Well as it says in the title, what is your personal best and where do you want to go from there?

I will start. I was stuck at a little over 40mph on the beach bouncing around at 40, 42,42.9 and usually the conditions held me to that speed for almost two years whether it was wind speed or direction.

This past fall at WBB the first day, all the conditions were almost perfect. Winds were right around 25mph, the direction was SSE giving me an almost perfect wind angle for some blistering beach runs. I launched my 9m phantom original and went for it. First pass was 52.4, then 52.7 and then 52.9 mph. Let me say hat I was beyond thrilled and then the wind died down a little. I tried different lines, major kite attack in the air and short of changing kites I was not going any faster. I was prepared to change kites but decided that I was having way too much fun and just road like I stole it for about an hour before I took a nice break and had some dinner

From there I still want to break the 65mph mark on the beach. One day I will be there.

With the next wildwood buggy bash coming up I cannot help but think about setting my next PB

You realize of course that anyone slower than 52.9 isn't going to tell their number.....

Quote: Originally posted by Randy

You realize of course that anyone slower than 52.9 isn't going to tell their number.....

We'll leave this here as it somehow seems oddly appropriate now...



ATB,
Sam

I'm calling center in my very best innocent cessna voice. :D

The faster you've gone before the smaller the increase you can expect. Its a spiral of ever decreasing increments.
I've been stuck for several years at my current PB. I first achieved 66.0mph in 2011 and have been trying desperately to improve on that ever since. On most occasions, I either match that speed or get close but rarely better. After countless attempts, an extra 0.3mph is all I can claim today.

I've tried everything to go faster but nothing is working. Changed buggies, changed kite, changed kite size, changed wheels from discs to BFL's to BF's. Changed from cambered wheels to straight and back again. I even placed weights on the bug. My latest video "The Need for Speed" I added 30Kgs behind the seat in an attempt to stay upwind for longer. It did nothing to improve things. I've even tried laying flatter in the bug for the sake of aerodynamics.
Its no secret that I often go out in ridiculous winds yet my current PB was achieved in more moderate weather. Damn it! I think I deserve better for the risks I've taken.

I touched on this subject on the extremekites forum. There must be an upper limit for each and every location around the world.
My beach for instance won't allow me to achieved speeds more than 70mph. I'm almost certain of this. Yet I'm falling way short. It may only be 4mph but the gulf is just too wide to cross. Of course, others may fair better, but ultimately and just like every other location around the world, I believe that my beach has an inherent upper speed limit that no amount of tweaking or pilot skill or nerve can overcome. That's my excuse anyway. :D

Despite this depressing realization, I actually derive a lot of satisfaction from pushing the limits of what my location can offer, so much so, that, if I'm honest, I'm not all that interested in going faster anywhere else.
Okay, I tell a lie, sure it would be very nice but for me it would feel kinda fake. As far as I'm aware, I am the fastest person to have ever ridden at my beach. It sounds corny, but I have this relationship with my local strip of sand. We've been through it all together and any increase now would be amazing, even and extra 0.1mph would have me punching the air.

Seven years and counting....Its been a long long time since first hitting those speeds. The knowledge that my location point blank refuses to give it up, makes the challenge all the more sweeter.

I think I'm getting closer though. Last weekend I adjusted the rear wheel setup. I had been riding with them towed in and by quite a margin.
Replaying my previous videos, they're skipping down the beach. Hopefully I got them perfect now but it took a whole weekend of lining up the frame with tightly wound bits of string and precision measurements. Now the wheels don't seem to align with the frame from which ever angle you view them but the maths don't lie.

New kite arriving next week. Just need some good winds and then maybe, who knows or, dares to dream.

