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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. They headed out to do this in an amazingly light wind forecast with their best low end kite 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.
Continued with dozens more photos: HERE
It was LIGHT, 8 kts. sustained was like a strong gust sending the guys shredding with the gear they took out! Unfortunately, there were some large extended holes.
Will kiting get into the Olympics anytime soon? Who knows. I will say the technology that potentially goes with it has sure improved low end performance.
