I've had great success sailing with a parafoil kite. On the lower Columbia River, I've used a kite to pull 4 boats at once upriver! OK, the summer onshore flow winds there can get pretty bad, but I much prefer bringing a small kite to bringing the mast, leeboards, daggerboard, and lateen sail for the Folbot. Once all that stuff is attached to the kayak, it's impossible to paddle, say, if the wind were to die suddenly in the shadow of a freighter. I've also used the parafoil in long crossings, with winds coming from straight abeam, which is one advantage of having a rudder, (rubber, to you Californians?). Oh dear, stirring up to many "issues". Time to sign off! Tina Portland, OR USA >There was mention of kites in the discussion of sailing rigs. I have >used a 7.5 sq. ft. parafoil in my Folbot Greenland II (with rudder) and >found it very satisfactory in winds of 12 mph to 25 mph (guesstimate) -- >which conditions are very common. The kite costs under $50 and stows in >a bag smaller than one gallon Ziploc. In 20 mph winds, the kite alone >pulls the double at close to hull speed. >Ken Cooperstein >Even if this is a guesstimate where do you live that has 12 to 25 mph >winds very commonly? As the only stats I have seen show the average wind >for the whole continental US to be 6 or 7, I want to know where you find >this kind of wind so I can consider it when I next move. I would kill >for that kind of wind as common. It's perfect kayak sailing wind. >Mark ------------------------------------------------------------- ___________ / OOOOOOO- / I / -OOOOOOO- / I /___________/ / I___________I / Have you hugged your bento today? Check out the BENTO BUGGY website at: http://www.pcez.com/BentoBuggy ------------------------------------------------------------- *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
Tina wrote: > > I've had great success sailing with a parafoil kite. On the lower Columbia > River, I've used a kite to pull 4 boats at once upriver! OK, the summer > onshore flow winds there can get pretty bad, but I much prefer bringing a > small kite to bringing the mast, leeboards, daggerboard, and lateen sail > for the Folbot. Once all that stuff is attached to the kayak, it's > impossible to paddle, say, if the wind were to die suddenly in the shadow > of a freighter. > > I've also used the parafoil in long crossings, with winds coming from > straight abeam, which is one advantage of having a rudder, (rubber, to you > Californians?). Oh dear, stirring up to many "issues". Time to sign off! > > Tina > Portland, OR USA Tina, I am glad that you are one of the people that has had some luck with parafoils. I am curious though what it is the prevents you from paddling with your Folbot lateen rig in place. Also in a similar line of thought, what would you do in a strong wind with your kite fully extented if you found yourself crossing the path of a freighter? Thanks for your insight into this. Mark *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
In a message dated 12/5/99 10:05:24 AM Central Standard Time, batwing_at_kerrlake.com (Mark Balogh) writes: << Even if this is a guesstimate where do you live that has 12 to 25 mph winds very commonly? As the only stats I have seen show the average wind for the whole continental US to be 6 or 7, I want to know where you find this kind of wind so I can consider it when I next move. I would kill for that kind of wind as common. It's perfect kayak sailing wind. >> I am not sure where Ken lives, but you might consider Corpus Christi, Tx. That is pretty much average for much of the year (its higher in March and April). We host the U.S. National Windsurfing Course competition each year in May. Besides the Gulf of Mexico we have about 60+ miles of barrier island protected lagoon 3-6 mile wide where you can get 20+ mph wind and less than 1ft waves. Winter, however, can be brutal down here. It is going to be in the high 40's for a low tommorrow with a high in the low 70's (we just had a cold front come through). Light wind in the morning with 15-25 mph in the afternoon. The windsurfers hardly ever get up before noon since they like it 20 to 30 mph. Mark J. Arnold MJAkayaker_at_aol.com *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - All postings copyright the author and not to be reproduced outside PaddleWise without author's permission Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.4.0 : Thu Aug 21 2025 - 16:33:06 PDT