Hey Gang,
Anyone out there sailing a Bantock Kite that wouldn’t mind telling me how they like their boat, its general sailing character, and any recommendations/advice regarding the kite? I will not be building it myself but will commision a builder for it. I will post my own review when mine comes in. Thanks!
sdswabbie
hi there
well i am sailing kite right now. and i love it. the damm thing is fast it spins on a dime. and tacks real well. the only change I made was to move the radio gear back. I heard the people had problems with forewards bouyancy. so far mine does not have this problem. but i am still testing. this boat is better than anything i have right now. just remember I have only had 3 weeks with it. so I could find problems with it. but right now. i am in love with this boat. this is a totaly home built boat. even the sail. so what i get . may not be what you get. I can talk you though what problems i had
cougar
Cougar,
Thanks for the reply! Congratulations on completing your Kite! I remember seeing your posts on the Kite on some of the IOM forum sites. Will you be posting any pictures soon? I am not familiar with the actual Kite boat plans, but where is your winch located and what type is it. Also, what size is the battery pack? The Kite that I ordered is the one built by Mike Hughes. The winch is placed forward of the keel trunk and the radio gear/batteries are aft of the mast. I am glad to hear that you are pleased with the boat’s performance. Does it seem to sail better up or downwind? How is it in lighter air? Thanks and congratulations again Cougar.
bruce
good luck with your kite. Mike does a great job with his hulls. and you will probaly get better results than me. The boat is real easy to build untill you get to that G@D D##m bow. this boat i have , is my 5th. try at it. and what i did was settle for what i thought was the closest. my winch is set up behind the keel. I use a trolley system with the pulley wheel up at the bow, i also keep the battery behind the keel. this is justa quirk with me. as I kinda of like keep the wieght alittle aft. the radio i use I a simple futaba 2 channel with a hitec winch. if you email me. i can put together some picture to send to you. i got alot of help from other people with kites. and this was very helpfull.
my kite is no where near perfect. i am still trying to build it. and still making better sails
cougar
i will look for some pictures to post
the pictures of my sails are on my kite
Cougar,
I too like to keep the batteries more towards the aft of the boat. My Ericca is set up that way and the Soling 1 Meter as well. I would like very much to see pictures of your yacht. Check your PM. Thanks
just a little note to tell you. My kite has exploded. so for those who are making it. be very carefull around the fin trunk. i was racing on the weekend and was doing quite well. untill after a downwind run. i made the turn at the mark. and within a boat lenght (after turning the boat) the mast snapped. then the boat fell over the . we we got to it. the fin trunk has snapped free of the hull.( must have been alot of stress on it) the jib had blow apart. I had used just double sided tape. this I was excpecting. but not the mast and fin. so right now. I dont have a kite in the water. I have a parts box.
And yes i will be redoing it
cougar
Cougar,
Sorry to hear that, what bad luck! What changes do you plan to make when you have her repaired?
sdswabbie
bruce
i am redoing the hull. my boat was almost completely cut in half. I will be adding some surports to the fin box. this is the big concern of rme. as the sail. i can put down to my own sails, just not being good enough, the mast snapping. well maybe i did not have the rigging right. but to have the keel break free. this is what worries me. you should also realise that I build my own boats. i dont have a fibreglass hull. the hull you have will more than likly be better than what i did. I am using balsa , then fibreglass. the trunk should have been fine. as all my other boats are done this way. the only thing i could figure was speed. could there been more restance . and that is what weakend the trunk. and finaly worked it free? this boat is fast.
what i plan on doing is rebuilding the hull. then putting in full trunk surports. 2 full bulkheads not just struts
cougar
My Kite should be shipping this week and I hope to be sailing it shortly after the Holiday. Here are a few pix that the builder sent me to whet the appetite.
Overall hull view showing Craig Smith type fins
Aft shot of skiff deck showing sheeting arrangements
Foredeck view. My Kite was built a little different from what Mike Hughes usually makes as it incorporates an arm winch instead of an RMG drum winch. She will be making her official debut to the IOM racing circuit this Feb at the Region 6 Championship in San Diego
bruce how did you do so far? i like the look of it. mine is back in the water. but alittle heavier. i just used a fillet of fibreglass around the fin trunk. this will not come apart. :zbeer:
cougar,
it hasn’t hit the water yet. The arm winch sheeting needed to be reconfigured and I am waiting on the rig. The floor that the winch is mounted to is being replaced and repositioned and the servo is also being swapped out. Sometime next week at the earliest. I cannot wait!
Bruce,
What were the issues with the arm-winch sheeting (if you don’t mind sharing)? Is the new set-up still arm winch?
My set up is very similar to yours - but with the arm winch configured in the same way as in the Binks boats, i.e. the servo is a tad further forward in the boat and slighty offset from the centerline. Sheeting out moves the sail arm aft until it just about touches the bulkhead at the forward end of the cockpit, while sheeting in moves the sail arm forward.
What interested me about your setup was that you managed to get the servo both a little further aft and on the center line - both of which looked better in terms of weight placement than mine.
Hi Muzza,
The setup will still incorporate an arm winch, but it may be changed from a HiTec 5955 to a 5745. The problem with the original setup is that the winch would have been under constant load when the sheets were pulled in. As the arm moved aft, the sheets were pulled in. Too much heat and battery drain. I am not doing the re-modification myself, but the new set-up is supposed to be slightly off centerline and when sheeted in the lines will be directly over the winch arm removing the load from the winch. (This setup will use the 5745 servo). If the original servo is kept, I think the servo will be placed farther forward and in-line with the boat. Mike Hughes from Texas is the builder of this boat. During the early stages of building we decided that I would be the prototype Kite for using an arm-winch. I will post a few pictures when I get the boat back, hopefully this week.
Many thanks Bruce.
It sounds like your new setup will be much the same as mine. I also use a 5745.
As we are both hoping to get to the R6 regatta we can compare notes there. I know your entry is in already. I still need to send mine off (and I know Steve L is chasing).
Finally got the Kite wet. Delayed sea trials a little to make a few changes to the A-rig. Had it out sailing this Saturday. It took a little bit of water from a fitting that popped up, then a lot of water when I didn’t place a deck patch properly. When I did have it sailing, I enjoyed it very much and was pleased with its performance. Mike Eldred showed up with the prototype Disco he built. Brad Gibson used that boat in the recent Region 6 IOM champs and the boat was still set-up the way he had tuned it. Mike Eldred is a skilled sailor and ya know what? Brad Gibson can tune a boat… Anyhow, the Kite needed tuning and slowly but surely, the Kite’s performance increased as we tested each other’s boat speed. The wind and light died out toward the end making further testing an tuning futile. I am confident at this stage that this boat will be competitive. I will be working on the rig and tuning this week and the boat will be in it’s first club race on Sunday. In the pix below, the Kite is the green boat…
great pics. this boat looks awesome and i hope it turns out fast. i like mine too:zbeer: