Sailing with the Help of a KIte

Sailing with the help of a kite can be fun and it can increase your speed.

When you are sailing down wind and you have a long downwind run, a kite can be put up to help.  The amount of pull from a large kite is a lot more than you would think. It can also be fun and it is a great way to entertain kids at the same time.

There are a number of large ready-made kites you can buy that are easy to fly, are collapsible for storage and that are waterproof if they would get wet. You can also make your own a kite. If the Kite has more than 5 Square feet of sail you need kite line or a fishing pole with line that is 100lbs test or more. I like using a fishing pole to fly a kite off of.  It makes launching and bringing it in easy. With a pole you can almost cast a kite into flight.

A large kite with 10 square feet of sail or more can give a noticeable increase in speed to the boat. You also need to wear gloves when handling the kite line. The line can cut a burn your hands before you notice what has happened.

Multiple kites can be flown at the same time, but a line tangle problem can form in gusty winds. The best way to fly multiple kites is on the same string. The first is put up, and then that line is attached to the second kite’s frame, and the second goes up being pulled by the first. I have had 4 kites on one line this way and It was very impressive. Different color and different shape kites can be mixed to make a unique line of kites that can be seen for miles. This is called a kite train.

Yes, I am just a big kid at heart, and I like flying kites. Making odd shape unique kites has always been something I enjoyed. Growing up I loved going to the Brocton Illinois Kite festival each year. I was always written up in the paper for having the most creative kits at the festival. I would set up a how to build a kite table to get other kids involve.

One year just before the Kite Festival I put up a multicolor kite with a pen light on it just at dusk. It caused a number of calls to the police department with UFO reports. The local paper did a story about it and the Kite festival got free advertising. I was asked by the police to give them a heads up on it if I was going to do it again. 8-)