60+ Knots Kitesurfing - To Break A World Record
Flysurfer rider Evan Klijn has been trying to achieve the world record for the height of a kite jump for some time. When suitable conditions arise somewhere, he does not hesitate and travels immediately to make the most of them. This time he went to France.
Evan had never driven in such strong winds before, and as soon as he got out of the car, he began to question whether it was a good idea, whether anyone before him had ever attempted something like this in such winds, and whether it was even possible. After a while he decided to go to the water, but he didn't do very well. He tried a 7m kite on classic lines and 8m on shorter lines, but he was not satisfied with the result of a jump height of around 31m and began to doubt not only the conditions, but also himself.
He called his dad to ask him why he couldn't jump higher even though he should be able to under such conditions. He was advised to relax and not try so hard to reach the goal and also that the highest jump is a lot about chance and luck, whether all the necessary factors fit exactly at the given moment, the gust of wind, the timing of the jump, the bounce from the board... After after some rest, Evan went to the water again and this time he managed to jump 35.8 m high and the world record is currently 36.2, which is not very far.
This time he didn't manage to break the world record, but he came very close to it and he also learned that to achieve such a goal you need to train not only physically, but also your mind. Hopefully next time he will have better luck and add another meter :-)
Who should have the balls to pull a kite in such a wind? I rode mostly in winds of around 40 knots and it was quite cool, so I would probably go for it, but definitely with a smaller kite size :-D
Ciao, Leguan
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