da fast gear...

[kent]

it would be interesting to see what kind of gear most riders will be riding for the tampa event.

Board:
in 13-20 mph:
20 plus mph:
twin or directional:
length:
width:
fin size:

Kite:
bow or c:
size in:
13-18 mph
18-22 mph
22-28 mph
28 plus

Rider weight:

[inferno]

hi, im Toby :D ,
in 13-28+ I will be riding my super narrow Mako and 20.5 machine,
if it reaches 35 or so i might switch to a 17.5 machine, depends on how i feel :shock:

[kent]

for me, i'm not sure on boards, but i am limiting my kite selection a bit.

13-22 mph: new contra 14
22-28 mph: CB2 12
28+: CB2 12 or 9

i'm not sure what the wind was this weekend on sat when we ran the course, but i would have been faster for sure on the CB2 12. i had some board issues that i fixed back in miami for Sundays dw. just checked my weight... yikes! 172! i'll be going on a crash diet... too many beers.

PS. it looks very good for wind this coming weekend in Mia on sat and sun. we will likely be doing 22 miles from Hollywood to Virginia key on Sat. This is will be a run at your own risk type of deal, but won't be too bad. it will be 20-25 out of the NE. good testing but left foot forward.

Kent

[JoshTaylor]

probably on my 12 switchblade, unless it's over 30, then on my 7

either my 133 custom
or possibly 122 FLX
might have a smaller cabrinha board by then..

I weigh 140lbs

[toby wilson]

No Danny, you got that ALL mixed up...It goes 25.5 Machine up to 28, anything over, the 20.5!!! :twisted:

[toby wilson]

JUST KIDDDING!!! 8)

The only 2 things for certain are that I will be riding the Mako and that Kent will be egging me on to go ahead and get on the water regardless of what I rig!!! :lol:

Kent, having trouble feeling sorry for you and your beer belly...6'6" & 255 lbs(was 260 lbs, lost 5 lbs trying to save my a$$ on that 20.5 Machine sunday)... :lol:

[kitehigh911]

16 waroo in any conditions
128 speed board
i weigh 150

[Optionryder420]

Unless the wind is hitting really hard, I'll be on my 13 fuel and caution redline 122cm.

If it is hitting really hard, I'll be on my 9m fuel same board.

[bryanleighty]

advice needed..

i ride in the gulf a lot but never have done a downwinder of this magnitude.. i have a 160 rrd board that is great in the swells and chop of the gulf.. its not an upwind machine like some other boards.. but in this case that is not an issue... i have some 2 inch fins to to put on to replace the 1 inch on there already.. would large fins hinder me in any way? would i benefit from them??

i am racing for fun and would rather be safer than faster...

thanks!

-bryan-

[Gebi]

Longer and narrower is better than short and wide. Concave helps smooth out the ride as well.

It helps to ride a board that you can stand up on top of and put almost half of your weight on the front foot to be fast down wind. The more you can balance your body on top of the board the lower you can go. Practice getting turned downwind and then find your boatspped angle that allows you to park the kite at the 10 oclock angle (on starboard tack, right foot forward) and 2 oclock on port tack(left foot forward).

If you have the right size board and the right size kite you can just park the kite while going downwind and not need to move it much except to change directions( missing a wave, swell or choppy area)

The idea is not to edge the board downwind but to only edge when you decelerate from going too low (too far downwind) and losing the power in the kite, as you then have to edge slightly to go upwind to catch up to your apparent wind.

It takes a lot of practice as most kiters reach down wind and have not played with the ability to go as low as possible.

Best thing is to test boards, fin combinations and different size kites so you know what works best in all wind speeds.

All you need to do is go 3 or 4 minutes down wind with one of your buddies of similar ability and see what works. Then just go back upwind again and change something and do it again.

Once you are happy with your board, fin, and kite selection, then you can concentrate on doing downwinders to refine your board riding skills.

Its also good to skope out the course so you know when you can go in and out of the surf and obsticles.

Hope this helps

gebi

[tomstock]

I think Gebi meant to say rocker.. rocker will help in the chop, concave not so much. Longer is definately smoother in chop... but you risk digging the nose... there is only one magic bullet in a down wind race... a big board with some rocker if it's choppy, a big kite, and no fear... because you are going to need to be hauling a$$ if you are going to win, and that means being uncomfortable and on the edge of control.

Last year I found the best way to go (directly) down wind (in a hurry, it's a race after all) was to figure 8 the kite... dive hard, bring it up and around and dive hard again the other direction... as fast as possible. Carve a mellow S back and forth straight down wind... basically going back and forth from backside edge to toe side edge... never let the kite stop moving... edge only enough to keep the kite flying and powered without stalling.

You don't want to be pulled by the wind, you want to go faster than the wind..

