Pilotless kites?

Ok it has been said that kiting is easy, and also it's been said it can be tough to master - but check this out... they've created a machine that's able to fly a power kite.

I can only assume this is the kind of machine that they use on those tankers I blogged about not long ago

Cheers

The Highwaymen

http://www.thehighwaymen.co.uk/

The Highwaymen Single Line Kites

Here at The Highwaymen office, we're busy beavering through catalogues and all the latest products from our single line manufacturers. There's really some great stuff coming out from designers such as Rainer Hoffman, and Thomas K. Horvath, and we just can't wait to get it all out for you to see. This year is a good year for new designs.... especially the kids stuff!

Kids - You're going to love this season!

Cheers
The Highwaymen

Peter Lynn Core - 2011

I got my hands on some of the new Peter Lynn kites last week and I have to say, I was seriously impressed.

Looking at the kite from a kiter's point of view, they looked aesthetically pleasing, build standards were sky high, bridling was minimal and to the point, and the profiles were great!

The Core was the one that took my fancy, it's the first product in the Peter Lynn Pro Kite Range line up, and in all honesty, I think it looked like the best one. Take into account cost, wind range, and performance - I'd say you'll have more fun on one of these than their mega high performance kites when you take into account what you'd have to spend.

As soon as the latest 2011 Peter Lynn Core is available, I want one! Since I've had my ACL done on my knee, I think this kite will be spot on for a blaze down the beach in a buggy until my knee is strong enough to give it a proper go on a landboard!

Cheers
The Highwaymen

The Ultimate Kite Show - Words and video taken from their website

"Welcome to the home of the Ultimate Kite Show.  Come and see an impressive mega kite display above the water. Huge colourful kites, in the shape of sea creatures and divers, float in the sky for all to enjoy. Its a great day out for young and old to enjoy an impressive display that you've never seen before."



http://www.ultimatekiteshow.com/
http://www.thehighwaymen.co.uk/

Speaking of giant flags - check this out, it's from a while back, but interesting never the less!

Biggest kite flown over Kuwait . February 15, 2005 The biggest kite in the world, which has a 1,050-square-meter size, was flown over Kuwait on Tuesday as part ofHala February shopping festival. According to the official KUNA news agency, the kite, taking the shape of the flag of Kuwait and estimated for 25 meters long and 42 meters wide, was flown 60 meters over the sky in the Flag Public Square center of Kuwait City.  Abdulrahman Al-Farsi, owner of the kite, was quoted as saying that he was able to break the world record with the size of the flying kite, which was 633 square meters. "The kite was manufactured in a factory in New Zealand (peter Lynn), with the use of about 2,500 square meters of textile, 10 kilometers of ropes, against an estimated cost of about 9,000 Kuwaiti Dinars, which equals 27,000 US dollars," said Al-Farsi.  More information about this kite Dimension : 42 m X 25 m - The height inside is a maximum of 7 metres The actual kite flying is 900 sq m but in all it is 1050 sq meters and 4000 cubic metres - " The air inside the fabric has a mass of 5 tonnes Weights : 200 kilos Réalisation : The kite took 750 hours to make Matérial : There are 360 internal cords using over 2.5 km of cord The fabric is strengthened, making it what Peter Lynn calls superripstop with a further 2.5 km of cord. 2 500 sq metres of fabric is used Photos courtesy of aeolian.co.uk Kuwait is an Emirate of the Arabic Peninsula, located between Iraq and Saudi Arabia, at the bottom of the Arabo-Persian Gulf. Facing Iran, it extends on 17,818 square kilometers (6,880 square miles), including the Kuwaiti share of the Neutral Zone (5 700 square kilometres) It has 290 km of coasts to which nine small islands are attached of which most famous is the island of Faïlaqa, to the mouth of bay. Let us quote also the largest island of Boubyan, of islands (863 km2), connected to the emirate by a metal bridge. The country is uniformly flat. Located at the East of Saudi Desert of Nafûd, it slopes soft towards the Gulf. Maximum altitude is 300 meters, at the Western. The chain of Jal Al-Zour reaches 145 meters height. Summers are long, hot, and mostly dry, with daily temperatures between 43º and 47ºC (110º and 120ºF) and high humidity in August. An extreme sand wind, the chamal, breath from north. The fall and spring are pleasant and mild; winters are short and relatively cool.  The Hala February festival is an annual event that takes place in Kuwait during the spring season.From january 22 to february 18, 2005 The Salem Al-Mubarak Street in Salmiya hosted the opening carnival of the Hala February 2005 festival. With this carnival, the street turned into a colorful river, with people mingling among the traditional folklore. Hala Festival is a great opportunity for young and old alike to participate in this kaleidoscope of events featuring cultural festivals, shopping carnivals, visit tourist spots, and win prizes at the many raffles and contests held during the time period. The festival itself came to affirm that Kuwait is the land of peace

