| The film and it's content. |
Don Montague is the kitedesigner for Naish.
He started experimenting with pulling boats and canoes with
the kite, and discovered a new and fascinating world.
The kites worked just fine even though the weight of the boats
was way heavier than even the heaviest kitesurfer.
Pulling the boats in speeds up to 20 knots was no problem for
the kites or the lines. |
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Don explains:
"I had been working on a new design for a 50 meter kite on my computer
for a while.
I was just considering all options on spreading the load, stabilizing
the structure, finding the right angle of attack
and calculating the airflow through such a big kite, who will be working
mainly at lower airspeeds.
We have been pulling 1300 lbs surf canoes including a crew of four men,
for a couple of months now and we are
starting to get the technique down.
Basically we have been using prototype tweaked V4 kites but also Boxers,
X3s and X4s and now the big one.
The crew consisiting of kiteflyer Don Montague, steersman Pete Siracusa,
bailor Martin Lenny and ama-man Keith Awad.
In addition Mark Jackson was out, as a backup with a jetski, also taking
out reporter/photographer Ronny Basso.
We used two guys on the beach to launch the 50m kite and the crew jumped
in the canoe, and we were off cruising.
The wind was steady around 4-6 knots for a little while and we made it
good upwind.
After an hour the wind started decreasing a little bit, and it was now
going from 1 to 3 knots.
The kite flew gracefully and sheeted out in the gusts, and were flown
aggressivly in the lulls.
The wind then dropped furter down, in the lulls there was no wind at all
and the gusts peaked out at around 4 knots.
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Don Montague unpacks the big 50 m2 kite for the
first time. |
 The proportions of the kite reveals itself
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Don Montague`s canoe crew enjoys the 4-6 knot evening breeze. |
 Even though Don is standing on the leading edge,
there is still 3-4 feet to the top. |
The kite was semi inflated with an electrical matress
pump, and it took 3 men to carry the kite to the beach. |
Getting ready to launch
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The 50 m2 kite is in the air and pulling the canoe in 4 knots of wind.
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In almost glassy conditions the 50 m2 kite keeps pulling
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Sailing into the night with a canoe and a 50 m2 kite
In almost glassy conditions the 50 m2 kite keeps pulling
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