The Kite Boat Project

Sam Light has been pumping out the YouTube content lately, but his Kite Boat Project videos really caught our eye. Bringing back memories of Don Montague’s efforts from the past, we caught up with Sam to get the lowdown on his own interpretation that he has been working on. Find out all about it right here!

Kite boats have been around for a while, and we’ve always featured them as an interesting concept. Most famously Don Montague was all in a while back, so it was great to see a resurgence in the form of Sam Light’s Hobie Cat conversion, we just had to sit down with him and get the low down! 

The Kite Boat Project, it looks like it’s been an exciting journey, where did it all start?

Hey Rou! All good thanks! Yes its been super fun, I have been interested in kite boats for a long time, I grew up sailing in small sailing dinghy’s before I kited, and back in the day I tried using my Topper sailing dinghy as a kite boat with my first ever kite with virtually no depower and it worked pretty good! I’ve always thought there is so much potential for kite boats, over the years I have done research, made proposals and I spoke to boat builders about trying to build a badass kiteboat that could cross oceans, but it would cost such a vast amount of money to even design such a boat, let alone build one. During the lockdown I had a eureka moment and realised I need to start smaller and build something within my means to test it and generate some interest behind the project. I remembered I was a part owner in a Hobie Cat 18 that was just sat rotting in a boat yard and never used, so I convinced the boys to let me turn it into a kite boat!

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You used to ride for Naish years ago, did you ever meet Don Montague and had you seen his kiteboat back in the day?

Don Montague is the man when it comes to kite boats! I’ve never met Don but I have watched his videos on YouTube countless times, he is a big inspiration and has pushed the envelope of kiteboats much further than anyone else. I learnt so much from watching his videos, I heard his kite boat got him a job at Google developing kites to create power! I should probably hit him up.

Did the Hobie Cat need much work to get it sea worthy?

It was easier to turn it into a kite boat than it was to try and sail it. I just took all the rigging off the boat, and got a custom outboard bracket made (check out the video).

The Hobie 18 is particularly well suited to kite boating as it has a long flat rocker line, apparently the smaller 16ft cats have more rocker so in theory they wont be as fast and good upwind. The 18 also has dagger boards which helps go upwind, I have experimented with and without the boards, you only need one dagger board on the leeward side to help go up wind, but you can stay upwind no problem without the dagger boards.

What adjustments did you have to make to attach the chicken loop to the mastfoot?

I wanted to keep it super simple so it was easy, safe and quick to use, I just tied a piece of strong Dyneema around the cross brace for the first few goes and attached the chicken loop straight to a loop in the rope. Then upgraded to a shackle so it was easier to quickly attach the chicken loop without having to release it. It’s nice to be able to launch the kite normally then attach it to the boat when the kite is in the air as the boat can be awkward to control when its on the beach with a kite attached to it.

Hobie Cats are notoriously hard to steer, possibly only beaten by Dart 18’s how’s the handling with the kite, have you got much control?

It’s almost easier to use with a kite attached to it than it is with sails! It’s surprisingly simple with a kite attached to it, provided you are a competent kite flyer and there is a decent breeze, it gets more complicated in light wind. It’s very sensitive to the power, you can go from 4 knots to 15 knots and back super quickly. It is very hard to turn upwind and tack, but it gybes very easily. It goes upwind just as good as with the sails, way better than a twin tip, you can get a similar angle to upwind as you can with a kite foil.

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The transfer of kite power feels harmonious, there’s no heeling motion. When sailing it in strong wind you are on the edge of your seat all the time, on a reach you are scared of ‘pitch polling’ meaning catapulting downwind. None of this happens with the kite as the kite lifts the bow up, if anything we need to get our weight forwards.

The first outing with the engine was pretty self sufficient, the second outing you got towed out there. Can you see self sufficiency in the future where you can launch and land the kite out at sea while on the boat?

I set out with the intention of being self-sufficient by adding the outboard engine, so it’s actually feasible to use without assistance, I didn’t want to rely on other people to help to me out. The only place to launch the boat is inside a sheltered harbour and there was no chance of flying a kite there, kites are effected way more than sails by wind shadows and gusts, kites are also banned in many harbours in the UK. On the first outing I had a pretty big outboard on the back with a long shaft and the outboard was dragging in the water and slowing us down a lot. Since then I have managed to arrange assistance from another boat when I am using it, I’m not sure what the best solution is for this yet, I think if kite boating was to become a thing you needs a small outboard, maybe a small electric engine that you can take off and store inside a hull. The Hobie cat is an awesome boat just as a cruiser with an outboard, it goes really well, I had 14 knots out of it.

Regarding launching and landing from the boat, that is actually fairly easy with some preparation before hand, using the same technique you would use to drift launch from a yacht. Lay out the lines before hand and attach to the kite prior to going out on the water, then pump up, throw the kite in and undo the lines and hope they come out good! The outboard really helps in light wind if you need to create line tension to launch the kite! I haven’t actually needed to do a water re-launch yet, I normally plan to set off from a beach.

