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This topic thread invites posts concerning the history of towing inhabited non-powered wings over water by using the power of boats and ships and submarines or special water-placed devices to provide resistance to the wind against the inhabited wings. There is quite a colorful history of powered water hulls being the resistive towing force for kiting various wings inhabited by humans. The names for the activity vary widely. Posts are invited about all forms of such kiting activity, as when the towing line is slack or is released or is broken accidentally, then gliding occurs; and if the inhabiting person is hanging from the wing, then a form of hang gliding occurs; if the inhabited person is not hanging from the wing, then hang gliding does not occur, I suggest. There will be interesting examples of such kiting in early history. There are some spectacular scenes. Person stories. And more. Look to submarine history, recreational history, water ski kiting history, war stories, scientific expeditions. Watch for the hang gliding that comes from accidents or emergencies; watch for hang gliding that occurs because the main kiting session is finished and return to water surface is accepted; watch for businesses dedicated to the water environment for tow up with dominant purpose of the release and gliding time. The under-tow time is special; the accident or incidental or deliberate hang gliding time has its special characteristics. Mostly soaring updrafts is not part of the picture ....yet. The future of this venue has more to offer; feel free to speculate about the future of aqua kiting that has significant hang gliding sectors to the operations; in the speculations consider XOHG (cross-ocean hang gliding) that may involve multiple aqua kiting by powered water hulls (the hull might be a water drogue gaining its resistance from waves and water currents of various qualities). Inhabited aqua kiting started way before the Ken Tibado era (and friends and customers), Thomas H. Purcell, Jr, Mike Burns, John Dickenson, Bill Bennett, Bill Moyes, and hundreds of others. The craft and challenges and stores of the very early can be fun, as well as the interesting stories of the later systems and players. And contemporary inhabited kiting over water is exploding in many forms that involve sectors of hang gliding, including kiteboarding with deliberate acrobatic sectors of hang gliding (mostly with limp-sail wings in the system); but watch for other contemporary aqua kiting that involves a hang gliding sectors. Have fun from time to time and add to this aqua kiting history. Many US citizens from the aqua kiting space have played keen roles in US hang gliding history; their stories are invited in this topic thread.
