Hi, I am looking to help power my 22 foot double sea kayak(s) with a kite. I think a closed cell foil kite would be best.

Most of the kite sold for kayaking are single line open cell foil sleds. While the are nice and simple, they are unmanuverable, and the angle with respect to the boat cannot be ajusted; it goes where the wind blows. In a situation in which the wind picks up unexpectedly, the only option might be to cut the line and lose the kit Also, going up wind would be next to impossible. Furthermore it may become an anchor when it hits the water.

The advantage of a closed cell-foil quad line kite is the ability to control the angle, water relaunch, and total depower(FDS) if necessary.

Any suggestions? My boats are each about 22ft long and 30 in wide. I may also add outriggers/daggar board which would drasticly increase stability.

Any thoughts on apropriate size?

www.lynnkitesailing.com ......aj

the outrigger would be mandatory. Otherwise the side pull of the kite would tip you over. You otherwise would need a deep heavy keel like a sailboat, but that isn't practical. You would need at least a rudder if not some sort of fin under your weight to pivot around.

Both kayaks have rudders. They don't have outriggers currently but I am looking to install them if I can find a place to do it, or just make my own.

What does a double sea kayak look like. Is is like a tandem?

Yes double sea kayak=tandem sea kayak.

22ft by 30in

closed deck

two #@%$#!pits, paddlers wear spray-skirts so deck is totally enclosed

(One of the kayaks is the Seaward Passat. You can find it on the seaward website:

http://www.seawardkayaks.com/prodproductsview.aspx?key=4131&...

And here are some pics of someone else's Necky "Nootka Outfitter"

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/boa/547491480.html

judging from the picture, the rudder on my boat has about twice the area of his rudder.

You would want to have a lee board so that you would be able to go on a beam reach or work to windward. A lee board is a type of center board that would hang on the side of the kayak . With a foot steered rudder you would be able cruise pretty well. You would have to experiment with the fore and aft placement of the board to get the forces correct. The healing forces would depend on kite size etc. it shouldn't take much to power your kayak. Iworked up a design for my Oldtown Loon single, but i haven't had time to do anything with it yet, after all it's still kite skiing season!

I forgot to mention, the boats each weigh about 430lbs with both passengers.

Not that this will necessarily apply to you, my buddy mounted fins to his kayak and he holds an edge quite well and screams along out on the water.

What might apply to you however is the kite he uses. He uses a NPW (NASA PARA WING) and it works quite well. I don't know how familiar you are with them, so I'll go ahead and give the rundown.

-The NPW has no open cells, so if by chance it does come in contact with the water, it does not fill up and become an anchor.

-NPW'S fly superbly straight off the bridals onto handles. This is very useful in that launching (just throw it up,no nasty lines to deal with) and packing up (just keep reeling the bridals hand over hand until you reach the kite) are not a pain an quite easy. Your kite should not even have to touch the water when you pack it up, which can be done even while sitting in the kayak.

-With a Q-line lineset (which floats by the way) you can extend the kite if you need to and effectively increase your power.

I honestly can't think of any drawbacks to using a NPW with a kayak. If anyone else can, or any notices any misinformation, please speak up.

I kayak and also kite. I've been looking at a way integrating a small 2 line LEA kite to power the kayak, but without resorting to an outrigger. The method I'm working would use a slightly bent rail that would fit over the #@%$#!pit combing on which a pulley runs side to side. The main power of the kite would be attached to this. This would prevent the kite from pulling over the kayak with the side force, and actually could be constructed to allow the kayak to tilt slightly away from the kite's pull.

The big issue, of course, is safety. Since the kite would be essentially attached to the kayak, a quick release mechanism is essential. Also, it would have to be able to operate independantly of, and not interfere with the sprayskirt.

Its just in the planning stages right now. Let me know what you think. Any ideas? Crazy? Stupid? Both? Let me know.

the crap pot bouy and PVC pipe outrigger method seems to be pretty popular for the DIY crowd.

http://www.kayakfishingstuff.com/drupal/content/diy-kayak-ou...

although I think if you're going to be using an outrigger under kite/sail you'll probably want something stronger then PVC (maybe fiberglass or carbon. see if you can get a hold of a couple windsurfing masts for your outrigger material. those have great flex and strength and I think we all know that the used windsurfing gear market has rock bottom prices. I think that could work pretty good but you'll definitely want a better way of attaching it to the hull then a simple pole holder mount.

I'm really curious to see how your project works out. I've often thought about doing the same thing to one or both of my parents hobie SUV kayaks. (they are the pedal powered sit on top ones)

Quote:

I honestly can't think of any drawbacks to using a NPW with a kayak. If anyone else can, or any notices any misinformation, please speak up.

I agree ! Although I haven't proven it an NPW straight off the bridles has always seemed a perfect solution to this as well !


I hope that if you try you will report back to us for future