Race Kiteboards

[Russky]

Thanks guys.

It's actually a news to me that race boards are good for light winds.
Yet another reason to get one...

Did anyone see/ride Kafka's new "Race Quad II" board?
I tried to contact Jeff, but he seems to be having too much fun snowkiting in Utah ... vocemail 24/7.
As far as know, Damo and Gebi have been riding his boards. Any pictures and opinions, anyone?..

Kent, you still ride your good old custom DC in most of the races, correct?
One of the Tampa Bay Races (the rough one, in the Gulf) you rode a twintip instead... Why?

[tonykite]

Hi, very intereting thread!
I am working at remodeling an old directional board into a race board.
Do you guys know where can I buy race fins?

Thanks.

[eclipsedave]

Get a hold of DAMO I just talked to him this week and he told me he has race boards for sale $$

[srq kiter]

I had the Original Quad Race. I don't think the construction was robust enough to take the regular beating. The glass on the bottom was completely packed out. It was more fun as all terrain directional. I now have a NJS designed board very similar to the Course Fish. It motors upwind and downwind.. I have talked to Damien and Kent to get some ideas for fin configs.. I plan on trying some different fins this season to try to optimize the upwind abilities..

So the boards to focus on in my mind would be:

-NJS http://www.njsdesigns.org/CourseFish.html
-Mike Z http://www.mikeslab.com/

Production boards
-Ocean rodeo (looks interesting) http://www.oceanrodeo.com/kiting/race-series
-North (new 2010 design-quad) http://www.northkites.com/public/con...index_eng.html

IMHO
-Chris


www.villagebikes.com

[kent]

Actually Damo tried to use his own constructed board at the worlds this year, but... once again we found that Damo is a great rider and a hell of a nice guy, but NOT A BOARD BUILDER!!! Damo are we clear?

Damo's stuff exploded before he ever got a chance to race it this year and he ended up racing on a new board build by Ian Ponting of Cabrinha. The board worked well enough for him to win a race, but he needed more time to dial in fins. As it turns out, fins are equally important as boards are.

I can confirm that race boards are far better than any other type of board in light winds. a good rider weighing up to 185, using a good race board and a 13 meter bow with extended lines will rip upwind and down in winds ranging between 9 mph and 11 mph.

basically a race board will allow florida riders to get on the water nearly every day including summer afternoons.

obviously there is no freestyle or huge airs on these boards, but learning fast tacks, jibes, etc. is still challenging. these boards actually fly and will even best twin tips on basically any reaching leg as well.

Nope, i'm only using my small DC on the down wind event and my larger one is basically retired. 3 years ago when i brought it out to nationals it was clearly the best board on the water. had a better rider used it, it would have placed on top. Derek is normally way ahead of the pack with ideas and concepts. Actually he has had a killer board build for nearly 7 months already and it seems as though this board will probably be on par or better than most boards at the worlds were. i'm sure we will see more good boards from Derek soon.

i agree with Chris with his board recs. if you want to get a board that has been tested, Mike Z. or NJS are your best choices for now. They will cost you, but you know what you get. Lots of race boards will be hitting the market soon, but unless they have been tested racing and the right fins are used, most will be nothing more than great light wind boards. This is probably fine too.

in any case it's something you should have in your quiver of sticks.

[Russky]

Ken, Damien, have you guys considered Ocean Rodeo Mako 150 board (or a board with similar crazy 50mm concave) for downwind races?

I talked to a winner of recent Arabatka Kite Marathon, 100 km (60 mi) downwind race along western shore of Sea of Azov (Ukraine).

Some info on the race (in Russian, but the map is quite clear)
http://kitesurfing.com.ua/modules.ph...ewtopic&t=1668

He won the race on the Mako Freeride 150 shortcutting his route with a straight line thru crazy chop.
[All others, on race boards and regular twintips, were going along the curved coast.]
He swears by this board (fast, cuts thru the chop like a cadillac, etc. etc.)

Again, I'm talking about "downwind only" racing (and not promoting OR in any way).
Just wanted to hear your impressions on the board...

[kent]

I think that pretty much everyone is in agreement that a directional is better off the wind if you know how to ride one. The boards are much more efficient when ridden with very little edge and using the lift of the fins. It's true that twins do well from time to time, but it's usually just a case of a great rider using a board that he is used to. Look at Mike Hall or J. Lund. They have both done very well, but I put my money on them both doing even better on a directional board.

The crossing in La Ventana was proof of the need for directional boards. The longer length allows for more scoop and easier riding in chop. They also ride very well at super low angles to the wind. Directional boards also the rider to stand up and take some pressure off the back leg with out tripping the board. I personally don't think that twins will win many more races over 10 miles or so. Time will tell!

On the other hand, slalom is starting to kick in! Twins were doing quite well in the tight course at Los Barrlies. Interestingly though, all riders switched to directionals in later heats and even decided that they were better on toe side legs. I would have guessed that twins would take it, but it's always best to be first to the first mark. Directionals had the speed in the massive chop on the course.

We have a race in Miami this weekend. It's really more of an exibition for ISAF to look at us for 2016. John Heiniken, Damo, and Bruno will all be here. As of today these are 3 of the top 4 in the world. Winds are predicted to be very bad, but all we need is 6-9 mph. I'm crossing my fingers! If anyone is in Miami and wants to check it out, I'm sure that there is room on a mark set boat. We will be racing far into the Bay and can't be seen from shore so boats are the only option. It is cool though to see how efficient the racing kit has become.

[Russky]

Interesting idea - adjust the board "on the fly" for downwind or upwind leg...

http://youtu.be/-96nJdTq4_w

[ricki]

A twin tip with a daggerboard! Do you know how he has done against the newer race directional boards?