Stacking Kites

[Guest]

Given that big kites turn slowly why do I not see more people stacking kites?
Two smaller kites flying faster ought to be great.
What are the drawbacks to stacking??
1st person experiences only please
If you're going to make claims as to aerodynamic superiority of any given design please detail your qualifications so as to allow for the discounting of nice person-itis;ie: PMU style claims with no qualifications or merely a half baked opinion you've heard elsewhere.
Aroha nui
Krash

[cyclone]

ive stacked a 16x2 on a 16aero2 in lite wind and found that it generated loads of pull- more than enough to get planing in 8 knots... however, the pull was very downwind and i could not hold ground upwind even though i was edging hard.

i would draw the conclusions that stacked kites dont go upwind as well, they are a pain to launch and almost impossible to water relaunch...

that said, i have heard that its better to use smaller kites for stacking but then whats the piont if you have a big one which you can relaunch?

anyways, it aint much fun in light wind regardless...bring out the mountain board!!!

[pjgold123]

The problem with stacking has got to be relaunch I can imagine it would be almost imposible, the other thing is the front kites "wind shadow" so you won't get 2 times the power of 1 kite more like 1.5 times.
I did have a thought on bumping up the power though, I would love to try attaching a 2 line flexifoil to the front lines of 4 line inflatable.

Cheers
Pete

[funalex]

you can go upwind easily whith guerilla stacked...go to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/arcusers/files/FunAleX/

choose stack.xls and you could know the lengh of lines to use and the setting of the differents kites !!!

[Robsw6]

Stacking kites is funny as hell....

Last month in tarifa there was v little wind on one day..6-8knots, no-one on the water, so we stacked a 16m & 20m X2. Again, there's no upwind performance even with a mutant with BIG fins, but you plane in almost nothing and can do really floaty aerials

Downside is slight rub damage from the lines on the lower kite (fortunately mine was the 20m !) SO i'm not doing it with my shiny new X3's

[chicagokitesurfer]

We stack Guerilla kites in light winds here in CHicago quite a bit. A huge advantage over inflatos in that they will not fall outta the sky in light winds when a lull hits. With an 18/13m stack, even though its 31m of kite, the pull would be more than a 21m inflato, but not a huge amount more. But, the pull is significantly more and the setup is fairly easy to do, even a self launch. I've relaunched a stack 2 times now, very luckily I might add. The line lengths are trick and the "shadow" of the first kite is not a factor, its the depower necessary on the top kite. the rear lines typically need to be 4-5 inches longer on the top kite to allow it to respond better, but its depowered, so it doesn't generate as much power. For instance, a 10m Guerilla and a 13m Guerilla are about equal to my 18m Slingshot (Fuel 17m), alone. However, two 13m Guerillas are more than a 21m Slingshot (Fuel 19m). Add a floaty board with 40m lines and 7-8kts of wind is all you need.

V
http://www.chicagokitesurfing.com

[Krash]

Thank you one and all for your kind and rerasoned input .
Great to see the lack of hysterical ,jingoistic utterings.
Next step is to try stacking !!
Krash