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Kai Lenny's Kite Board vs. America's Cup AC72

 
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windfind



Joined: 18 Mar 1997
Posts: 1899

PostPosted: Thu Jul 18, 2013 10:06 pm    Post subject: Kai Lenny's Kite Board vs. America's Cup AC72 Reply with quote

Hi Gang,

As some of you know I was forecasting for the AC preliminaries and have seen these cats in action. Here is a short video of Kai Lenny racing the Oracle 72 footer in San Francisco. The video gives you an idea of the speed of these amazing boats once they spool up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=zOFSyQ3V0Ig

Mike Godsey
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geohaye



Joined: 03 Apr 2000
Posts: 1437

PostPosted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 8:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Indeed, but it is clear that had Kai used a proper race board he would have smoked his Red Bull teammates in the boat....
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windfind



Joined: 18 Mar 1997
Posts: 1899

PostPosted: Fri Jul 19, 2013 9:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hi George,

You are right that he would have won with a race board with a jibe start like the one in the video. You can see him speed far ahead at the start because is takes a lot more time to get a multi ton boats to hull speed than a board.

But notice how fast the AC72 catches up and passes him once it reaches speed. So if it was a running start with a race board vs. and AC72 in open water it might be a tight race.

Mike
iwindsurf.com
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scottwerden



Joined: 11 Jul 1999
Posts: 302

PostPosted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 9:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I guess I am sort of old fashioned - I prefer the 12M era of the America's Cup when it was more about skill and seamanship rather than incredibly deep financial resources and big engineering teams.
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joew



Joined: 18 Jul 1999
Posts: 156

PostPosted: Sun Jul 21, 2013 10:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hey Scott, My thinking on the new class of cats which comprise this AC's competitors was similar to yours. That changed instantly and dramatically when out on the bay last month, Oracle came smokin' by 100 yds. away, fully foiled and streaming a rooster tail of spray off the rudders.It converted me to an instant fan. Keep in mind, that engineering teams and big budgets have been a fixture of this competition in the modern era. The foiling cats are uniquely suited to the consistent windy conditions on SF Bay, the city front race course and televised finals may broaden the fan base of competitive sailing. My concern is that head to head, it may be a blowout (boring) or that the size, speed, and manuverability won't translate well into a course racing format, we will see, stay tuned
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