PeterHazael said...
Doesn't the mast base transfer the power of the sail to the board, (ie guy cribb downforce tutorial) and if you attached a kite to the base then it would mean less power?
no, you just summarize vectors of all forces and kite is pulling you in right direction.
Same idea should be applied to sail boats and if only new rules allow I will have no
scruples to use it instead of spinnaker in next America Cup.
I think that simple experiment could be easy done with rope attached to windsurfing board and the pulled very gently by small boat or even RC boat.
As you said that could be a little bit different ( one force only forward) to kite ( two forces - up and forward)