Speeds ???

popeyethewelder.com/facebook questions

 

2012 

  • 84.10mph on dry lake
  • 68.10 on sand
  • 62.10 on grass
  • 61.83 on ice

Which speed record do you think will be the hardest to break?

  • PTW – I personally think Jay Taylor grass record will stand for years, simply because of the fact you need a grassy area big enough…..maybe the sod farms in the USA is the place to break this record!!!
  • Daniel Kinsman –  I would say grass to
  • Cliff Baker –  I don’t think the sand record will stand for much longer. With not much knowledge of the others I’d say the next to go would be ice, then dry lake, then grass being the hardest. That’s a truly amazing speed on grass.
  • Eric Schuch –  I agree grass would think if enough space then the ice would be easiest with less friction.
  • Glenn Ford –  Maybe doable on grass just met a farmer who has an airstrip on his property am now awaiting a real good south to south westerly blow to test it all out.
  • Stephen Webb – I have reservations about the focus on Speed! I didn’t get into buggying for speed, and I appreciate that others have goals, but it only takes one bad accident to mess up our buggy access! Brian Holgate, in US, who holds record at moment, w…orries me in regard to the amount of care taken to attempt high speeds. To mention a few, are the fact that he continues to use the Peter Lynn speed buggy even though there are saftey issues with it! Attention to detail is required to attain fast speeds, not slap dash, I’ll just junp in mentality. Breaking 85mph is blood fast…and requires the respect it deserves!
  • KiteBuggy BagMan –  whats the issues with the buggy?
  • Brian Holgate – Stephen Webb, do you know what we have done with the buggy? Care is the first priority. If you notice in the video when the wheel fell off the buggy did not go out of control. This is a testament to the great design of this particular bugg…y. Consider that when at NABX no one was able to ride this buggy for a reason. We were aware of the inherent dangers involved and didn’t want anyone to get hurt. Safety is our first priority. That is why we have a roll bar. Not sure anyone knows how much work has gone into “SAFETY” behind the scenes. Either way, just want to assure everyone I am not taking it lightly. Safety is our #1 concern.
  • Ian Nudge Pearse –  Thought the speed buggy did go out at NABX? I see to remember seeing it?? Grass has to be the hardest to break. Thats some balls doing that speed on Grass!!!
  • Brian Holgate –  Yes Ian, you are correct. I took the buggy out once for speed. We were still dealing with old bolts though. You may have seen a wheel flying at NABX as well, lol! We have since made some mods.
  • Ian Nudge Pearse –  thats ok then, thought the sun had got to me for a moment then!
  • PTW – Well, I have to say in defence Steven, I was with Brian during the whole time from setting up the lines on the kite to repairing the broken bolt and trying again, and I have to say, Brian left nothing to chance at all, he was more than thor…ough during the set up process before the buggy even moved….that process took a good 15-20 minutes from sitting in the buggy to the buggy rolling, I was thinking to myself, I would have been long gone by now, but Brian would not set off untill everything was perfect….I was more than impressed with Brians regard for safety, and with respect unless you were there to witness this and saw all the checks Brian…..and the team around him did prior to setting off, I am surprised by your comment. Speed is not the sole cause of accidents, the wind can snap at any time, causing a bad accident after a OBE for example or a newbie crashing into a holiday maker and his family on the beach….thats far more likely to happen. There are many dimensions to buggying as you rightly know and its everyone to their own
  • Ken Shaw –  Grass is very tough, huge rolling resistance and no side bite. Loose, dry sand is the next on the list, Sand Yeti kind of sand, Glamis Dunes kind of sand, just an absolute bear to get hooked up in that stuff without cutting deep furrows. LINK. I should think snow would be on the list at some point with the Greenland Project gear but I’ld imagine sastrugi presents a whole new set of challenges. Dune and surf ripples are difficult by themselves but formations in line with the wind direction have to make for a rough ride.
  • Monty Oriet –  My thought is that you will need to reduce the drag and resistannce of your buggy. This may mean enclosing it in a shell. Of course, that does not eliminate or reduce the importance of taking care and safety. You can’t overlook the prep.  Take Care.     Apexx Monty Oriet
  • Ben Gwynne –  I was there when Jay Taylor (grass record holder) came in off that run, he was pretty…….scar…..terri….. excited.
  • Cliff Baker –  Striving for new speed records can only bring the sport into the public eye and hopefully a better understanding of what we do and therefore less bans on our spots.
  • Glenn Ford –  Cliff how true the general public certainly does need educating as well as statutory authorities.
  • Ian Nudge Pearse – Sorry I dont totally agree with you, there are 2 sides to the coin. Yes by getting faster speeds and “look what we can do” is great to advertise the sport to potential noobs where they will want to have a go cuz that looks great, agree that…s good for the sport. However, by advertising the fact that we are doing average speeds of 25mph – 70mph (only talking beaches and grass) in a moving object without actual brakes that weighs in from 30 – 60kg can do the sport great harm. Let alone taught lines that can do some serious damage 25m across the land.
  • By bringing it more to the public eye as Cliff and Glenn are saying your Joe Average would hear about that kite buggys or boards are hooling along their dog walking field nightly doing serious speeds or where they want to take young Jimmy to the park to play football, or to the beach, they are going to think negative to the sport as we take over a fairly large proportion of public land which they have the right to be on as much as anyone they will feel they cant go on as we appear out of nowhere, as we are fairly silent and that we are a potential accident and a danger. This is going to have them writing to councils, which could result in bans on beaches and local fields or confrontation with fliers – this has happened, I have been there and had that at 2 local flying spots, one of which is the kiting mecca of freestyle buggying in the world.
