http://cgi.ebay.com.au/NO-RESERVE-28m-kitesurfing-kite_W0QQitemZ300243820088QQihZ020QQcategoryZ58133QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Biggest Kite I have ever seen, what would you use it for lol?
I think it was used for the monkey kite downwinder a few years ago,when they first came on to the market as a promo.
i hate pumping up my 13m.... no way would i be pumping this up for a 7 knot session...
That's mad. How is it when they turn it and it nearly lifts the canoe and 5 guys off the water!? [}:)]
Yep, and now they are powering container ships with massive kites, they can reduce fuel consumption by something like 20%, so wind power is coming back!
I have actually seen this kite (Rob Smallwood in DY) -- been in his garage for yonks... you may need like a quad pump!
...Rob, so the missus finally getting you to clean up huh?
I still have a 30m V4 from 2004.
The kite is a monster with the centre strut closer to 9.5 ft long. As for a bar I have always flown it on an old storm 3 bar which was 48 cm long.
And you can loop it and relaunch it.
To pump it I use a coleman electric pump to put the volume of air in (whilst I pump up the struts with a normal pump) and then finish it off with the hand pump to get the pressure up. Leading edge is roughly 14 inches in diameter at the centre of the kite.
I got it when I was in the UK and used it for 10 - 18 mph with a small 60/40 mutant. It was pretty much my main kite I used that season.
Been spanked a couple of times with it especially when i got hit by a gust that registered 29mph and in the teabagging accidentaly looped the kite not once but twice (the fastest 500 m I have covered hovering a meter or so off the ground).
I'm glad kites have got smaller though now and we now think that a 15m kite is big.
It's going for $41.00 straight to the pool room!
Do you think you could run a 5th line on that thing?
I wonder if those kites would be worth using on racing yachts? (as in big racing yachts) Imagine the power they could generate in even 20 knots of wind... wow.
The 50m was not designed for kitesurfing though, It was for the canoe only. Naish was rumoured at the time to be building a 100m kite but this never happened.
The 30m V4 was the biggest kite available to the public but only 2 were every brought it to in the UK and one of those was a demo kite. I know of three or four other 30m V4 kites in Europe.
in some classes of racing its not restricted to use a kite
using a single line is a smart idea but what do you think the wear would be on the lines?
Mike Walker & I bought a 28m Monkey kite for $100 a couple of summers ago. Great for promo days on the beach to keep your eskies in the shade.
I took it for a burl at Happy Valley using the bar from my 17m Machine. It was sssssllllllloooooowwww. Still needed 10 knots to work but fun to downloop.
17m Machine got me going faster and higher in the same wind.
Thanx to all the Caloundra groms for pumping it up. It took 6 of them!!!
that's awesome dave, i wonder if mikey still has it? would make for some fun times in light winds......... the bottom end probably isn't that good but the hilarity factor would be sweet!
OK, I confess -- It's mine. (in the event you didn't already notice the name on the email account...)
You're right, it's primarily for "Amusement value" but you CAN actually kite with it.
Check out this video -- kiter is nearly 100kg and there's not even enough wind to create any whitecaps... and he appears to be going upwind! (the soundtrack is fab too...no clue what it's about)
i'm pretty sure one of the americas cup challengers in nz played with kites for a little bit. I think it was america one?
If any one wants a big kite I have a 21.5 Naish ARX brand new still in the plastic.
Make an offer and it could be yours.This one could actually be worth somthing one day!
I also have a 2006 19.5 Cabrinha contra "C" brand new in the plastic for $500 these were over $2300 when they first cam out.
The 19.5 Contra "C" is a good kite and it did go up wind and get us going better than the 16m Crossbow.
I have heaps more big old kites as well... 18m Rhino's,20m Wipika's, 17.5 machine etc...
Im going to take em all down one weekend and pump and we can have big kite shoot out!
Regards
Luke
Quote from the sky sails site,
"The first pilot systems are in operation on board of cargo vessels. Currently, SkySails is offering SkySails-Systems for cargo ships, fish trawlers and super yachts with towing kite areas of up to 320m²"
"Presently, SkySails is offering towing kites for cargo ships with kite areas of approx. 150 to 600m²"
600m!!! **** you would need like -20 knots the fly the thing
