Hi,

Greetings from Finland. We have had brilliant conditions for speed riding.
During 6-14.3.2014 (9 days) we had 6 speed kiting days (total distance ~370km), wind was between 30-45 knots, ice was dry, wet or very wet.

Here is a short video of our sessions.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP1HfBf9owU

Kai

Wow, those kites are fast and rock steady at speed. Thanks!

Incredible! Thanks for capturing your runs on camera and nice job in the speed rankings this year.

What snow?

kite skiing...but not snow kiting.

Old school straight skis. I'm betting those edges were freshly sharpened.

Almost 73 mph:o.......impressive

My kiting goals differ from most I think. My goal is to keep the speed of what ever I ride under 30 and the height of whatever I jump with 5' or under. My health care plan deductible is just too expensive to be any riskier than that.

Looks fun!
Ice is good for speed.

wow ..... that is fast .... nice video .... thanks for sharing ///

:eekdrull:

incredible!

Hi,

I noticed someone asking about my tracks. If anybody is interested, they are free to see on ka72.com where I usually send my tracks.
Here is one link to my speed track:
http://anon.ka72.com/TrackRecalc.aspx?fid=58944

It's alot ealot easier to keep your line with a small kite. With bigger/overpowered kite I usually end up going really deep, which is not always the fastest way.

Fun stuff guys! Love that surface!

Ssayre, I must say every time I've had an OBE from my buggy, it was at speeds below 10 mph.

BeamerBob: You just ruined the false sense of security I was giving myself.

Nice videos and really great hearing the updates from Finland and the nice conditions. I keep thinking of trying my small LEIs in the winter but it's usually gusty wind, blowing snow squalls and and freezing and I don't want to pump a kite...maybe I'll have to give them a shot....maybe in the ice buggy if the ice smooths out before it melts.

I guess Finland really does have it all!

Thanks for posting Kai. And a job well done.

Markite, I'm thinking LEI's are the way to go as well. They handle gusty winds better then foils. I meant to try an LEI this winter but didn't for the same reasons you stated, plus the hassle when relaunching/landing alone. Foils are just plain easy in comparison on land. Which reminds me I should have also flown the 15m PL Synergy as well.

Love seeing those Fischer RC4's hauling. How long are they?
I have 205cm RC4's from the mid 80's with Tyrolia 490's
Never thought I'd use them again and they almost ended up in the trash....until discovering snowkiting a few years ago.

We look forward to more speed run videos from Finland.

Kiitos paljon! hauskaa viikonloppua!

I suspect LEIs just happen to be the kites they ride. In the ranking they rule because the people who are in the best position to haul the mail at the moment happen to be LEI riders. Sure there's a lot of talk about LEIs being the weapon of choice but the history lest we forget has been made on foils. LEIs handle gusts better than SOME foils. That said, we're finding many of the modern foils are getting much better and gust management than they've been in the past. Even bridled versions.

There's a new foil in the mix that may up the ante a bit. Time will tell.

My hesitation with flying my LEI on ice is if I have to eject entirely from the kite (as in rough gusty wind) depending on where I am on the lake and which direction the wind is blowing , the kite could tumble away for miles. On the leash on ice it still pulls enough to be a problem and letting it go would too painfull a sight.