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kite boat


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I kite, and i think it could work, sailing is all about apparent breeze, and flying the kite in a fast up and down sine wave motion lets you create new pressure. So why not faster?

Will be interested in that squid.

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Seems a shame to use such a nice Tri as a test boat. What would Ian Farrier Say :( . Though I suppose it is a light easily driven boat so makes the kite look powerful. If there was a way to make the kite stable at a given wind angle without having to tweak it all the time it could be a winner. But without the stabalizing force of sails, the motion on board would be a bit :sick:

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The idea is that the kite is way up in much stronger air currents than you get on the water surface with a conventional rig. The air is far more stable as in less turbulence and the kite can still transfer power at quite extreme angles of wind to boat direction. All in all, it is actually a very efficient system. The disadvantage is the constant monitoring. There is a computer controlled system that can fly the kite automatically, but it is expensive and complex as you could imagine and so far as I know, only one exists that is being used on a "test" tanker in which they are suggesting fuel savings of 10%. I don't know if the test have been completed yet.

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IU have a KiteCat Kite boat at home if anyone is interested.

 

Great fun.

 

Follow this link for a look at the kitecat- Planing Hull Cat...quite different to the monohull designs Peter is working on currently.

 

http://www.skytoys.co.nz/Kite%20videos.htm

 

I haven't used for a while due to spending too much time on other activities- like sailing the keeler.

 

If there are any enthusiast that want to know more- get in touch.

 

I know Peter lynn, and run Skytoys...so have a number of contacts.

 

Toles

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