ripsessionkites - 3-9-2008 at 05:54 PM
Full Story in Post or Link Here: http://www.flyozone.com/landkites/en/news/headlines/9145
Hi everyone,
As you might have read seen or heard, we are working on a new race kite that will replace our still unbeaten Yakuza. The Yakuza has won every major
buggy and snowkite race since its release in 2005. There wasn’t and still isn’t any faster kite on the market that offers the stability and
performance of the Yakuza.
Robbie our designer is on fire and had some new ideas to make this kite even easier to fly yet faster with our recently updated and improved in-house
CAD program.
We are glad to have the worlds best buggy racers in the team who are testing the kites to their limits and from the feedback we are receiving, we can
be sure the new protos set new standards again. We have been testing different types of protos and we are already over the moon with the results. The
guys have reported that the kites are more stable and have massive range of depower through the brakes.
On top of this Björn has already proved the performance of the new kites in the 2008 German Championship where he used the protos on the last big race
event Buggycamp at Römö. Björn was full speed and won almost every single race at that weekend giving him enough points for a 1st podium position just
1 point in front of his team mate and last years German Champion Malte Lutz.
Congratulations guys for ranking 1st and 2nd, we are stoked you love the new race kites so far. Rob wishes to make some more refinements and get all
sizes sorted to ensure an early release of them in 2009. More information will follow through our website soon.
Read on for Björns race report and take on the new race kite >>
Wohaa, that was a nice week! I started my journey on Tuesday and as I arrived the weather was perfect. Sunny, 30°C and wind about 5 to 6 Bft. I
started the kite week with a long kite surf session in super flat water. At the buggy beach there were the last rounds of the formula 1 race when we
finished the surf session. After the race the wind picked up even more and I was able to test the 3.8 Race Proto at high winds and I thought that I
get overpowered. Sand flying about 1m high, so I think the wind was blowing 7 to 8 Bft… no problem with the proto. Open the brakes and go! I finished
the day as the sun went down. Jasper, our Belgium team mate, invited me to share the evening and night ends with a nice barbeque, caipis and other
high performance drinks. I can remember that I do Hula-hoop and skiing on the Nintendo Wii-Board. With that I finished my fitness program for the day.
The Wednesday started early because of the sunshine and the wind. Can´t ignore that nice weather even if I need sleep. This day planning was simple.
Sit down on the beach and take a look at the new protos whilst watching the 2×2-race. 2 pilots go maximum 2 rounds after another and that twice 2
hours. After 1,5 hour Jaspers asked me to drive the next 2 rounds for him. And Malte did the same… can’t split dude. I did some rounds with the new
Yakuza GT proto 10m² and loved it straight away. Malte and Jasper were able to win the race. Congrats dudes.
Some young bloods woke me up with the first sunlight at 6am. I took my stuff and went down to the buggy beach. It was Thursday and that day the last
races of the German championship started. Last placement before the start was Malte on place 1 with 12 points and behind me with 20 points. I wanted
to reach first position overall, but this was not easy because I missed the first race of the season 2008 so I had high points in my statistics. Wind
changed it’s strength a lot but I was still able to test some sizes of the new protos. 3.8, 6.8 and 10. We did 4 races and I scored some really good
rankings. The last race on Friday would show the end result. Jasper and I tested 2 protos of the 3.8 against each other in high winds till 22 o´clock.
My day ends at Jasper place again.
On Friday it came up for decision. The wind started slow and the forecast for this day was not as perfect as the last days. A bad weather front
reaches the coast line and rain could come any minute. But if it began to rain everybody had to leave the beach because the beach flooded very fast.
We were lucky and the rain started just after the races. The perfect size seemed to be the 10m² proto for me but when I started my test rounds the
wind picked up and the 10 was too much. I wanted to change but my 8.6 Yakuza was out of order. The last race could also decide who gets the title
“German Champion 2008”. In that fact Malte wasn´t sure if he should use his 10m² Yakuza or the 8.6 because I wasn´t sure too. We took a little long
for our decision and stayed on the 10m anyway. I looked at my countdown timer. Damn. Only 40 seconds left to the start. I started full powered down
the beach to the start line, Malte close behind me….. we crossed the starting line 20 seconds after the others left and we began our race. What a
race. The proto was perfect. I went upwind like no other. The 10m was stable and so fast… I pass one after another. Last turning mark, myself on place
3… I pass place 2 and on the last 20 meter 1st place. I won!
I won this race and Malte gets placed 6th in this race. I finished overall 1st at this weekend and I am now German Champion with only one point
leading. That was close. Sorry Malte.
After the race we took our stuff into our dry cars at it begins to rain. The prize giving was at the evening’s party, together with a buffet and GPA
sponsored beer. The prizes of the complete week were given and after that we had a good party till the speaker blew up…
After a short night I traveled back home. A lot traffic jams and a few coffee’s later I reached my home with my small family. Unfortunately I´m not
able to show the rest of Europe the potential of the new race kite at the European Championship in September in France. I leave it open to my team
mates…
Cheers dudes, I’ll be back on October 3rd. First race season 2009.
Björn