Big kites - Thanks to www.gombergkites.com

"The Biggest Kite in the World

Gomberg Kite Productions is proud to present the Biggest Kite in the World. The "MegaFlag" is a fully functional, self-flying kite measuring 130 feet wide and 80 feet deep. That's an astounding 10,400 square feet!! The kite is an inflatable "soft" design with no sticks or spars. It was designed and constructed by Guinness Record Holder Peter Lynn of New Zealand.

Imagine a kite three times the size of your house. Imagine a kite that requires a 'string' with a breaking strength of 20 tons or a dump truck to serve as anchor. Imagine a kite that more than a thousand people can walk inside of while it is held on the ground. Now imagine having this kite at your event… The Biggest Kite in the World Frequently Asked Questions How big is the Mega Flag? Exactly?? The Gomberg Mega Flag measures 137.8 feet wide x 83 feet deep (42 meters by 25.3 meters). That's a total flat surface area of 11,437.5 square feet (1062.5 square meters). When inflated and flying, curvature of the surface reduces the effective lifing area to 10,225.7 square feet (950 square meters). When inflated, there is a 25-foot ceiling inside the kite. Is the American Flag the only kite of this size? No. There are presently three kites in the MegaFlag series. One is in the Middle East and one in Japan. All are exactly the same size and the series was recognized as the "largest kite in the world" by the AKA. Is this officially the world's largest kite? The MegaFlag was officially certified as the largest in the world by the American Kitefliers Association in 2005. Guinness recognized the first of the MegaFlag series as the largest in the world in February 2006. Previously. Guinness credited a kite called the MegaBite in 1997. The MegaBite and a sister kite of roughly the same size called the MegaRay were made by Peter Lynn of New Zealand. Peter has now produced the MegaFlag series which is 25% larger then the "Bite" and "Ray". Is this a kite or a balloon? The Mega Flag is a fully functional, self-flying kite. It has no sticks or spars and is a patented kite design based on parafoils and ram-air inflated wings. Kites are anchored to the ground and generate lift when wind pressure interacts with the sail. Balloons are lifted into the air by gasses inside the canopy."

Renewable Energy - Underwater Kite

Technology using an underwater "kite" to generate electricity from tides is to receive a £350,000 grant to test a prototype in the UK's seas, the Carbon Trust revealed.Skip related content

RELATED PHOTOS / VIDEOS

Grant boost for tidal power 'kite'Enlarge photo

If the trial, which will put a small-scale device through its paces off the Northern Irish coast is successful, the developer behind the scheme wants to put enough structures in the seas to power all homes in a city the size of Newcastle.

The device works like a kite tethered to the seabed while "flying" through the sea current carrying a turbine.

The technology is able to operate in slower currents than any other tidal device, bringing more areas around the UK's coastline into use for renewable energy.

By flying in a figure of eight, the "Deep Green" device is able to increase the speed of the water flowing through the turbine by up to 10 times, allowing more power to be generated

The trial, selected by the Carbon Trust for a grant funded by Invest Northern Ireland, will see energy device developer Minesto UK Ltd test a one-tenth size prototype of the technology.

The grant will help the company gain site permits for installation, test how well the structure survives in the sea and develop models for the cost of the energy the device produces.

Benj Sykes, director of innovations at the Carbon Trust, said: "The UK boosts some of the best tidal resources in the world and we are focused on bringing down the cost of extracting that energy.

"Minesto's Deep Green is a very exciting technology as it could provide a step change reduction in the cost of tidal energy and open up swathes of the UK's coast to generating electricity."

