I accept the validity of the record but one thing does bother me a little.

The boats achieve the records in MUCH lower windstrengths then the boards. Basically the boards are waiting for windspeeds that are themselves very close to the speed record itself. Theoretically, they can staps themselves to a large bedsheet in a Katrina type hurricane and have themselves dragged over the water whereas the boat actually break technological barriers by sailing at least twice as fast as the wind.

In the case of Hydropthere, they break the record on open water and not some man made or highly specialized speed trench.

That to me gives more weight to Hydroptheres record.

Afterall we are not counting the experimental rocketcar on rails as a valid entry into the automobiel speed record either.

It is a case of the brute force approach against the elegant approach. I will always favour the last.

Wouter