News

K2 Test – Jan 14

1/14/13

Today we took K2 out for the first test of the year. We had hoped to test a new 18 sqm kite, but the wind was low, and we were not able to complete launching. This kite has a drastically different planform from our other kites. The trailing edge is shorter than the leading edge, which gives it more of a conical shape and means that the kite will always be more powered up. This kite also has much skinnier struts that more rapidly taper than those on our other kites. The kite struts are reinforced so they can be inflated to 10 psi (instead of 4-5 psi); we hope that this increased rigidity will offset the narrower diameter. This […more]

Don and Kiteboat Project in The Kiteboarder Magazine

12/14/12

Reporter Paul Lang interviewed Don at length about his history as a competitive windsurfer, a sail designer, and a kitesurfing pioneer and asked him about the future of Makani Power and the Kiteboat Project. Read the whole thing at The Kiteboarder.

Don Montague has a long history in kiteboarding and was one of the people involved in very early kite development. While still working at Naish as the head of R&D, he began to play with attaching kites to outrigger canoes and boats. He’s since moved on as founder of Makani Power, a renewable energy company, and is also hard at work developing kites and boats specially made for kite boating. We had a chance to talk to Don about his […more]

K2 Tow Test – Dec 10

12/10/12

We had a short tow test today around the Bay. We had hoped to take advantage of a brief windy spell, but it died before we could take advantage of it. After circumnavigating Treasure Island looking for wind, we returned home. There was a lot of flotsam in the water, which made for exciting navigation off Alameda. Kai Calder, son of one of the Artemis designers, joined us on this test.

K2 Test – Nov 30 – 33.5 knots

11/30/12

Today we took the 50 sqm kite out for the first time with the new, stiffer battens at the wing tips. The kite was still deforming a bit toward the middle, but the stiffer battens helped it hold shape near the flying lines. We’ve also been more successful at avoiding kite deformation by steering the boat to maintain optimal kite shape. With four people on board, we hit a top speed of 33.5 knots, and we were able to go up to three times the wind speed, clearing 30 knots in 10 knots of wind. It also helped to have Jacques Vincent, the co-skipper on the Hydroptere, take the helm for a bit. Near the end of the test, Greg hopped […more]

K2 Test – Nov 29

11/29/12

Due to stormy conditions, we started late today and brought only a 25 sqm kite, but we were lucky and missed the rain. The wind was strong, and for the first time we successfully executed multiple foiling uploop jibes. An uploop jibe facilitates foiling through the turn by pulling up on the boat when it’s most likely to drop off the foils and then powering up just after the turn, when the boat needs an extra boost of speed to keep going. However, uploop jibes are difficult because they require fast maneuvering of the kite and lots of wind in order to keep the kite from stalling above the boat and falling behind the boat. If the boat passes in […more]

K2 Test – Nov 20 – 36+ knots!

11/20/12

Today we towed K2 with the Protector again. This time, we attached the load cells and the tow rope to the kite chair, to more closely approximate the kite force on the boat. After the tow test, we put up the 50 sqm red and blue kite, and we hit a new top speed with the boat, 36.3 knots! We sailed exclusively in the protected area off Alameda Point. Our data logger confirms that we exceeded 35 knots multiple times. Our previous top speed with this boat and kite was 32.5 knots. Note: Speedpuck said 37 knots, Jamie’s data logger said 36.3, which is probably more accurate; our previous top speed relied on Speedpuck’s reading. Screenshot from KAIView is attached.

[…more]