We’re kiting!
Smooth seas and fair winds, such are the current sailing conditions for Race for Water, which is heading towards the SAMOAN islands, her next destination, with an 8-day stopover on the cards. A very favourable forecast then, which has enabled intensive use of the autopiloted kite, set up in collaboration with our partner SKYSAILS YACHT.
Jean Marc Normant, captain: “We’ve been sailing under kite for some days with fairly high daily average speeds for us: 130 miles a day.
For a brief period, we produced hydrogen whilst sailing under kite.
This energy mix is really interesting, even though the management of these different types of resources takes up a great deal of our time.
Yesterday, in what were perfect conditions for using the kite, we pushed the towing limits and exceeded two tonnes on the line. Whilst we were pushing the limits for use of the kite a little further than usual, Martin and Anne-Laure were on watch. Meantime, I was keeping an eye on the internal structure and the winch in particular, which enables the towing line to be wound in. The latter is supported on a composite structure. I then noticed a slight distortion of one of the supporting parts when under high load. Having asked Martin and Anne-Laure to dump the kite, I carried out some reinforcement work, adding a bolted metal structure on the section showing some signs of weakness. After 2hrs of work, we got the kite back up and flying.”