Utah Windriders Association

Great week in the SF Bay. Amazing opportunity to watch intense kite races and mingle with world class athletes. With 5 days of racing and plenty of Twitter coverage on the event, I'll skip those details and just share the couple moments that stand out for me personally.

The athletes have great attitudes and work together both on the beach and in the water. Kite brands didn't matter beyond a riders personal preference, everyone was respectful and tied together by similar conditions on the same course. Even as fin and board development became critical to the top finishers, they would share their knowledge and experience on the beach. It was just cool to feel the true kiteboarding vibe, without any commercial nonsense. Even the Yacht club Commodore expressed that Kiters are the tightest group of sailors he's seen, helping each other constantly, not just gunning for placement.

Next, Course racing is brutal. These guys kited hundreds of miles during the week, sometimes with back to back races...like going from one end of Strawbs to the other and back..over and over and over. Jesse Richman was quoted on the beach, "This isn't any fun. I'm going back to freestyle." Then he came in 5th. He is stoked to join us at Skyline this winter to try racing at the Snowkite Masters, although he has never seen snow before.

In the ongoing effort to grow and legitimize Kiteboarding, a momentous declaration was made while discussing Yacht Club Racing. Joe Cool, Myself and a handful of others who have Snowkited in Utah, formed the Skyline Yacht Club. This year we will incorporate more ISAF rules and integrate them into a snowkiting race format at the US Open.

Final thought of stoke. Pete Cabrinha introduced himself to me on the beach, and mentioned that he felt Ozone were very well designed and some of the best built kites, he was impressed with Ozone. I said thank you, blushed and then slipped away quietly.

So... I propose to start a mini series of random red neck races for us locals to experience the joys and frustrations of course racing... now if we could only get the wind that SF gets.

http://www.flyozone.com/kitesurf/en/new ... ines/12344

Windzup,
Brian Schenck

Brian-
Sounds like you guys had a great time. I was following the races closely. Wish I was there. I was wondering what the vibe is like there. Glad to hear it is a good one. Makes me want to move there just for the world class race series they have. Thanks for posting about it.

The Vibe is Good... and the level is High... You should go race there...but don't leave Utah cause in the winter you'll want to be here.... all them Cali boys are looking forward to the epic Utah Snowkite conditions...lots of interest in Skyline.

The Thursday Night race Series is every other week, its cheaper to buy a dozen round trip tickets and attend every race, than it would be to pay rent for a sh*t-hole in SF for one month! So stay here and travel out...I may join you next season so maybe we can carpool the 12 hour drive out to the bay. But then again I kite for fun not for titles, pain or glory... but I'll be there to support you and any other racer... I'm pretty much a first class race caddy these days...I can launch and land kites like no other.

Besides, if we start a Utah Race series, we're more likely to win it than if we go out to SF where the boys are dropping thousands on fins and boards. The guys in the top ten are mostly sponsored, riding kites for free, and have still dropped a lot of dough to be on the winning equipment. There was nothing stock on the course, and many guys had multiple boards for different winds... with each fin costing $150 bones a piece...if you wanted the winning fin.

I'm just blabbing cuz no wind today here in Sanpete, but I'm looking forward to the future, it should be kind of neat.

Course Racing is the next big thing, and may last as long as wake style and freestyle comps did (a few years), but it is destined for the Olympics, so it may be worth training for.

Windzup,
Brian Schenck

"In the ongoing effort to grow and legitimize Kiteboarding, a momentous declaration was made while discussing Yacht Club Racing. Joe Cool, Myself and a handful of others who have Snowkited in Utah, formed the Skyline Yacht Club. This year we will incorporate more ISAF rules and integrate them into a snowkiting race format at the US Open."

Hey Brian,
Can you provide some more specific details on the rules for the snowkite race format for both the Winduro and the Kitercross competitions? Will your December event (pending snow) have a Winduro and Kitercross race? Any other events in the Rocky Mtns that you know of to have Winduro and Kitercross? Thanks for the response........I am very interested in racing this coming winter (on skis) so want to start learning the ropes.
Take Care,
Craig

Well the newly adopted ISAF rules apply primarily to course racing. As they are water based, there will be minimal changes as needed to adopt the rules to a winter mountainous environment. For example, instead of a 5 minute horn to start, we may adopt a 3 minute start time. Mainly,the ISAF rules apply to kiting more as right of way rules for the course and help govern the race and legitimize any disputes. The ISAF rules are recognized, and help legitimize race results amongst sailors world wide.

As for Kiter Cross - its mostly no holds barred - get around the course - hope you dont crash - thats Kiter-X.

The Winduro will adapt into the Snowkiters longer distance course race, and will adopt many ISAF rules.

The goal is still to keep it fun at all levels... and we plan to have several more local races leading up to the Masters so locals can dial in and represent. Following any rules wont change how we ride, it will be like playing billiards and deciding wether you are playing slops or not.

I will post more links and info as it comes up. There is a copy of the rules around here somewhere...

Windzup,
Brian Schenck

Awesome! I would like to see snowkite race series in Utah this Winter.

Try to keep the rules simple and not to many rules. Too many rules will scare away a lot racer. This is comment I got from my brother Micah.

Yeah, we only need one rule really...

Rule #1 - Need enough wind to race.

Without that rule the rest all falls apart.

BTW Jake.... I do agree that rules suck....but I think its the high level of talent that scares most people away from competitions. I bet half of the people that competed in the Worlds may pack in their race jerseys for good after being schooled this year by so many competitors that have dedicated themselves to training and affording the best gear available.

So Yes... for Utah racing, Simplicity, Unity and Fun will be the primary rules.

Windzup,
Brian Schenck