1. A little bit of history
2. My view of how the original Quadrifoil went out of business.
The first prototype Quadrifoil kite was 2 Sparless Stunters sewn together. Each of the Sparless Stunter panels was cut at an angle that produced a
sweptback shape when sewn together.
About 5 months after the event I moved back to Texas from N.J. Lee Sedgwick contacted me and wanted a Sparless Stunter. Lee took the two line sparless
parafoil kite and modified it to fly with four lines. Lee was so excited about the power he called me up and said he needed a larger one. I asked him
if he saw the four line foil flying in Wildwood that same year... I guess he was too busy competing. I sent him a second version in alternating yellow
and black stripes which he proudly named “the bee”. Lee started flying the kite everywhere he went and generated plenty of interest in the foils. In a
very short time we had the production version of the original Quadrifoil 25 that was literally flying out of the door.
The original design and manufacturing of the Quadrifoil was made in 3 sizes 25sq ft, 50sq ft and 75sq ft. by Kite Innovations in Spring Texas. The
Quadrifoil 25 was the only kite that had the swept back wing and tapered tips. At the time the Quadrifoil was the hottest kite on the market with
orders pouring in. We were in desperate need of a faster manufacturing source with funds. We needed an investor and eventually found one here in
Houston. Plans were to go abroad to manufacture new designs with complete RTF packages at a better price. The decision to bring in an investor would
ultimately turn out to be the downfall of Quadrifoil. In less than four months Kite Innovations was out of business. In my opinion the new partner
never had any intention on wanting the business to succeed (more on that some other time). The new investor took over the company started selling off
the assets one of which was the Quadrifoil name. Rene Kung of Papagaios who was already manufacturing the Quadrifoil under license in Europe purchased
the name for $20,000. Rene took the name had some new kites and graphics designed “Quadrifoil C”, “Q”, “X” and the X Surfer series. I could not tell
you why Rene left or why active people left the kite market.
The Quadrifoil was my dream come true. I was sad to see it go. |
