Yes, if anyone should know what Barnard is referring to, especially the bit about kite-surfers, it should be those of us interested in AWE. And to this day, AWE seems strangely detached from anyone with proven acumen in wind energy. I remember in the early days, trying to even convince any AWE wannabes that what they were talking about fell under the umbrella of “wind energy”. That was scary for them, because it made them realize who and what they were up against, that actual standards existed, and that at some point, they would be expected to actually produce cheap, reliable power, rather than existing as a mostly-talk, carnival sideshow for their own entertainment. I do seem to remember learning that certain schemes from the 1800’s for air travel involved train tracks in the sky. 
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