I invented this rig actually having boats and yachts in mind(see
http://youtu.be/ruBQ1CM_VUA.
Even on a surfboard it makes sense, IMHO, as it will be easier to learn than (classical) kite boarding, once anyone knows, how to control a power kite, he could ride and immediately go upwind (and there are probably many people around who learned to control the kite but never managed to learn the waterstart and staying upwind because they are lacking the time) . In theory, this board should even be much faster than a classical kite board, as the lateral resistance is provided by a highly effective hydrofoil instead by edging(which is definitely quite ineffective). Upwind performance is already outstanding, but to exploit the theoretical speed potential will require some more efforts, thus far the (front-)foil started ventilating at ~ 8knts (due to the board wobbling and the foil briefly leaving the water) and my speed record is only slightly above 10knts.
Ingo
