you'll be fine at your size.
The limit is fine and keeps things such that it's realistic to travel and race. I'm not sure there is much more to be gained by going any larger.
I'm 6'6" 240lbs and have no problem racing around just as everyone else in super light winds nearing the 6knt range with race gear. I don't think the board size limit gives me any disadvantage racing in light winds either ...the kites do though.

Regardless of whether Bernie or Johnny were faster or slower than the AC's, it's pretty damn amazing that they could come even close to matching. very cool.

LOL yeah AC45's but I bet if they could recomission dogzilla it would smoke 'em all, roll the 72s as well///

Billie:

Bryan Lake has a few lbs on you and he goes that fast on a Cabrinha XB 18m LW and the same Mike's Lab board as Johnny....oh did you see the video of him out pointing and going faster than the ACs when they were in San Diego?....

Oh, Bryan was third at the world's last year (Heineken and Koch were 1/2), was 2nd at the slalom world's (LeRoy was 1), and he was second at the most recent PKRA in Mx (Johnny was 1).

So, the boards don't need to be bigger for the larger folk :=))
steve

Probably. Unfortunately in 2010 alingi refused to race bmw oracle in winds over 8 knots because they knew how blazing fast the tri would be at higher speeds, so instead we were treated to a relatively plodding race with the boats doing (merely!) 20+ knots in around 8 knots of wind averaging somewhere around 3 times windspeed on a windward leeward and triangle course. Ridiculous.

We'll be treated to the ac72's in higher winds, could see the ac72s going 40+ knots over the race course.

If we're not faster now we WILL destroy them sooner or later.

Simple racing equation, More power, less weight.
In the case of sailing - More sail, less boat.

We haven't even really gotten serious at this yet.
We're still using free ride kites, not TRUE race specific,
we just started riding our boards flat,
still haven't done much real work with fins, can't even figure out if we want 1 2 3 or 4.
(can't wait to see the , super aero shit that shows up if we make the olympics)

Gunna be an interesting next couple of years in kite, board, and fin development.

In the 33rd america's cup alinghi was carrying twice the sail of bmw oracle and going slower because bmw oracle was carrying a wing not fabric, it's that much more efficient. Also when boats start to scale up they start getting more efficient in terms of power per weight vs kitesurfers.

Is this the direction we want to go as a sport, to keep getting more and more expensive and higher tech, or do we want kiteboard racing to be more about skills?

Like said in the original post, a kite made out of wing material would destroy any kite made of fabric.

I'm just getting into kite racing, but in small sailboat racing there has been the same issue. Lasers are tried and true, can be raced one design (against other identicle boats), and make for some great close racing whether you're 1st of 30 or 25th of 30.

Or you can try to race hydrofoil Moths. The Moths are much faster, but fleets are much smaller and further apart and it seems like you're spending as much time staying upright as you are concentrating on tactics.

The lasers are plenty fast to make for a fun race and cost only 30% of what a moth costs. No need for more expensive raceboards. Lets build some fleets with low cost competitive boards (<$1000).

If Ya look over on the Board Builders section ; There are PLENTY of talented Guys
with the know-how and sKilzzzs to build a Really Fast Wing !!!

Basically, all their waiting for -- is a Good set of directions.

Bille

Did you know that this guy built his own craft to go 126mph on land ?
Did his own Fund raising also, cause he couldn't afford it.
Than went & Kicked Ass with his design !!
Lots of Pride, comes from doing something like that, and there were Plenty
of non believers telling him to STOP, cause it couldn't be done !!

http://yachtpals.com/fastest-sailing-4123

Kiteboard racing needs to be about SPEED!
You have sadly assumed that speed and cost are related.
Other than labour marketing distribution, markup etc, which is there whether you build it out of "wing material" or not. The "cost" comes in prototyping and testing to determine what works the best. This is knowledge that the entire kiteboard community benefits from.

Skill AND equipment MUST be part of the equation at top level kiting.
I raced lasers..... They SUCK! they're slow, boring to race AND watch.... I kitesurf now....It's cheaper AND faster.
Sure have "laser" class for those that just wanna play,
but the top class can and should be the fastest thing on the water.

There isn't enough materials involved in kiting for the cost to go through the roof. We'll still be the fastest thing on the water and likely the cheapest as well.

There's only about a 150-200 bucks worth of material in a board. (I know I build em)
maybe 250 if you use "carbon" which has little benefit in a properly designed kiteboard anyway

As for kite's materials add little to the cost.
Once companies get greedy/inefficient, companies like switch show up and balance the scales.....

Some basic rules need to be set which I agree with
Make sure it's PRODUCTION equipment.....commercially available by a certain DATE. So everyone gets a chance to develop their skills.
Min board weight is a nice rule, keeps out the disposable boards.
Something that would keep kites durable would be nice too.

There is talk that an AC-45 might be in the Bridge to Bridge race.
Skiffs vs windsurfers vs kiters vs AC-45
Then we would know who is faster