Following a Yacht on a kite - questions

[Caesar]

A chance has come for me to go on a cruise on a yacht and I am thinking along the lines of where yachts go, there must be wind and it must be possible to kite.. I think that I cannot go to a windy place and not kite...but I am not so sure whether it is a good idea, especially if there will not be any other kiters onboard who would know more about this...

Is it possible to follow a yacht on a kite ( I mean a few hours a day, not the whole time)? Or is the yacht going to be too fast for a kite perhaps? Can you just cruise in the middle of the sea, or is there some problem with it, is it not forbidden perhaps ? The sea is maybe going to be too choppy so it will not be so nice after all?

I am already aware that the starting and landing and not tangling the lines will be a challenge, and I have already found some articles about that, but I as I have no experience with sailing , I am not really sure whether it can work easily together.. or whether it is just better to wait till the yacht stops in a bay.

I will be happy to hear some reassurance that it is a good idea:-) Many thanks!

Hi Jackie,

From my experience (and I worked on dive and cruise boats for many years in several parts of the world) the waves will be most likely too high and choppy to have a comfortable kiting.
If you have calm waters, there is no wind and if it is windy, there are waves which you have to go through to follow the boat and they suck.

Cheers
Caesar

[edt]

From my experience (and I worked on dive and cruise boats for many years in several parts of the world) the waves will be most likely too high and choppy to have a comfortable kiting.

he's on adriatic not open ocean he'll be fine and have a great time.

[jackie]

awesome bro! Go for it. Sounds like you have good wind. If you have never done a boat launch before practice some boat launches they can be tricky. Since you will be the only kiter I suggest this: blow up your kite, lay out your lines on deck (you might have to walk in circles), wrap the lines, and then jump off the boat with your kite and board, and then drift launch, when you're done, kite up to the boat, flag out, climb aboard with bar and board, and then wrap it up.

Everyone seems to boat launch differently, the important part is not the actual technique but to practice your boat launch a dozen times before you go on the trip so it's nailed, and yes practice ON a boat, it's a lot different, don't just dry land it. Find a buddy with boat and spend a day jumping off, launching, wrapping up, jumping off again, launching etc. and do it deep water, don't cheat and do it where you can touch bottom.

I looked at some polar diagrams for those 50 foot yachts they seem pretty slow something like 50% wind speed even on a reach.

Thanks edt, sounds plain and simple when you put it down like this. The idea of practicing the boat start is also a good one, will see if I can arrange a boat, water and wind before going on the yacht

Just one more question to the wrapping up - isn't it better to wrap up the lines in the water, and then just have the boat come and get you with the kite, so that the lines cannot get caught anywhere?

[jackie]

he's on adriatic not open ocean he'll be fine and have a great time.

and edt, why do you think jackie would be a he? otherwise all your advice and observations sound very good to me

[edt]

my bad jackie! just being lazy with my pronouns, but the advice is the same either way, sounds like fun.

as for wrapping the lines before or after, that's up to you personally I dont like being in the water to long when there's a ton of chop because the lines can wrap around your legs, so I want to get on the boat right away, also it should be a bit quicker to wrap when you're not in the chop, but find the method that suits you best.

[KYLakeKiter]

Your trip sounds like great fun. Here is a video that a friend of mine and I made showing how to use a 5 gallon bucket to organize lines to deploy from a boat. We have gotten better at this but haven't made a new video yet, so you will see some flubs here and there, but the method is solid.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8GIJ2V6f3A

I recommend that in any descent winds, you swim the bar out from the boat, have someone place the kite in the water, and then drift launch. You have to use some strategy as to which side of the boat to go to as well so the kite drifts away from the boat. Murphy's law applies here, and the kite is a magnet to the boat when it launches, so look at the winds and currents to try to "Murphy proof" your launch. Things will work out best if you do this with the boat anchored into the wind, and you place the kite on the back of the boat. Especially with a sailboat, I would not recommend having anyone launch the kite from the boat. Nothing good will come of that (personal experience ) Put the kite in the water and let the wind carry it a safe distance from the boat to launch it.

Recovery is also easier with the boat anchored into the wind so your approach to the boat is predictable. I recommend dropping the kite when you are slightly upwind of the back of the boat, with the kite well behind the boat, so that your are pulled to the back of the boat, but the kite lines stay clear. If you have someone on the back of the boat that can throw you a line if you misjudge it a little, that is very helpfull.

I hope this is usefull. What you want to do is possible, but it takes some planning and practice. Best of luck.

[William Munney]

Good luck, but it sounds like it might be bad idea to me. You're asking a lot of the captain, he will feel responsible for you and he's not running a kiteboarding cruise. Your activity could also endanger your friends if they are not kiters or any potential rescuers if it comes to that. Isn't the yacht going to stop anywhere? That would be a whole different story, doing some kiting while the boat is docked.

[jrfiol]

Faster than a yacht in open sea for a few hours... Not

But if you gear up and get foil, with a seat harness, some polarized lens sunglasses, hydration method.

45 minutes on a twintip going downwind on 3 ft chop will wear and bore most

I am sure there is a spectrum

[edt]

Faster than a yacht in open sea for a few hours... Not

those big yachts are pretty slow. for instance the beneteau 49 will go 10 knots in a reach with wind speed 20 knots. if you can't go faster than 10 knots in chop when it's blowing 20 on a reach for a few hours well . . . . at 30 knots the beneteau 49 blazes at a speedy 11 knots in a reach, 7 knots if it has to go a bit upwind. cruiser yachts are pleasure craft not race horses. hull speed is important here, a 50 foot boat has a hull speed of 1.34 * square root (50) or 9.5 knots. They don't get on a plane, and can't go much faster than hull speed.

[Dr Makani]

Having been a race skipper for many years I do like the idea. A few things to consider:

A well trimmed yacht (>35ft) has a better 'reach' than a kite. 'Reach' stands for the ability (and angle) to go upwind.

A well-designed hull of a modern yacht is able to achieve 12-14 kts out of 10 kts wind. In average the max. hull speed by design is ~ 18 - 20 kts for a modern pleasure yacht. Again, all depends on make and model of the ship, sail maker - and - predominantly the skill of the skipper.

As you can see, under certain circumstances, the ship can outpace or, even worse, outmaneuver you. Bring a life vest and a marine VHF, talk to the skipper at your first runs and soon you could be a good team.

peace