High Sailing Speed Boats

Summer is coming to an end; my wife informs that its 18 days until our oldest son starts Kindergarten which means that the Island will be slowly emptying of the tourists. But more importantly it means that high sailing speed boats must be just around the corner in fact there are only 57 days until the North American Speed Sailing Championships begin. Which begs the question; will we see new speed sailing records like we did last year? Will we see another explosion of speed this time bumping the Outright Speed Sailing Record from 65 Knots to 75 Knots? Probably not likely to see another 10 knot increase but with the way the foiling technology is going you never know.

For me this time of year means increasing numbers of hours in the shop. Last year’s boards that were designed by myself and Stan Pleskunas and built by Hydro flex are getting some updating and modifications. I have thinned out the tail both in width and thickness and have shortened the nose by over 4 inches. This should give me a more controllable board and by shortening the nose I will be able to ride back upwind at a better rate of speed as well.

What's been great is that while I am busy in my shop Stan has been busy in his shop tweaking my current designs in Solid Works and getting ready to cut the foam that will become the 2013 Boards.

So with 57 days I know that I am not the only one cranking away in the shop. Speed Sailing Guru's like Alex Aguerra, Alex Caizergues, Rob Douglas, and Nico Parlier are all doing the same. We all want to see Kite boarders take a new speed sailing record. We all know it's possible but we also know it’s going to take technology and development of our equipment. For me I am looking to take all of the technology we use in Grand Prix sailing and trickle it down to speed sailing and kiteboarding. In the past I have reaped some serious benefits with my bar and line development and this year I am hoping to take it a bit further.

But as always that takes a few all mighty dollars. I have been fortunate enough to raise about 35% of my proposed operating budget for the NASSC and I am hoping to raise the remaining budget in the next 50 days. With that said please contact me if you are interested in coming on as a partner or if you know someone who might be interested. With the right team a new speed sailing record could be right around the corner.

All right enough writing, time to get some work done.