At the Speed of Kite
These days, top kitesurfers blow away the fastest sailboats, maxing out at more than 60 miles per hour. Dangerous? Yep. Especially when the world’s best converge on storm-raked Martha’s Vineyard to duke it out.
I arrive at the boathouse in Edgartown, Massachusetts, on Martha’s Vineyard, late and underdressed for what turns out to be a semiformal dinner at a very formal yacht club. Blue blazers, slacks, and penny loafers predominate, a bagpiper pipes, and conversations are conducted half in French and half in English. During cocktails, a handsome young man named Brock Callen climbs to a balcony suspended between the cathedral ceiling and two small brass cannons shelf-mounted over a fireplace. “Welcome to the first-ever North American Speed Sailing Invitational,†he announces, raising a flute of champagne  … More