Let’s Go Fly a Kite: Dan's Annual Kite Fly Is Here!
The Dan’s Papers 39th Annual Kite Fly is almost here, and we expect to see some wild wind structures at Sagg Main Beach on Sunday. As you’re preparing, don’t forget that judges will be handing out awards in plenty of categories, including Largest, Most Colorful, Best Homemade, Funniest, Highest Flying, Smallest, Most Beautiful, Scariest, Best Nautical, Most Artistic, Most Geometric, Most Exotic, Most Newsworthy, Youngest Kite Flyer, Kite with Longest Tail and Best Pet Kite (from our friends at Bideawee). Just don’t get your hopes up for going home with a world record for biggest kite.
Kite enthusiast (or lunatic, if you prefer) Peter Lynn of New Zealand nailed that honor when he flew a kite that he called “The Big One” over the sea in Southsea, England at the 2005 Portsmouth International Kite Festival. [expand]
The contraption, in the shape of a Kuwait flag, measured in at 138 ft. x 82ft. That’s about 3,445 square feet—nearly 30 percent larger than the average American home. The kite was ram-air inflated, took about 750 hours to build, and shattered the 1997 Guinness record for World’s Largest Kite previously held by…Peter Lynn, the godfather of kite innovation, who is widely credited with the popularization of such activities as kitesurfing and kite buggying, and owns patents on dozens of different kite designs.
But none of that means you can’t aspire to other records. Maybe the Smallest Kite ever to fly? The current mark is 5 mm! Trying for Longest Kite? You’ll need 3394 feet. Highest Flight? You’ll need to soar more than 31,955 feet above sea level. Most fun had while flying a kite? Now that’s one sure to be set at Dan’s Papers 39th Annual Kite Fly.
Festivities begin at 5:30 p.m. at Sagg Main Beach in Sagaponack on Sunday, August 7. Check our calendar for more info.