Power kite

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Kite surfing in strong onshore winds off the north shore of O‘ahu in Hawai‘i. Note the windsurfer catching the wave break.

A power kite or traction kite is a large kite designed to provide significant pull to the user. They come in three main forms: foils, leading edge inflatables and supported leading edge. There are also rigid-framed kites and soft single skin kites. There are several different control systems used with these kites which have two to five lines and a bar or handles.

Power kites are generally used in conjunction with a vehicle or board, such as in:

Research is also under way in use of kites to generate electric power to be fed into a power grid.[1][2][3] Kites can be used to reach high altitude winds (e.g., jetstream), which are always present, even if ground level winds available to wind turbines are absent.

Powerkite.ogg
Powerkite video

Kites of related design are used for sailing, including speed-sailing. A kite-powered boat (Jacob's Ladder) set the C-Class world sailing speed record with a speed of 25 knots in 1982, a record that stood for six years.[4]. A kite-board was the first sailing craft to exceed a speed of 50 knots in October 2008.[4]

Power kites range in size from 1.5 m2 up to 50 m2. All kites are made for specific purposes: some for water, land, power or manoeuvrability.

[edit] See also

Illustration of LEI (R), bow (L) and foil (T) power kites

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ [2]
  3. ^ [3]
  4. ^ a b World Sailing Speed Records Committee (WSSRC)