In addition to the extensive coverage by Tord, - I think that kite will be quite ineffective when wet, - and there is a good chance of this in a kayak. If you are looking for some thrill, then may be a kite will make a paddling day less boring. But if you are looking for effective, hands-free and relatively trouble-free way of augmenting your paddling power, - then V-sails or small batwing sails are the way to go. There are at least 3 commercial V-sails,- Spirit, Quiver, and Pacific Action. Spirit and PA have been reviewed at the Watertribe website: http://www.watertribe.org/Magazine/2003_1January/IsaacClass1SailRig.asp , http://www.watertribe.com/Magazine/Y2004/M10/SteveIsaacPacificActionSail.asp x . There is at least one commercial design of high-aspect, scary-looking battened sails in NZ (with the mast all the way down to the hull bottom): http://www.vision.net.au/~jennings/sail/sail.html , and hinged designs of low-aspect batwing sails in NSW (Australia) by Norm Sanders and others - not commercial, but quite popular there: http://www.nswseakayaker.asn.au/mag/36/osdgl.html . The last one looks quite appealing, with a low center of effort, easily raised, lowered and trimmed. This particular one looks a little bit small - I've calculated 0.6 sq.m (7 sq.ft) from the diagram. With a "normal" kayak of 23"-25" beam anything over 1 sq.m (11 sq.ft) will be too much, anyway. The most expensive and the only permamently attached part would be universal tiller joint (about $30), with a total cost around $70. On some photos at NSW website I see that this joint remains on the deck with a short "female" lower section of the mast, while "male" section with sail is bungeyed to the deck when not needed. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Sun Apr 24 2005 - 15:49:01 PDT
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