Scotchtoberfest - 30knot club (but just on a kite)

[Matt V]

Rider - Matt V
Weight - 98kg
Board - Strapped modified Liquid Force "Kite Fish" (Aftermarket Slingshot quad fins @ $2.50ea, center fin not used and holes not plugged)
Kite - 11.5 2011 Best "Kahoona" (actually retired kite with mostly a sail tape trailing edge - never had a bladder issue though)
Venue - Lake Wanahoo near Wahoo, NE
Wind - 4mph to 35mph NW shifting to NNE at times
GPS - GT-31
Top speed read by GPS - 31.89knots
Top speed for 10s as analyzed by Ed M - 30.44

Scary winds but with an old kite, I knew I could ditch it and not worry about it. Pretty nasty gusty but not to "updrafty". Last time I got 30knots with a kite was on Ottertail on rough snow. Before that, it was on a lake with a 115l/5.7m windsurfer. Had to try it on water with a kite. Like Ed says, I was cheating in the flat water behind the walking trail. Yesterday was rougher because of how high the winds were and it was impossible to find glass, but on a 13.5 day, you can ride perfect glass.

Glass is a surreal experience. It really only exists about 10-15ft out from this dike. And for even more comfort, the water is deep here right off the dike. When I say glass, I am not talking flat water. Flat Water exists all the way out 5-60yds from the dike. But there you get the vibration from the ripples. When there is no vibration from even the slightest ripple, you enter a whole new world. It is almost like a video game - like you are sitting on a couch. You can go as fast as you want, sheet in on a gust speed that you would never dream of sheeting in on with chop, and just keep going faster.

Another thing about true glass, is that you can feel your fins and any flaw in them. Seriously - stick a piece of packing tape on a twin-tip fin and you will feel it. You will even feel it when it finally rips off. Today was the first day for this board in glass and I wanted to check out how I had set the fin placement. I think I lucked out as there were no vibrations or little quirks that I noticed in the couple of glass runs I had. I think I have good fin placement on this board and will give measurements to anyone that wants them. I could also sell you a fin or two for $500.00 each.

Special thanks to Kevin O for selling me my first "Kite Fish". It saved me out on the Oregon coast when I broke all my fancy "bamboo bulls--t boards". I am only going to keep my 2012 North whip to serve as my high jump board once I repair it. Now I own 4 of the LF "Kite Fishes". Its not a great board, but it is the only board I will ride in any condition while doing anything - even speed runs. And it does not break at the fins or heel dent or get hurt when it falls off of the back of your truck.

Big Horns are next!

Matt V




Matt -

The Upwind abilities of a kite are ridiculous. I am extremely impressed by the images.

30.44 knots for 10 seconds. Yours is 30.447+/-0.208. So we are tied!!!

Different lakes on different days, but I will claim you cheated sailing on glass behind a levy in clear wind. I had to do it in chop with wind filtering on and off between houses and trees.

And according to the 2009 results:

Your files are attached to the e-mail.

Had to dig up my old records on this one...

According to the 2011 Midwest speed Quest results:

2011 Final Results


For 2009, the Top Alpha Speed was recorded by Ed Melechson of Omaha with a speed of 19.06 knots.

Your @500/50 is: 18.604+/-0.267, and I bet you weren't even trying.

Nice work... Next time it blows from the North, I'll have to come out and race you. I've only sailed it once before the lake opened. Remember this?

Game and Parks showed up 5 minutes later, and kicked us out.

By the way, the people of Wanahoo are pissed that their town got flooded again. I guess the lake has no flood gates. Either they all got lied to, or they all heard what they wanted to hear. Either way, they built a 35 million dollar playground for you, so enjoy it.

Ed

From: Matt V <mvolen@live.com>
To: Windsurf Ed Melechson <emelechson@yahoo.com>
Sent: Tuesday, October 14, 2014 8:57 PM
Subject: GPS Results from Wanahoo

Ed,

I put the GPS on today at Wanahoo. Scary day and the wind direction was not perfect for doing speed runs, but I did manage to get the thing to say 31.89knots. Can you analyze the files and send me some screen shots.

Matt

[Mike W]

Matt, these speed runs can be fun. Kevin O. and I have been doing some drag racing this season, and we often bring our GPS units along. Early this summer I clocked a 31mph run on my race board with a 13m kite in 10-20mph winds. Kevin had not been able to top that. Last week I clocked a 34.7mph run on a 5'5" Caution surfboard under a 14m kite in 15-25mph winds. I think this nudges me into the 30 knot club. Kevin had a few runs just over 30mph on that same say with a 10m kite.

Good fun!

[Matt V]

Yup! that just makes it into 30knots. Thank goodness for google conversions. I need to get back onto my lightwind twintip at this spot on the next NNW we get. And your experience makes me think about being out there on a bit lighter day with a bigger kite. I did that at first last year, and this spring, but I did not have a GPS on.

It is strange that I can get all the way up to 29.8knots with not much of a problem or any fear. Right when the GPS says I did 30+knots, I felt like I was going 40knots.