our kites. Maybe we can have patrick toss up a video of the GPS tracks.

[ricki]

Gebi makes the New York Times ...

"Olympic Sailing Looks to Go Extreme

By CHRIS MUSELER
Published: February 9, 2011

The world’s top Olympic sailors were in South Florida reading wind and waves aboard two-person dinghies, keelboats and windsurfers at the recent Rolex Miami Olympic Classes Regatta. The sailing lineup has not really been altered much in the last 20 years.

But that is about to change, and this regatta provided a sneak peek into the sport’s future.

While Olympic medalists were being towed to their courses, kiteboarders skimmed along at twice their speed attached to inflatable kites at the end of 80 feet of razor-thin lines.

A new Olympic slate of classes for 2016, proposed last fall by the International Sailing Federation, or I.S.A.F., has turned the traditional sailing fleet on its head in the hope of attracting young viewers and higher television ratings, creating a sort of X Games for sailing. If men’s and women’s kiteboarding is selected, it will replace windsurfing.

“The Olympics want to promote the most advanced levels of sailing,” said Mike Gebhardt, a two-time Olympic medalist in windsurfing who raced his kiteboard in Miami. “This is high speed, visibly athletic, there are crashes, and you can tell who’s winning. That’s what sells.” "

Continued at: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/10/sports/10sailing.html

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