Bow kite - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Bow kites are leading edge inflatable kite

Leading edge inflatable kite

A leading edge inflatable kite or LEI is a single skin kite with inflatable bladders providing structure. It is useful as a power or traction kite. These kites are flown using 2, 4 or 5 control lines and a bar. A LEI is a great kite for water use because the inflated bladders cause it to float on...

s that incorporate a bridle on the leading edge. They can be identified by a flat, swept-back profile and concave trailing edge allowing the kite greater depower. Bow kite design was pioneered by Bruno Legaignoux, and have been licensed to many kite manufacturers.

Bow kites have a wider wind range than C-kites (traditional LEI kites

Leading edge inflatable kite

), so two kite sizes (such 7m² and 12m²) could form an effective quiver for winds ranging from 10 to 30+ knots for a 75 kg rider. This makes bow kites more suitable for beginners to kite sports; however, they are also used by professionals.

Bow kites are used in a variety of kite related sports, including kitesurfing

Kitesurfing

Kitesurfing or Kiteboarding is an adventure surface water sport that has been described as combining wakeboarding, windsurfing, surfing, paragliding, and gymnastics into one extreme sport. Kitesurfing harnesses the power of the wind to propel a rider across the water on a small surfboard or a...

and snowkiting

Snowkiting

Snowkiting is an outdoor winter sport where people use kite power to glide on snow or ice. The sport is similar to kitesurfing, but with the footwear used in snowboarding or skiing. In the early days of snowkiting, foil kites were the most common type; nowadays some kitesurfers use their water gear...

. Because of their depower range, they allow users to combat problems caused by gusts, making them safer to use. They are also used by kite surfers

Kitesurfing

for wave riding, as their unique shape lends itself to this discipline.

Early Kites

While early bow kites allowed kite to be fully depowerable, they had a number of disadvantages compared to classic C-Kites

Leading edge inflatable kite

. These included:

They can get inverted and not fly properly
They are a bit twitchy and not as stable
They have heavier bar pressure, which makes them more tiring to fly
They are more difficult to relaunch (except if they are on the leading edge).
They lack a "sled boosting" effect when jumping (The jumps are higher and longer, but the technique for jumping is different).

Modern Bow Kites

In 2006, second generation flat LEI kites were developed which combine 100% depower and easy, safe relaunch with higher performance, less performance penalties and reduced bar pressure. The bridle and control bar design has later been refined to give a more direct feel and less bar pressure while small modifications to the kites themselves has provided more stable kites less likely to invert.
Ongoing developments are bringing improvements to this style of kite every year and they are now extremely popular with riders of all abilities.

Safety

Although bow kites make kite flying safer, it is always advisable to seek professional training, as accidents can still occur.

External links

Extreme Kites (www.ExtremeKites.com.au) - Leading Power Kite Information Portal, Forums, Videos, Reviews, News and Galleries.

List of available Bow and Hybrid Kites - Gear-database containing most of the available kites for kitesrufing.

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

Early Kites

Modern Bow Kites

Safety

See also

External links