BayAreaKiteboarding.com

OK Guys (and Snacks) - eat your hearts out.

I can now do while kiting what sailplane pilots have been doing for years!

No - not the mile high club... I'm talking about recording your "sortie" on a gps and displaying it later on a map - in this case, Google Earth.

This is a one hour recording of my kiting yesterday. I attach two pics. My top speed was only 20 mph, but if I were on a sailboat, that would be screaming!

I did this with a Suunto M9 watch. They now have a similar model called the X9 since the M9 has been discontinued.





What does this mean? That we can start posting our outings, bay crossings, etc.

Anybody want to join the club?

Enjoy!

I'm in.... How far did you go in an hour? I have a waterproof GPS, but not on a watch... I'll need to make a lanyard or something...

looks like your in front of the shack!

Leo,

If you haven't already check out http://www.motionbased.com. They allow you to record your activities, share with others. They also have a cool feature called "Dot Racing", where you can watch your movement (and set playback speed).

Pretty cool.

- Josh

Josh,

www.motionbased.com is alright, but let me show you what we use in gliding, which I believe is much more in tune with kitesurfing.

This is a link to our soaring club statistics: http://www2.onlinecontest.org/olcphp/20 ... 32d75f3c21

It shows the pilot's name, distance traveled, model of glider, times, and a link to an info page with the picture. There are a number of points for each flight (gliding has a point system for cross country). At the end of the year, we add up the points, and have a champion. Note the distances that we fly, without an engine... An out and return equivalent to San Francisco - Lake Tahoe - San Francisco (in distance) is not uncommon...

If you want to learn more about gliding, see our website at:
http://mindensoaringclub.com

Check out the Cross Country menu selection, and see how we describe a course.

So in kiting we can do the same. If there is enough interest, I will setup the software for this. Kiting is like sailing or gliding. The true skills of a kiter are measured on how fast he can complete given course. I know our sport is very much into gymnastics, but let it mature, and we will separate the men from the boys (literally) with the skills that I am talking about.

A little bit of this has already started with the St. Francis Yacht club Thursday evening races, but these are regattas. What I am talking about here is more like an ocean race for sailboats, but with kites. The skills are very different!

We have one candidate - Andy, and he's as good a kiter as one can find. Any other takers?

Let's set some goals for this year.

1) Downwinder to 3rd avenue. Fastest time wins.
2) Out and return to 3rd avenue. Again, fastest time.
3) Out and return to one of the buoys at the exit of the Alameda channel into the bay. This will require some very good upwind skills, and of course patience. Fastest time wins.

Any other ideas?

Regards,

Andy, here are the stats from the GPS:

Start Time: 3/18/06 2:56 :26 pm
End Time: 3/18/06 3:56:10 pm
Distance: 10.08 nm
Avg. Speed: 11.6 mph
Max Speed: 19.7 mph
Trackpoints: 327

FYI, here's the ikitesurf Wind Graft link:

Ikitesurf Wind Alameda 3/18/06

I just pulled my Garmin Etrex out of the car and will be making a mount of some sort so that I can read the data..... I think I might mount it on the bar somewhere...

So what does it take to get the stuff$$?

Could be fun, I like the concept, a want to do a desitnation race with lots of obsticals, upwind, side wind, down wind, wind shadows .
I say, Pt. Emery to the bridge at Reo Vista would make a hellofa Blowout type event.
L.M.G.

I could see this being used for Thursday night races to verify the winner or something. or even just poke around and numbers and see how you could improve or something really gay like that.

honestly its cool but I leave all my calculations in the lab or in my brain, two things that are not present when i am kitesurfing(thank you god).

charlie wrote:looks like your in front of the shack!

lol

=D>