Don't look now, but...

[kent]

It looks like things are finally starting to heat up a bit. The winds are looking pretty good all week, but out of a variety of directions. I know that it is still very, very early to start looking at the weekend, but Sat. or Sun. is starting to look pretty good. The forecast for Sunday is very similar to last year's pre-race!

If the wind did come in hard out of the N-NE, it would make equipment selection very tricky. The race would be very broad allowing for the use of larger kites. The difference this year is that we will be riding well offshore and the rough water and large kite combo will be fairly taxing. Additionally, the race would require many jibes down wind, thus making the actually distance over that water substantially longer. I think that this dead down wind race would allow for a few more tactics to come into play as well as some more board handling.

In winds over 22 knots or so a rider can really choose from betwen a 9 meter kite and a 14. I guess that in a tight reach that racers would choose the smaller kite while in a full down wind race the large kites would rule. Keep in mind that a broad race will be easier on the legs, but that the staring on the upper body can be tough.

I'm looking forward to doing this thing!

Kent