Airborne 30 footer

A Cone of Silence tries a spinnaker replacement kite

Showing that spinnaker replacement kites aren't just for the big boys like the 66ft AAPT in the Rolex Sydney-Hobart Race, so the radical 30 footer The Cone of Silence will be flying one in the Strathfield Pittwater to Coffs Harbour Race on 2 January 2005.

James Neill won the class trophy in last year's 230 mile race with his ultralight Reichel/Pugh designed flyer, and is hoping to make it two in a row by using an enormous free-flying kite in place of a large spinnaker.

The OutLeader(tm) kite will fly in the strong stable breeze well above the level of the boat's masthead, providing plenty of power. Since it's sheeted from the deck rather than from the boat's mast, it won't heel the boat, greatly improving control.

Like the 420sqm kite seen in practice for the Hobart Race on Sean Langman's 66-foot AAPT, Neill's OutLeader kite was designed and built by KiteShip Corporation of Martinez, California, who have been developing sailing kites for more than 25 years.

The 280sqm kite is so much bigger, and provides so much more power and lift than The Cone of Silence's usual 180 square metre spinnaker, that the flying 30 footer might really take off. "If we get a 30-knot southerly," says Neill, "we're wondering if the kite could even get the boat completely airborne.

Several other skippers are planning to join AAPT and The Cone of Silence, and fly OutLeader kites in the Sydney Hobart and Pittwater to Coffs Harbour races. With barely two working weeks to go before the holiday season starts, KiteShip's sailmaking elves will be busy indeed.