Adaptive Design
Nissin Sitski
Taking a stock Nissin sitski and making it my own was a major undertaking. This rig is a great racing rig, but I wanted something a little more suitable to the way I ski.
I altered the setup and many of the components including:
-Wind Tunnel Tested Carbon Fibre Leg Fairing
-Elka Suspension (I designed the layout and Elka built it)
-Custom parts to reduce ride height and leg position
Seated Snowkite Sitski
As Team Leader on the Icelandic Challenge, the biggest undertaking was developing a piece of equipment that would enable us to Snowkite 300kms?
I knew it needed to have a lower Centre of Gravity and be more stable than a regular Sitski (like the Nissin).
So a Bi Ski design was an option and testing has gone better than expected.! (watch this space?)
Quad Kite Buggy
We took a Libre Quad Buggy and found a simple way to make it steerable by hand.
It was a super stable outfit for us to learn in and develop Kite skills from, including some screaming runs down at Perranporth Beach, Cornwall.
Seated Kite Landboard
Looking at other avenues which would help cross training for the Icelandic Challenge, I thought a Mountain Board with seat and foot cradle might be the nearest thing? It was pretty tough to use, but do-able and as the kite skills improve so will the Landboarding.
Flexifoil Adapted Kite Buggy
An upgrade on the Libre Quad, much lighter and higher performance. Using the experience of the engineers at Draft Wheelchairs we came up with a steering handle, one hand steers, one hand flies the kite. Takes time to master and keeps you on your toes. Need to strap in and get some air next.......
Seated KiteBoard Rig
Wanting to get on Water and have a crack at KiteSurfing, using my experience from Waterskiing I tried a typical waterski frame and wakeboard and now have a Flexifoil Kiteboard, frame with Nissin seat.
More testing needed but it works.......
Mark 3 SnowKite Rig
Using the lower Bi Ski leg of a HOC (Hands on Concepts) Glide Ski with our own leg and seat configuration, I think we've cracked it!
I skied it indoors and it worked great, so much lighter and more responsive than the previous models. Can't wait to get on snow with a kite.