He said tidal energy had the potential to produce enough electricity to meet 5% of the UK's consumption.

Calke Abbey Kite Day Special Offer

"We'll be at there with our full Highwaymen stand - and we've got a bit of a special going on just purely for Calke Abbey Kite Day...

We're trying to really push Flow Tail Deltas this year - everyone has seen them fill the sky with long beautiful trails of colour. So our Flow Tail Deltas will be on a special one day offer just for Calke Abbey.

Let have a cracking day, as I'm sure it'll be the first time out for many of us after that long winter, so lets make it a good one!

http://www.thehighwaymen.co.uk/"

The Highwaymen Latest Kite Festival List

The festivals list for this year

Well for 2011 we've got some great festivals to attend again... please see below for the list of events that we'll be trading at.

27th March - Calke Abbey
10th April - Streatham
7th-8th May - Swindon
28th-29th May - Brighton
4th-5th June - Exmouth
27th-29th August - Portsmouth
3rd-4th September - Bristol

For more information please see our website http://www.thehighwaymen.co.uk/

Latest update from the kite aided 25000 tonne cargo vessel

"Cargill propels shipping forward with largest kite-powered vessel

Date: 28 February 2011

GENEVA, SWITZERLAND — 28 February 2011 — Cargill has signed an agreement with SkySails GmbH & Co. KG (SkySails) to use wind power technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the shipping industry. SkySails, based in Hamburg, has developed innovative, patented technology that uses a kite which flies ahead of the vessel and generates enough propulsion to reduce consumption of bunker fuel by up to 35 percent in ideal sailing conditions.
Next December Cargill will install the 320m² kite on a handysize vessel of between 25,000 and 30,000 deadweight tonnes, which the company has on long-term charter, making it the largest vessel propelled by a kite in the world. Cargill and SkySails aim to have the system fully operational in the first quarter of 2012. Cargill is currently helping SkySails develop and test the technology and has identified a ship-owner – supportive of environmental stewardship in the industry – with whom it will partner on the project.
The SkySails kite will be connected to the ship by rope and is computer-controlled by an automatic pod to maximise the wind benefits. The kite functions at a height of between 100 to 420 metres and flies in a figure of eight formation. The SkySails system is automated and requires only minimal action by the crew. An automatic control system steers the kite and adjusts its flight path. All information related to the system's operation is displayed on the monitor of the SkySails' workstation on the ship's bridge.
"For some time, we have been searching for a project that can help drive environmental best practice within the shipping industry and see this as a meaningful first step", said G.J. van den Akker, head of Cargill's ocean transportation business. "The shipping industry currently supports 90 percent of the world's international physical trade. In a world of finite resources, environmental stewardship makes good business sense. As one of the world's largest charterers of dry bulk freight, we take this commitment extremely seriously. In addition to lowering greenhouse gas emissions, the SkySails technology aims to significantly reduce fuel consumption and costs. We are very impressed with the technology and see its installation on one of our chartered ships as the first part of an ongoing, long-term partnership."
"We are delighted that Cargill is the first company to embrace our technology on a vessel this large as part of its commitment to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the shipping industry", said Stephan Wrage, managing director of SkySails. "We are excited that our technology will shortly be used on a handysize vessel for the first time and see great potential to incorporate it on larger ships in the future."
According to a United Nations (International Maritime Organisation) study, up to 100 million tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO₂) could be saved every year by the broad application of the SkySails' technology on the world merchant fleet.¹ This figure would equate to 11 percent of the CO₂ emissions of Germany.
Cargill is a significant global transporter of agricultural, energy and industrial commodities. Although the company does not today own or operate ships, its ocean transportation business ships more than 185 million tonnes of commodities each year, in the process connecting supply from areas of surplus with demand in areas of deficit.
Photos are available for download at http://www.skysails.info/english/information-center/press-lounge/photos-graphics/
¹ Second IMO GHG Study 2009, International Maritime Organization, pg. 271 ff.

###

About Cargill

Cargill is an international producer and marketer of food, agricultural, financial and industrial products and services. Founded in 1865, the privately held company employs 131,000 people in 66 countries.

