kiteboatproject

Kitefoiler Test with Cuben Fiber Kite – Jul 19

7/19/11

Our first test with the Cuben Fiber/Dacron kite. Tons of power–we were very pleased with the stiffness of the kite (Cuben Fiber does not stretch as much as our other fabrics), but we will need to adjust the bridle, because Don was afraid to drop the kite much in front of the boat, for fear of it pulling too much, so foiling time was brief. We used the original J-foils.

Kai View Data:
20110719-kf-cubenKite.kai.bz2

Precise kite inflation

7/19/11

Don and Joe modified the inflation tube that we use with the compressed air tank so it is possible to see to what pressure the kite is inflated. Previously, this was a problem with the compressed air tanks, because we just had to guess at the inflation by eyeballing the kite. The electric kite pumps have pressure gauges, but they take much longer to inflate a kite. Don and Joe used the newly arrived Cuben Fiber and Dacron kite for practice. We’ll use this kite for the first time later today on the Kitefoiler.

Line Cam Mount options

7/7/11

We have many variation of the line cam mount.

Joe has created quite a few

here are few more to added

New line camera mount

6/23/11

Joe made an improved line camera mount that allows for easier adjustment from the boat and a more reliable angle.

Kitefoiler test – Jun 22

6/22/11

Don, Joe, and Dudu tested the Kitefoiler again today, using the old 30 sqm kite from 2003 to compare performance to our newer kites.

HMD Goggle Disassembly

6/21/11

We got a pair of goggles with built-in head mounted display (HMD) and GPS/gyro/altimeter in order to see if they would be useful for kiting, if the electronics could be hacked to display other information, and to learn about the design of the display and optics. The goggles, called “Transcend GPS,” were produced by Recon Instruments and Zeal Optics, primarily for the snowboarding market.

In kiteboat tests last week, we found that the display was not very convenient for viewing while flying a kite, since the user must look down to see it. The display optics are large enough to be obtrusive even when removed from the goggles, and would not fit well on a helmet or glasses. The display […more]

Kitefoiler Test – Jun 21

6/21/11

We took the Kitefoiler out again with the original J-foils, as they’ve proved the most reliable in allowing us to sail upwind. We took out an old kite from 2003 that has a high aspect ratio and a very simple bridle, in order to compare its performance to our newer kites. The wind proved light, so we did not sail quickly enough to get the boat on the foils. We did, however, verify that the simple bridle on the kite was much easier to handle on the launching mast than the more complicated ones. Also, we realized that the launching mast needs to be expandable, in order to be made taller for larger or higher-aspect-ratio kites.
Additionally, Don and […more]