I find that my best speed is always in the first few minutes after starting off a session for the day.
No matter how hard or long I press, it never betters the early top speed.
58mph on a beach and cant crack 60mph or =100kmh.
Sysmic 2 buggy on Midi XL's with an Ozone 7mtr R1 on 25mtr lines.

at 57sec
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQi18nZ4otc

Randy I realize that everyones conditions differ and I totally respect that we all progress differently but we all progress at some point and I am no different I remember when I could not get over 30mph but even then I was stoked to beat my previous speed even if it was only by 1 mph As anyone who knows me also knows I am the first one to be right there giving a high five to anyone who has their best run to date. I remember many days standing on the sidelines watching guys rip it up while I was no where near putting a kite in the air due to the wind speed

Red I have seen a few of your videos and was always impressed by your courage and willingness to give it a go in the craziest conditions. You have been one of my inspirations to push myself when the conditions warrant trying to improve my best run time. Good stuff sir congrats

Chook I also find the same as any run that day with the same kite proved to be just as good or under The only way I was going faster was with a bigger kite congrats on your speed as well sir.

My favorite times on the beach while in a buggy are when a couple of the guys are going back and forth pushing each other to get that extra tenth of mph. Konrad, Craig, Francois, Michael, Howard and who ever joins us always give good reason to turn back downwind again and again and even though our speed may not change by much the comradarie at the time is tops

i think I've been up to or over 40...no clue don't care
as long as theirs sand in the teeth alls good...would like to know my distances
maybe someday ill take care of that

Brandon you are by far the most laid back buggy pilot I have ever met. It is always a pleasure riding the beach with you no matter how fast or slow we are going if you ever get the desire when the winds are up i will pass you my gps and you can track your distance and speed

PB ?..... just for speed....?

... if just speed, how 'bout fastest speed on different modes (on sand, ice , water...asphalt...)....
(If not just speed, there's a lot of different PB's.......)

52 mph on skis with a 2.5m JOJO Instinct

Quote:

52 mph on skis with a 2.5m JOJO Instinct

Impressive Bri..
.....I will assume on snow?...or was it bare ice?

Brian, great idea, post about any PB any surface any kite related sport, does not matter to me. Hell it may give me more ideas

Broc that is awesome. I cannot even imagine going that fast on skis

Quote: Originally posted by skimtwashington

Quote: 52 mph on skis with a 2.5m JOJO Instinct Impressive Bri.. .....I will assume on snow?...or was it bare ice?

Yes it was on snow (maybe 2 inches) that was firmly packed and super edgeable - nearly perfect conditions. I knew I was going fast but the edging was so firm and the wind so consistent that I was quite surprised to find out the truth.

My prior best was 46 mph with a 8.5m Blade III on a standard 3-line bar also on snow and skis. That was terrifying as it occurred in a strong and prolonged gust that took me all the way across the pond I was on leaving me with the thought that when I am forced to redirect I will probably end up over the house at the end of the pond. Deciding that would not be good I dropped the bar to the single kite killer that served as a safety and the kite and I eventually came to rest in the yard at the far end of the pond. That was in 2006 when no one around me had seen kite skiing. Needless to say, the ice fishermen and snowmobiles were amazed and I played it off like I was trying to go fast. Then I packed up my kite and a snowmobiler drove me back up wind to my launch location where I packed everything up and went home for the day.

54.7 mph in pl folder buggy way back in the day at nabx
I always wanted to hit 60mph but never got there
Now I'm happy at 20 to 30 mph I'll leave the faster speeds
To the young guys lol
I hit 57.8 in my manta

Quote: Originally posted by shehatesmyhobbies

Red I have seen a few of your videos and was always impressed by your courage and willingness to give it a go in the craziest conditions. You have been one of my inspirations to push myself when the conditions warrant trying to improve my best run time. Good stuff sir congrats

Wow thanks man! Don't push it too hard though. I don't want to be responsible for you hurting yourself.

My inspiration came from a guy called Ben Bonnerjea aka afro.
A very unassuming and skilled landboarder. He demonstrated to me some high wind riding that I previously thought impossible.

