I think it will be on open water only. Kites need a bit room, so I dont think we will see them in the rivers.

I was wondering about kite starts, light winds, penalties and sail numbers

Windsurfing racing at the start line in light winds is very bunch up boards shooved in everywhere and there is touching etc. it is very agressive. we have sail numbers of course.

the kites are roughly the same speed, maybe a bit quicker. to go from 0 the 6 knots is easy enough. it doesnt pay to come flying in as you would in high winds and you wont get past of the wall of competitors. so you end up racking up with everybody else.
so i guess there will be sail no. on the kites and the sailors body so the judges and catch the kiters who dont give way. It could be hard to watch sailors and kites.
im sure they have it sorted. to be honest i have never seen a kite race so i dont know.
Are there any videos of light wind kiting at the start?

local yacht clubs have to get new flags yellow green red just like nascar racing
Dont kite Racers know that sailors use Red and Green Flags
who wrote that report
Oh thats right kite surfers not biased at all

JustinL said...


Are there any videos of light wind kiting at the start?

This is light wind. Damo is actually an experienced racer despite the mistakes and the banter. He just under stood the mark by 2 metres from about 600m away.

JustinL
I don't think we will have sail/kite numbers
This is copied from the lates rule from the ISAF


X9 CHA􏰀GES TO APPE􏰀DIX G
Appendix G is changed to:
Appendix G - Identification on Competitors
Every kiteboard shall be identified as follows:
(a) Each competitor shall be provided with and wear a shirt with a personal competition number of no more than three digits.
(b) The numbers shall be displayed on the front and back of the shirts and be at least 15 cm high.
(c) The numbers shall be Arabic numerals, all of the same solid colour, clearly legible and in a commercially available typeface giving the same or better legibility as Helvetica. The colour of the numbers shall contrast with the colour of the shirt.

The full set of experimental rule are here
www.sailing.org/28163.php

^^^^^Na, your religious blaming/thinking is wrong.(and a bit religiously racist)
I dont think it was THEM who took away windsurfing.
I think its more to do with simple evolution.lol

For those of you that want stickers or posters we have designed these and they are going on as many RSX sails as possible. Feel free to download the image (click on the pics on my site and you will get taken to my google docs account with the relevent pic.)
www.redsurfbus.com/2012/05/vote-for-windsurfing.html

Put it wherever you can, get it in the press, on your sails etc.
If you would like to order a set then either contact a local printer or you can use the one we have used in the UK who will ship them, all details provided.

I've mentioned the shallow water to his Dad, he is well aware of the risks and feels that Aaron knows his limits, the video shows a lot of shallow water riding but that just happens to be where they were filming one or two days over summer, its not really a true representation of where and how Aaron kites, was what I was told.

Like I said I've run 2 years of kite racing, it works, its different to sailing a yacht or a sailboard, but it was definitely fun, definitely sailing, definitely racing and has a lot of potential to develop, they are just my first hand observations.

I think everyone needs to chill, do what they need to in order to prepare for the November meeting, and remember that this is a new sport to them and will require an open mind and some different skills, and course requirements. The key to acceptance is an open mind, younger people are very enthusiastic about kite racing.

Sorry, but surely it's wrong to say that "the only reason nobody thinks Kite racing is not a serious sport around the buoys is because up until a few years ago the only reason we had to stay upwind was so we could try our luck at jumps and tricks etc" and that they should "remove one of the other classes that would hardly have an existence if not for the Olympics."

We've gotta face facts, whether we sail boards or kites. There are other reasons for the fact that we are competing for medals, like the incredibly small numbers in kite racing; only 15 sailors in the US nationals, 7 in the Australian nationals, etc. Even if you add the windsurfers in, the board numbers look pretty sick - something like 160 sailors in Oz at nationals this year, for example. If we get such tiny numbers, then surely it's reasonable if people from vastly bigger disciplines don't treat us seriously.

Compare the board numbers to the three-handed dinghy discipline, for example, which attracts 200+ sailors to Australian nationals and about 930 sailors to US nationals and doesn't even have an Olympic spot. Or look at the day-racing keelboat discipline, which attracted over 2000 sailors to their nationals in the UK and no longer has an Olympic place. Not to mention the cruiser/racer leadmine sailors who get up to 10,000 sailors in some events. The CYCA winter series, to name just one local event, regularly gets over 1000 sailors to a weekend event. They've never had a Games spot, although they tried. These numbers make boards of all types look tiny.

And of course, in all the disciplines mentioned above there are club-level fleets that dwarf the numbers attending nationals. I think in my dinghy/board club, about 1/10 of the boat sailors do nationals compared to about 70% of board sailors. It's not because the boat sailors aren't serious, it's because when you have a club boat fleet that is 7 times as big as the kite national title fleet (in just one class), then you don't have to travel to get lots of competition!

I'm not saying this to say that windsurfers should get back in in place of kites, or anything like that. What I am trying to point out is that it's not as simple as just putting in board medals (whatever number or type) in place of a boat discipline, because arguably that is completely unfair to the boat sailors who do a much better job that board sailors do when it comes to attracting racers. And the reason board sailors (both types) sometimes get treated as a tiny part of the racing scene is because we ARE a tiny part of the racing scene.

no chance of the aust rep explaining why
he is too busy getting the kite racing underway

The RSX Class Association has sent a detail letter to Yachting Australia asking for explanations.

Brett Morris said...



Mexico is the latest county that voted incorrectly...At what point is this whole thing null and void?

Refering back to jusavina's link earlier www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=10806741 there was a paragraph in it that would make me think the November vote will have to be reversed "In November, windsurfing has a chance to restate its case. However, it's understood it must win 75 per cent of the council vote to regain its place." Surely with everyone who has said they were "unclear" about the way to vote there must be around 75% now willing to vote for the windsurfers.

Brett is does the AWA have any political influence here?

um whats the average age for a kite racer

CNN's Mainsail program (Foxtel) is currently running a story about kite racing and the olympic vote. Shirley Robertson is the reporter, on again at 7am sunday.

I've windsurfed for 20 years but reckon we couldn't have done a better killing our sport if we tried - especially the racing side of things with that formula rubbish.

Like some countries I thought we'd all embrace the idea of racing a fast one design course board like the rsx with the ultimate aim of competing at the olympics. Instead Australians kept using the dying formula concept where the person with the most cash and latest gear often wins, events get called off if there's not enough wind and beginners can't have a go because the gears too extreme.

We even managed to stuff up the disciplines Olympic name - RSX! What's wrong with the name 'windsurfing' or even 'sailboarding!'. The public don't know what rsx means, may as well call kiting 'naish' or the 100m sprint 'nike'.

Too many manufacturers, too much variety of gear. Not that i'm into it i just hope kiting learns from our mistakes.

Mat

Mat, I can tell you feel deeply about this and you're entitled to your rant. But I have to disagree with the formula rubbish comment. Course racing wasn't killed by formula, it was already struggling when it was (somewhat) revived by formula. Sure it would be great if the one design and longboard scenes would pick up again, but in the meantime let's not kick the people who are keeping windsurfer racing going.

As for your other comments: sure, the guy at the front of the formula fleet probably has the latest gear. He's probably also the best sailor, which has a *lot* more to do with it. Yes, events get called off if there's not enough wind, but the overall wind range is at least as wide as any other class. At the club racing level, in my experience its rare for a race committee to start a race in over 25 knots - notable exceptions being offshore racing and formula windsurfing. And as for your comment about beginners - you do realize you've ruled out all high performance classes? I for one am glad we're not all racing 420's.