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.