North dominates the French Race Championships!
Congratulations to the whole Race Team - well done!!
North Race Team scores in Egypt!
The African Continental Championships in Egypt was the perfect way for the North kite Race Team to start the season. Most riders registered sizes 9, 11, 13, 17 mtr Dyno 2013ltd kites and all were riding the new race ltd 69.
Following the 1st 2 days of qualifiers, mens gold fleet racing was an intense battle amongst the top 30 qualified Kiters. The North Race team were consistent & managed to get 3 team members earning their place in the final days medal Race. These included: Maxime Nocher (FRA) , Florian Gruber (GER) and Blazeg Ozog (POL)
Meanwhile a heated competition was going on in the womans division with UK rider- Steph Bridge consistent & showing experience counts for a lot in the varying wind conditions. North race team manager - Dirk Hanel took some bad luck in the protest room , narrowly missed gold fleet but dominated silver fleet with a string of bullets.
Other North race riders included 2008 Race World Champion , Charles Deleau (FRA) who was stoked to make a come back into Gold fleet along with Danish rider James Johnson. Youth World race Champion, Oliver Bridge (GB) is learning the hard way, mixing some confident starts and gaining vital bigger fleet expereince with some top 10 results. Olly is age 15 and took 2nd Youth & overall 20th in the mens Gold fleet racing.
The final medal Race day was a huge one for the North Race Team and the pre- track training, tactics, strategy & shared knowledge really paid off. It was Maxime who cranked up the big gears, moving from 8th place to a podium 3rd final position in a series of 5 minute short track races. Team mate-Blazeg was black flagged on race 1 ending his medal day glory while the German, Florian took a penalty in the race 2 ending his overall ranking in 2nd.
The womans finals also left spectators on an edge , however with good power on all points of sail, Steph did what she set out to do – win the 1st medal race which would Secure her the tittle. French rider – Ariane Imbert proved that time on the water really counts & now, after only starting racing last year is top 10 in the womans fleet.
Podium places for 3 of the North race Team riders , followed by a big party & a huge energy amongst the team to be riding the best boards & kites for the 2013 race season.
Dyno 2013 - What's new? by Ken Winner
Low Weight
Low weight is a key feature of the Dyno and all measures have been taken to strip out materials that do not contribute to on-water performance. For example, there is no single-point inflation system on the Dyno simply because SPI increases weight without improving performance.
The performance benefits of low weight are mainly:
(1) the Dyno will easily fly when quite underpowered. The 17 will readily stay in the air when there is too little wind for an 80-kilo rider to plane on a big race board.
(2) when flying the Dyno up and down for power (as when racing downwind), the Dyno's low weight helps it to make a powerful upstroke.
Aspect Ratio
Aspect ratio remains low enough for quick turning but high enough for good aerodynamic efficiency.
5-line ability
While the Dyno will work as a 4-line kite, it retains 5-line ability for these reasons:
(1) Easy relaunch in light winds. Even riders who like four-line kites often add a fifth line to make relaunch possible in super-light wind.
(2) Safety. When you need to get total, complete and perfect depower in half a second, nothing else works as well as a 5th line.
(3) Easy, safe self-launching and self-landing.
Thin tapered struts with semi-segmented and conical construction
Struts are tapered from a fairly large diameter where they meet the LE to much smaller diameters 25% back. The big joint with the LE gives more rigidity to the structure of the inflated elements. The taper to a smaller diameter provides lower drag.
The semi-segmented construction gives a smooth upper curve to the struts – an aerodynamically superior shape – while taking up excess cloth and preventing unsightly wrinkles in the lower surface of the strut.
The struts go to a conical construction at the 25% point. This eliminates seams and therefore removes a point of potential seam failure in the part of the strut that bends the most on the beach.
Strut configuration
The 2012 Dyno has seven struts for extra stability – mainly appreciated by heavier riders taking the Dyno to the limit in powered conditions.
The 2013 Dyno is more narrowly focused on racing, which requires more flexibility and the lowest possible weight, so the new Dyno has only five struts.
The tip strut is closer to the tip to support the thin leading edge and provide stability during hard turning. The quarter strut is a bit closer to the tip strut so as to support the flat section of canopy between tip and quarter struts.
The large span between quarter and center struts provides the bulk of the power of the kite. This area is not heavily controlled with struts because it needs to be free to luff or fill, depending on wind strength.
More and different sizes
The Dyno was originally a light-wind kite but has evolved into a light-wind and race kite and now comes in sizes 7, 9, 11 and 13 in addition to the original 15 and 17.
The new 17 is larger than the 2012 Dyno 17 and has significantly more power. Sizes 15 and 13 are also more powerful than corresponding Dynos from 2012.
Graduated cloth weight
The inflated elements of the 2012 Dyno were entirely built of a light but extremely stable new Dacron. For 2013 we are keeping this lighter Dacron in the small-diameter inflated elements – the struts and the tips of the leading edge – while going with our standard, heavier-duty Dacron in the large-diameter parts of the leading edge. This heavier Dacron permits higher inflation pressures and thus greater stability in the leading edge.
Segmentation
We've added more segments to the geometry of the 2013 Dyno. This helps ensure good fidelity to design shape.
Turning speed
Owing to the fewer struts and lower weight, turning speed has been improved. This is most noticeable when flying the Dyno up and down on a deep downwind point of sail.
Leading edge diameter
Leading edge diameters are basically unchanged in the center of the Dyno but tip diameters are smaller. This change provides a bit less aerodynamic drag.
New bridle
The new Dyno bridle has no pulleys. This gives a bit less weight and drag but also means that the 2013 Dyno must be flown on either (1) a 5-line bar or (2) a four-line bar with front-line safety leash.
Profile tweaks
Canopy profiles in the outboard quarters are quite flat for low drag. Canopy profiles at and between center and quarter struts are deeper and more powerful than in 2012.
Power vs. depower
The various changes have led to better power and depower.
Relaunch
The lower weight, deeper profiles and new geometry help the 2013 Dyno to relaunch quickly.
Sky Solbach Dyno:
"The new Dyno is something totally new and is hands down the fastest kite I have flown to date. It constantly shoots to the edge of the wind window while maintaining really consistent power delivery that carries you upwind. Downwind, the new Dyno is equally impressive. I can't wait to see what the North Race Team can do on the race course this year with this tool in their hands!"
Steph Bridge takes European Champion, Florian Gruber takes 3rd overall
Some decent races were held at the kite race Europeans at KTE La Baule where over 110 racers competed for the european title. Winds were generally light and variable making conditions challenging. North riders dotted the front end of the fleets with the new green Dynos and Race LTDs and all were gaining valuable experience preparing for the kite race worlds starting this week in Italy. The mens fleet was dominated by the up and coming young North Kiteboarding Riders Florian Gruber in 3rd and 3 points behind Olly Bridge from the UK in 6th while mum Steph Bridge took 1st place in the womans fleet. Now that kite racing is an Olympic discipline, over 40 countries will be represented in Cagliari for the kite race World Championships with over 220 entries - this will be some event worth watching! Starts 3rd October so don't miss it!
