have a look at this:
[youtube]http://youtu.be/kjUEq6yhX-s[/youtube]
http://youtu.be/kjUEq6yhX-s

Ingo

Looks like a great idea!

Thanks for the compliment.
How about kiting in Japan, is it famous over there?
(I am wondering if it would be worth to go for a patent over there as well)

Greetings

Ingo

I'm really really impressed by the idea !!! I was thinking about a way to do something like this, but your way is absolutely the way ! good job !

have you image something like this to had to your project ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5Nb3iGdTEM

Kiting is not so popular here ... kayaking even less so

A lot of brain power went into that I'm sure.

The general concept I like, kayak powered by wind etc.

I would be worried about getting impaled on that pivoting rudder out front there.

Also you have all that extra equipment a kayak, all that rigging on the kayak, AND a big friggen kite... I just don't get it.

You're basically replacing a simple kiteboard with a big heavy plastic kayak fitted with a bunch of complicated rigging. Talk about extra complications. I mean how do you even get all that in the water let alone launch it?

Why not just put a kiteboard on your feet?

WAY TO COMPLICATED FOR ME

I'm trying not to be negative... just giving MHO

Hi Ingo,

That is a pretty impressive invention. There are a lot of people out there who love many different ways of being pulled across the water by the wind. I am interested in seeing how your project develops over time, and it's application to a number of different boats.

How is the upwind performance with your rig? Have you tried it using inflatable kites as well? Is there any form or rudder or is all of your steering done exclusively with the kite?

Huge compliments to your thought processes and I think funalex (who is a great inventor as well) had an interesting question about incorporation a foil.

Good luck with your project.

John

Upwind performance is quite good, gps-plot showing about 60deg off the wind, which is clearly better, than what I can do with a kiteboard. I started my experiments with a tubekite (17 sqm cabrinha contra2), only when that burst(by overpressure from the Goan-sun-generated heat) I switched to the speed 3, so tubekites working just as well. No rudder in use, boat keeps by design a fixed angle towards kite pull direction and thus is easily controlled by changing the kite's position in the wind window

When I got inspired to and started developing my idea I never had kayaks in mind but was thinking it to be an alternative propulsion for sailboats, as it doesn't require a keel, ballast or a wider hull, it would even work perfectly on any motor yacht, what is lacking is just the availability of big enough and automatically launch-able and land-able kites(there is hope that this might change, though).
The kayak is already my third prototype and I wanted to demonstrate with it, that my system is really completely heeling-FREE by attaching the biggest possible kite to one of the smallest possible boats. However it is great fun to ride this thing and when I am not in a hurry I definitely prefer the kayak over the kite board(certainly not being dispassionate as the inventor though)
Then there are certainly some advantages of a kayak over a kite board, for example the ability to give passengers the chance of getting carried away by kite power, see attachment.

Ingo

Wow, paddling and getting up on foils a thing like this is definitely out of my physical reach.

I had thought about lifting foils as well, could make the thing incredibly fast, even built a 1:10 model with T-foils already, but had to set priorities, the time for going on with the patent application and finding investors is getting threatening shorter.