Kai Lenny's Kite Board vs. ORACLE TEAM USA's AC72
Watch the
Action Clip:
http://youtu.be/PvA6AKFX4r0
Get barreled http://win.gs/1alYVe2
Kai Lenny's $1,
500 Kite Board vs
ORACLE TEAM USA's $15 million catamaran
..."
It's like bringing a knife to a gun fight," said ORACLE TEAM USA grinder
Matt Mitchell. Those were the comments of
Jimmy Spithill, the skipper of ORACLE TEAM USA and the defenders of the
America's Cup.
The question was whether kite board champion Kai Lenny can outrace the new 72-foot catamaran of ORACLE TEAM USA.
Pink slips were on the line when
Lenny put his $1,500 board up against the $15 million boat recently on
San Francisco Bay. On the same course that will host the
34th America's Cup in September, the two sides engaged in a bridge-to-bridge battle between the
Golden Gate and
Bay Bridge.
Kai Lenny got a significant jump out of the starting gate, launching his kite and harnessing the power of the winds to propel himself at 20 knots across the water (23 mph). This caught ORACLE TEAM USA off guard at first, before they found their rhythm and cranked it up to 30 knots (34 mph) to blow by the kite board.
"He got a really good start, so we just put the hammer down," added Spithill.
Lenny, who was born and raised in
Hawaii, achieved recognition in
2012 with a first place finish at the
Hawaii Island Finals
SUP pro, and first place at the
Sunset Beach SUP pro.
Kiteboarding combines aspects of wakeboarding, windsurfing, surfing, paragliding, and gymnastics into one action sport.
ORACLE TEAM USA will be looking to defend its America's Cup title when racing starts
September 7 in
San Francisco.
Check out GQ's channel and Kai kite surfing in a suit here: http://youtube.com/GQVideos
_____________________________________________________
Experience the world of
Red Bull like you have never seen it before. With the best action sports clips on the web and original series, prepare for your "stoke factor" to be at an all time high.
Red Bull on
Facebook: http://win.gs/redbullfb
Red Bull on Twitter: http://win.gs/redbulltwitter
Subscribe to Red Bull on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=redbull
Subscribe to the
Red Bulletin: http://win.gs/TheRedBulletin
Sign up for our Newsletter here: http://win.gs/RedBullNewsletter