A survival race in wings, 120 km/h, 75 mph, in very strong winds, on the frozen Baltic Sea
Ten pictures and drawings, 3700 words. Equivalent to some 6 pages in a magazine
Excerpts
The sailors look like hockey players as they are well padded and wear helmets. This is good protection should you fall, but it doesn't help much if you loose control and collide with another wing or some of the rocky islands that surrounds the course.
The wind is howling at gale force outside the wing and the pitch is changing with the speed of the wind. You can hear yourself groan under the strain, says the current wing sail National Champion Bo Trysen.- Approaching the flag you enter a fast and accelerating ride on a tightrope. As you make the gradual turn downwind the wing can give you many times more power than you can handle.
If you open the throttle to much or if a nasty gust hits you will be blown to leeward and......... if you get it right you will get a massive acceleration raising your speed to over 120 km/h, 75 mph, in a few seconds.
Falling and crashing wings: The "nose dive" is least fun as it tends to break the wing.
Headings:
Falling and crashing wings
The Swedish skate sail racing course
How to sail
Skate sailing development history
Optimizing wing sails
Sailing skates photos- I guess you haven't seen anything like it.
How the wing develops a force, drawing
Typical wing construction
"You travel in a state between flying and falling, sailing on one skate, leaning into a wind which every little change is transmitted directly to your body. The only sound is the faint whistle of the wind outside your wing." That is light wind skate sailing according to one of the addicts.
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