Free Yacht Chapter 12: Kiteboat!

Solara is dismasted, so let's power it with gigantic kites!
There's no mast and rigging in the way, so it's a perfect opportunity.
This ible is a composite image of what a kiteboating excursion on the Free Yacht is like, the photos are from various outings.

Max Stephenson video. Many thanks to him, Lisa Weitekamp and others for great photos!

continues the Free Yacht saga
Here's the table of contents of the whole thing:
Chapter 1: How to Get a Free Yacht
Chapter 2: Maiden Voyage of the Free Yacht
Chapter 3: Fix Broken Stix and other Trix
Chapter 4: Outboard Motor Mutilates Foot
Chapter 5: It's sinking and it's on Fire.
Chapter 6: How To Give Away a Free Yacht
Chapter 7: Get an Even Better One and Fabulize it.
Chapter 8: Celebrate Freedom
Chapter 9: Technicolor Dreamboat
Chapter 10: Privateer Knot
Chapter 11: Dismasted!
Chapter 12: Kiteboat!
Chapter 13: Mast Raising!

Step 1: Stand-up Hot Tub Cover Boarding

While we set up whatever new inventions we're going to play with and wait for the proper moment to leave the dock, people try out the hottest new sport around,
stand-up paddling on hot tub covers. Eric and Pete have a kungfu naval battle but manage to stay dry. Victor and Jo prefer the aboriginal kneeling style.
Dan attempts to outrun Eric's pirate raid. It's a race between Dan's modern "janitoring" standup style and Eric's retro Tom Blake laydown style.

Comments

[rokag3]

I think that kite boat is a very good way BUT we have accelerometers and gyroscope so the kite should be controlled from a computer on the boat and servo should be implemented on the sail. In fact i consider a flatable wing using hydrogen(H) as a gas to rigidify and one unique cable (embeded with coper wire to send and receive data and the energy for the servo to control the attitude and the position of the sail) since we can fly micro helicopter with this technique and considering thar the instability of a kite is smaller it should not be Very difficult to implement. Only one cable will be a great simplification .

[hedgeUK]

Neat idea but you have reinventing the wheel.  www.kiteship.com already manufacture and distribute kite solutions for yachts and motor boats since 2002.  They have a global distributor network and have solved all the problems of launch and recovery. 

[Robbo_roberto]

HedgeUK--<<...you have reinventing the wheel>>--Tim and these guys have been at this for at least that long, possibly even before--not to mention a thousand other related things. I wouldn't be surprised to find that Tim and Saul have probably worked with them at some stage!

[hedgeUK]

Clearly you have not read the patent or know Dave Culp and Dean Jordan who hold the patent and were employed by Oracle to make this concept work.

If they had been involved I would have met them as I am the European agent for Dave and Dean - but I do know some of the North Sails guys did some work on cloth specs and layouts.

More importantly Tim and Saul have not done any huge ocean crossings (Ishall add just one piece of publicity) as KiteShip has nor do they hold any Guiness World records for the largest kite made for a yacht nor have they managed to tow a commercial barge without a rig - being the largest object to be moved by kite power another Guiness Record across San Francisco bay covered by CNN.

Yes Tim and Saul are playing with a NASA parawing which has lots of lines and does not measure under the ISAF rules as a sail for a boat.

However, the KiteShip Outleader meets al the ISAF measurement criteria as a legal sail and only has three lines total - something the NASA wing cannot do. It is also used by single handed sailors namely the Mini Transat class.

More importantly with ongoing developments we recently made a 110 sq m kite which only weighs in at 6.5 lbs with a no need for reinforceing and could pull 4.5 ton with no risk to damaging the sail. When they do catch up I will watch as the negotiate all the hurdles to meet all the ISAF criteria. But rather read up some the KIteShip achievements at www.kiteship.com before making judgements that you clearly don't know all the facts about.

[Robbo_roberto]

Thanks for the flame. You're right--I'm not aware of lot of the details of which you seem to have an encyclopedic grasp of--I can't see anywhere in my note where I made any "judgements" -- I was simply making an observation, commenting on a few folks having some fun and making some speculations...nothing more.

[anode505]

But what if ya gotta go upwind. I can't see it point better then 180^ gybing angle (won't be able to tack)

[TimAnderson]

You fly the kite to one side and point the boat upwind. It works fine. The particular combination of boat and kite seen here doesn't point very high. This kite is equivalent to a hmm. Gennaker. A flattish spinnaker. And the kite is a bit small for the weight of the boat. With flatter kites, regular surf kites for example, a lightweight boat goes upwind like the dickens. Try a kitesurf kite with a dismasted catamaran for example:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Instant-Kite-Boat/

[Weissensteinburg]

How do you get a kite down? In surfing, too. How do you get the kite to stop pulling and land in the water? Also see: how did you get the boat back to shore? Did you switch from wind power to fuel?

[helifino]

If you pull the leading edge lines, the wing will develop less lift.

[RocKiteman]

FWIW:   Regarding thalass's comment about swapping the diesel for electric, there is at least one company that manufactures electric propulsion systems for multihull sailboats.  The motors are "motor-generators".  When the boat is under sail, the propellors turn {from the flow of water past them} which spins the motor-generators.  That produces electricity which recharges onboard batteries for when the motor-generators are used as motors {to spin the props and propel the sailboat}.  

{IIRC, the reason these systems are for multihulls is that monohull sailboats don't develop enough speed to spin their props to generate enough juice to recharge batteries.}

I **think** one company that makes these systems is in Maryland, USA.  However, I'm not sure - you'll have to do a GOOGLE search on it.  

[marketdriven]

There is fuel extender that you add to the gasoline.  Find some the red stuff and it will allow you to have gasoline in the Seagull longer.  It goes by one brand name Stabil. http://www.goldeagle.com/brands/stabil/default.aspx Sorry, no shameless add just wanted you to know for the future.

[=SMART=]

Awesome, I really like these ibles. I never knew those tho tub covers were so buoyant !

[rc jedi]

THAT, MY FRIEND, IS COOL!

[thalass]

Awesome, guys! I'd be tempted to replace the diesel with an electric motor, and replace the mast with a wind turbine or two. plenty of room for batteries, and even room for solar panels without sacrificing party space. That kite looks cool, too. Question, though: How do you sail upwind?

[TimAnderson]

thanks! sailing upwind is the same as with a sail, you steer the hull at one angle and the kite at another

[maxstevenson]

This ible is expanding... I think. you silly rabbit, (extra) trix are for homonidds!

[cofosho]

Schweet! Keep'em coming!

[joren]

Awesome. I would love to see a how to launch a NASA parawing kite from a boat 'ible. I've considered using parawings to power a DIY inflatable 21' cat I'm building.

[maxstevenson]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRnMr1FnHyg