The short videos below are from my hard-drive. I uploaded them just now. In the second video from 2011, you can see him on the right, giving way to me with his kite parked at 12 o'clock in atrocious conditions with winds gusting to 70mph. No joke!

Unlike me, he does not feel the need to entertain you by posting a video of himself whenever the wind is blowing a hooley. To him, riding those winds are simply routine. Crazy crazy man.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLH4SfLsFN0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJ0xWYFTQd0&feature=yout...

Take it easy.

55.1 mph with skis on bare ice. 40mph winds, 6 meter LEI. I was perfectly content with that speed at the conclusion of last winter, but this winter I continue to have that itch to go faster. It wasn't until I started flying LEI's that I felt truly comfortable in strong winds. They gave me tons of confidence and made managing gusty conditions so much easier. Felt like cheating compared to foils. This year has been difficult to find the right recipe on the right day. Seems like the more I chase it the harder it is to find. Frustrating.

I was lucky to have 6 years living in the Las Vegas area. When I moved there, my fastest beach speed was ~35 mph. At nabx I had broken 40 mph my first year and 45 the second. After moving there and had gotten my Apexx buggy, my confidence crept up as did the speeds. I broke 50 and then 54 and even had a run that just broke 60. As mentioned above, I found that for me (and others have confirmed) Ivanpah buggy riding seemed to have a wall at 60 that was hard to get past. I learned how to push past it but the wind, risk, and effort had to be way higher to approach and pass 60. Brian Holgate was out there with me one day and the flags looked like they had been coated in fiberglass, they were flying so hard and straight. I was chicken to go out in the conditions and he talked me into going out with my Vapor that he had just broken the record with. It still had his crazy heavy lines attached and a strop with only 5-6" of travel. I went out and lined up for a few runs. I was hitting 57 and 59. I could hear pebbles hitting the side of my helmet on the upwind side. One run seemed to all come together and my run made that familiar arc from perpendicular to the wind to a more downwind path and I knew it was fast. I fine tuned my angle to maximize the speed, not daring to look at the gps during the run. As I was running out of lakebed surface, I eased the kite up and started edging back into the wind to slow down. When I was able to check the gps, I saw I had gotten into the 100 kph club. I wasn't greedy and didn't do the disastrous "one more run" thing and went back to camp. That was maybe a more proud moment that when I hit my last pb of 65.6.

In the years to follow, I ended up with maybe 30-40 runs over 60 mph. Many while chasing a friend Gary Weddell in his Standart landsailer. We had fun challenging each other even though the speeds came easier for him than me in the buggy. On the perfect runs, I could edge past him. He would always congratulate me if I got past him and would say he didn't have anything else to do to go faster.

Im not ashamed to admit my PB is 28.8 mph on Saint Simons Island Ga, with a 5m NASA Star 3...

Im not so inclined to push it to go much faster than that... Im not so sure that I could with the kites that I prefer to fly, and Im ok with that.... we all know the story that when you cheeks are 4 inches off the ground, 25 mph can feel like Mach 5.

And Im always glad that I wore my brown pants.

Fun thread!

Current PR: ~32mph in a kite trike flying my HQ Apex III 7.5m on a Sunday morning at WBB when everyone was leaving. I'm assuming that the app on my phone was not deceiving me because it sure was scary.

There is no way I want to try that again until I get a better buggy.

Red, it's all good, I am addicted to going fast anyway. Been 150Mph+ on two wheels without blinking an eye. Been 140mph on four wheels. Only difference , both those vehicles had brakes lol.

Cheddar, great stuff. We don't get ice thick enough here to ride anything on. The speed is definitely addicting.

Bob, excellent story! Living near one of the best spots on the continental USA has its perks. I hope to get into the 100km club tea soon. Just need the right conditions and enough beach to safely slow down.

Spencer, no shame at all in your PB, it's your PB, ride it like you stole it! As long as you are enjoying yourself, it's all good. Definitely a fun thread.

