Now that the wind is blowing most afternoons, is anyone interested in doing some course racing one Saturday afternoon? Vilano would be a good spot where people from Jacksonville could come down and meet up with the St. Augustine and Ormond kite crew. It would be fun to have a longer race in the 30 minute range where riders can really use their upwind ability, chase gusts, and push their limits. Vilano has a unique setup with strong currents, and a number of buoys already in place that we can utilize for the course. There is also the inland bay, along with the inlet and ocean in close proximity so the course setup could be quite challenging.

That race over Halloween was REALLY fun. It's the kind of event that everyone can participate in. I think it's a great idea!

I know I would love something like that. Might even drive up on a weekend for it.

I like just cruising around and "sight seeing" when it's 13 to 15 knots.
Just today I cruised the Egmont Key Channel for over an hour. I went upwind to the Skyway then out to Egmont Key itself.

It would be ten times more fun to do that with people on a "HUGE" course and race with them. Win or lose, competitive or not... it seems like it would be fun.

Some people locally here have talked about racing, but it never happens (not sure why). I think it's a great idea, too.

St. Augustine inlet on a warm saturday.....way to many boats for me.


Move it to another location and I am in. I would also consider chipping in and buying some course buoys. ( something other than white...they we hard to find last october.)

....and Rob has to give us all a 45 second head start.

Wind was 20 again tonight after 7 p.m. I am sure someone got it!

Matanzas is a possibility but it gets REALLY shallow now towards low tide. We need a big enough venue to make the course challenging, and long enough for lots of riders. We can do multiple laps of course, and the upwind leg needs to be long enough to add some time. If we setup a triangular course with 3 buoys it might work - 1 at the start upwind, in front of the launch area at the south side of Matanzas Inlet, 1 in front of the bridge, and another out past the waves.

I can bring the buoys next windy day and we can experiment. It would be good to have a 5 minute course, and then do 5-6 laps to make the race around 30 minutes total time. Should we make it interesting and have to come in and chug a brewski when you round the upwind buoy? Hehehehe.....

I like that course. Maybe move on buoy far north so we have to navigate the chop, then upwind on the outside through the surf..

We could also have endurance races. Make a lap, drink a beer, eat a taco.