Monday, October 13. 2008

Off Topic: Navy Chooses Kite Assisted Cargo Ship

Some of you may know that in the past I was a competitive kite flier. Yes, really. So, I keep an eye out for kite related news.

The Navy has selected kite-powered ships to deliver military equipment. They can "potentially reduce fuel costs by 20 to 30 percent, or roughly $1,600 a day per ship" according to SkySails, the company behind the endeavor. These huge soft (no "sticks") kites pack up into the size of a telephone booth when not in use. They are computer controlled and are used only when out in open water and outside the 3 mile zone.

The kites look to me like larger version of the "traction" kites my friends use to power "buggies" down our local beach and on the Ivanpah dry lake bed in Neveda. A slightly different version (one that floats) is used for kite surfing.

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