OffAxis- it always seems that the last Sunday or Monday end up being one of the best days of the event. Time will come where you will have the buggy to give it a go. Give me a shout when you want to ale mine for a spin, night and Day! See you soon I hope.

Speed is great for raising my adrenaline levels but I really like to just cruise.
Just being out there chillin and using nature to propel me along is gold.

I'm lucky enough to get out 2 or 3 times a week onto our local salt lake that is less than 2 kms from my home. I also haunt the beaches when tide and wind conditions align. (Our beaches are fairly narrow as they quickly drop into deep water here on the south coast of Western Australia.)

I GPS log my distances and speeds just for my own personal achievements. Even at social kiting events I try and make the most of my time there, kiting at every possible moment. There is plenty of time to socialize when conditions aren't right or of an evening.

Travelling huge distances to events I make the most of my time there. Road trips interstate to South Australia (2,600 kms just to get there), are huge fun and great to catch up with like minded people as I buggy by myself here at home.

My person goal is to cover as much distance each year using wind power. Either in my kite buggy or landsailing. I design and build my own Mini5.6 landyachts.

In the last 3 years the conditions have been really good and have managed over 10,000 kms "wind powered" each year. Last year was my personal best of 11,329 kms travelled in a calendar year.

Most sessions I try to achieve 100 kms travelled, just to have an aim and the challenge of eking out that last few kilometers with the wind dying off. It's improved my flying a huge amount and I now find myself the only one flying/sailing, some days due to the very light conditions.

My best day was 2 years ago on my buggy while in Yeppoon in Queensland. I got a top speed of 93.1 kmh (with 8 runs over 90kmh) and the distance without stopping was 362.9 kilometres. Took me just over 8 hours using my 7m2 Ozone R1 in 19-23 knots of wind.
You can see in the graph early on, where I always slow down to say "g'day" to people who are walking with their dog along the beach.


Distance covered in 24 days while on holidays in Yeppoon QLD

I fell 62 kms short of the total distance across Australia at it's widest part. Had I know this at the time, I would have gone for it.
https://www.extremekites.com.au/topic/15988-easter-at-yeppoo...

48.6 JI beach

VTT Black Widow Buggy

PL Vapor 4.4

Wind 24-28 mph


Want to break 100 k/h next!


Now if you want to talk motorcycle speed....thats a different story.


197 mph

Modified 2016 BMW S1000RR

We will say it was somewhere in Mexico...

Chook, great stuff! It does seem to be more of a race against yourself most of the time, kidding like beating the arrival time on the GPS to a location, I got this! Put some cones on a beach though and watch the magic happen!

Scott, that's impressive for JI, we know the winds had to be optimal to get those speeds, being at the right place at the right time makes for a great set of runs! Good stuff!

Quote: Originally posted by shehatesmyhobbies

Scott, that's impressive for JI, we know the winds had to be optimal to get those speeds, being at the right place at the right time makes for a great set of runs! Good stuff!

Rich, you were there!

Edit: At least I think you were. I did it in a VTT Black Widow

Scott was that the year that Van brought his 2 VTT buggies?

Not sure if he had both or just the BW. Was the year Todd brought the big black PL tent and Flyjump was there.

Hmmm dumb fingers. Sorry guys.

Quote: Originally posted by shehatesmyhobbies

Chook, great stuff! It does seem to be more of a race against yourself most of the time, kidding like beating the arrival time on the GPS to a location, I got this! Put some cones on a beach though and watch the magic happen!

Yes I totally agree with you. I travel away to compete racing International 5.6 landyachts, both circuit racing and also 90minute marathons. It's huge fun. But more importantly I get to meet great people along the way. I've even been lucky enough to win a few titles as well.

My PB was 46 mph at Ivanpah on a P/L Comp using a Quad 25 (approx 18 square feet). Winds were howling, but don't know the speed.

Now I prefer to just cruise, like Glenn said i'll "leave the speed to the young guys".