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3-4 degrees upwind angle

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Kitemanmuc
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3-4 degrees upwind angle

Postby Kitemanmuc » Sat Jun 09, 2018 6:43 pm

Hey guys,

Just getting in to racing and was curious how dramatic a 3-4 degree upwind angle improvement is from one kite to another. Is that a lot?

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Pedro Marcos
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Re: 3-4 degrees upwind angle

Postby Pedro Marcos » Sat Jun 09, 2018 7:24 pm

Its alot at top level, but at "club" level or even most of "national" level, the most important is to not crash manouvers.

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Peter_Frank
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Re: 3-4 degrees upwind angle

Postby Peter_Frank » Sat Jun 09, 2018 8:31 pm

Kitemanmuc wrote:
Sat Jun 09, 2018 6:43 pm
Hey guys,

Just getting in to racing and was curious how dramatic a 3-4 degree upwind angle improvement is from one kite to another. Is that a lot?

It doesnt matter...

It is only VMG that matters, "Velocity Made Good", meaning how fast you will reach an upwind mark.

Racers usually point high because of massive kite power, but some foils will point higher (bigger and high AR ones) but go so much slower that they have lower VMG, thus not suited for racing.

If you ride with same speed, 3-4 degree difference in upwind angle is a huge difference for good racers that dont crash, but for the average level it is not that important, as Pedro points out.

But WHERE did you get this number from Kitemanmuc ?

As it dont make sense in terms of how fast you go upwind, without having the speed too, so you can calculate VMG.

VMG = sinus(angle above halfwind) * board speed :D

8) Peter

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cglazier
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Re: 3-4 degrees upwind angle

Postby cglazier » Sat Jun 09, 2018 11:00 pm

Peter is correct of course. VMG is all that matters.

When I am out having fun I sometimes chase other kiters, windsurfers or sailboats and have a mini race for a while. It is nice to be faster than almost anything on the water except other hydrofoilers.

If my speed is the same as another kiter, but I point 1 degree higher, and we race upwind for a kilometer (which takes about 3 minutes) I will progress 17 meters more upwind. This is a very noticeable advantage even when just playing around. If we both tacked and continued upwind I would be 17 meters ahead. So an upwind angle of even 1 degree is very significant.

Another example: Where I kite some of us go downwind to one end of the bay for fun. The return trip is about 5 km upwind. If my kite can point 4 degrees higher than yours then I will be 350 meters ahead of you after the upwind trip even when we have the same board speed.

:wink: CG

Kitemanmuc
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Re: 3-4 degrees upwind angle

Postby Kitemanmuc » Sun Jun 10, 2018 5:20 am

cglazier wrote:
Sat Jun 09, 2018 11:00 pm
Peter is correct of course. VMG is all that matters.

When I am out having fun I sometimes chase other kiters, windsurfers or sailboats and have a mini race for a while. It is nice to be faster than almost anything on the water except other hydrofoilers.

If my speed is the same as another kiter, but I point 1 degree higher, and we race upwind for a kilometer (which takes about 3 minutes) I will progress 17 meters more upwind. This is a very noticeable advantage even when just playing around. If we both tacked and continued upwind I would be 17 meters ahead. So an upwind angle of even 1 degree is very significant.

Another example: Where I kite some of us go downwind to one end of the bay for fun. The return trip is about 5 km upwind. If my kite can point 4 degrees higher than yours then I will be 350 meters ahead of you after the upwind trip even when we have the same board speed.

:wink: CG
That paints a perfect picture! Thanks!


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