sailing info
http://www.epoxyworks.com/16/index16.html
Lots of info on sailing canoes, with some rig information that may apply to kayaks.
The HOSS outrigger system
A couple of years ago a fellow in Messing About in Boats wrote an article on his lightweight kayak outrigger system, he called it the Hoss System as opposed to the BOSS system. (MAIB is a great little magazine BTW. $28 bucs a year published 2x a month)
The HOSS system cost less than $50 and is made of tubular aluminum and boat bumpers. The kind that stink boat owners hang over the side to keep their boat off the docks. Very ingenious and inexpensive too!
Thx Tommy
You bought a sail? WOW you really got it BAD! Glad to hear you are having a ball over there on the east coast.
Got it bad, got it good
– Last Updated: Sep-03-06 7:18 PM EST –
Ya Know Hoz, the stuff you posted about your Missinabi (I know I spelled that wrong!) trip was what got me really thinking about rigging canoes.
Sometimes though I just got more dollars than sense.
This spring Doug D passed out a mess of Snark sails but the one he gave me was rotten.
I got so frustrated that I bought the first thing that looked close. Wished I'd looked more. Sailrite and Duckworks both have sails for that kind of $ that might work better. Then there's Sails To Go with the Snark sail for under $100. I'll tell you Doug, Hal and Sean made those Snark sails look pretty good.
I'm going to mess with the Mill Creek a little more. Try cranking on the downhaul. See if I can't get it into the wind more.
Hey, it keeps me off the streets!
Duckworks
Yes, Duckworks will even buid a custom sail at reasonable prices. I haven’t bought a sail yet, still using tyvek and poly tarp, but I have been caught “looking”.
I have bought some cam cleats and pintles/gudgeons from DW. They also started stocking the “fine line” horizontal clamcleats (1/4" or less). These are good for the rudder uphaul and other things that use small line.
BTW, Duckworks has a great little book on small sails for small boats. Much of the information will translate to canoes.
http://www.duckworksbbs.com/media/books/tradsails/index.htm
or
http://tinyurl.com/pm273
yes, downwind
i sail my rob roy on occassion with the larger version of the spirit sail. it works pretty well, although sometimes i’d like to be able to control the set of the sail with lines. it spills wind well, and i don’t use a rudder or a centerboard. you can reach, somewhat, but mostly you’re either cruising well with a great tailwind or you’re paddling.
as for performance, kayaks and canoes just don’t seem as efficient as a boat designed specifically for sailing. but it’s fun.
Another outrigger link
http://www.kayrak.ca/index.htm
Makes outriggers. They show a lot of them on their web site that have an odd deck that looks very awkward. But checkout the photo without the deck:
http://www.kayrak.ca/images/kay_1100_full.jpg
It actually looks like a clean and simple mounting system.
Don
Did a search and found this
Since I’m doing mostly solo paddling these days, I started thinking about kayak sailing. Sounds like it might be fun.
What do you think about sailing an Ocean Kayak Sidekick (which I’ll be paddling with my dog on board)? It’s a SOT, 12’5" long, 32" wide. I figure it’s gonna be a barge anyway, so why not get help from the elements if I can?
I haven’t checked all the links above yet (in the process) but there seems to be a lot of good info here.
Thoughts?