Archive for the ‘Kites’ Category

Mad August

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

We always feel a bit of a rush in August at Goodwinds – kiteflying demand for carbon, fiberglass, and line goes sky high, LARPers are making boffers and holding retreats, and industry demand for carbon fiber rods and tubes keeps up at a strong pace (carbon is awesome stuff!).  To top it off, Paul and Derrick took some well deserved vacation time in the heat of the summer.  Of course, Paul might have called his vacation “work,” inasmuch as flying to Bogota, Columbia and Dieppe, Canada within a week, returning to Goodwinds for a day or two, and then driving to Long Beach, Washington for the weekend can be called “work.”  You see, the whole time, Paul was flying kites.  And winning medals!  Check out his performace and the indoor competition of the Washington State International Kite Festival:

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Nice job, Paul! 

As we head into September, we’re looking forward to a busy month with a full crew.  That is, until we start sending them the American Kitefliers Association’s national championships in Seaside and the iHobby Expo in Chicago, both in October.  Phew!

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Weekend Kitefly in Bellingham

Monday, August 16th, 2010

Recently, Leland, Paul, Hector, and Derrick met some friends in Bellingham, WA for a sunny kitefly in the park.

Derrick was, apparently, the designated kite rescuer.

Paul taught Hector the basics and he quickly surpassed all expectations.

Leland taught his friend, Katherine, how to fly. 

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Bridle Line Bonanza

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

About a year and a half ago, the bridle line industry in the United States dried up.  Came to a screeching halt.  Died a sudden death.  And all the kite flyers, windsurfers, and backpack makers (bridle line is used as tensioners on backpacks, did you know?) were suddenly faced with a dearth of a crucial component of their equipment.  Bridle line is a spectra core with a dacron sleeve.  It is strong with minimal stretch and often comes in different colors.

During the past year and a half, Goodwinds has been searching for a cost-effective solution to this problem.  While we are working with a braider in the US on production of bridle line to our specifications, the process is long and fraught with difficulties.  We suspect that the bridle line we had been stocking for years was so severely underpriced that the manufacturer could not sustain production.  Regardless of our willingness to pay a bit more, the original manufacturer could not be convinced to reenter production.  We hope to see the new braider producing bridle line sometime within the next year or two, but in the meantime, we have located a German source for bridle line.

That’s right.  Bridle line is back!

In addition to stocking 150ft rolls of 100# and 170# bridle line in a few colors, we now also sell bridle line by the yard.  Visit our website www.goodwinds.com or click here for the bridle line page.

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Paul de Bakker Joins Goodwinds Staff

Friday, June 18th, 2010

Goodwinds.com welcomes Paul de Bakker to our staff!  Paul has joined us as the Deputy Director of Sales, and he brings to Goodwinds his extensive knowledge of carbon and fiberglass (he has a degree in Composites Engineering!) as well as his vast experience designing, building, and flying kites.

Paul is originally from Holland, and he has lived in the United States for the past couple of years with his wife, Delita.  During that time, he formed his own boutique kite company, Focus Kite Designs, with a longtime friend and fellow kiteflyer, Hunter Brown.  The two design and build upscale, high-quality kites for shipment all over the world.

We at Goodwinds lured Paul and Delita away from North Carolina with the promise of hiking Washington’s beautiful mountains, kiteboarding in the fantastic Puget Sound, and participating in kite competitions, such as the Washington State International Kite Festival, in the Pacific Northwest.  Paul is quite the competitor, routinely placing in both indoor and outdoor kite competitions:

 

 We are so excited to have Paul with us at Goodwinds.com.  He’s young, he’s fun, and he’s extremely knowledgeable.  He will be working with a variety of industries, including hobby and RC stores, to meet their carbon and fiberglass needs.  Drop us a line and say hello to Paul today!

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Blue Line Bonanza!

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010

One of the great product lines Goodwinds inherited from Avia Sport Composites is Blue Line.  Blue Line is a renowned, pre-stretched spectra product, and Avia sold it as a line set and by the spool.  We currently have a great selection of the line sets, which include a winder, straps, and two (or four) sleeved lines for you kite. 

This is quite the experiment for Goodwinds.  As you know, we have always sold bulk spectra line.  This is our first foray into line sets, and we hope it turns out wonderfully.  We know that Blue Line has a great reputation as some of the world’s best flying line.  Let us know what you think!



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KTAI, Here We Come!

Friday, January 15th, 2010

There’s something we can all count on in America: if the weather is bad, it’s probably nice in Las Vegas.

While we haven’t seen the below freezing temperatures of most of the country these past weeks, we have been hit with rain, howling wind, flood advisories, and the winter blues up here in Mount Vernon, Washington.  Fortunately, the Kite Trade Association International’s trade show in Primm (outside of Las Vegas) is next week, and we’re going to give our bones a chance to warm up.  We’ll be out of the office from Tuesday through Friday, January 19 through 22, but we will answer emails and return urgent phone calls.  We will have limited capacity to ship orders, so be sure to tell us if you need something right away.

If you’re planning to attend KTAI, we would love to meet you.  It’s always great to put faces to names, and we look forward to learning more about the kiting industry and seeing all the ways in which the carbon we supply is used in the industry.

And, hey, it’s Roger’s birthday on January 20th!  He’ll be sixty years old, and Leland and I are planning on celebrating dad’s six awesome decades with an extra day in Las Vegas.  We’re going to let him choose all the activities, which means we’ll be going to every car museum and eating loads of buffet food.  A great time!  Happy birthday, dad.


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