It was a great day for the start of the Kiteboarding Course racing world Chamionships.

Check out the Shot from my kite cam on the start of my first race. Not the Smoke of the gun coming off boat.

John Gomes get ready for his 1st race.
the view of the beach at Crissy Field.


The Richmans and Martin Vari talk about the day of racing at the St Francis at the kick off party.
To follow the race live here are some links.

The St Francis Race cam

The twitter feed

Our Wind Twitter feed

The last month or so Crissy Field has been a drag strip with local and international riders gearing up for the 1st ever Kiteboard Course Racing WORLD Championships.

After ever session I can’t help but think of one of my favorite sports photos where you see the Tour De France riders helping each other light cigarettes at the end of the race. 

I am not sure of the year of this photo but I am sure they where in a similar place.

Technology is changing race to race.  Some riders are paid and some are not.  So here are a few pics of what has been going on at Crissy Field in San Francisco.

There are  a few ways the locals have been training.  I think you can see why the smart money is on Chip.  Not only do I think he is currently the fastest local,  I think he has a real shot of winning the whole thing.

Heading to the start of the last race before the Worlds.

Dylan found a new toy as Stefaans mourns the lost of his favorite board.

Paolo Rista tells Jeff Kafka and Gibby  about the board be built for himself and Bruno Sroka.

Mike Gebhardt working on some fins. I hear he has 7 boards right now including a few Zajicek boards.  You can also see Paolo working on a board in the background.

And here is what I am sure you really want to see the fins.

We will be post updates here though out the event and a recap at the end so check back.

As we have gotten faster over the years and have a greater  upwind angle  the rules are becoming more important. There are a few rules to know.

Starboard has the right of way.

This is the most basic rule and you should know it even if you are not racing.  The easiest way to know this is if you are moving to your right hand you have the right of way if you are moving to your left had you do NOT.

The highlighted kiter is on a port tack and will need to give way to any kiter tacking on starboard as they meet.

The rule that applies

10 Boats on opposite tacks

When boats are on opposite tacks, the port tack boat shall keep clear of a starboard tack boat. The starboard tack boat has the right of way over port tack boats.

Barging at the start line is totally illegal.

This rule is very hard to understand in regular sail boat racing so it that much more complicated with the speed of kiteboard racers and having the kites in the sky.

So first lets look at the sail racing rules.  I found some of the important detail on the yachting.org.au website.

	What is “barging” Barging is approaching the starting line from a point to windward of the lay-line of the starboard or committee boat end of the line. In the diagram, the blue and red boats are on the layline to the committee boat. The green and yellow boats are windward boats and are required to keep clear.
What is wrong with “barging”
	In order to sail through the start line the barging yacht must sail at less than close hauled. Any yachts with an overlap to leeward (i. e. forward of a line projecting to leeward from the transom, hence nearly all the fleet) have right of way and can push the barging boat to windward. This will cause the barging boat have to sail to windward of the windward end of the start line and miss the start. That can be extremely dangerous if there is no barging buoy. Note the overlapped boat can push the barging boat as high as head to wind, as long as enough room and opportunity is given. The barging boat has to respond immediately.
If you are thinking of barging – don’t
As you will put yourself in an indefensible position. At best, you may find a hole on the second or third row, at worst, you will be pushed to windward of the start-line and miss the start completely.
If you are caught in a barging position
	Firstly, recognise early that you are going to be in trouble rather than leave it to the last minute. Then all you can do is slow or stop the boat, wait for a gap in the fleet, which may mean waiting until all the boats at the windward end of the line have started, then proceed when it is clear. You do not have any rights at all, so do not try to force your way in. Alternatively it may be best to peel off, tack onto port, gybe back on to starboard, sail behind the fleet to find a hole and re-approach the start line from a safe position.

The rules that apply

Definition:Windward / Leeward A boat’s leeward side is the side that is or, when she is head to wind, was away from the wind. However, when sailing by the lee or directly downwind, her leeward side is the side on which her mainsail lies. The other side is her windward side. When two boats on the same tack overlap, the one on the leeward side of the other is the leeward boat. The other is the windward boat. In the diagram, the red boat is the windward boat.
11 On the same tack, overlapped When boats are on the same tack and overlapped, a windward boat shall keep clear of a leeward boat.
Note: The following rule is included to show why there is no such thing as ‘bouy room’ at the first mark 18 Rounding and Passing Marks and Obstructions In rule 18, room is room for an inside boat to round or pass between an outside boat and a mark or obstruction, including room to tack or gybe when either is a normal part of the manoeuvre. 18.1 When This Rule Applies Rule 18 applies when boats are about to round or pass a mark they are required to leave on the same side, or an obstruction on the same side, until they have passed it. However, it does not apply (a) at a starting mark surrounded by navigable water or at its anchor line from the time the boats are approaching them to start until they have passed them

Now that we see the rule with boats lets look at it with kites.  Note that in kite racing the kite is considered part of the boat when you read the rules.

