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I Just built my first kite race board and plan to start participating in kite races. I am using a 5,6" twin tip directional with 12" angled fins. I am still working on my jibes ( I usually ride a twin tip) and would like to know if you kite racers do tacks on your toe side? And if it works well. I mean can you keep close to the guys on their heel side? Not having to slow down to do a jibe would be a good tactic or is it allways better to jibe or tack and use the heel side?
Thanks !
I have more questions if anyone is willing to help....

You definitely need to be riding heelside to be competitive going upwind. Toeside off the wind is another story though, assuming you have the right race board for it of course.

Cheers,

Evan

Ocean Rodeo Kiteboarding
Hyperflex Wetsuits
Custom Race Boards

Performance over Hype

OK Thanks
I will start practicing jibes. I will test the board today and see how it goes downwind.
My kite has very short lines, do you think I should put an extension if the winds is light? It has less than 20 mts (Naish Cult)???

Definitely use longer lines, so that you don't have to bear away as much before being able to point/edge upwind.

As for the jibing, with a kite to pull you up it's piece of cake! (ex-windsurfers know what I'm talking about) Just practice and it becomes second nature. Besides, it feels nice AND looks cool

Valeu Lobo!
What about kite sizes, what people use on strong winds, what sizes? And on light wind, my biggest kite is a 13,5 m Cult...

Great to see racing gaining some popularity!

Most of the top racers jibe both on the upwind AND downwind legs. For me, it's much harder to get them downwind because of the speed, but the guys who do them consistently are much faster. The exception to this is if the angle to the downwind buoy is not very deep and you just need to make one or two quick toeside runs to make the buoy, but these should be much shorter than your heelside runs.

I've even seen some guys like Jon Modica doing actual sailing tacks where he ducks under the bar and turns the board upwind. Looks hard as hell but seems like a good way to gain some ground unpwind. Anybody else doing these?

Hi Josh
I saw some videos here in this forum of Guys tacking, dont ask me where, it was a post about tacking and there was a link. Being a surfer I was more into kitewave and old school jumps, but since I am 44 already and allways liked competitions, I thought kite racing should be fun and even if I dont finish well I would not be so far from the top competitors as I would in other categories.
excuse my english...
Eduardo

Cool. Any details on the board? Core, stringers, layup, rails, outline? Looking at doing a race board this winter. Not going to travel to race but Lake Michigan has a few races now. Maybe take it out and see if I can get around a windward leeward faster then the 37ft Jeanaue.

I used what I had in hands, I am not a shaper but I plan to do my own boards. The board is a directional 7 footer, cut down to a 5,6". Its looking pretty much to what racers are using on the pro competitions, but I will probably change a lot of things when I shape my own board. This one is just an expirience, it's poliuretane with fiber glass, I did 12 inches fins for it just like Chip Wasson's on the photo above ( Ok as close to his as I could manage to foil them). It has a very parallel outline (the board), with a hard edge all the way up to the nose. The rail is not so thik as a normal kitewave, as the board was a 7 footer the rail was not so thik. The rail was cut off straight, like the North prototype race board. I forgot to say I cut off its nose off too and the shape is looking cool, Ill post a photo of it tomorrow.
So I still have many things to learn, check and expirience but thanks for the help so far...

start learning jibes! until then, jump into the water, turn the board and go to the other direction...I did that too in my last race, and was still faster than others...trying to jibe would have cost me much more time!