BUGGY RACING

Buggy racing is the most fun there is to be had in this world!  (Sorry
Eros!)  There are currently three types of racing.

1.    PURSUIT RACING.   A course, usually directly cross wind say 100m
      long is set up using two
       "dunces hat" type marks.  It's one on one:  Start one buggy at each
      mark simultaneously and race either a left or right hand circuit or
      figure eights.  One point to the leading buggy if the kites tangle
      causing both buggies to stop.  Two points to the buggy that
      manages to catch the other.  Pursuit racing is great for grudge
      matches and knock-out competitions.

2.    CIRCUIT RACING.  For three or more buggies almost any layout of
      circuit is possible but we've found racing to be best on an "L"
      shaped course with the long leg of the "L" along the wind direction
      and the short leg across the top or upwind end.  Racing starts
      along the reaching short leg followed by the directly downwind leg
      and then tacking back up to the start.  We will quite often race with
      up to 5 buggies and usually keep going until the winner laps every
      other buggy.  This is serious stuff and can take up to an hour!  Any
      more than four or five buggies and there tend to be too many
      tangles but this problem seems to occur much less often as the
      participants gain experience.  Remember that there is a very
      strong incentive not to get tangled up with someone else because
      this will likely put both of you out of contention!  Using this "L"
      circuit it's the downwind corner that requires the most skill.  In a
      stronger wind getting around this corner and settling quickly into
      an optimum upwind course can be diabolically difficult.  Doing this
      with an adjacent buggy doing its best to spoil your line is even
      harder.

      To add interest we often set our course through a part of our park
      that has scattered, up to 6m, trees.  Being able to do all standard
      buggying manoeuvres is one thing, doing them when you have to
      rather than when you want to is another matter entirely.

      Don't discard the challenge of light wind buggy racing.  In many
      ways, winning in marginal wind is a greater test of skill than
      strong wind racing, operator weight obviously is a big factor in
      light wind but then again a heavy flier can handle a larger kite. 
      Operator weight has a significant effect particularly on soft
      surfaces - wider wheels required?

3.    CROSS COUNTRY RACING
      I surmise that there is exciting potential in point to point cross
      country buggy racing.  Beaches, deserts, even hills are okay (you
      can go uphill downwind, downhill upwind but you can't easily go
      uphill upwind or downhill downwind).  What about a race across
      2,000km of the Australian Nullarbor Plain?  Good wind, adequate
      surface and very few obstructions!

4.    TIMED LAPS
      Although lacking the spectacle of having multiple buggies vying
      wheel to wheel, competing against the clock avoids all possibility
      of line tangles and is especially satisfactory when race entrants
      have widely different kites and skill levels - factors which
      exacerbate the likelihood of tangling.