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The renowned 12th Portsmouth International Kite Festival took place at Southsea Common, Southsea, Hampshire on the Bank Holiday in August 2004 and was host to the first public flight and record attempt of the then Worlds Largest Kite. The record was finally ratified by Guinness in 2005 at an event in Kuwait.
Worlds Largest Kite
Some data about the kite:
The laid out flat size of the Kite is 42m x 25m (1050sq.m.). While flying it becomes a little smaller than this because of curvature of the edges when inflated, about 900sq.m. By comparison, previous record holders have been 635sq.m and 535sq.m
The laid out flat size of the Kite is 42m x 25m (1050sq.m.). While flying it becomes a little smaller than this because of curvature of the edges when inflated, about 900sq.m. By comparison, previous record holders have been 635sq.m and 535sq.m
The Kite took 750 hours to make, weighs approximately 180kgms and used 2500sq.m of specially loomed 50gm/sq.m ripstop nylon. The main flying line is 25 tonne breaking strain. Uniquely, this kite has a safety take down system that causes the kite to invert, deflate and descend to the ground- in seconds.
When inflated, the upper skin is 7m away from the lower skin - 3 people could stand on each other's heads and not reach the top. More than 1000 people could comfortably stand inside while it is inflated (and on the ground of course).
When inflated, the upper skin is 7m away from the lower skin -
The ‘Big One’ Flies over Southsea, Portsmouth
The Portsmouth International Kite Festival was delighted to have been chosen by the owners – the Al Farsi family of Kuwait, as the location for the first public flight of the ‘Big Kite’.
And it was big!
The Portsmouth International Kite Festival was delighted to have been chosen by the owners – the Al Farsi family of Kuwait, as the location for the first public flight of the ‘Big Kite’.
And it was big!
The Big One, built by Peter Lynn of New Zealand, is the new contender for the Guinness Book of Records ‘World’s Largest Kite’. Measuring some 42m by 25m (1050 sq m) it is 50% larger than the current record kite – the Megabite, which is also made and designed by Peter Lynn. During the weekend an official attempt was made at the record, the kite flew for the required 20 minutes and witness statements were taken to confirm this. However, Guinness need a newspaper report backing up the claim and unfortunately the dimensions were incorrectly calculated by the local newspaper who made the kite far small in square feet than it should have been!