The Genki was created by Nop Velthuizen in the mid-'80s. The kite is based loosely on the multi-flare, though the aspect ratio has been dramatically heightened to 3:1. The Genki can be made with two or three spines, with each spine sporting two flares. Genkis are usually rather large, though they don't have to be, and are popular for lofting cameras. They're stable kites, reach wonderfully high angles, and present a broad surface for artwork.
I've wanted a Genki for years, and finally got around to doing something about it over my winter break, at the end of December, 1994. I had the basic plans from an article Nop had written in an old issue of KiteLines, which showed a 3m kite. I scaled it down slightly to 13' so that the bulk of the body would fit more easily on a 41" wide roll of fabric. The resulting kite has just over 50 square feet of sail area. (34K)
The Beasty is a Genki derivative I came up with in November of '93 whilst bored in a class. Originally conceived of as a manta ray sort of thing, the sketch sat in my notebook for about 5 months before I drew a template and cut it out. That template spent another year by its lonesome in my workroom before I finally got around to doing something with it. The kite got renamed Beasty on the day of its maiden flight -- after I'd already written "manta ray genki" on the trailing edge. Typical.
Beasty is my first single line kite made of Icarex and fully framed with pultruded graphite. It's 6' wide and about 40" tall. The original graphic called for a tail, and on the kite's first test flight, I discovered that the changes in the aspect ratio and distribution of weight from the original genki design requires a tail. As a result, I made tubular tail from the remaining fabric. Though 4" in diameter for most of its length, the tail incorporates tapers at the top and bottom, such that it's mouth is 8" wide and it ends in a point. (52K)
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