Good clip.
Shirley Robertson as a double Olympic gold medallist knows what its like to go for the Olympic gold and she is saying its very different from the atmosphere at Chrissy Field.
The windsurfers have it even harder than any of the other sailors because they need to be much fitter and the kiters need a similar amount of fitness, so its going to be a big decision for anyone who wants to go for the Kite racing Olympic gold as it will be a 6 day a week job for 4 years.
Great vid!!
Eppo was asking on another thread something like where was the excitement in kite racing or something like that, just watching that first bit of the race @6:30 where Johnny comes screaming across on a starboard tack to pass just in front of the others pretty much answers that.
Getting accepted into the olympics is fantastic but it is certainly going to change things on the kite racing front.
It is a bit of a shame that for the average punter we cannot even get our hands on the latest gear until months after the team riders so even if we are serious about getting involved we are going to be behind the eight ball.
I may get involved at a fun level but it is going to take some full on dedication and $ if you want to be seriously competitive.
We had a couple norths board back in late April ;)
Apart from guys that test the things I think this is acceptable.
Most people just need to learn to ride and any race board will do, being on the latest race board will not mater for 6 to 12 months of practice and racing as their own skills will be the limiting factor not their equipment 
Yep was a good watch and more like what we can expect to see on the beach at your local rather than some well oiled smooth edit 
Hey BoardGirl, Where u at the nationals on a race board?
(well sitting on the beach anyway
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Another vid of mostly the same guys.
It's an Ozone ad, yes, but it's still pretty interesting to hear their take on things, There's also some nice footage throughout.
Looks like these guys are all running a modified trim system, with 1 hand on bar and one hand constantly on trim adjustment? Interesting why they would do this rather than trim using the bar? I guess it's for comfort so you can keep the bar steady on long runs.?
When they use the trim system it's alot more like a sailing trim. Ie the front lines of the kite power(trimming on) and depower (trimming out) the kite a heap more than moving the bar. This is due to the angle of attack is changed a greater distance by this method. Using the bar in and out is more like a fine tune or trim tab as it actually doesn't change the angle of attack ( on fixed front line kites like the ozones anyway) rather stalls the wind off the leech of the kite and power is gained this way by the kite slowing and stalling back into the "power zone". from a sail design and racing purpose this is actually slow as its inducing drag and theoretically over trimming.I think there will be some big design changes in the next few years in racing kites to change the way kites are trimmed to optimize this.
Hey AGK, you sound like you know alot about what your saying. But wouldnt shortening the front lines (using the trim system) and lenthening the back lines (letting the bar out) both effectivly change the angle of attack the same amount? I always thought they used the trim systems more in order to keep their wieght in a more hiked out position?
I would be interested to hear any one elses thoughts?
Its a little hard to describe without pictures but I guess I can try. By the way this is just my understanding of it, by no means is it 100% right been wrong plenty of times before. Your front lines on a C kite are basically the pivot point so the kite moves from that static point like a mast on a boat, your bar controls the back lines and effectively is a boom. So By moving the back lines you arnt really changing the angle the wind hits the front of the kite. all you do is stall the flow off the back by pulling the bar in. This is slow but increases power by forcing the kite to slow and move back into the power window.
Using the front lines more Will hence change the attack the wind comes into the kite effectively being a bigger change. Rather than changing the wind off the back of the kite.
By understanding is this is the major difference between bow kites and C kites. A bow kite pivots more like a see-saw so in power up as the front goes out the back comes in and de power the front comes in as back goes away depowering faster ,not needing the kite to move as much and having less Impact on air flow.
Not sure that explained or made it worse. Guess its easier coming from a sailing background.