Surely with the IOW staring at you on a daily basis that is in your sights, any chance of breaking a record for the circumnavigation? Fastest Kiteboat is in the bag I am sure haha.

No body has ever gone around the Isle Of Wight in one day on a kite boat yet, people have done it over two days but that was a long time ago when kites didn’t go upwind, kites have come on so much since then, they are way more efficient now which should make going upwind much easier. It’s going to happen, I am just waiting for it all to line up, we gave it one attempt already and failed, the tide and the wind did not come together and we aborted the mission 20 mins in! (check out the video). To make it around in one day you need to get the tide and wind absolutely perfect and then it would still take around 6-8 hours so it’s a big day in big waves and strong currents, it is there for the taking however!

Obviously it’s a two man job, who’s got the toughest job, the helmsman or the kite flyer?

The helmsman has had the toughest job up to now because the new tiller extension I made wasn’t up to the job so the rudders would pop up without warning, I have improved the tiller extension now so it should be easier. It’s super easy to use and helm if you have helmed a boat before, even if you haven’t most people could learn very quickly, in like 5 mins! Which is awesome how quickly you can give someone an experience, kitesurfing takes a long hard week of commitment to get going. Flying the kite is easy if you can kitesurf proficiently, you just need to have fairly good kite control and be aware of keeping line tension, flying the kite and managing the line tension becomes a lot harder in lighter wind, in strong wind 15+ knots its super easy to control and you use a big kite and long 27m lines so its slow, in less than 15 knots it gets harder to control the kite.  

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I normally just hit up all the homies and see whos about, it’s really fun that it is a group activity getting the kite boat going, it’s very different to normal solo kiting! It’s also really nice that you are not attached to the kite, so your not constantly tensing and fighting against the kite like you are when kitesurfing.

We have had 3 people on the boat as well, which is cool to take people on rides to experience it who have never helmed a boat or kited before! It’s a cool experience when the kite is pulling you along at 20 odd knots! Everybody is laughing along having a great time!

How does relaunch work when you crash?

I have only crashed the kite once whilst using it so far! That was when we tried to go around the IOW and the wind was so light I just couldn’t keep the kite in the sky, then there was no chance of launching in 5 knots of wind once it was wet. I think it would be easy to launch the kite in strong wind, similar to kite foiling, you don’t want to crash any LEI in less than 10 knots!

Even if it all goes wrong your all just chilling on a nice platform out the water though, it’s not like your swimming in miles alone! If you have an outboard you could reverse away from the kite to launch it in very light wind.

Have you had any feedback from all the yachties and other boat users in the area? What’s next with the boat?

I had lots of feedback on my YouTube videos, it’s crazy how many experts there are out there! Haha. I want to set up a race with another Hobie 18 with sails, I think it would be really interesting to compare speed, I hope the kite can smash the sails which would be crazy when there is so little development! I think kite boats have massive potential to go long distances, my pipe dream is go across the Atlantic one day. I want to bridge the gap between yachties and kitesurfers, obviously sailing is a much bigger industry and I hope if I can create enough interest and momentum I could get build a bigger following and get some proper investment into actually developing kite boats further.

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Alex Thompson is often around those parts and I know you’ve worked with him on some projects before. Any chance of an ultimate kite boat collaboration?

Hopefully! I text Alex Thompson and asked if he wanted to race my kiteboat but he is sailing offshore preparing for the biggest race of his life, the Vendee Globe 2020 which kicks off in about 2 months, it’s an insane sailing race going around the world! Hopefully he wins and next year he has some time to come kite boating. He’s a cool dude and he loves kiting!

While we’ve got you hear Sam, what’s your plans for the year for kiteboarding, everything has gone a little crazy, are you planning on staying local for a while?

All the plans have been thrown up in the air, but to be honest I have been loving spending more time at home during the summer, normally I travel the majority of the summer months but its been so refreshing taking a step back from it all and having time for other projects such as the kite boat. It’s been good to re-evaluate my schedule and how I allocate my time, I realised how much time competing has taken up over the years, which I don’t regret at all, but I am ready for new challenges now. I’ve been in this whirlwind of competitions and photoshoots for 10 years+, travelling to the same places at the same time of year, doing the same thing. I want to mix it up and do some different stuff, I’m not getting any younger and there is loads of crazy missions and projects I want to do!

I actually bought a boat (check out the video) to do some more sailing/kite missions in the UK, and possibly even sail around the UK next year with all my kite gear on board… watch this space.

I’ve been getting more involved at Slingshot helping out managing the international team so I have a more computer based work on my plate keeping the team fed and happy which I am really enjoying! Having done it for so many years I know how the system works, I’ve been in their shoes and I want to use my experience to help the next generation succeed.

I’m really enjoying creating YouTube videos, I am super motivated to keep building my channel, the YouTube algorithm is way nicer than Instagram or Facebook, I wish I started earlier, look out for new videos every week!

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Good luck with it all, can we come and crew next time we are on Hayling?

Absolutely, just hit me up anytime you want to go out and I will make it happen!

Thanks Sam!

Thanks Rou, catch you soon!