Kites, anyone used one?

R

robind

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Anyone used a Kite to power their motor cruiser yet. is it feasible?? I have seen many used to pull surf boards etc ( very quickly too) how about use on a planing hull?
Rob

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Don't see why it couldn't be done
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Dave

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Follow this idea through.
Kites need control lines,large struts to increase lever action on controls of same lines,some sort of provision to allow close to wind operation,keep following this path and what do you get?

A modern sailing boat!!

Evolution follows many paths some of them are dead ends/forums/images/icons/smile.gif

<hr width=100% size=1>If it cant be fixed with a lump hammer don't fit it
 
Most sailing boats have an auxillary engine; I don't see why a motor boat can't have an auxillary sail.

I assume it would only cope with downwind sailing though unless you had a mast and the various sheets and things, in which case you'd have a motor sailer and they already exist!

I'd imagine that to get a mobo up on the plane it would have to be HUGE kite though.

<hr width=100% size=1>It could have been worse - it could have been me.
 
Re: Tried it

in an Avon Redstart using a "Peter Powell" Stunt Kite

In Salcombe harbour. Two up we managed to get from Mill bay to up near the ICC.

It works pretty well down or across the wind. We stopped though because if your kite runs out of wind it falls in the sea. This requires time consuming recovery procedures. We were surrounded by moorings which caused a bit of a tangle.

I'd have thought that in open water and with a decent anchoring system on the boat, this kite had damn near had me arms out of the sockets, it's a good idea.

I've considered it for a Liferaft if I ever went blue water sailing.

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Kites can very definitely go upwind. You just need something to provide the lateral resistance.

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How close is close proximity?

1 boat length or 10 mm? The same distance as the furthest part of a spinnaker or the closest part of it?

The kite we tested (from Kiteship) could be flown close to the yacht, but not close to the mast...then again it could be flown 20 metres from the yacht if not more.

The test should appear in YM soon

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For a yacht (kiteship the company that makes em) use a rough rule of 1 square metre of kite to 1 foot of hull length...that's for a yacht traveling at displacement speed....so if you want a planing Mobo to plane you'll need a much bigger kite, but unlike a yacht you don't have the equipment to handle such a big bag of ripstop so you'll have no skin on yer hands and lots of blood on those shiny white decks :-)

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I know, seems a bit knee-jerk to me. I suppose the thought of a dozen or so big boats starting on a line with kites flying 50m away from the boat scares them s*itless!
Imagine a luffing match, or a dinghy getting them all on starboard!
Brilliant

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One of the problems the guy from Kiteship was saying, is that when rounding a mark, does all the yacht and it's sails have to go round? and how can a windward yacht with it's kite flying downwind stop someone down wind sailing into their kite and claiming a penalty....also with a kite they can extend the control lines to upto 150 metres (depending on the size of the kite) so on a run to the finish they could extend the line and part of their yacht would cross the line first.

All a bit confuzzeling!! :-)

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Hello,

I'm Dave Culp, pres of KiteShip. We make the big spinnaker replacement kites you'll see in the Sydney Hobart on Boxing Day.

We do make and sell kites to power vessels as well as sailing boats. See: www.kit-cats.com/kite_sail.htm

OutLeader spinnaker replacement kites are designed to be flown in place of your spinnaker. The kite fits the legal definition of a spinnaker, per ISAF. It flies from 3 lines, all of which are taken to the yacht's deck. The kite thus does not heel the boat, nor will it contribute to round-downs, spin outs or bow burying. The kite flies well above masthead level, where the wind is stronger and less turbulent. Most users fly on lines between 2-3 boat lengths away. The kite can be quickly deployed, close to the boat, then let out at leisure. It can be "tripped" and brought to the boat in a few (<15) seconds.

Check out http://www.kiteship.com for more info. Check out our FAQ and also photo and video galleries.

Cheers,

Dave Culp
KiteShip

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