Great footage of racing

What a load of crap, 4knots.... I'm sure this is not made for people in the know to watch but seriously, what are you gonna do when it is actually blowing 4knots and you are expected to perform... while the whole world watches... it's going to be a debauchery!

IOC, take note, the IKA is full of sh1t.

Sincerely

Pete

The People with the right equipment will perform just fine.

IOC, take note, Pete is full of ......

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Gunnar

Most of those riders have such horrible body positioning, they all are in the poo-stance. These guys race and they can't even tune their kites properly

Hey ivel, show us your position

yes the right equipment being a sail boat....
You can't seriously tell me that an inflatable kite is gonna fly in 4 knots? Maybe, a ram air, but even that is a huge stretch.
Even if Ram Airs would fly, I doubt that Cabrinha will be producing ram airs for the Olympics...

I wish I was wrong, cause that would be fantastic for us Great Lakes Kiters, it is not that I don't want to be able to kite in 4 knots, it's just that the damn kite will not fly in 4 knots. Not today's kites at least.

You obviously have no idea about racing. Don't you.

Yep at the moment inflateable kites cannot fly in those conditions. BUT there are kites that can, and I am lucky to race for a brand that has a high performance 21m2 Ram air kite that in combination with a modern race board works well beyond what current LEIs can do in light breezes. In 6 years a lot of development can happen and board, fin and kite technology will get a lot better. So I am in no doubt that even then other brands will at least try to get kites developed for their team racers that will allow them to kite in the minimal conditions too.

So let's be open to the idea and give Markus and the IKA a chance to get the one part of the sport into the olimpics that has the chance.

I am pretty sure that all the guys and girls who compete in the tour would love a chance to represent their country in the olympics. It's probably not so interesting for the non racers, but this is not about them.

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Gunnar

I'll accept that ram airs especially the FS's can fly and perform beyond what any LEI when you are talking about low wind performance, and I have experienced the difference the right board makes in your ability to plane and get up wind when it seems you just have a puff, but today's equipment will not fly consistently in 4 knots average wind speed (ram air or lei), and the IKA is saying very clearly in that video that they will, which IMHO makes them liars. Anything can happen tomorrow, to lie about it today is wrong.
As far as what manufacturers do, until the format is outlined on how the kite racing will work in the Olympics I doubt you see many kite companies invest to much in it. Who knows, there may be strict guidelines on what equipment you can use, you know, the kite company with the deepest pockets....who sponsors the IKA...is given sole rights to supply the riders with their kites? It could happen, it has before!

We can kite in 4 knots ground level winds. The Video clearly states that we have to use longer lines to be able to get to slightly stronger wind currents higher up.

I do quite a lot of training in almost no wind conditions and a lot of times those are in the 4 -8 knot range. It's super hard and the trick is to make 0 mistakes and make sure you stay on the plane the entire time. If the wind drops below the 4 knot range, and I make a mistake and stop planing than most likely I will have to swim back to shore.

The 4 knots mentioned in the Video are conveying what is possible, sure that it may only be done by a handful of riders, but it can be done.

I do have to admit though that the IKA are possibly making one small mistake by wanting to limit the kite size to 19m2 in 2010. That might stand in the way of 4 knot Races.


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Gunnar