Editing Power kite (section)

==History==
===19th century===
In the 1820s, [[George Pocock (inventor)|George Pocock]] used kites of increased size to propel carts on land and ships on the water, using a four-line control system—the same system in common use today. Both carts and boats were able to turn and sail upwind. The kites could be flown for sustained periods.<ref name="Jelling">Jakob Jelling [http://www.kitesurfingnow.com/kitesurfing-facts/history-of-kitesurfing.shtml History of kitesurfing] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061129054908/http://www.kitesurfingnow.com/kitesurfing-facts/history-of-kitesurfing.shtml |date=29 November 2006 }} Kitesurfingnow</ref> The intention was to establish kitepower as an alternative to horsepower, partly to avoid the hated "horse tax" that was levied at that time.<ref name="Lynn1">Peter Lynn [http://www.aquilandiafestival.com/inter2-surf1.htm A brief history of kitesurfing] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060819073552/http://www.aquilandiafestival.com/inter2-surf1.htm |date=19 August 2006 }}, Aquilandia.com, 2006</ref> Aviation pioneer [[Samuel Cody]] developed several "[[man-lifting kite]]s" and in 1903 succeeded in crossing the [[English Channel]] in a small collapsible canvas boat powered by a kite.<ref>[http://www.design-technology.org/military.htm Samuel Franklin Cody and his man-lifting kite], www.design-technology.org, 2005</ref>

===20th century===
[[File:US4708078 fig 10.png|thumb|1984 patent of the Legaignoux brothers<ref>{{cite patent |country= US |number= 4708078 |title= Propulsive wing with inflatable armature |pridate= Nov 16, 1984 |inventor= Bruno T. Legaignoux, Dominique M. Legaignoux}}</ref>]] 
[[File:Peter Lynn avec un Tri-D - Dieppe - dsdm04271.jpg|thumb|[[Peter Lynn]] lifting a kite in [[Dieppe]], September 1988]]

In the late 1970s, the development of [[Kevlar]] then [[Dyneema|Spectra]] flying lines and more controllable kites with improved efficiency contributed to practical kite traction. In 1978, Ian Day's "FlexiFoil" kite-powered Tornado [[catamaran]] exceeded 40&nbsp;km/h.

In October 1977 Gijsbertus Adrianus Panhuise (Netherlands) received the first patent<ref>[http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publicationDetails/originalDocument?CC=NL&NR=7603691&KC=&FT=E], Patent NL7603691  (A) ― 11 October 1977</ref> for KiteSurfing. The patent covers, specifically, a water sport using a floating board of a surf board type where a pilot standing up on it is pulled by a wind catching device of a parachute type tied to his harness on a trapeze type belt. Although this patent did not result in any commercial interest, Gijsbertus Adrianus Panhuise could be considered as the originator of KiteSurfing.

On 28 August 1982 Greg Locke and Simon Carter, from [[Brighton]] UK, set the world record for kite traction at sea, travelling nearly 26 miles under wind power alone along the English channel.<ref>[http://www.kitelife.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Kite-Lines-v4-3.pdf], Kitelines Vol 4, No. 3, p60</ref> This followed a successful crossing of the English Channel from Sussex to France by Locke & Carter the previous year.

Through the 1980s, there were occasionally successful attempts to combine kites with canoes, [[ice skate]]s, snow skis,<ref name=Harris1>Mark Harris [http://alpha2.bmc.uu.se/mark/kayak/kayak_kite.html Sea kayaking and kites] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060703034411/http://alpha2.bmc.uu.se/mark/kayak/kayak_kite.html |date=3 July 2006 }}, July 2002</ref> [[water ski]]s and [[roller skates]].

Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Dieter Strasilla from [[Germany]] developed parachute-skiing and later perfected a kite-skiing system using self-made [[paraglider]]s and a ball-socket swivel allowing the pilot to sail upwind and uphill but also to take off into the air at will.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.skywing.de|title=Dieter Strasilla}}</ref> Strasilla and his Swiss friend Andrea Kuhn used this invention also in combination with surfboards and snowboards, grasskies and self-made buggies.<ref>{{cite video |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2ZzPXzK6wg  |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211212/c2ZzPXzK6wg| archive-date=2021-12-12 |url-status=live|title= History of paragliding: Andrea with surfboard and skywing |date= 1987 |author=  Dieter Strasilla}}{{cbignore}}</ref> One of his patents describes in 1979 the first use of an inflatable kite design for kitesurfing.<ref>Patent DE2933050</ref>

Two brothers, Bruno Legaignoux and Dominique Legaignoux, from the Atlantic coast of [[France]], developed kites for kitesurfing in the late 1970s and early 1980s and patented an inflatable kite design in November 1984, a design that has been used by companies to develop their own products.

In 1990, practical [[kite buggy]]ing was pioneered by [[Peter Lynn]] at Argyle Park in [[Ashburton, New Zealand]]. Lynn coupled a three-wheeled buggy with a forerunner of the modern [[parafoil]] kite. Kite buggying proved to be popular worldwide, with over 14,000 buggies sold up to 1999.