Kitesurfer close to the action in Cape Town Volvo Ocean Race

[waiting4wind]

Take a look at the video of the start of the second leg in Cape Town, from 47:00 to 47:30.

Watch the kitesurfer coming into the shot from the left.
It looks like his kite might actually have touched the mast and sail of the Puma Boat!
I dont think he would have won any prizes for getting tangled!

http://www.volvooceanrace.tv/page/NewsD ... 63,00.html

or

http://www.volvooceanrace.org/multimedia/video-gallery/

Click on Cape Town Leg 2 Start - Full Replay
move the slider to 47:00 mins

[kiter147]

cool

[gbleck]

No contact. He was way behind Puma. You can see his board come into the shot a bit after the kite. Looks cool though.

[Nico]

That, to me, is a big no no.
Kiters gotta show respect to other users.
Like staying clear of the start of an international yacht race FCS (not the finn system).
I could not see the film (computer too slow) but from the account from waiting4wind we (kiters) chalked up a whole lot of minus points there.
Nico
Now think about it before fireing away.

[BullsShit.com]

I waited almost an hr for this ?
WTF?
Slow as hell, and the kiter was not even that close.
Stupid to be there, but then again, why not.

That was so damn lame...

[Toby]

looks like someone wanted some TV coverage...

[mathieu leheilleix]

I know that kiter:
I was kiting there too on my yellow & green cab following Puma and then Ericsson 4 jibing at the second buoy in the bay.

The kiting conditions were quite pleasant with 15 to 20 knots of wind (quite gusty conditions !!) and freezing water temps !!

[gbleck]

They are well past the start and after the first turn. The kit is not even remotely close to puma. The camera and commentator boats are between the kite and puma. He's not messing with el mistro.

[steve bart]

no way did I touch el maestro!!! kite was no less than 15m away, and in very easy stable conditions. was just so awesome to face up to such a mean ocean racing machine with the most minimal equipment. nothing negative for kiters, the guys were all totally relaxed on the boat, quite enjoying the fun of the moment. as for performance, could not quite hold her upwind angle or speed as wind was a bit lighter so far offshore, so was cruising on only 70% while they were on full boost. Puma vs 9 Torch would have been a lot closer with a few more knots!

[PeterP]

Very irresponsible - the last thing we want to see is a kiteban during the start of Volvo Ocean Races.

I know that guy - Bart-man, he is always getting us into to trouble and onto the news....the Naish importer is furious, reckon they might kick him off the Team.

Bad boy indeed.