Meet Nop Velthuizen, of Den Haag in the Netherlands, professional kite- builder/ flyer extraordinaire. But also no mean beach buggy pilot, recumbent bike builder and, together with wife Michèle, experienced 'Round the World tourers on homebuilt recumbents.
    I got to know them both one sunny October day in 1992, when I paid them a visit thinking that we'd be talking about their past 2-year long recumbent tour in the USA, Korea and Japan. We did, but I also got to be introduced to "beach buggying", buggies being pulled by kites, an emerging new sport in countries with long stretches of hardpacked sand, sunshine and too much wind for anyone's liking. Holland and New Zealand comply. Apparently speeds up to 90 km/h have been recorded.
    The buggy itself is a pretty simple construction, no more than a triangular frame from which a fabric seat hangs, with the front wheel steered directly by the feet. No brakes or anything like that, since the rider (or, should one say, "pilot"?) is supposed to be able to control the kite, ergo raise or lower the effective pull from it as needed. This is a simplistic explanation of the principles involved, but I possess no better one. In any event a kite like that of Nop's generates surprizingly large amounts of momentum, too large to be left in the hands of  novice. Therefore I didn't even try. Next picture better explains why.