VANCOUVER ISLAND WINDTALK

WOW ..and he's going through a narrow rocky channel!
good promotion for F-One!

Too bad we don't get much of a side angle perspective so you can really get a feel for how fast it is.

Have someone drive 100k while you stand on the roof !!!

I said "feel for it", not experience it!

Rob G. and I used to windsurf in the Esquimalt lagoon during winter storms when the wind was South - South East. You could sail about 6 to 10 feet out parallelling the shore and race the cars the full length of the lagoon. There was perfectly flat water and in about 30 knots we were going about 40 or 50 km/h beside the cars. That felt really really fast. Those were the Bjorn Dunkerbeck days. (Once I hit an old truck bedliner submerged in the water and had a major crash where I saw stars and had a headache for days.) I can't imagine how fast it felt for Alex!

That is amazing - and the confidence level (or ...) to do that next to the downwind rocks! Wow - thanks for the link WD!

wowzer, kiters, educate me. I am windsurfer so I can imagine the carnage if I were going through that channel and caught a rail or a gust sending me for an immediate spill (probably the best worst case scenario) or worse into the edge of the channel where it isn't 'soft'. The closest I have experienced is coming in way to close to a beach while on a full plane because of 'traffic' and having to jump on the rail. If that kiter caught a rail or a gust, what's the best and worst case scenario. The rocks look pretty low, so while hooked in, maybe a 'gentle' body drag across the rocks? (and yes I know, ksd will say, hell, I'd air those rocks just like I did that whale this summer!).

i think it's pretty clearly the sand they excavated to make the channel. would still hurt!
it is probably just 6" deep so the windsurfers can't get in there.

I think they brought in some rule where it has to be 50 cm deep minimum to qualify for a record. To reduce risk from kiters getting the 'greased rock'h bottom effect, but it looks like one risk has been substituted for another. I was surprised how much and how 'roughly' he has to work the bar. A side view would look stupidly fast!

Hey Winddocter

West, mostly in the spring, Sidney Spit in the lagoon.........Butter!!
Just look out for them big sticks on them boats in the bay, if one would dare try to challenge them. Sidney Spit ferry also goes over there spring and summer.

In those nasty S.E. storms Cordova spit at the N. end of Island view ( http://www.bigwavedave.ca/wiki/index.php/Island_View ) is a speed strip ... http://www.pdfdownload.org/pdf2html/vie ... BParks.pdf

JL wrote:is a speed strip

It's personal preference, but I prefer the landing strip.

Insane

Hey Jimmy,

The natives own that land and you need permission to access the beach and rig up. They get kinda pissed around that neck of the woods and start shooting their guns off at that beach, literally. Trust me, we hear it every time the geese fly over there. By all means though, giver a go and see if they think a Naish kite really is a seagull! It might make for a real great story. We used to launch off lockside in the 90's and sail up wind to the spit, but not so good for launching kites.

FYI