To me, it seems like kiters/windsurfers at Luderitz are in a different category. A purpose-built ditch is not equivalent to open water sailing. It's still a worthy & fascinating accomplishment, but not quite the same thing as an open water record.

Then again, the Sailrocket presumably wouldn't be able to achieve those speeds in "real" open water conditions, like the hydro foiling Hydroptere - so they're all slightly different accomplishments. The Sailrocket certainly seems to have a huge edge in terms of efficiency though.

It can only go in one direction so I'm not that impressed. I bet if a kite company put a few million into building a speed specific kite then kiters would break the 60 knot barrier as well. Oh yeah, we can also go in more than one direction.

If they didn't build the ditch, they would have to find a few places on Earth where you could get a very strong offshore wind and flat water. They would still be able to do it but would have to wait maybe for years for conditions to occur there. They used to set records on the open sea and you could argue that Tilmann Heinig's records at Westerhaven were set on the open sea but then the rules were changed to ban that in favour of the yachts and windsurfers.
I think the main difference the canal makes is that it means that the suitable conditions are likely to be more predictable and occur more often.

Some of the yachts do benefit a lot just from their huge size.

I have one of those ; i use it to jump off mountains with. HA !!

Seriously though ...
My rigid-wing is about 14.69M big, with a projected aria of 14.69M. It will fly
at about 18mph with my weight but it has a VNE in turbulent air of 60mph.
According to my Garmin 76s ;I've had it going 80mph in smooth air before.
How many 14M water kites have a speed range of That ?

Bille

Well, in every way a kiteboard/kite is a more practical piece of equipment & I'm sure refined board & kite design will push the record higher. However, it doesn't seem likely that that kiters will match Sailrocket's efficiency.

speed boards are directional.

directionals can be jibed and ridden both tacks. That boat is a one trick pony.... the trick is still pretty impressive.

The kite is not the limitation, it is the board.

Similar kites (aerodynamically inferior foils, actually!) used with buggies equipped with wheels and ridden on hard ground go much faster than boards on water.

So the secret to going faster on water is to minimize the friction created by the board.

i am pretty sure the sail rocket can go both directions. One direction you are doing the standard tack, but if you rotate the sail a bit you can go on the other tack, but you'll be backing the rudder in the water, sort of like kiteboarding with a surfboard and instead of jibing you ride it backwards.

I think the reason they don't ride it backwards is because it is a one of kind boat and they don't want to take chances hot dogging it. Can't go to the store and grab another sailrocket off the shelf.

Catman did his 61 kn NOT on his canal but on open water. On a shallow water section of Luderitz bay. Or how I call it:: On liquid ice. Which has been banned by the WSSRC after my record.

The second thing which slows us down is the big blown-up sausage in front of our kites. Some people call it "front tube" . It has a lot of drag.
And it causes control problems in gusts. So we have to depower all the time which slows us down.

Regarding development current kites are on the same level as windsurf sails in the eighties of the past century. Nice freestyle-toys but compared to the wing of the sailrocket a piece of crap.