Yes, Put limits on width of Raceboards ASAP!

[Gebi]

Alex is right. We might have hit the wall already on race board width.

I have a good feeling that 70 cm as a max width would be a great place to limit race board width. Right now a board on or close to 70 cm will just work well in light wind only, and when it is 9 meter weather you will be lucky to make it back to the beach. I do not see 70 cm being a problem for big guys as well, as far as being too small.

As Alex already mentioned, a big kite racer like Sky Solbach can easily get the performance by using bigger fins, wider tails, more volume an a flatter rocker line if he needs more light wind performance. 70 cm is plenty to get him up and running.

In fact it's overkill on width; it would be the equivalent to wider than a 100cm formula board, in relative terms.

Let's keep the discussion open and see where it takes us, but 70 cm is massive wide!

[FredBGG]

Why not just let the results speak?

It apears that several of you say that 60cm to 70cm is a good max.
Well if thats the best preformance then you should not care if someone wants to try to make a bigger one.

I also think that no limits should be palced on foil boards either.

[PAFF]

I cant believe that anyone would put restrictions on like this..

There are productions boards coming out know, that cost under $900 making it available to Joe public, they mayby not win the world cup, but they give Joe public a great weekend on the lake, racing his friends in 8 knots having a blast.

These boards will sell in a year for $250-500 used.

There are NO where near windsurfing 19 ties in kitesurfing, the price back then was the problem, not the custom market!

Alex A, there are no problem in a board from you, cost $3000 before it is in my hand here in Europe, the problem is if a production board at my local dealer cost more than $1000!!

[robertovillate]

They should implement a "box rule", similar to many one-design sailboat racing rules.

The box rule concept allows for a range of sizes and shapes, within prescribed limits, allows for different sail sizes, etc...so members of the class can modify/build their boats to accommodate heavier or lighter crew, without putting a stymie on development. Sometimes, as fleets grow, as technology changes, etc. the rules can change and promote a general upgrade, or an altogether new one-design class emerges with another box rule (or sometimes more restrictive rules).

R&D is a good thing, and going faster than everyone else is usually fun - to a point. If you are no longer racing against other sailors what's the point? To keep up with some of the pros from teams with deep pockets it's hard for the average rider to stay competitive - sooner or later people lose interest...windsurfing proved it. It also happened in the car racing industry, (anybody recall Porsches domination with Mark Donahue driving the 917K?), so now there are lots of rules on design, horsepower, tires, etc that maintain an even playing field. It's a good thing for the riders/drivers and it's a good thing for the sport.

[PAFF]

Dont get why anyone would put restriction on one off the worlds fastest sports ever?

I must say, this proposal is IMHO way more bad for our future as a sport, than anything i have ever seen.

AlexA, what if the same have been said in windsurfing after it had been around for 10-15 years.. Then we would never had seen the Formula board!!

Who knows what somebody is possible off inventing in the next 10 years, IMHO you kill that bye this restriction.
I just dont get it! It would make sence if this came from lets say, Cabrinha/Neilpryde, but from a guy like you?

[ronnie]

Are smaller riders not at a disadvantage in most races?

In windsurfing, almost all the successful racers are big. They used a 2 board 4 sail limit on gear, which had to be declared in advance of the event.

Yup, but boards can be upto 1m wide.

Also what are the wind speed ranges of windsurfing races?

Kites can handle much lower winds so kiteracing should go to lower wind ranges.

The minimum for Formula or Slalom racing is 7 knots, and for the Olympics, 6 knots. Those are not the minimum winds you could race in. In the Olympics, its also a non-planing event, you will often see the competitors pumping the sail to propel the board around the course. You can windsurf in zero wind by pumping the sail.
Windsurfing has not set the limits at what is possible, and that is Alex's point. They have set limits on width, fin length, sail size, minimum wind. All of these formulae are prospering.

Slalom has a maximum width of 85 cm, and top 10 riders vary in weight from 82 to Finian Maynard at 190cm & 117 kg,


The suggestion is to learn from what has gone before. Do people really want to be keeping the kite in the air while floating round a course?

[Toby]

I think Alex means to have a box and develop within.

[ronnie]

By implementing minimum wind limits, it actually favours bigger riders, which is why there is no one under 82 kg in the top 10 of the windsurf slalom.

The relaunch of kites is something kite manufacturers should work on, as the big pay-off from racing is to increase light wind equipment sales.

I think the board on the left is 69cm, just to give an idea of what that size looks like.

[kakanala]

I fully agree with Alex and Gebi.

Andoni.

[d0uglass]

Hmm, yeah, 70 cm max width sounds reasonable for competition.

100 cm has turned out to be a good limit for formula windsurfing, and if 70 cm for a kiteboard is "relatively" even wider than that, it should be plenty even for big dudes.