Dear reader,

As being a sailor originally, I sailed many small boats and cats till the age of approx 25.  It took me 20 years not to buy another sailing boat. Instead I took a first kite lesson somewhere in 2010 I believe. My aim was to understand kites and to be able to control them. Didn’t want to go kitesurfing, that’s something different.

From the moment I steered a kite I was lost, because I felt the potential power of a kite  just by flying it.( When it has much more apparant wind and generates so much more power compared to a static sail.

Trying a kite on several dinghies (a laser, an old FD) we realised the hull form had to be totallly different from masted monohulls. Masted boats need their volumes in different area’s.  We allways had the aft almost going under water and the nose up in the air. Helming therfore became quite tricky sometime.

 

 

CONCLUSIONS

• I was lost, convinced and addicted to kiteboating.
• a Kite does not generate a big heel momentum as masted boats do (same forces projected area m2)
• a Kite can fly faster than your boat, so in fact having more apparant wind, and that is how you can generate more power
• If using a race kite, which is purpose build for speed, so with more upwind abilities, you can reduce heeling momentum and increase forward forces (provided that the 2 situations kitepull forces are  is the same.

The above mentioned aspects and practicing a lot, you can draw several conclusions for kite sailing  like:

1. You can have a bigger sail area in same winds (because of lower heeling momentum)
2. From practicing we know that you can get more boatspeed then there is windspeed ! (which is insane as you just blast away some lasers )
3. In bigger winds do not fly your kite to agressive. Park or  just some smooth sinussing only when you want to have more power ( the faster you fly your kite, the forces can be multiplied up to 8 X,)  Flying to agressive and fast will lead to out of control.
4. A kiteboat, a 10 meter one, would not need a 50% ballast keel. So compred to masted boats kite yachts can be buid narrower, with less ballast, so lighter.
5. You can design a boat with appendices to reduce even the low heeling momentum of a monohull.

 

ADDICTED AGAIN to Kite dynamics

The extra dimension of a flying sail  made me addicted to sailing again!  Even counted in my lack of kite experience.

Years later and some complicated prototypes and control systems further, in the end Kitetender became simple and easy to use and as clean as it could possibly get. The Kitetender400 moulds have been made in 2015.

Now the Kitetender 400 is the most easy accesible kiteboat dinghy you can play with.  Tacking, accelerating are great standard options.

Designed with some heeling momentum, but with the tacking possibility and so much more, like the autorelease on the pivoting daggerboard,

Just imagine you  would have to pull out your daggerboard while coming out of sea and landing a beach?   You certainly would not want that!   All experiences with kitesailing at sea and lakes are standard in Kitetender. It doesn’t make it the cheapest dinghy ever, but it guarantees FUN and it does make the kitetender highly suitable to rock the waves and go extreme if you want to. It all depends on crew competence and timing.

So the designer Peter Schermer and I made a foolproof kiteboat with all options built in where ever possible and affordable.

And if you want,  you can go extreme with it, but  be carefull that crew is experienced and had some sessions of training to know the do’s and dont’s.

The full speed downloop gybing, and speeding up to 20 knots of boatspeed, without hiking, trapeze or whatsoever can be tricky but is amazing nice and cool and gives you an incredible feeling within a playfull kiteboat concept.

Nowadays, everyone who is starting to kitetender with a small kite in first sessions and going to use a bigger racekite will experience the insane possibilities and nice smooth behaviour of the playfull kitetender400.

 

Sailing is FUN again

Its the next FUN factor to sailing, just in a straight, simple and highly accessible  hull, from ground up designed for kitesailing within a reasonable budget, while  other kiteboat projects are much to complicated. And of cours you could create a faster hull for it and add heeling control system, but then a kiteboat will not be easy yet to sail properly. In the Kitetender400 concept

• Speeding a monohull over 20 knots
• first kiteboat that can tack!
• Fast turnings, even downloop, possible
• 2 to Tango
• Jumping?
• upwind planing!
• or start at a beach at the NorthSea and pass all waves.

 

Below some examples of how exciting sailing can be!

• 

  gybe like a boss!

  

  jump like a boss

 

Thanks for reading and drop me a message if you would like to.

Cheers,

• Peter Renssen
• + 31 653 84 88 72 (GMT+1)
• The Netherlands

 

 OTHER PROJECTS

The most reliable and serious and working ones I will list below:

1. Project dared, a kitepowered waterbuggy like flooting device. https://projet-dared.com/
2. Kiteboat concept by Don Montague; tri foiling with a kite, and a good working kitecontrole system with lots of mechanics. http://project.kiteboat.com/
3. Catakite, a concept by the old Peter Lynn himself. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7gRKIBO4rA

And of course there is The Kitetender, the best working kiteboat for consumer use to have fun with!

Check the Youtube Channel for more video’s      https://www.youtube.com/user/Kitetender