Kite surfing information

After some of the rather gloomy news I have brought to you I thought to give you some practical information on the extreme sport of kite surfing – today I will lead off with a little history of the sport and tomorrow I will talk about equipment, techniques, safety and some of the more interesting facts about the sport. After all I don’t want to keep you off the water for too long! Many thanks to Adventure Escapades from South Africa for much of this information.

The Chinese are credited with using kites for propulsion in the 13th century.In the 1800s George Pocock used kites of increased size to propel carts on land and ships on the water, using a 4-line control system – the same system in common use today. Both carts and boats were able to turn and sail upwind. The kites could be flown for sustained periods. The intention was to establish kitepower as an alternative to horsepower, partly to avoid the hated “horse tax” that was levied at that time. In 1903, aviation pioneer Samuel Cody developed “man-lifting kites” and succeeded in crossing the English channel in a small collapsible canvas boat powered by a kite.
In the late 1970s the development of Kevlar then Spectra flying lines and more controllable kites with improved efficiency contributed to practical kite traction. In 1978, Ian Day’s “FlexiFoil” kite-powered Tornado catamaran exceeded 40 km/h.Through the 1980s there were sporadic and occasionally successful attempts to combine kites with canoes, ice skates, snow skis, water skis and roller skates.
Two brothers, Bruno Legaignoux and Dominique Legaignoux, from the Atlantic coast of France, developed some kite designs for kitesurfing in the late 1970s early 1980s and patented the first inflatable kite design in November 1984, which has since been used by many companies to develop their own products.
In 1990, a  kite buggying was pioneered by Peter Lynn at Argyle Park in Ashburton, New Zealand. Lynn coupled a three-wheeled buggy with a forerunner of the modern parafoil kite. Kite buggying proved to be very popular worldwide, with over 14,000 buggies sold up to 1999.
The development of modern day kitesurfing by the Roeselers in the USA and the Legaignoux in France carried on in parallel to buggying. Bill Roeseler, a Boeing aerodynamicist, and his son Corey Roeseler patented the “KiteSki” system which consisted of water skis powered by a two line delta style kite controlled via a bar mounted combined winch/brake. The KiteSki was commercially available in 1994. The kite had a rudimentary water launch capability and could go upwind. In 1995, Corey Roeseler visited Peter Lynn at New Zealand’s Lake Clearwater in the Ashburton Alpine Lakes area, demonstrating speed, balance and upwind angle on his ‘ski’. In the late 1990s, Corey’s ski evolved to a single board similar to a surfboard.
In 1996 Laird Hamilton and Manu Bertin were instrumental in demonstrating and popularising kitesurfing off the Hawaiian coast of Maui.
In 1997 the Legaignoux brothers developed and sold the breakthrough “Wipika” kite design which had a structure of preformed inflatable tubes and a simple bridle system to the wingtips, both of which greatly assisted water re-launch. Bruno Legaignoux has continued to improve kite designs, including developing the bow kite design, which has been licensed to many kite manufacturers.
In 1997, specialist kiteboards were developed by Raphaël Salles and Laurent Ness. By 1998 kitesurfing had become a mainstream sport, and several schools were teaching kitesurfing. The first competition was held on Maui in September 1998 and won by Flash Austin.
By 1999 single direction boards derived from windsurfing and surfing designs became the dominant form of kiteboard. From 2001 onwards, wakeboard style bi-directional boards became more popular.

The current speed record over a 500 meter (1,640 ft) course, held by Olaf Marting, is 77.4 kilometers per hour (41.79 knots). Sjoukje Bredenkamp from South Africa holds the female record at 37.26 knots.

I think that’s enough for today, hope you can come back for tomorrow’s installment

Bad week for extreme sports enthusiasts

Three deaths in the past few days have emphasised the need for extreme caution and understanding of the dangers and safety measures required if you are going to participate in extreme sports.

Emily Jordan, 21, was drowned in rapids in the Kawarau river gorge on Tuesday when she became trapped between rocks. Guides struggled to free her for 20 minutes before attempting resuscitation on the banks of the river near Queens-town on New Zealand’s South Island.The father of the British backpacker called for companies that offer extreme sports to review whether they were pushing the limits of danger too far.

In Andalucia, Southern Spain a British Army officer has been killed in a paragliding accident during an adventure training exercise in southern Spain.Major Alexander Blake, 35, who was secretary of the Army Hang Gliding and Paragliding Association, died when he lost control of his paragliding canopy and smashed into a tree at high speed, in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountain range near Granada.
The tragedy is thought to have happened as he attempted a risky manoeuvre known as a spiral dive to lose height rapidly.

Meanwhile the death of a 40 year old woman who was scuba diving in the Atlantic off the coast of Florida has been reported.The woman, whose name was not released, died at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach, the U.S. Coast Guard said. People from the dive boat called the Coast Guard to follow them to shore after the woman came back from a dive unresponsive. Coast guard officials said it was unclear what had led to her death but the woman had apparently started to have difficulty after just ten minutes into the dive.

These tragedies underscore the dangers in these sports – please take every precaution possible but I suspect that by definition the extremities of these activities will continue to lead to accidents.

Rock Climbing Knots – Alpine Butterfly Knot

A few days ago (you might remember) I did a blog on climbing knots. Here is another ‘thank you’ to ABC of rock climbing for linking the following comment to our site. It is such a clear guide on how to tie the Alpine Butterfly Knot that I felt I had to pass it on. However, their descriptive video would not copy so I have put another one on. To see theirs you must go to their site…

The Alpine Butterfly is generally considered to be one of the strongest and most secure loop knots. It is strong, secure, and easily tied. It can be tied in the middle of a rope when you don’t have access to the ends. It can be pulled in two or three directions without distorting, and it can be used to strengthen a damaged rope by isolating the damaged area. These things make the Alpine Butterfly a very versatile and valuable knot to know.

If you are tying the Alpine Butterfly at the end of a rope, you can tie a Stopper Knot to the free end of the rope for added security.

Step 1:
Twist the rope to form a loop.

Step 2:
Form another loop by twisting the loop that you made earlier. This creates two loops which resemble the number 8.

Step 3:
Bring the second loop (the one at the top) down and underneath the rope.

Step 4:
Pass the second loop through the first one.

Step 5:
Pull the two ends of the rope in opposite directions.