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< NovDec 2000
	Hotline
Paddlers Take to the Sky Canoe Kite Sailing

For thousands of years the sail has been the only means by which mankind could harness wind power to boats. Now, with the advent of kite sailing, all that has changed. A few years ago windsurfers began to experiment, flying large kites from surfboards. The results were incredible: It’s not unusual for kite surfers to get 40 feet of air, gliding 150 feet horizontally. It was only a matter of time before this technology was applied to boats. “As far as I know, I’m the first person to get people together and fly a kite from a canoe,” says Hawaii’s Dave Kalama. “Laird Hamilton and a bunch of us were doing kite surfing and we were playing around in canoes, so it just naturally happened. One day we said, ‘Hey, let’s get the kite in the canoe.’”

According to Kalama it takes a few people to handle a kite-driven canoe: one good kite flier; a steersman; and, if necessary, one person to help bail and keep the boat upright. Solo paddlers have experimented successfully in tying less powerful, single-cord kites to the bows of their boats, leaving the hands free. On Kalama’s maiden voyage the canoe kite combo went off without a hitch. “We got going pretty fast, around 20 knots, going downwind,” he says. “Going over waves we’d get some air, with the nose up eight or 10 feet.”

This isn’t the sort of thing you could try in a pond with a ball of twine and plastic kite. The kites are designed specifically to pull surfboards--and boats. Instead of string, the handler controls the kite with two, 1,500-lb. Spectra Cord ropes. Having multiple ropes attached to the kite gives greater control: you can tilt the kite to jibe into the wind or dive the kite to generate more speed. “With a kite you’re utilizing the same phenomenon as you are with a sail,” says Gerry Fujii, a physics professor and avid sportsman. “Sure, you don’t have the extraneous mast but the difference is infinitesimal. And there’s a significant advantage in being able to access greater wind speeds and higher altitudes.” Joe Cool, another aptly named kite surfer who has applied the technology to canoes, agrees. “Wind is irregular and gusty close to the surface,” he says. “At about 75 feet it starts to level off and at 100 feet it gets steady. That’s where we fly our kites.”

Some theorists have suggested that flying huge kites miles high might create enough energy to pull tankers. For now, however, most are content with the pull they provide canoes and kayaks. “Kite surfing is experiencing a world-wide boom right now,” says Kalama. “And I think kite technology will be applied to many more types of boats.” Kites seem especially useful for small craft where masts are inappropriate. Cool plans to experiment with flying a kite solo from a Cobra Wave Witch, a surf kayak with a foot-controlled rudder. By steering with his feet, Cool’s hands will be free to handle the kite. “A few of us are also working on using a 13-meter kite to power a 30-foot sailing canoe,” he says. “The next step will be using a 20-meter kite on a much lighter boat.”

He adds that kites are the future for speed in sailing. As if to drive this point home, Cool recently used a 3-meter kite in Oahu’s Windback Regatta to demolish the competition. “It was a lot of fun,” he says. “There were kayaks with V sails, single line parafoils, and even a guy with a great big golf umbrella. We finished in half the time of the nearest competitor, but that’s not what mattered: the point is that it was fun. We caught the trough of a wave for about 100 yards, and were laughing and shouting the whole time.”

--Nate Johnson