Tubekite Design
Kitesurfing: Fascination and Challenge
RGD™ has been a member of the North Kiteboarding tubekite development since the beginning of 2007. Together with the best and most experienced Kiteboarders worldwide, RGD™ has been facing the transforming challenges of the kite market. The results of this relationship are well exhibited by the models EVO, BUZZ and VEGAS.
This highly professional testing team, in combination with the interdisciplinary knowledge base and experience of RGD™, allows the exact realization of the requisites specific to each target group. A structured approach and detailed project planning make an exactly predetermined introduction into the market possible, and guarantee a high level in planning security. The demands made upon the market leader North rise from year to year, so the demands made upon the development rise correspondingly.
North offers its customers the greatest, most innovative and multi-faceted range of products on the market. No other manufacturer invests more in the development of new products. The sizeable development budget allows RGD™ freedom from orthodox approaches, and thereby makes an important contribution to our strength in innovation.
The software, created by commission of North Kiteboarding, was optimally fitted to the requirements of the development processes in a joint project between RGD™ and the software producer, and is continually being optimized. That excludes nearly all limitations in the designing process.
However, development and innovation are not by any means exclusive guarantees for a successful product. All factors in the supply chain need to be intertwined. That is why RGD™ is also active in the area of product implementation. That is how new design features are tested directly in the production workshops and incorporated into the working process.
The Future
In the struggle between the systems, tubekites – with a market share of around 95 % on the entire “water market” – lie notably ahead of softkites with a mere 5 % of the market share. One of the advantages of the inflated tubes is that they offer a significantly greater number of options for various geometric shapes. Furthermore, they fulfill certain aerodynamic requisites that other construtions do not. In contrast to the common misconception that double-walled profiles always afford a performance advantage, in the case of surfing kites, it is just the other way around. Tubekites have noticeable strengths over a broad range of wind speeds, with their round-nosed profile and a simple upper sail.
Hardly any other designing office has as broad a knowledge base in the areas of sailing, flexible airfoils, sofkites and tubekites as RGD™. This know-how continually allows a synergy effect – an unmeasurable advantage in the fast life of the tubekite sector.
The future will bring further improvements in all areas of construction and manufacturing. The performance spectrum of tubekites is nowhere near to being exhausted. RGD™ will also provide for new impulses far into the future.
