Who they are
Dominique and Bruno have the same passion for the sea and water sports. A passion which lead them to think, to look, to build, and to invent together. They have also the same determination and, one thing leading to another, after numerous years of shared problems, they have become manufacturers of their curved wing with inflatable structure, with all the success that that has brought them today.
Towards the age of 10 years, they develop a real passion for the sea and water sports. They practise competition dinghy racing together at a high level and commence “Sports Studies” in Brest on the back of winning the title of National Champions in the Junior category.
Dominique then works in shipyards to get experience of the techniques of manufacturing sailboats.
Bruno teaches sail sports in various nautical centres around Finistere (Brittany – France) before finalising preparations for his big project, a tour of the world by boat.
He departs in summer 1983.
He catches up with his brother again a little later in Senegal, and there, together, they begin to become interested in the power of kites. They begin some early experimentation. There will follow years of research and unremitting work around their invention.
After a difficult but formative experience of manufacturing their wing in France in 1993 and 1994 under the WipiCat brand (200 sold samples), they turn to China for manufacturing and create the Wipika brand in 1997. The sales soar up in the following years, success is finally there. They start to sell patent licences in 1999 to allow the sport to grow faster.
In early 2000 they again leave Brittany to settle in Dominican Republic, ideal spot for Research & Développement as regards to kiteboarding.
Bruno will design some kites for Wipika until mid-2001 then for Takoon in 2002, in particular the Wipika Classic and Airblast, the Takoon Skoop, all wings which put their mark on their time.
But the true passion of the Legaignoux is to innovate. They invented, among other things, the inflatable curved wing, the 4-line control device for curved wings, the VARC (Variable Aspect Ratio Concept), the Reactive bridle for reverse take-off, the span-line and finally the BOW...