A nice test today with the 40 sqm kite. Don’s friend Martin took the kite helm for a bit, and he hit 26 knots. Prior to putting the kite up, we towed to 35 knots with Greg and Joe on board to observe the foil performance at high speeds. After launching, we disassembled the A-frame mast and lashed it down. We hit a top kiting speed of 28 knots with four people.
Today we towed K2 to Tiburon, where the Hydroptère is docked, and picked up Co-Skipper Jacques Vincent. We sailed between the Golden Gate Bridge, the city, and Sausalito, and then returned him to his boat. Harvey Banick joined us on this test and helped with the chase boat. At the end of the day, we crashed the kite and it sustained minor, but easily fixable damages.
Today we towed to the Golden Gate Bridge, then sailed from there to the Bay Bridge, back to the Golden Gate, and back to the Bay Bridge again. The goal of this test was to familiarize ourselves with the course of the Ronstan Bridge-to-Bridge race on Friday and to plan out our jibes. The day was excellent practice, and we hit a top speed of more than 30 knots with three people, using 50 m lines and a 30 sqm kite. We experienced similar wind conditions to those we expected to encounter during the race, but different tide conditions, so we’ll try to hit the max ebb later in the week.
Today we used 80 m lines, instead of our usual 50 m lines, with the 40 sqm kite, in higher-than-average winds between Alcatraz and the Golden Gate Bridge. We were lifted out of the water more than anticipated–all the way off the water! We also saw our friends from Hydroptère out flying. Amazing.
Great test with the new winch and 40 sqm kite. This time, we used the carbon winch with a 5th-line spool on it and the old A-frame mast to launch. In light wind, we got the boat foiling with four people, then Greg transferred to the Protector, and we practiced maneuvering with only three.
A late evening test today. We used the new carbon winch, but added a 5th-line spool (to the left of the orange stripe in photo) instead of trying to use the fishing winch for the 5th line. We also added a carbon hood for the winch, and we moved the brake to the outside and back of the chair. We replaced the new single-pole mast with the old A-frame, in order to ensure that we could launch and test the winch. With fewer new changes, we were able to get the kite up fairly easily and to sail around a bit before dusk fell.
