February 2003

Newsletter, February 2003

Last month's newsletter (the possum story) generated the greatest number of responses we've ever had.  Quite a few said 'yes please, give us more stories that are absolutely nothing to do with kites'!

Sorry, holidays are over- strictly kites this month.

Yesterday we sailed the new 6m monohull kite boat for the first time (I've been hiding away working on this for the last 2 months)- it's a real breakthrough.

Like, it's very fast without much kite pull- I think that up to 15km/hr or so of boat speed it's faster with 2 people on board than any of our previous kite boats have been even one up- and with the same kite size too.

And, it's upwind is amazing- definitely the best we've ever experienced, probably because it's speed when the kite pull is low is so good, but also because it has large high aspect ratio rudders that resist sideslip.

But particularly, it's kite attachment system is out on it's own as the best we've ever had- no heeling ever, no adjustments- it automatically finds the ideal pull centre fore/aft and laterally.  Laterally it puts the kite pull through a point about 250mm below the bottom of the hull when going upwind, no matter at what angle the kite is flying -and it's just not possible to have things more ideal than this.

At 6m this boat is big enough to have a cabin (hasn't yet) and non-essential hangers on (we usually take 3 people because it doesn't seem to mind extra weight at all), but still small enough so a kite that can be hand held has enough pull to move it along at satisfying speed.  If the kite is launched on the beach and then taken to the boat, attaching it is easy, and vice versa.

For safety, there are two different releases, one for the flier only and another available to everyone on the boat- and I'll add a third system that de-powers the kite rather than releasing it, as soon as there's a spare day.

Steering this boat is ridiculously easy- it spins in its own length- you can gybe anytime without reference to the kite. At worst the boat just stops and backs up a bit until the flier gets things sorted. We seriously tried to screw it up but couldn't.  And, I think we may learn how to tack for upwind turns instead of gybing- it feels like this will be possible.

With the 2hp Honda auxilliary, water launching and relaunching is ALWAYS possible- changing kites will be also. When the kite is down, if it won't relaunch immediately without stuffing around (like something tangled)- we just pull in, laying the lines in the boat bottom, sort the problem out, then let out again and launch.  There's just nothing that wont be sortable.

In Saturday's unbelievably variable inland southerly, we learnt to start the motor as the kite sunk down windless and to motor around gently, keeping the kite up for the period of the lull- until the next mini-front arrived.

Kite attachment system:  (See attached photos) The kite is attached to an arm about 3.5m long which pivots and slides through a plastic eye at the front of the boat.  This arm is also attached to a point very low in the middle of the hull by a tension link that is kinked and pivoted so that when the kite is flying very low to either side, the line attachment point is lower than the boat's gunwale by 250mm or so.  I also fitted a lock to the arm- expecting that it would be useful to have the kite pull's help stabilise the boat in wavy conditions- but this definitely wasn't needed for lake sailing.

This arm arrangement is not new-I used a close cousin of it on an 8m trimaran that accomplished the same pull centre effect before 1990 and we've been fitting similar but less sophisticated versions to our 3m sit on monohull kitesailing boats for about a year.

There are two other features of this boat that I also consider essential for kitesailing.

One of these is that the kiteflier also steers the boat- this coordinates the flying and steering. Actually there's a tiller for the crew also- just so that the flier can move around out of the seat when desired.

The other is front and back rudders- which are linked together to turn in opposite directions. This not only provides unbelievably quick turning, but eliminates the tendency that normally ruddered monohull kite boats have to suddenly tip over when course alterations are made at high speed.  Deep rudders have their centre of pressure well below the boat's centre of gravity, so they apply a large tip over moment when turned suddenly while a boat is travelling at high speed.  With opposite turning front and rear rudders, the tipping moment from the rear rudder is exactly canceled by an opposite force from the front one.

Neither of these features are new either- but now I have everything in one package for the first time- and kites (F and G Arcs) good enough to allow everything to work at last.

What now?- This boat is, finally, an all purpose useable kitesailer that doesn't require extreme skills to handle. With the little motor for cruising out of the harbour, for light winds and for kite launching when nothing else works, it's completely forgiving of wind failures and at least as idiot proof as other sailing craft.  In it's current form it's not quite the final answer though, there's lots of refinement still to do.

To me, it seems that there's now no physical reason why kitesailing can't become a widely popular activity.  With this style of boat; it's social, versatile as to place wind and course, not too difficult for average people and is far more fun (to my view) than 90% of the sailing activities in slow boring dinghies and trailer sailers that millions currently indulge in.

How to make it happen? It's now mainly a PR problem rather than an engineering challenge- but I have some ideas!- next month.

What else is new?

We (well, visiting kitemaker Volker Hoberg mainly) just re-built the Mega Ray.  It's excellent- looks good, flies really well, and has a bigger wind range.  Far and away the best it's ever been.  For the first time since it was built, I'll fly it now 'cos I like it- not just because it's our business to do so.  Last Saturday, (the bad wind day) for the first time we flew it high- even taking off the safety line and adding it to the main line.  If we'd had more 20 tonne Dyneema we could have gone even higher. (Message to Andrew Beattie; don't get any ideas!)  It was awe inspiring.  Thank you and congratulations Volker.

And, there is a structural change about to happen in our business here.  We haven't worked out all the details yet but from Feb 1, Jenny Cook becomes a shareholder in Peter Lynn Ltd (Peter Lynn Kites distributor for the southern hemisphere).  Big kite making will remain within Peter Lynn Ltd for the time being but may separate out at some future time.  Kite surfing research and development has devolved to Stirling Research Ltd, a subsidiary of our holding company and based in Christchurch (Chris Brent and Pete Lynn).  Jenny has been the front person for Peter Lynn Ltd for years anyway so this is really just long overdue recognition of her outstanding competence and dedication.

Peter Lynn, Ashburton, 26th Jan 2003.

PS Bowing to popular demand, we are publishing some more of our wildlife photos from the back 40.  I especially draw your attention to the big rabbit with the pink ears.