Proa kite sailing experience
Hi all,
I would like to share my experience on proa sailing with a kitesurrfing “sail” as a rig. I experimented with the concept a few years ago and want to share my lessons learned and a few videos.
First of all, big disclaimer: I am NOT an expert on proa sailing with kites; if there is such a person, it is Dave Culp, not me.
I built a strip planking proa of my design over many years. I claim to be the slowest boat builder in the world!
My wife concurs.
It’s a 6m long main hull, 4m long ama, originally 3m wide, later on reduced to 2.5 m for ease of transportation, without the special tilting trailer a cobbled up (that’s another story…).
I used a 12M2 kite; I first learned the basics of kitesurfing, and tried to apply to my proa. Kite surfing is definitely one of those things labeled: “kids, don’t do this at home!!!”
Kitesurfing can kill you.
If you want to do it, PLEASE, take lessons with a certified instructor, like I did.
But I disgress…
The videos below were taken by my friend Kevin, the owner of the wikiproa file site. Go there!
http://wikiproa.pbworks.com/w/page/14592450/FrontPage
First the launch; you have to hold the kite with the lines under tension, more or less perpendicular to the wind.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xxgcgi_proa-kite-sailing-kite-launch-part-1_sport
Kevin is holding the kite, waiting for my instructions to let go.
This was in lake Texana, in December 2007, in South Texas.
Then Kevin runs to the boat while I bring the kite to the zenith…. and I let it fall into the water because I do not control the swing well enough…
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xxgcnl_proa-sailing-with-kite-kite-launch-part-2_sport
But eventually, we went sailing!
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4l8kp_proa-kite-sailing-december-2007_sport
and
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xxgcvk_proa-kite-sailing-without-pole_sport
In both cases, you will notice that the “power line” of the kit (the one that transmit the pull, not the control lines going to the home made handle bar) is attached to 2 purchases; this allowed me to move the pull of the kite fore and aft along the main hull. The idea, with only a dagger board in the water and no rudders, was to steer the boat by adjusting the location of the COE in relation to the CLR. It worked, to some extent. I found out that I could not bring the sail pull force far enough forward to truly, easily bear off.
On the second video above, I explain to Kevin (the only guy in the world who was actually willing, even ASKING to get on my boat…) how we are going to shunt. Bring the purchases (what I call the sheets) to the middle, I bring the sail to the zenith, raise one board, lower the other board, bring the sheet to the other end, swing the sail in the other direction.
It actually worked!!! But as you can imagine, we need 4 hands to do this, so no video…
On the following videos, I changed the set up and added a pole with the kite attached to the end of it, so I can bring the COE even further forward.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4p12o_windward-kite-proa-sailing_sport
I even devised a weird sailing technique to go further downwind.
Like the rest was not already weird enough…
In the following video, the leading edge of the kite is pointing backwards! You have to remember that the lines of a kite are always (well, almost always) close to perpendicular to the wind; so on the following video; on a broadreach on port tack, the kite is “facing” the wind and pulling us to windward…
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4p0t4_downwind-reverse-tack-kite-proa-sai_sport
It does not always work that well though…
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4l8md_proa-kite-sailing-reverse-tack-and_sport
If you go to far downwind, the apparent wind drops so much that you do not have enough wind to keep the kite flying…
We eventually made it to the shore, and with such a contraption… errr such an experimental boat, we always made it back to the shore, where we started from; which in itself is already a victory, right?
I gave up on kite sailing, even though it is potentially the fastest sailing configuration (virtually no heeling force! the size of the sail can be directly proportional to the size of your balls, or inversely proportional to the size of your brain!!! there is no limit!!!).
The first reason is that I was not a good kitesailor: I neede a minimum of 12 knots TWS to keep the kite flying, but at 17-18 knots TWS, I was reaching my “pants browning” zone…
Dave Culp told me right of the bat that my set up was all wrong!!! I should have put the ama to the leeside and attached the kite to the ama, not the main hull. In that case, the wind forces lift the ama out of the water (reverse heeling!) and the aero and hydro forces (kite and daggerboard) are directly aligned!
It never occurred to me that I could do this.
Dave also told me that to shunt I should just swing the sail at once and sail through “the eye of the wind”, through the full downwind position, to zip along to the other tack. You have to be a good kiter to do that; in that zone, the kite can generate enough forces to tear everything apart… So I always shunted through the zenith position, less hairy.
I am happy to answer any question!
Laurent
Laurent, thank you very much for posting about your proa kite sailing. Now that’s thinking outside the box - a proa AND a kite rig! Not that Dave Culp hasn’t been doing that since before we were born, but nice to see another attempt. 😊
I gave up on kite sailing, even though it is potentially the fastest sailing configuration (virtually no heeling force! the size of the sail can be directly proportional to the size of your balls, or inversely proportional to the size of your brain!!! there is no limit!!!).
You have a way with words, Laurent!
Proanauts are often exploring that sort of equation!
I’m looking forward to the moth schooner chapter!
Best,
Chris
I gave up on kite sailing, even though it is potentially the fastest sailing configuration (virtually no heeling force! the size of the sail can be directly proportional to the size of your balls, or inversely proportional to the size of your brain!!! there is no limit!!!).
You have a way with words, Laurent!
Proanauts are often exploring that sort of equation!
I’m looking forward to the moth schooner chapter!
Best,
Chris
Thank you sir!
English is not my mother tongue, so I will take that as a compliment.
If you are waiting for the Moth sails shooner rig report, in the mean time, you can read my experience with an A Class Catamaran rig report (the picture I used to hijack one of your threads, I am afraid…). It’s another thread in the same section.
For the shooner rig, unfortunately, I do not have as much experience as I would like yet, due to different failures that delayed trials, and a move half way around the world and change of job…
Sailing in Singapore promises to be fun, but working on your boat, and making repair in this country, is hell. No facility, no big DIY superstore, no big car garage to put the boat in…
Cheers,
Laurent