haha i think steve is having a bit of a laugh now...

I made that original claim of 3knots with the hellfish, being ridden by my brother Goshen in Geelong. Soon after, there were a lot of non believers and it was brought to my attention that the picture/video of the windmeter was actually reading around 3.5m/s which is about 7 or 8 knots but in reality it was probably at least 10-12knots up at the kite and Goshen weighs around 65kg.

The only tim hime seen someone REALLY kiting in sub 10knots is on one of those massive spleene kiteboards and a 19m Flysurfer Speed2 Silver Arrow and it looked like seconds of fun.

Peace

Windhogger said...

Kitepower said ....

I think it was more like 6-8 knots, light weight rider and super flat water at Pt Henry in Geelong.
Riding in those conditions is possible, I've done it


Steve,
What the f--k gives...... now all of a sudden you are kiting in 6-8 knots!!! but we can't do it in 8-10 , But then you are the kiting GURU, aren't you!!

Don't take it all so seriously hogger. It was not me and I've never kited under around 8 knots I think. The Hellfish stinkathon was caused by my 65kg son who was kiting in more like 8-10 knots(3.5M/S)!!
Its really obvious to anyone that has read the thread from the beggining - I was saying in my opinion that the wind in the first 3 pics was at least 10+ and then I later said that I also thought the riders were small and light.
Some of the later pics really do look light.
So I never said that light wind kiting cannot be done did I?
I'm not a guru, more of a wind junkie and I have been addicted now for 17 years!

Cya and

Goodwinds

Steve

Kitepower said....
Some of the later pics really do look light.
So I never said that light wind kiting cannot be done did I?


Stevo,
So what happened to the sheltered water theory?
No, you didn't say light wind kiting cannot be done, but you were telling everyone that the guys in the pics weren't doing it!!
Anyway this arguing about it is as boring as kiting under 10 knots. lol

See ya,
The Windhogger

tommy69 said...

Hey Hydra and Genetrix, ain't you guys selling these kites out the back of your car??????????? So me thinks you have a financial interest in pimping the living S*#T out of these things!

no but it sounds like a good idea, maybe soon

So how does the sub-10 knot kiting thing work?

My 26m paraglider will won't keep me up in sub-knots so it's not purely a wing size thing. I used to have a 43m tandem and simply adding more surface area does not equate to better lift in lighter air. Most kites have a hard time supporting their own weight in sub-10 knot breezes, especially with the odd lull. In 10 knots a 2 knot lull equates to a roughly 40% decrease in the available power.

I understand boats, seabirds and some RC sailplane flying works on the difference in speed between the surfaces in two fluids. ie. Birds and RC models have one wing tip in still air and one in moving air and generate lift using the differential.

Sail boats use the differential between the fin in the water and the sail in the air.

Any ideas?

swooping a kite create's more pull than the wind speed itself, and once you have an edge, the resistance from your edge against the pull of the kite allows you to get faster than the wind speed itself, keep your planing speed up and off you go.
the bigger the kite, the slower it moves, sometimes a smaller kite is a better option to get your initial planing speed up, bla bla bla.

key is, fast flying kite, thin LE, and practice practice.