Kite Sailing a Kayak.

[maverick]

I was just reading this article about using kites to power large ocean going ships, when I thought why not try it on a yak.

http://www.gizmag.com/cargill-ship-will ... dium=email

There are plenty of sails being fitted to yaks, which all take time and hardware and utilise space on the deck of the yak when it isn't being used (not a critisicism just an observation). But using a kite would allow you to point further into the wind without the need for dagger boards etc and it could be rolled up and stored easily in a hatch/on a deck and stay out of the way when not being used.

Has anybody tried this? Anyone with a kite sail willing to try or happy to lend me a kite sail to try?

cheers Mav.

[Ghurkin]

hmmmmm interesting, would love to give it a go

[Jenko]

Search the net and you will find a lot of people have tried kite sailing yaks, even seen guys using golf umbrellas (easy to fold away)
http://www.windpowersports.com/kites/si ... kites.html

[GoneFishn]

Just do a search for kayak kite on Google heaps of stuff about it.

[paddlepop]

yep ...can see it now ...Mav, airborne looking down on his yak wondering how the feck hes going to get back on...

let us know when you're going to do this ...i'll bring a camera

[Peterj]

Ive had some lessons on the real thing and have a training kite . Yes it would work but youd need a kite that could be re launched from the water easily. The training kite i have would fill with water and not be able to get up.

[Tormentor]

I tried it...

using a small para kite

the biggest issue I had was launching the kite without getting it wet. It wasn't that successful and I didn't get far enough for me to try it again, I've gone back to thinking about a self reefing sail so I can have a big sail for low wind conditions and can still reduce the area if the wind picks up.

getting no where fast...

[ratfish]

surf kite might be overkill but these work a treat for downwind action

http://www.windpaddle.com/