End of 2017 - overview of the collection

Exactly a year ago, I wrote a blog post summarising my collection of Peter Powell kites at the close of 2016, and I thought it would be nice to take stock of what I've been able to add to the collection during 2017.

So here goes!

Like before, I'll group the PP kites in my collection in four groups: UK-produced during the 1970s, 80s and 90s; US-produced; Caribbean Kite Company; and UK-produced during the 21st century.

At the close of 2016, I had nine PP kites produced in the UK during the 1970s/80s/90s. And during 2017, I managed to double that!

Specifically, I added a blue polythene/fibreglass Mk I, a Junior, two customised Mk Is (made for the Round Table for for BP), two polythene Mk II (red and yellow), a 3-stack of ripstop Mk IIs, and two single bicolour ripstop Mk IIs (blue/pink and teal/pink). As before, I count a stack as a single kite. So a total of 18 original UK-produced PP kites at the close of the year.

Moving to US-produced Peter Powells, at the end of 2016, I had six of these, and managed to add another five this year.

These five include a Mk I Stunter, a Mk II Stunter, a Skyblazer, a Skychaser, and an Omni. So almost doubled the number of US-produced Peter Powell kites, to 11 in total.

On to Caribbean Kite Company kites, I only had a single early Cayman at the end of last year, and got my hands on four more this year.

Two later Caymans, a Jamaica and a Trinidad raised the number of Caribbean Kite Company kites to five.

And the finally on to modern, 21st century PPs. At the end of last year, I had a total of seven of those (two for our pair and five for the team), and this year, I added two more.

One of these was a 'standard' Mk III, in a Dutch colour scheme, the other a special Poppy Powell. And those two bring the total of modern PP Stunters in the collection to nine.

And all that brings the total collection from 23 at the end of 2016 to 43 at the end of 2017; not a bad year at all, I'd say! And the collection has really taken off since our very first Peter Powell kite in 2013 ...

So what will I be looking out for in 2018? For older UK-produced Stunters, I'd love to get my hands on one with a wooden frame (fat chance!), and will keep an eye out for Mk Is with a different type of aluminium frame than the one I have, and for any Mk Is or Mk IIs with sails of colours or designs different from what's in the collection already. For US-produced PPs, I'm especially interested in the ultralight Mk III, different versions of the Skyraker, a 'Baby Blazer', a Skytoy, a Dragonfli and a Firefli. Plenty of Caribbean Kite Company kites still missing from the collection, so anything I don't already have is welcome. And when it comes to 21st century PP Stunters, Mark and Paul have a few plans up their sleeves, so hopefully one or two of these will see the light of day in 2018.

As always, if you have a Peter Powell kite for sale which adds something to my collection, please get in touch!