edt wrote:
...
an ac72 can go 18 knots, in 8 knots of wind, upwind at an angle of 35 degrees, and 40 knots downwind in 20 knots of wind at an angle of 150. kiters are not even close to these sorts of numbers. Our foils can't go downwind at that kind of angle, our kites can't sail that close to the wind, and we have more drag in both the kite and the racing board than the ac class sailboats do.
...
Emirates Team New Zealand recorded a speed of 44.15 knots, ( 50.8 mph ) ; that
is Fast by any standard for only 20Kts of wind !!!
That's what I Wanna do on a cheap kite-boad set-up, (under $5K) since
i don't have a one hundred million dollar budget, like these guys !!!
Mohave hardly Ever blows less than 13Kt, so i don't Care about less wind as
a setup for less would rarely get used so it's not worth the money to Me. Now if i
lived in San Diego, that would be a different story.
I purchase kites that cover
13mph to 30mph, ( 11.2Kt to 26Kt ) ; in winter my 11M Edge gets used more
so the range gets stretched to 40mph, ( 35Kt ).
For ME, kiting in 35Kt of wind
is NOT as Fun as the High teens like 18 to 20Kt ; i'm Old and it Hurts more
when i fall in the Higher winds !!!
Bille