The Kiteboat Project has existed in some form since 1997, when Don Montague first began attaching kites to boats. Between 1997 and 2006, Don worked with a team in Hawaii to develop kites for use with surfing canoes, small catamarans, and large motored cats; their accomplishments included wave-riding and several island crossings. Between 2006 and 2008, Don worked on modifying and testing the Trifoiler and Quadfoiler test platforms through Makani Power, a Bay Area wind power company that he co-founded in the fall of 2006. The current team began to take shape in late 2008, when the Kiteboat Project acquired funding from the Marine Science Technology Foundation and moved to its own workshop in Alameda. Since 2012, we have been operating independently as part of Kai Concepts, a group of creative problem solvers with a deep commitment to pushing the envelope in water sports technology. Our team has expertise in engineering, marine architecture, kite design, extreme sports competition, aviation, multimedia production, and software development and is dedicated to realizing the Kiteboat vision through building and testing the first platform of its kind built specifically for kites.
