K2 Test – Sep 16
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Good test today, kiting between Treasure Island and San Francisco in gusty conditions. We took the 25 sqm v10 kite, which we haven’t used in about a year. This kite creates about the same amount of force at given wind speed as the 18 sqm red kite, but it is a measurably lower-performance design, enough so that the boat moves forward faster with the smaller kite. We’re currently working with the kite factory to create a quiver of larger versions of the 18 sqm design, and Dudu will travel to China next week for that purpose. For now, Dudu is in Alameda, and we used his helicopter during the test to capture aerial photos and video.
At the end of the test, we executed some nice downwind foiling jibes, practicing staying on the foils while making turns from about 130 degrees to true wind on one side to about 130 degrees to true wind on the other side, as we might want to in a downwind race. We made these turns in the relatively flat water on the protected (eastern) side of Treasure Island.
Kai View Data:
20130916-k2-25m.kai
More: Kiteboat Tests