Wind Weapon = Original KiteWing way back in 1989 ??

Ok, I wrote about the Wing Sails or Power Foils which had/have a double sided sail AND there seemed to be little or NO interest ... I guess if the current sails are working, why go to more trouble ? Weight and cost are obvious issues.

Another concept that may be coming of interest is the hydrofoil. We'll see where that goes and IF.

There is a sail called a kitewing that I wrote about in the winter section more than once. It is more rare that we hear about them on the water. However, it is NOT unheard of - as seen here...

from kitewingUSA

And so, I thought this was a fairly new concept - especially on water. And then I found this on youtube and it suggests the original ideas for the kitewing have been around for a long, long time. Tom Magruder was an avid windsurfer and his buddy, Robert Groule was a hang glider.

The main difference is that the wing machine was attached to the board. Now they are using smaller boards and NO attachment. This looks a great deal like the current "kitewing". Is there a link? Nowadays we do NOT see anyone with a kitewing and windsurf board... We also do not all have Gorge like conditions ...

Perhaps it is just history re-inventing or repeating itself ?

In the film "The Windsurfing Movie II" Kai Lenny tried the wind weapon of the 80's...
https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=450359371376
No idea how long that link will be good.

Here's another youtube with Tom Magruder:



Found a youtube video where they assemble and sail a kitewing with a board.
Even as a windsurfer, I am asking myself - would i even try that ??


Personally feel these kite wings are best suited to land and ice/snow...
There are plenty of videos on that - just search google, youtube, vimeo, etc ....

Jump forward to 2023 and now windwings are VERY popular - especially with foils !!

It also looks like a German tried to redo the "wind weapon" in 2017 !!

https://www.surf-magazin.de/