Tilmann's 50 over 500m session has kicked up a real ruckus in the GPS Speedsailing world recently with people debating whether the 50 knot grail's been reached or not.
Debate's over guys.
The 50 is old news.
Because Sebastian Cattelan's just posted a session with a 57.5 knot Max GPS (display)....
.... and it's backed up by a 57.3 knot 2 second Max (software).
A session where the top speed recorded was less than 3 knots shy of 60.
And it's only been a bare week since Tilmann's groundbreaking session.
Leaves you wondering what speeds are going to be posted by the year's end eh?
Roll on 2008! Can't wait to see what happens..... and be a part of it!
As mentioned on GPSSS, it is interesting to see the 100m part of the run so much faster then the 250m part.
I'd also be interested to know the water depth they were sailing in - not because of some :us vs them" argument, but rather it appears that in water that is less than 12 inches (a safe'ish depth for windsurfing) there appears to be something special that is coming into play, ie: maybe it is simply the flat water, but it could be something more like the wing-in-ground effect.
EDIT: it could simply be that the cavitation problems that some of us prescribe as the limit for windsurfing, isn't applicable due to more power in the kite or less hull/fin in the water.
I think the speeds being done by the Kite speed crew are just phenomenal, they are real, and windsurfers need to stop trying to make excuses, it's poor form, makes us look like spoilt sooks. (And Mathew not having a go at you I know you're a top bloke, I've met you, you are only trying to be scientific). However, whether it's ground effect, liquid ice whatever, credit where its due. These speeds will never be replicated by windsurfers, unless there is some radical change in technology, which I can't see happening, but I'm no hydrodynamicist, nor futurologist.
Ask yourself this question why do you windsurf? Is it the feeling you get, or the number you get on your gps. I get a buzz everytime I windsurf. YesterdaY WAS ABOUT 13 TO 14 KNOTS ON THE windmeter, and I did 26 knots, it felt unreal.
Good on the kite crew, keep setting those boundaries, let 60 knots be your next goal!!!
Hey Hardie - definitely not whinging. As you said, windsurfing is not likely to catch up to those speeds using the current gear, which is exactly why I posted the question -> it may actually be possible for windsurfing to learn some tricks from kitesurfing...!
Kitesurfing may have only had 10 years of development, compared to windsurfing with about 30 - but kites adapted lot of knowledge from windsurfing, just like windsurfing adapted a lot of knowledge from surfing. I have always thought that it was only a matter of time before kites went faster, and am a little surprised that it has taken this long; I was recently starting to think that they would run into the same fundamental limits as windsurfing, but its good to see that kitesurfing is achieving exceptional results.
Which is great news for windsurfing...! Now that we have conclusive evidence of a faster sailing craft, it shows that there may be other designs that windsurfing can use, eg:
- say possibly using 10cm fins
- different board designs, say something closer to a kite board but doesn't require mast-foot pressure
- maybe sails that generate some vertical lift.
Aside: One of the reasons for me asking/stating various ideas about water-depth and kite-slingshot is that these kind of questions need well though-out responses... With a very shallow water depth (gut feeling of below 6in) results in something similar to ice-sailing, ie the water is acting as a lubricant. For the kite-slingshot, then there is energy storage/transfer occurring - assuming its actually possible to slingshot at those speeds.
... These speeds have even got me thinking that I should get my kites out of storage to do some speed runs (I'm just not a fan of the excessive risk factor of kiting).
that is fast pheew! 
got to bow down for now every year on the stats, kiters generaly go faster every year and i think matthew's right the sailing world could learn a lot from this...hmmm 10cm fins at 20cm intervals at just the right spots underneath a sailboard might just do the trick
it's all over. kites have smashed the world speed record and there's nothing left to fight for 
so throw away them gpses, throw away those cams, get yerselves a waveboard or freestyle board and it's time to learn to windsurf good'n'proppa 
flame suit set to extreme
I'd have thought it's much too messy to be called a lab.
No haven't tried the silicon carbide yet, this one's testing some stainless steel wire on the leading edge.
The 20cm version has a small stainless plate near the tip, works well but doesn't go down quite far enough, I'm getting a bit of wear at the junction.
The wire on the 18cm covers the bottom 3/4 of the leading edge.
I'm just not sure how well the bond will work in practice, epoxy doesn't seem to grab stainless all that well.
If it falls off, then I'll give the silicon carbide a go.
wow. did you get much of a season at all?
I still don't think huey has really made up for a month and a half of no wind during SE qld spring /early summer. We've had a full week of 30 knots + the occasional 20 knotter here and there
