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Over my years in windsurfing I have seen the speed records increase. what do you think the limit is? Is there one. In the 80's 50 knots was unthinkable is 60 knots unthinkable or possible?
I would like to see the 50knot barrier broken first over 500m.Antonie has did 49.09 so what was his peak speed??.
out of curiousity, and this question goes out to Chris, Craig, Martin VM and the big German (?) guy (not sure if he reads our forum or not) who are the 4 people to have ever broken 50, what was the distance you covered at your peak speeds? Did you happen to travel at over 50 for 100m, 40m????
25 m/sec is fairly moving. If you are only considering short bursts it is interesting to calculate how much pressure can be taken off the fin by bearing off on a curved path.
Acceleration on a circle is given by v squared on r. So taking a curved path of radius 625 metres at a speed of 25 m/sec gives an acceleration of 1 metre per second squared, or about 0.1 g, towards the centre of the circle. So for a rig and rider of 100 kg that's 10kg of lift the fin won't have to provide! If you reduce the radius of curvature of your bear away to 312 m that's 0.2 g on a 100 kg system or 20 kg. 20 kg of lift, and associated drag, the fin doesn't have to provide!
What's the radius of curvature of the Sandy Point course? Maybe the fin isn't working as hard as you think. Is that why you imagine a burst of speed as you bear away? Reduced fin drag??
Of course you can't do a full 500 metres on a curve without a very
lucky wind shift.
Edit. Just been to google earth, the radius of curvature of the SP course is ~ 1250 m, so that's 0.05 gs or 5kg of fin lift saved at 25 m/sec. But if you don't mind a bit of chop you don't have to stick exactly to the bank.
Hmmmm... you might be onto something there Ian. The accelleration we get when we sail the Easterly speed bank is fantastic as we bear away almost 90 degrees in about 25 meters. But it always seems like there is plenty of load on the fin as we do it. Maybe not as much as there would be if accelerating in a straight line though. I must say also, that the peak speed of those runs is always a few seconds down the track where we are going pretty straight.
Likewise my best peak speeds on the SW course have always been on the part of the course which is virtually straight. However, at those points we are very broad off the wind so there 'feels' like there is less lateral load on the fin.
The situation is a bit like this:
Pick the big squall - sail into course and struggle to keep it together square to the wind without getting lifted off the water, just the right feathering of the sail and weight on the board, this is often the most razors edge part for me - try to get as much power and stability on as you start to get towards the best angle, feels like lots of load on the fin here and a big danger of tail-walking - stance becomes more comfortable as angle and speed improves - now you are at low 40's and wishing for a big gust because you know you can handle it at this angle - a few seconds later you are going pretty well straight and at max speed but now getting into the part of the course where the following chop is quickly building - now you are thinking: 'do I hang on longer with the increasing risk of a crash, or start to back off'. This is the bit where confidence is king and a bit of controlled, aggressive risk-taking can pay off big time! 
, or result is a world of pain! 
- when you know you are slowing down, (and I always try to go a few more seconds even when I think I am slowing), it's time for the riskiest part of the run: stopping without crashing! - feet land on the sand and immediately look down at your GPS. - Have another long look to make sure you read it right and start whooping and punching the air!
Is 60 knots possible?
Well in '89 the question was " is 40 knots possible?". I wasn't even 40 then.
Eric Beal and Mal Wright amazed and inspired us all and proved it was.
In 2005, I was well into my 50's and had done 40 knots a few times. The question was now 'is 50 knots possible'?
A few years later Slowie, MVM and Spottie had shown us it was (at least for a couple of seconds). I haven't done a 50 yet but I actually think it might be possible for me on a perfect day.
Is 60 knots possible? Certainly not for me if it's going to take another 15 years (somehow I can't see a 72 kilogram, 75 year old doing 60 knots! 
) But, given hindsight, I certainly don't see it as impossible for some skilled and bold young speed knight. After all, in '89 we thought 50 knots was just some ridiculous wild dream!
I am really looking forward to seeing the developments that evolve to make 60 knots on a windsurfer a viable possibility.
Yeah. I dream of holding 30 knots right through the gybe and coming out at 30 knots!
I think the best I have done is a slow trough of just under 20 knots, and most of the best are around 16-18.
, or result is a world of pain! - when you know you are slowing down, (and I always try to go a few more seconds even when I think I am slowing), it's time for the riskiest part of the run: stopping without crashing! - feet land on the sand and immediately look down at your GPS. - Have another long look to make sure you read it right and start whooping and punching the air! ) But, given hindsight, I certainly don't see it as impossible for some skilled and bold young speed knight. After all, in '89 we thought 50 knots was just some ridiculous wild dream! 
I remember Fred Haywood breaking 30 which was considered unbreakable, in the future as tech gets better the speeds increase. I think we will see a constant increase in top speed.
This seems to confirm what I what always thought. The tighest gybe with the biggest G force is not the fastest way. It creates too much drag and you slow down more. I aim to be actually flattening the board out and increasing the radius as I reach the dead downwind point.
Re gybe g's
GPSar have an update. Vers 5.0
Has dropped the categories relating to T under, 2-knotsT and replaced them with 4 sec G force and 4 sec gybe radius. Also in top 2 rows gives average of all gybes plus average N, which you set on the top slider bar.
Here's the new version of yesterdays post.
