Soft single skin kites are the least complex of all the power kites.
The best known design is the NASA Parawing or NPW. For more, see rogallo wing. This is a very simple kite with mixed performance. It has excellent pull, but is slow to maneuver and suffers from a limited wind window. Its simple construction and forgiving design make it very popular among hobbyists and some traction enthusiasts, especially ski- and sledge-borne expeditions across both Arctic and Antarctic lands, but its drawbacks make it unsuitable for high efficiency and many water-borne sports.
There are also soft single skin kites designed to be used on sailing ships as a free flying spinnaker substitute. There are significant advantages to having the spinnaker catching wind further above the surface of the water than is normal. This design was tested in the 2002 Louis Vuitton Regatta by the Oracle Americas Cup team.
Famous quotes containing the words soft, single, skin and/or kite:
“This, mayhap, was not logic, but it was something more potent, more real than logic—the soft insinuating voice of Sentiment.”
—Emmuska, Baroness Orczy (1865–1947)
“The embers glowing in his bosom could set the world on fire, but they cannot warm the heart of a single human being.”
—Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)
“You flicker. I cannot touch you.
I put my hands among the flames. Nothing burns.
And it exhausts me to watch you
Flickering like that, wrinkly and clear red, like the skin of a mouth.”
—Sylvia Plath (1932–1963)
“What is to be done with people who can’t read a Sunday paper without messing it all up?... Show me a Sunday paper which has been left in a condition fit only for kite flying, and I will show you an antisocial and dangerous character who has left it that way.”
—Robert Benchley (1889–1945)