  • I sometimes think the “underground” approach to our speeds and even our sport is a better option due to these factors, fair enough on the dry lake beds or in kite marked areas as you dont really have people around to worry about, but in the majority of kiting spots not the best idea.
  • Glenn Ford –  Nudge over here that has happened already I have been hit by a ban from local council because they see it as a dangerous activity, i was kiting on sportsfields when it was very blowy,  and no one about. I now have to justify myself by sending a letter to local council. This has now changed as I have found a sympathetic farmer who has an airstrip on his property, so now am awaiting a big blow from the right direction.
  • PTW – Think what a great achievement green bird is…..its science and engineering at its best….I wonder if the blo carters were worried about their sport being damaged….
  • Mark Sherlock –  Carl, nobody in their right mind would look at Greenbird and think of a Blokart, which its not. Anybody looking at the Speed Buggy would immediately know it as a kite buggy, if they knew what a kite buggy was lol. I’m with Nudge, I like the idea of seeing how fast a kite buggy can go but I’m happy not to advertise it too much either.
  • PTW – Lol mark…..and you race cars, filled with highly inflamable liquid….if cars were invented today, they would never get past health and safety….I do love a good debate like this, but this is going off topic…
  • Mark Sherlock – You took it off topic not me :o) I’m just agreeing with Nudge, lets see how fast its really possible to go in a buggy but lets keep it to ourselves. So whens my go in the Speed Buggy :o)
  • PTW – Mark….lol, you advertise your top speed on your forum signature, is that not gloryfying high speeds to newbies who go on a forum?….I think when the kite buggy speed  record is broken in years to come by a buggy as high tech as green bird……..and it will happen one day, it will still be classed as a buggy powered only by a kite, no one will ever stop people wanting to go quick, this has gone on since the wheel was invented, and people like Craig, Peter and Brian should be recognized as pioneers, ready to take wind powered buggying to the next level……99.9 % of us will never ever want to even try for such speeds, so it needs bringing into perspective really.
  • Craig Hansen – @ Stephen Webb I think some of the lads have filled u in on just how safe and comfortable the Buggy is at speed, and you should know that as the speed increases it tends to settle down.  It is a properly thought out well made bit of kit, a…ll hand made in Peters workshop hear in Ashburton NZ by a group of enthusiasts, with the combined purpose of pushing the edge and to challenge the buggy fraternity to achieve better and greater things we sincerely hope someone will build a better unit and beat us (until then we have the fastest kite powered vehicle on the planet) and consider this, if no one was ever going to risk anything or take a chance because it might disrupt something or upset the status quo then where would we be as a species? No ships no aeroplanes no cars the list goes on. This speed buggy is our adventure and the outcome is unknown, however as intelligent men we mitigate the risks we are taking to improve our chances of a successful outcome and will continue to do so.
  • Stephen Webb –  I know it,s been 12yrs, I rember the incident at Lytham St Annes, like it was yesterday! And we are all still paying the price for that! And it did not even involve a buggy, it was a landyacht, so don,t say the riples don,t spread
  • PTW – @ Stephen, they are using the beach there again now, I have spoken to all involved there recently, although at the moment its only on a trial basis
  • Al Noblet – its not speed that will cause bans on beaches, kitebuggys running over kids and dogs will do that, speed will publisise the sport and bring it into popularity wich can only do good, as it has done for every other go-fast sport, imagine endi…ng up with a half hearted sport grovvling in the dark ages with no publicity, kitebuggying is an adventures dream, shortcorse racing makes for an epic spectator sport, and they do go very very fast, with kitesurfing going n the olympix it is  going to be noticed even more as peoples curiosity in kites grows and the sport shoud grow with it….mountainbiking flourished dur to coverage like this and with people like brian holgate and peter lynn pushing outside the box, i believe they deserve the highest respect in our sport..with regards to steven webbs comment, i find it disturbing you are a kite buggier, your the kind of man i hope isnt representing our sport in any way…it it attitudes like yours that cause the kind of naivety in a young sport that does more harm than good….
  • Mark Sherlock – Al, very few (I can think of 1) people/animals have been run over by buggies yet there are many many beaches with bans in this country so your logic is a bit off there, it takes a lot of work by a few people to regain access to these beache…s. Its the publics perception of the speed buggies are travelling at and the danger they think it presents that causes bans. You may be lucky in your country but here the minority voices rule, especially if they have a dog to walk.
  • PTW – Ok…so we think grass will be the hardest to beat….what about ice….do you think eventually the ice will be the quickest…?
  • Eric Schuch –  less friction so ice should be better but getting lengths of ice without snow on top to slow you down could be difficult. Would be good to get view of someone who has tried/uses ice buggy. I would love to have a go on ice
  • PTW – Ice Records
  • Mark Sherlock – Grass defo hardest just because of the lack of open space. Ice has got to be the fastest surface but I think the opportunities are probably a bit more limited.
  • PTW –  Then something is needed that will accelerates fast…..
  • Mark Sherlock –  something like an Appexx on Landseglers maybe ;o)
  • PTW – I was talking about on ice…
  • Mark Sherlock –  Ice has some big open spaces, quick acceleration shouldn’t be as important. grass is where the acceleration is needed. How much does the PKC buggy weigh in at, its not too different to a T3 init? Appexx is defo lighter, get ya blades on it for next year Carl ;o)
  • Eric Schuch –  Peter lynn made a buggy for the sea/ lake what is the speed on them?
  • Mark Sherlock –  Thats a good point, there is no speed record for a kite cat. Cant see it being anywhere near the land records though
  • Eric Schuch –  did not expect it to be any where near land but would be interesting to see what you could get out of the  kit cat