Cargill helps customers succeed through collaboration and innovation, and is committed to sharing its global knowledge and experience to help meet economic, environmental and social challenges wherever it does business.

About Cargill Ocean Transportation

Cargill's Ocean Transportation business is headquartered in Geneva with offices in London, Amsterdam, New Jersey, Singapore, Shanghai and Tokyo.

Its global team has a unique blend of experience across shipping, commodities and risk management and offers its customers a number of ocean freight solutions across all dry market segments and tankers. In recent years, the business has built on its reputation for excellence in risk management by putting a strong focus on raising health & safety and quality standards across the industry. This partnership provides a unique opportunity for Ocean Transportation to build on these high standards and publicly demonstrate its commitment to environmental stewardship.

Cargill recognises that its continued success depends on the growth and health of its communities and partners, as well as the vitality and conservation of natural resources. The company works with a diverse group of global, national and local organisations to support responsible economic development, help protect the environment and improve communities. For more information, visit http://www.cargill.com/products/energy-transportation/ocean-transportation/index.jsp

About SkySails

The Hamburg-based company SkySails GmbH & Co. KG is the market and technology leader for automated towing kite systems. Its internationally patented, high-performance wind propulsion system for cargo ships – the SkySails-System – can reduce the fuel consumption of a cargo vessel by 10 to 35% on annual average, depending on the prevailing wind conditions.

The latest SkySails product SKS C 320 has a propulsion power of more than 2,000 kW (approx. 2,700 HP). It can save up to 10 tons of fuel per day as well as SOx, NOx and CO2 emissions (= approx. 32 tons of CO2). The SkySails-System can be installed as an auxiliary wind propulsion on virtually all existing and new build ships.

SkySails was founded in 2001 and currently has about 80 employees. Lead investors are the renowned ship financing company Jan Luiken Oltmann Gruppe GmbH & Co. KG based in Leer, the highly respected marine engine supplier Zeppelin Power Systems GmbH & Co. KG and the Dutch Life Sciences and Materials Sciences Company Royal DSM N.V. "

Cheers

The Highwaymen

PKD Buster Soulfly

Buster Soulfly
We are pleased to introduce the new BUSTER Soulfly series, which will replace the BUSTER III and the BROOZA III series.
The BUSTER Soulfly is a complete new 4 line design for traction beginners and intermediate flyers.
It can be flown with 4-line handles or on the NEW “4-line Soulfly bar” (coming soon - patent pending)

BUSTER SOULFLY Details:
Distinctive PKD Tribal artwork on top and bottom of sail
Reinforced bridle attachement points
Reinforced nose profile for better launch
48 gr/m² fabric
Velcro Dirt outs
Impressive performance combined with easy control and landing
Large wind range and safe handling
Great upwind performance and stability

Package:
BUSTER Soulfly Kite, PKD 4-line handles, Accessory kit (including: ground peg, sand bags, stickers, key lanyard),
Manual, 20m Dyneema flying lines SK75 - 200/90 kg, Kite killers, Light weight back pack (large enough for handles and bar)
Ensuring you'll be riding, whilst others will only be able to sit and watch.

Comes Complete with:
PKD Buster Soulfly Kite Storage Bag:
Waterproof canvas stuff sack.

PKD Buster Soulfly Kite:
Kite complete with pre-stretched bridles.

Dyneema Flying Lines:
Pre-stretched flying lines for ultimate performance and lowest stretch. Colour-coded for safety and ease of use.
PKD Buster Soufly Flying Handles:
Four line foam covered ABS Handles.

PKD Buster Soulfly Kite Killer Wrist Leash Safety System:
Wrist-mounted de-power system enables you to let go of your quad handles when overpowered and recover your kite.

PKD Buster Soulfly Groundstake:
A must for all power kiting traction activities allowing for quick peg-down of your kite

Calke Abbey Kite Day - 27th March

Sorry guys, I posted the old date of the 3rd April, which is totally incorrect. The organisers decided they wanted to hold the Kite Day on the 27th March so as not to interfere with Mothers Day

Lets hope the 2011 Calke Abbey Kite Day is a hit, and we have plenty of sunshine and a nice gentle breeze!

Cheers
The Highwaymen