.....hey Giuseppe.....thanks for the excellent link to kites! A two month flat spell here in JAW-juh has left me looking for other avenues for kicks. I got a 7 sqm skytiger, and am confident that I can alter the way I walk permanently with it. Anymore kite links you have acquired along the way would be appreciated.......you mentioned Wipika kites.....I would love to know more about them, as they seem to be make for kayak dragging having that inflatable frame/bladder and all, facilitating wet relaunches.......any more personal experience with them? If this is too tedious for the rest of the list you can answer me off list if you please. Jonesin' to get seriously dragged, Chris Giuseppe Cabras wrote: > Take a look to http://www.peterlynnkites.co.nz/kitesail/part1.htm is a > very interesting article by Peter Lynn on Kite Sailing. > I have tried a 5sqm Wipika with control bar to tow my Helios 380 > inflatable K2 (very stable) and it works fine downwind, upwind you need > a leeboard like any kayak with upwind sailing rig (like klepper). > Cheers, > Giuseppe > PJ Rattenbury wrote: > > > > Larry et al, > > > > Your words about your parafoil encourage me. I use mine with my single > > Klepper, and agree that nothing can compare with kite sailing downwind if > > you want to log up the miles. > > > > I think it is on 'expeditions' that parafoils come into play. Because you > > can really cover the ground in a breeze I find it takes a good deal of > > discipline to pull the thing down if you are really flying downwind! > > Before you know it you are several miles 'downhill' from your put-in, > > facing a long slog back into a headwind! This can be a trap for the unwary. > > I have made for myself a 'three to one' rule, which roughly states that it > > will take at least three times as long to cover the ground upwind after > > that wonderful exhilarating ride downhill. I believe this is critical if > > you are heading out into a freshening breeze and lifting sea-state and you > > are not [intentionally!] on a one way trip. > > > > Some questions for kite sailors: > > > > I believe a skeg or fin, or centreboard at a point just aft of the kite > > line would assist in control at speed and in a sea. Anyone experimented > > with this? > > > > How do you control your line[s] on retrieval? I find that when I want > > that parafoil down, I usually want it down in a hurry which results in a > > most unseamanlike tangle of line in the bottom of the cockpit. I have one > > of those fishing line handreels about 10 inches in diameter which is great > > on launch, but not so good for a speedy retrieval. > > > > Do you use a tail on your parafoil for control in the higher wind speeds? > > Supposedly a tail stabilises the kite, but I find it is just something else > > to get wrapped around your gear. > > > > Has anyone come up with different ways to keep hold of that line. Has > > anyone experimented with using your bow tether to take the line forward to > > the bow? I thought of some fast release clip system attached to my mast > > step to take most of the strain, but retaining hand control. I think this > > is basically Larry's system. > > > > Has anyone tried seakayaking with the Wipika type of kites, seemingly very > > powerful, but very expensive? > > > > Regards, > > Peter Rattenbury > > Wollongong > > Australia > *************************************************************************** > PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List > Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net > Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net > Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ > *************************************************************************** *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
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