A while ago the question was raised whether the 30kt alpha or hour would go first.The Alpha went first and it looks like we will soon see the 30kt hour ( maybe even a team average>30kt hr)
What is the next huge milestone?
A 30 kt 2 sec for me 
.
It's a bit embarrassing when people are getting one hour averages that are faster than your 2 sec! 
I was going to suggest the 50 knot team 2 sec, but I just checked. Those dutchies have been at it again...
gpsteamchallenge.com.au/sailor_session/show?team=67&date=2012-01-03
Time to raise the speeds in open locations. They have been practically the same for about 5 years (aside from canal runs).
5x10 has been over 47kts for nearly 5 years. 100m is unbeaten 3 years. 2sec at 50kts- for almost 4 years.
High speeds are being achieved more regularly but they are nothing new. The Euros are living in speed mecca but only now seem to be taking advantage of this.
Strangely on GP3S theres no list of who won each year on the site. From memory the last 6 or 7 years its been myself, spotty, and Anders. The top of the year ranking suddenly disappears into obscurity on Jan1. Perhaps that will change if a Dutchy finally wins a year 
The next big thing in GPS at the pointy end will be bagging 50 in one of the more significant categories- like 100m, 250, 500m, and 5x10.
Would love to get there first, but need some wind for that!
Year rankings are only available to gold members
www.gps-speedsurfing.com/default.aspx?mnu=rankings
next step is doing 45knts in 15-20 knts of wind, going to hit a wall in overall max speeds with current gear until we develope ultra efficent gear that flies in lighter winds.
Next in GPS world should be an attempt to quantify the state of the water. We still see a video like that in the other post. www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Windsurfing/Gps/One-Design-Speed-sailing/
and have no idea how good the guys really are. Nobody could guess how fast they would have gone in similar conditions. The chop looks bad but without quantification no one knows for sure. It took the BOM about a century but it now adds a windchill factor to its temperature readings. It's a rough indicator added to a precise reading but it's better than nothing.
Iphones now come with an accelerometer. An accelerometer could be packed into a gps. For a consistent response you'd have to mount the unit between the footstraps. Board width, rider weight, board speed, rider skill would all affect the response of the device but we'd learn to allow for that.
A bit of clever software should produce a graph like this with each run
In this example the maximum wave energy is at 0.7 hz in a direction directly downwind. Your run back up wind at an approximately orthogonal angle should provide the information to plot the 3 dimensional details.http://metronu.ulb.ac.be/imacs/lausanne/SP/180-4.pdf
The problem with measuring water state is that the good guys make chop appear to be flat.
We had Chris Lockwood over here in January at our best speed spot (lake Clearwater).
It didn't seem flat to us locals but he made it look flat and went 3kts faster than our best local on the day (Dan Willemse).
Looking at his data in gpsar versus ours, his acceleration graphs are a lot more regular.
Ours look like we're in chop.
So he's either got an unusually smooth board (probably) or he's much more tuned into the conditions (highly likely).
I reckon guys like him would confound your data.
Useful observations Kato and Te Hau. I've only ever experienced blurred vision once, and that was after I'd been trying to slow down for 100 metres. You mean I'm supposed to push through?
Kato's leaning towards a Beaufort style description, which is still a lot better than nothing. Any other indicators, apart from blurred vision, that could be reported on?
I'd say a gps on the arm would greatly damp the accelerations and be very dependant on rider skill. Is the resolution of the acceleration based on satellite signals ( already available) good enough to infer sea state if the gps was affixed to the board?
Quantifying sea state is nothing new. NOAA does it. Buoys are impractical, but using the accelerations of the board as a proxy is maybe not so impossible.
www.ndbc.noaa.gov/measdes.shtml
dont feel bad about he does the same to us over here.
chris makes chop look like he is sailing on flat water
I think the reason the short distances aren't in the Gtc, is the gps problem of not being able to measure them exactly. The GT's only measure once a second, at 40kts that's a distance of 20metres.
so you could have anywhere between 90 and 110 metres.
That's why time has been the main unit, and the 5X10 gives a good indication of consistent ability.
Although hardie proposed the idea of an online gps team challenge. From memory most of the Aus speed sailing community had an input into it's format, don't think any one place/state can claim it.
The GTC is what it is bec of input by the windsurfing community of Australia, when people were talking about event categories, one argument against the 100m 250m 500m, (Along with 2 sec and 5 x 10sec) was they all measured similar things and would favour the fastest sailors at the fastest spots. Given inclusiveness and participation were key philosophies, Alpha (gybing skill) Hr (Skill Endurance and speed) and km's (endurance) would give other people the chance to contribute. As the old saying goes "If it aint broke"
It appears that gradual increments are the go in windsurfing, would love to see a radical jump like 55kt 2 sec peak on that speacial day? Is that possible? Was interesting to hear Anders say after Luderitz that at that place with the right conditions windsurfers could go much faster than they do now
Dead right Hardie, inclusive...don't change a thing. Great competition !
Re 55 kts..... coming soon if you can get those Dutchies to try a fin.
They sail the same gear and the same old draggy barn door fin all the time, and get the same top speed time after time. Getting boring.
Need a bit of imagination from those guys since they have the perfect conditions. Can't believe they haven't been tempted to try an assy yet.
Check it out I can work a calculator
Doing 40kts in one second you will cover 20.40m. At 40kts you would cover 100m in 4.901960784313725s.