Most people rigged 9's last year... I rigged a 13 and worked it hard going straight down wind. I wish I had rigged a 15 or an 18 and ridden a bigger board... I finished in the top 15 but I could have done better if I were more powered and hadn't wasted so much time at the start.

This time waves and chop are involved, plus you are going straight down wind, so you are going to need to rig a lot bigger than normal if you want a shot a winning. Your legs are going to be useless towards the end.

[toby wilson]

I think that Gebi did mean to say concave Tom. That Mako sure smooths out the chop and is very responsive. Concave is where it's at, if I hadn't overrigged the other day, that downwinder would have been a blast on that board!!!

[tomstock]

Well, my guess is that your board is long and narrow with lots of rocker, correct? That's why it feels smooth in the chop, not because of the concave. Without the concave it would feel the same, but more "skatey".

The purpose of concave is to essentially give a board two different rockers... one at the rails and one at the center line. The effect is to make it plane easier, yet turn quicky like a heavily rockered board. The side effect is that it makes the board stick to the surface... which is great for edging but it also reduces the top speed. Concave is definately a good thing... but it doesn't make the ride smoother. I have owned several heavily concaved boards which pound like mad in chop. Narrow width, lots of rocker, and some length are what smooth out the ride. Problem is, I dont like long narrow boards. They don't fit in my trunk and they don't plane very well.

[inferno]

i disagree tom, think of the physics, just like how a Vbottom boat is smoother then a flats boat, a concave board, when it hits a wave, hits with the rails first then the center, this transition spreads the impact force over (a short) time instead of a flat board that the wave hits the entire bottom of the board at once...
just my thought

[tomstock]

Disagree all you want, my bruised heels dont lie :) Concave hasn't made any of my boards soft in the chop...and they have plenty.

[toby wilson]

It is 150 x 34.5 and has 18mm of concave (that is a hell of a lot of concave). There is some rocker but not much, concave boards are the future for kiting in chop and waves IMO. Ocean Rodeo really knows what they are doing, they have a pretty bright future IMO between these boards, their killer C and Bow kites, session harness, Go-Joes and their drysuits. Their punch-out bar is probably the safest bar on the market to boot! You'll have to try it out, once you ride it you'll want one for yourself!!! I have a good hookup with OR, can get you a Mako (or any other OR product for that matter) for a decent price!!! :twisted:

[kent]

my cab custom 128 has tons of rocker and in moderate conditions is fairly slow. when is gets wild, the rocker smooths the ride quite a bit. This board has a flat bottom and last years version is fairly stiff. easiest board to rider ever off the wind in a good wind.

i think that that OR board will be good. i once rode a board from takoon called a mong. i feel that this board woudl be great if there were any around. 130ish narron, concave, thick (1.5-2in), and fliped tips. flat rocker and flew off the wind. i'm trying my new board on sat from jupiter to ft. l. if you are going, alway carry a screw driver, patch material, and a small hand pump isn't bad. should be running 9's or 12's at the most. who else is in???

Kent

[toby wilson]

No 20.5's Kent :?:

[inferno]

ill hopefully be at cocoa beach on my 9m for DP...
fingers crossed

[Gebi]

If we talk about concaves deeper is better, 1 or 2 cm softens the ride a bit but once you get over 5 cm or higher the ride gets much better. Most boards now have minimal concave. Try the Ocean Rodeo 150 Maco board if you want to see what a real deep concave feels like.

Longer and narrower boards give more directional stability at speed and you lose the scatey feeliong which is not a traight that needs to be strong on a board for going down wind.

Remember going downwind effectively is done by parking a powered up kite and just sailing straight wiht the wind. If you have to sine the kite or constantly loop it it will be slower down wind as you do not have enough power which forces you to ride more on a broad reach. This is fast but you will get worn out fast. The best set up will allow you to ride at almost 160 degrees from wind direction, with minimal jibing.

Play with it, you might find some old retro boards work better ( 137 cm and up in length) than the newer shorter boards.

[toby wilson]

Hey Gebi, you mean mm not cm, right? 2 cm is a LOT of concave...

[tomstock]

5cm of concave? I think that must be a typo... not sure if you mean 5mm concave or 5cm rocker.

[Gebi]

I meant cm deep. I am betting in the future boards will have deeper concaves not measured in mm but in cm. Ocean Rodeo is almost 2 cm concave- 18 mm to be exact and it is a narrow board.

[tomstock]

Wow that's a lot! Has any company made anything like that yet? Seems like it would stick to the water like glue and have a lot of drag, but without ever riding a board like that I can't speak from experience.

My Hadlow had a LOT of concave and it felt like it was on tracks... it took a lot of effort to break free from the surface. It also had a very limited top end and felt like it had a lot of drag. For a lighter rider though it would have been a fun board.