[PUP] Or maybe kites, was Intro - the future of Power is "Sail" - ? :-)

[dave@kiteship.com]

Bob Austin says:

>The concept of kite sail assist for merchant vessels has been around 
>for some time.  One of the problems is that you have to have 
>extremely heavy gear to  handle the kite sails.  They are 
>assistance--not primary propuslion--and will increase the effeciency 
>of a trip.  However there are a number of limits.

As with any sailing rig, yes there are. However, kites offer 
advantages to powered vessels not available with any other sails; 
such as the ability to sail without a mast, without ballast, and 
without heeling the boat--at all. KiteShip's OutLeader spinnaker 
replacement kites fly from ordinary spinnaker handling winches--and 
no other gear. period. The kites place less--sometimes much 
less--strain on all its gear, and the boat's structure, than a 
spinnaker does.

>
>The traditional sailing community is rejecting this concept.  At 
>this point the kite sails are outlawed for conventional racing.  The 
>issues involve both safety and right of way.

I believe you've been misinformed, Bob. Hi, I'm Dave Culp, President 
of KiteShip Corporation. I've been putting kites on boats--from 
little beach cats to 25 ton yachts--and yes, onto power vessels, for 
27 years.

There are many types of kites--just as there are many types of sails. 
Kitesurf kites are not appropriate for boating usage--they offer very 
large variations of power and are most difficult to control and to 
launch/recover in large sizes. The largest ever built is a bit over 
1000 sf; the largest commercially available are less than 300 sf.

We are currently building and delivering, at retail, OutLeader kites 
as large as 4500 sf, and have sold several dozen larger than the 
largest prototype from our nearest competitor.

OutLeader spinnaker replacement kites have most certainly NOT been 
either "rejected" or "outlawed for conventional racing." We are 
having kites rated for PHRF, PHF, ORMA, and a number of multihull 
ratings bodies all over the world. They were entered (but not flown) 
in both the recent Sydney Hobart and Round North Island (NZ) yacht 
races (625 and 1500 mile offshore races--in both cases winds were 
upwind all through the race--and OutLeader kites are spinnakers, food 
from square reach to dead downwind) Several ratings bodies have 
"provisionally" disallowed them for racing, including IRC (only in 
the Northern hemisphere--they're being raced under IRC in both 
Australia and New Zealand as we speak). Americap is "standing by" for 
the same reason; both these rating bodies require formulaic modeling 
of a sail's abilities, and KiteShip kites are too new to have this 
information available. The RORC, the world's largest sailing racing 
and ratings body, is officially "neutral" about spinnaker replacement 
kites, as is the ISAF, who are waiting for sufficient sailing 
experience to take a stand--just as they should do.

Last summer we returned a dismasted 50' racing trimaran from St. 
Maarten in the Caribbean to Still Pond, near Annapolis--nearly 1600 
miles--100% on engine and kite power. We hit speeds to 25 kts--with 
no mast or sails at all; just the kite.

As to safety, there have been some issues with safety and 
kitesurfers. Kitesurfers are the "japanese super-motorcycle" of kite 
sailing. Rigs to 300 sf are carried in winds as high as 30-40 kts 
aboard "boats" weighing less than 10 pounds. Kite sailing is as 
different from kitesurfing as yachting is different from windsurfing. 
There has NEVER been an injury--hell nor a single incident--involving 
safety, collision or right of way with a KiteShip kite; though we 
have upwards of 60 on the world's oceans, bays and lakes. We have 
never suffered a damaged or destroyed kite--by any owner--to date, 
and we have had zero gear breakages amongst all of our customers 
(barring the occasional undersized block or shackle!)

For more information, I invite you to our web site:  www.kiteship.com 
or I invite you to email me personally with any concerns or 
questions: dave@kiteship.com

Thanks!

Dave Culp