Vestas Sailrocket

65.37 knots

http://www.sailrocket.com/

That vid brings back happy memory's but it was bloody hard work to go fast in that water state with no safety cover . It was the day when the 50 official knot barrier fell for the first time .

As mentioned earlier kite buggies and kite skiers have achieved much higher speeds. The record in a buggy is 84.10 mph / 73.08 knots - that was using a 2.7m Peter Lynn Vapor fixed bridle foil.
The second fastest at 82.89 mph / 72.02 knots also used a Vapor.

Top speed in winter have used a variety of kites and there have been some speeds over 60 mph using an LEI.

So you could use a fast fixed bridle foil right now going down a channel but not really any de-power and you don't have the room to turn upwind or downwind to burn off that speed. I think the air resistance on the body is a huge factor - look at downhill skiers; their body position and what they wear as one part of the equation. And finally whatever development comes to board and fin design, I have no doubt higher speeds will achievable to kiteboarders (on water).

There is some fascinating information in this thread and a good read.

in a way "no depower" is the key for more speed. We need kites which eat the gusts so well that we don´t have to depower any more. Depower is for losers only

I would be more impressed if the record was done...standing up

OK guys, where can we find a place that regularly has 100knots of wind?

Then you could get on a monoski and hang onto a parachute with the centre of the parachute pulled in toward you and as you went down the run, you let out a clutch and the parachute centre moved away from you and it filled out to a much bigger parachute.

You could do something similar with a kite by having a batten in the centre that you had pulled toward you so the kite was a Y shape with curled over ends. Then as you got faster you let the clutch out and the kite becomes like a birds wings.

Whichever way the record goes now, its going to have to be efficient. Brute force and big balls wont be enough - the big balls will still be needed though.

The kiters will now be taking over at Luderitz.

The windsurfers were not lucky with the wind but they did get to 52.05 knots in about 40 to 45 knots of wind. They will have to go back to the drawing board to go much faster than the 51.69 they did on standard production equipment in 40 to 45 knots of wind.

Sailrocket say their 65 knots was done in 30 knots of wind. Its definately a lot more efficient.

65 in 30k of wind is the part that impressed me the Most !!
We are gonna need to get WAY more efficient, if we wanna do something
like that.

I had mentioned in other threads that a rigid-wing looking apparatus is what
kiters will eventually be going to in the future. My 15m Exxtacy will carry me at
nearly 80mph in smooth air ; not bad for a 10 year old hang-glider.

Look at today's Rogalo-wings (pictured) , they represent the lower end of performance
for a HG, but compared to a water kite they are Years ahead of us aerodynamically ;
but a cheap one is triple the cost of my Ozone. SO i would imagine that a devise like
this would be race specific. Even at the higher price, we're Still doing better cost wise
than a sailboat. How much money went into hydrosphere or sail-rocket?

I believe the main reason i like current kite design is for their convenience in transporting
and user friendly along with low cost ; as for efficiency though they are Years behind
Go-Fast technology used in other sports like sailing or HG. So if we were to adapt
the wing technology for kiting , there is no telling how fast we could go ; kiteboards
are already in the ball game with what we got now , so a better wing will only make
us Faster !

BILLe

Maybe kiters should start wearing those aerodynamic gimp suits the high speed skiers use?

Unlike conventional sailboats and windsurfers, Sailrocket and kiteboards both utilize the same fundamental principle: net aerodynamic forces acting approximately in line with net lateral resistance forces.

Both variations of speed-seeking craft will progress to higher speeds.

Future Sailrocket-like adaptations will focus on stronger, larger structures to handle stronger wind and corresponding sea conditions, and also advanced 'breakaway' safety pods. It's conceptually simple to go a lot faster, and expensive (albeit more 'sponsorable' after Sailrocket's resounding success).

Speed kiteboarding is still in its technological infancy. Higher speeds will be achieved with rigid wing-kites with L/D ratios potentially 6-8 times those of current kites, more efficient (possibly 'stepped' and/or finned) boards, and various aerodynamic elements including suits and tiny-section line shrouds.

Cheers,
James