Who has experience with Kite sailing A Cat

[Seeratlas]

Originally Posted by Therapy

Kite For Sail - advanced wind propulsion technology

Maui Kite Sailing kiteforsail.com - AOL Video

Dave Culp Speedsailing

looks like an anti-aircraft setup to me seer

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Seeratlas

looks like an anti-aircraft setup to me seer

Yea.

Too labor intensive too.

I imagine cruising with an auto pilot.

If I wanted to fly all day I would do it at 200+ mph!!

[fastcat435]

Thank you Therapy , that looks usefull I will keep you posted
Have a good sunday

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by fastcat435

Thank you Therapy , that looks usefull I will keep you posted
Have a good sunday

You are welcome.

Let me/us know what you find out about having it up as a "sail" as opposed to having to actively "fly" it.

[rob denney]

Originally Posted by fastcat435

Is there anybody around that has any experience with Kite sailing a catamaran . it sound ideal to me on long stretches dwonwind , creating lift and getting the wind from 100 ft high. please let me know
Greetings and a good year

G'day,

I have had a fair bit of experience with Outleader kites, including the one in your photo (120 sq m). The biggest is the 380 sq m one we flew on a 20m uldb, the smallest is the 40 sq m which I play with on my 7.5m proa.

For what you want, an Outleader would be ideal. Hoist it, cleat it off and as long as the wind does not change direction too rapidly, or drop below 8 knots, you will have a fast rig with no heeling and no wear and tear. If it does fall in the water, it streams along behind the boat until you pull it in. Far easier than handling an out of control spinnaker.

I think the kite in the picture is currently in Holland, on loan to a friend of mine. If it is not that one it is a slightly smaller one (90 sq m). Please pm me and I will put you in touch with him. He is fitting two electric motors to his boat this winter, so you may be able to work out a deal.

regards,

Rob Denney
Outleader Kites Australia

[Nordic cat]

Hi Fastcat,

I have a 70 m2 outleader for my 35 ft cat. Once you get the hang of launching the kite, it works great.
Launching is fairly simple,i have about 4 x 50 metres of stripped 6mm dyneema, so it is around 4 mm. A small block is hoisted up the mast on the normal spinnaker halyard,with the "top line" for the kite. The kite is hoisted up, and the the 2 side lines tightened,the sail fills, and you can start slowly letting the lines out. When flying correctly, it flies about 20 metres forward of the boat and 5-10 metres above the mast, so you can use your normal sails as well!
For sailing in "bumpy" conditions, i use bungee cord attached across the boat to act as a shock absorber, so depending on wave height and wind strength, I use anything between a 6mm bungee up to a doubled 12 mm. Use the whole beam of the cat to give the necessary compensation.
Regarding loads on the lines: My 4.5 ton cat sailed at 8 knots in 8m/s with a load of around 20 kgs on each of the 3 bottom lines. This was for a 70m2 kite.

To retrieve the kite, just let the side lines go, and pull the top line in. In a strong breeze, you can even take your time, as the whole sail is just like a big flag folded double.

Rob Denney said you need more than 8 knots of wind, I agree, but have used it in 4 knots as well, the problem is launching,because when it starts pulling, a cat will quickly accelerate, and the kite collapses. My technique is to slowly reverse the boat with the engines until the kite is flying well, and then slowly reduce power as the boat accelerates.

My biggest regret is that I didn't go for a bigger kite, I reckon at least 50% larger than your normal spinnaker.

You need to experiment a bit with the attachment points to the hulls, but for downwind I have the blocks far forward, and as the wind comes from one side, I move them back to around where the mast is, to minimise side pull.

You can mail me directly if you want more information

Alan

[Eleven]

Thanks Nordic Cat. Sounds the ideal fair weather sail for making the best speed in lighter winds which will seriously help passage times. Adds a whole new dimension to sail sets though.
I'm also keen to add one to my (future) dinghy / lifeboat as a much safe way of sailing anywhere (even if it is downwind + or - 45 degreees) and if you can sail you can chose where your going and arrive alot sooner.
Are there issues with drying and cleaning when cruising, some talk about dunking the kite and hauling it back in board! You seem to fly it close to the mast and avoid getting it wet.
Another benefit is the lack of wear and tear on the mast and rigging, can this be flown from deck level attachements only?

[Adaero]

Thanks for that Nordic Cat.

Have you any photos of the attachment points and rig setup you use that you could post?

Thanks
Adaero

[Nordic cat]

Hi,

Dunking is absolutely not necessary! I just use some small dinghy size blocks to run the 4 mm lines through, and tie them off on either a forward cleat or a stanchion base for the 2 side lines. The middle line is either attached to the anchor roller (dead downwind) or the mast base for shallower angles.The loads are not that high in medium winds, but I do reccomend gloves when handling the lines!

I think that the biggest market they have is for motor boats in the US, as a "get me home" device if the motor fails.

The only negative is that you need at least 2 people to get them up, unless you devise a central "control panel" for the 4 lines.

Alan

[Nordic cat]

Sorry Adaero, I don´t have any pictures, and the boat won't be in the water before late April in these northerly regions!
See my above post. I use a small dinghy block with about a meter of line that I use to tie off with - simple and cheap. The bungycord is also attached to a block that the lines run through. The bungy block is aft of the main block, i.e. between the forward block and where I tie off the control lines in the aft cockpit. The bungy is then tied off on the opposite side, so it can absorb the up/down motion of the hulls to some extent. I normally run the bungy across my tramp. Bungy length is typically around 3 metres, extended to 5. N.B. Use of bungy depends on wind speed and wave height, more neccessary with relatively lower windspeed, but especially handy when launching in a big chop.

Alan