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ok, so the current rules IKA has are fine? Sounds like it.

Toby wrote:ok, so the current rules IKA has are fine? Sounds like it.

Nope, it looks like you still need to have "THE BOARD" to be competitive, and it's impossible for most people to get one and then get sufficient time in to train on it to be competitive unless your're a racing celebrity, which defeats the entire purpose of making them "production" Look how long it took people to get their north boards....the season was 1/2 over....even then alot were shit.

the spirit of a "Production class" is so that anyone can buy an off the shelf production board and be competitive.....currently this does not appear to be the case.

Sure no one won on some crazy new design because any inventive builders just gave up trying outside of the box shit due to the production class rules. itI wasn't abundantly clear at the beginning of the year that you can ride whatever the heck you want at the NA championships. If IKA were to officially make it open season then some innovation will likely occur over the next 1-2 years and it would be easier for most people to get a board form local builders.

so the top guys who have dominated the top of the sport for the last 18 or more months, thats just down to the board? is that what you are saying?

how about the had work that they have put in to get there?

for nearly a year it was only Ozone winning events with adam and Jonny, then Riccardo starts winning on them too? so it must be the kite right? but Brian Lake rides Cabrinha and Riccardo is now on North kites and both are winning races and events. They all use a variety of different fins as well. so its not like there is one combo that is just better.

the fact is that there are plenty of people racing in the bay area and world wide with mikes lab boards, it is also a fact that plenty of those people get beaten on a regular basis.

If North or who ever are incapable of building a board that can take it to the the front of the fleet when they are using customs and developing new shapes vs the year old Mikes lab shape then its a poor show, do you really think that none of the brands have got their hands on one of his boards and copied it at some point to see what the magic is?

at the very top level the riders are making the difference, the top three or four using the same board is simple, training is easier when there is a constant value ( the board) Cabrinha don't make a competitive, board Ozone don't make boards and you would have to ask Riccardo why he doesn't use a North board… hell if he is riding for North rather than just being a paying customer i am sure they could have had a peek at his board ( mikes lab)

i think being open to any board is great right now, i really like the idea of one design though, mostly for $$$ reasons tho!!

And what size of fins are the first five using? Is it still 39 back and 42 front? Do they use different fins for high wind and light wind?

One design is good and bad. Both have arguments, and never all will be having the same opinion about it.
Will be interesting what happens for Olympia. Many discussions, no real results. But whatever they decide for, we should accept it and go with the decision. You might not be happy with it, but your friend. Cannot make it right for everyone! That's life.

james wrote:so the top guys who have dominated the top of the sport for the last 18 or more months, thats just down to the board? is that what you are saying?

how about the had work that they have put in to get there?

for nearly a year it was only Ozone winning events with adam and Jonny, then Riccardo starts winning on them too? so it must be the kite right? but Brian Lake rides Cabrinha and Riccardo is now on North kites and both are winning races and events. They all use a variety of different fins as well. so its not like there is one combo that is just better.

the fact is that there are plenty of people racing in the bay area and world wide with mikes lab boards, it is also a fact that plenty of those people get beaten on a regular basis.

If North or who ever are incapable of building a board that can take it to the the front of the fleet when they are using customs and developing new shapes vs the year old Mikes lab shape then its a poor show, do you really think that none of the brands have got their hands on one of his boards and copied it at some point to see what the magic is?

at the very top level the riders are making the difference, the top three or four using the same board is simple, training is easier when there is a constant value ( the board) Cabrinha don't make a competitive, board Ozone don't make boards and you would have to ask Riccardo why he doesn't use a North board… hell if he is riding for North rather than just being a paying customer i am sure they could have had a peek at his board ( mikes lab)

Riccardo is back to being independent(riding Ozone again) and training in SF until the middle of August with the locals.
If Johnny, Burnne or Adam rode a different they would still kick ass.
The thing most people don't get is how fast the top 4 go in ALL winds.
In a post above someone also said something about it would be nice to know that all boards where going to allowed. This is SF bring whatever! We want the sport to grow and be faster is the way it is here everyday. Until you can walk in to a shop and pick up a race board the rule is bull shit.

The guy running the race this week was John Craig, the guy running the America Cup who also ran all our kiteboarding race until this year. So the did some metric on us compared to the AC 45. Total time around the course is the same. They are fast upwind we are faster down. (we mean Johnny,Adam and Burnnie

Also would note the Whole race staff at STFYC this year is still the best, Robbie pick up right where John left off. If you what to race this is where to train.

Al , i hear you!

fast is fast and good riders will be good riders full stop, they put the hours in and make things work,

interesting to hear about Riccardo being independent again, good on him!

rumor has it that one of the UK boys 14 year old Ollie bridge might be coming over in the summer too, a real prospect and it shows that to win you need to train with the best.

Friday Night we all where "training" like Burnie

awww.... I didn't make the photo. bummer.

That was a rad event.