KiteJan

I had been thinking about a vented kite for some time as flying a standard Revolution (EXP or 1.5 SLE) in strong winds isn't much fun as the kite becomes very fast and very sensitive. Given the point is having the kite under your control rather than the winds, this defeats the point of flying the Revolution in the first place.

I also always got the feeling, both with my custom 1.5 and the commercial EXP, that they weren't really designed for strong winds and if I persisted bits would start to fall off.

So in March 2004 I started work on a vented sail for the existing SLE spars - I wanted (as usual) as simple, but striking sail design - and one that would accommodate the vents easily. After messing around a bit I came up with the design used and in flight it looks very nice.

Made: April 2004

Details

Width	Height	Depth	Weight	Spars	Sail	Windrange
234 cm	-	-	-	Revolution SLE spars	Ripstop Nylon	15+ mph (but possibly more!)
Cost
About £15 for the fabric (2m of Ripstop, 6m of Mesh, 3m Dacron). All spars were reused from the 1.5 SLE as both kites won't be in use at the same time.

Good Things

• Generates little pull in strong winds.
• Accurate and smooth.
• Does all the Rev like things.
• Looks very good in the sky (but as I designed the sail I would say that).

Bad Things

• Doesn't work at all in lower wind speeds!

Final Thoughts

Very good - works very well in the sort of winds that the Revolution 1.5 SLE doesn't like. Generates very little pull and maintains accurate flight.

It won't be the most frequent flyer in my kite bag since it's designed for the really strong wind days, but it will have a place.