I agree that staying in stronger wind is more important than windshifts, but assuming that you can stay in the good wind, you can definitely benefit from tacking on headers. Some areas have really consistent wind, but most don't. Regarding tacking a kiteboard, it is true that you lose some upwind ground, but with good technique, not a lot. With experience, you can make a subjective decision on when to tack and when to carry on. Ultimately, there are so many other condition variables that effect competitive upwind strategy - persistent or long-cycle windshifts, shoreling refraction, current shear and eddies, wave conditions, and so on.gdorfman wrote:...unless you kite in an extremely shifty area, this is a much, much less significant issue in kiting. Wind speed is much more important because it has massive effect on speed and *pointing ability*...
Also, because wind speed has such a huge effect on pointing on a kite, it is very difficult to recognize a header vs a lull... Also, changing direction is so inefficient, that you will lose too much distance if you try to tack on most shifts.
I've gotta disagree with this point. Geometrically and practically, lifts and headers have the biggest effect on craft with the worst upwind angles (kiteboards), regardless of speed. If a kiteboard does 20 degrees upwind in a given windstrength, and it is always sailing in a 15 degree header, then it will only be making good 5 degrees upwind. Alternatively, if it's in a 15 degree lift, it will be making good 35 degrees - a massive difference. On sailboats with an upwind angle of 45-55 degrees, this is not as important, no matter how fast or slow they go. Curiously, faster craft usually have worse upwind angles because they have a greater apparent wind effect.gdorfman wrote:In general, shifts are less significant the faster and more easily accelerated a boat is... Shifts are most important (the dominant issue) on very slow boats, which all go the same speed, point equally in different wind speed, and don’t lose anything tacking.
I agree. I posted this because there are a lot of competent kiters that may not realize how important playing windshifts can be, in the right conditions. That example I made about playing 15 degree windshifts with a 20 degree upwind angle really happens, and even after allowing for tacking losses, it could result in 5-6 times better upwind progress. You may not realize it until you really focus on it. I do, and the results can be massive.gdorfman wrote:...i don't want a bunch of beginner kiters who struggle with upwind progress to now be spending all their time thinking about wind oscillations...
Though this is common it is not always the case. I know of locations where the wind direction is locked even if the wind is going up and down.JS wrote:As competitive sailors know, wind direction is always fluctuating back and forth.
Some kites have far more upwind preformance than others. Above all with some kites you constantly have to deal with keeping the kite between stalling and pulling you upwind.JS wrote:The same is even more critical for upwind kiteboarding because the upwind angles are relatively poor.
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