To all the kite designers out there, if the cost wasn't an issue, and you didn't care about having to market it, purely making the Bugatti of kites, what features would you add?

The new aluua material seems amazing but I noticed ocean rodeo only used it on the LE,. I am assuming due to cost. If it's so much lighter and so much more rigid, why not make the whole kite out of it?

So, therefore, my question is, why not build the ultimate kite? Due to increased rigidity surely it could be a single strut, dropping weight further?

Just curious as to why no manufacture has done this? I understand it may be too expensive for mainstream but surely high-performance guys/ race maybe? Richard Brandson would buy one for sure.

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Gazuki said..
The new aluua material seems amazing but I noticed ocean rodeo only used it on the LE,. I am assuming due to cost. If it's so much lighter and so much more rigid, why not make the whole kite out of it?

LE and struts.
Because the current Aluula Gold material weighs 75gsm, so it's significantly lighter than 150gsm Dacron, but D2 canopy material is 50gsm.

Have a listen to this interview with Richard Myerscough the CEO and Founder of Ocean Rodeo.
The Aluula Company are working on a ripstop version of the material but like the bladder material it's a way off.
May be someone will do a combination of Aluula and Dyneema Composite Fabric (Cuban Fibre) that is currently down to 17.4 grams per square. The issue I think will be figuring out how to stitch it. O.R. did a lot of work to establish a method to stitch the Aluula gold fabric

kitesurf365.com/aluula-composites-episode-135?utm_source=seabreeze.com.au

The ultimate kite for me and the ultimate kite for you are 2 different things.

So...... The Bugatti of kites would be a kite specifically designed and set up for your weight and riding style.

Arguably the ultimate, no expense spared kites already exist. They're foil racing kites. Those things have a huge amount of detail and complexity and ultra high quality materials. They cost shedloads already.

You don't need a particularly high end kite for surfing, freeriding or boosting.

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Gorgo said..
You don't need a particularly high end kite for surfing, freeriding or boosting.

No u don't.. tell that to (some) shops continuously selling the latest model to peeps after four hours worth of lessons.. Who then end up tearing shredding smashing or loosing it to sea anyway..... Or having injuries.. . 'or' giving it up altogether
I really don't understand it.. Never have never will either I don't thinK.. Sorry..

The covid19

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Gazuki said..

Just curious as to why no manufacture has done this? I understand it may be too expensive for mainstream but surely high-performance guys/ race maybe? Richard Brandson would buy one for sure.

Best had a go back in 2005/06 using Cuban Fibre. The Hellfish was 100% Cuban Fibre but I think they ran into problems with delamination and stitching. They changed to Cuban Fibre on just the leading edges on some kites (Yarga Pro?), then eventually they stopped altogether.

I think their experience has made kite companies a bit shy about revolutionary material.

BTW In the paragliding world competition wings are about as high end as you can get.

Around 100 cells. Mini-ribs on the trailing and/or leading edge (leading to 200 virtual cells). Multi-cell diagonal ribs passing through holes with the weave of the cloth lined up in the load directions. 3D shaping and billow and all the rest. Nitinol rods to shape the leading edge. 32g cloth.

Race kites are not far behind at 65 cells and pretty much the same technology and specs.

A few years ago a paragliding company built a wing called the Phantom. It was an exercise where they built a low grade wing (think a surf kite) with no limit on the cost. The end result had 99 cells and all the bells and whistles. It cost $10,000. They had a waiting list of people buying them.

In my experience, very few "good" pilots bought them. It was mostly "kooks" with more money than skill. "Kooks" is not really a fair assessment. Some were older and could afford it and thought it was worthwhile having higher performance and higher safety in a single wing.

I found some interesting stats for the Nova Phantom paraglider, which should translate reasonably well to any race foil kite.

99 cells
804 needle eye ribs (diagonal ribs passing through the cell walls)
3200 crossport vents (air holes and weigh reduction in the ribs and diagonals).
3000 separate components

The sewing process is pretty repetitive, but it's all done by a person using a fairly normal sewing machine. It takes 44 hours to sew a 50 cell wing, so guess about 90 hours to sew a high performance wing.