Kite Personalities - Hugh Tucker

Ali Fujino

Hugh (Stretch) Tucker of Florida, is a sailor, former yacht rigger and now a full-time kite maker who brings an international perspective to life. Born in Germany to a British military family, he was raised and educated in Europe and Egypt, immigrated to Australia as a teenager, and had an abbreviated career as a banker before "retiring" to spend the next five years sailing the world's oceans.

Eventually gravitating to Florida, where he married, he settled on the vocation that best used his sailing background—yacht rigging. "I dealt with anything on a sailboat from the deck up," he says.

His interest in aerodynamics led him to kites in 1987. Teaching himself to sew the ripstop nylon he was so familiar with from boat sails, he made kites in a variety of sizes and shapes. "I found I really enjoyed making and flying kites," he said. "It's a zen-like thing to do."

After studying and learning from the work of some of the world's best kitemakers at an American Kiteflyers Association convention in Chicago, Tucker heard that Domina C. Jalbert, inventor of the parafoil kite, lived near him at Boca Raton, rang him up and went to visit. After an initial arm's length reception by the octogenarian inventor, wary of strangers after a lifetime of patent disputes, Tucker convinced Jalbert of his sincerity and began a series of regular Wednesday afternoon visits which lasted two years until Jalbert's death at eighty-seven in 1991.

Tucker flew kites with Jalbert, talked theory with him, listened to his monologues. "I was confidante, pal, someone to bounce ideas off," said Tucker.

Under Jalbert's sway, Tucker focused his own kite making efforts on the parafoil and has been making and flying them ever since. With his extensive knowledge of aerodynamics, carrying voice and commanding presence ("I'm five feet twenty inches tall," is how he describes his height) Stretch Tucker is an important figure in the American kite world, serving as festival participant, tournament judge, general organizer.

Tucker remains devoted to the memory of the great man he feels privileged to have known. "He was a nice guy to be around," says Tucker. "Jalbert loved anything to do with flying. We'd sketch out ideas on the blackboard. He loved tinkering. He had no math so he had to test out his ideas by building them. He especially loved kites. They were his life. I'll always remember him with fondness and great admiration for what he accomplished."

Of his gift of Jalbert's archive to the Drachen Foundation, Tucker commented simply: "I'm trying to keep Jalbert's memory and achievements alive." As a kite maker, Tucker has devised his own way of honoring Jalbert. Every parafoil he sews has a two inch black band on a center rib. "It's my own small, personal tribute," said Tucker.

Adapted from an article in the Drachen Foundation Newsletter (December 1996)