Kiter A and kiter B will need to give way to any kiters coming up below them to the starting line as they come down wind so that they do not barg other racers at the start.

Kiter D will need to hold his course.  He can not tack down on to kiter C.  As they move though the start if kiter D can not hold his course he need to give way to C.

Jamy did a great job on this video.

The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) has announced today that the Experimental Kiteboarding Competition Rules have been released and published on the ISAF website – sailing.org.

The Appendix BB — Experimental Kiteboarding Competition Rules have been published to provide a consistent global framework for kiteboarding competition. The Experimental Rules were produced by members of the ISAF Racing Rules Committee and ISAF Windsurfing Committee in collaboration with a group of kiteboarding enthusiasts in Europe and the USA.

These Kiteboarding Competition Rules are called “experimental” because they will be revised from time to time in response to feedback, comments and suggestions sent to ISAF by sailors, event organizers and judges who use them. Ultimately, it is expected that a revised version of Appendix BB will be put forward to be considered by the ISAF Racing Rules Committee and the ISAF Council for inclusion as a new appendix in a future edition of The Racing Rules of Sailing, the rules which govern the sport on the water worldwide.

The Experimental Kiteboarding Competition Rules were developed from the Windsurfing Competition Rules in Appendix B of The Racing Rules of Sailing. They are freely available to download from The Racing Rules of Sailing pages on the ISAF website at sailing.org/rrs.

David Tillett (AUS), Chairman of the ISAF Racing Rules Committee, said: “ISAF is delighted to introduce the Experimental Kiteboarding Competition Rules. These Experimental Rules provide a great starting point for competition in this exciting new area of our sport. I would like to thank the members of the group that developed these rules, and in particular Dick Rose, Chairman of the Racing Rules Working Party, and Kamen Fillyov, Chairman of the Windsurfing Committee, for their work in producing the Experimental Rules.”

The ISAF Council welcomed kiteboarding into the ISAF family in November 2008, when it approved the International Kiteboarding Association as an ISAF International Class Association at the ISAF Annual Conference in Madrid.

“Local kiteracing hero Chip Wasson has some serious competition when french kitemaestro Bruno comes in town. Tune in to find out more ”

Inspired by Talladega’s Nights story and characters, our designer Boriana made a quick image promoting the competition. Chip Wasson, Jeff Kafka and all the other guys face some serious rivalry now that the world is watching and participating in the Cabrihna Race series.

Here’s a sneak peak of our new line of Custom directionals, both Race and Surf.

These boards are custom made to order (delivery in 10-14 days), available in any size, right here in California! We’ve been testing the 5’10 Race extensively at Crissy and will have a fleet of these on the water for the upcoming Cabrinha series. The Surf has been put through the paces at Waddell and in the Bay and we are super stoked on the results.

I will update the store pages with details and ordering information, but for now you can use the contact us and will be happy to process your orders or answer any questions.

Here are the pricing and details just looking into shipping before I add it to online shop:

Race:
Screaming fast in all directions, yet forgiving to ride. There will be a fleet of these in the Cabrinha Race series and at the World Championships in August. Twin fin set up with Futures boxes, can be ordered with Tuttles for a small additional cost.
No fins:  $799
With Custom Rainbow G10 Race fins $949

Surf:
Goes upwind very well, with just the right turn of speed. Works well in heavy chop (not bouncy like many surfboards on the market). Tested extensively in Bay Area chop, and on the NorCal coast. Fantastic on a real wave! Thruster fin configuration for true wave performance. Quad set up available at small additional cost.
Complete with fins: $799
Add an additional set of high end glass fins for $79.00

The St. Francis Yacht Club will hold the 2009 Course Racing World Championship event from August 04 till August 08. It is only fitting that the event will be held at the birth place of the sport, our backyard.

Talked with John Gomes and the registration will be online in the next 2 weeks.  I will post more details as the come.

St. Francis Yacht Club – On the Marina. San Francisco, CA 94123
Phone: 415.563.6363  -  Fax 415.563.8670

The 2009  Thursday Night races series dates are:
April 9, April 23,
May 14, May 28,
June 11, June 25,
July 9, July 23,
August 6, August 20,
September 10, and September 24,
with make-up dates scheduled September 17 and October 1 if needed.

You can register now and there is also link on the www.stfyc.com racing page.

I have also added the date to the Devil.Windy google public calendar.

Here is a promo video for the 2009 La Ventana Classic and Expo

We have got word the Mark has his camp set up and is ready and waiting for us.

10 days and counting! hope to see you there.