Boosting Huge

I am in Tucson, getting ready for my annual trip to Cape Cod. This means, among other things, that I got to pick up the latest edition of Kiteboard Magazine. This edition has an article exploring the possibility of boosting 100 feet in the air. The highest jump recorded so far is almost 75 feet, measured by a GPS devise strapped to the board of a kiter. This devise is called the ShadowBox ($500) and can record speed, height, distance, acceleration, hang time, spin rate, and G-forces and put it all together on a computer so you can see a 3-D rendition of your performance.

Optimal conditions for jumping big seems to be an 8 meter kite in wind gusting in the 35 to 45 knot range and with small chop or swell (2 feet) for a ramp.