Windpaddle Sails

I was at Canoecopia last weekend and they had a booth there selling Windpaddle Sails. They were basically a 1m round nylon sail and the catch was that they attached, went up/down in seconds and weighed very little. Anyone here ever use one? They looked interesting, but the price was steep ($175).

link
http://www.windpaddle.com/

Fuzzy Math
"The batten allows the sail to be coiled into 1/3’s (18% of its original size!) for compact stowage and storage."



Jim

On Paddling.net
You can also see them at:



http://www.paddling.net/buyersguide/accessories/showCategory.html?cat=52



-Brent

Paddling.net

Save $ use a golf umbrella
NM

Typo, perhaps.
They may have meant “1/8” it’s expanded size, as mentioned on a previous page, instead of “18%”.



Indeed, by reducing the diameter of a circle to a third, you are reducing the AREA to 1/9th it’s original area.



Based on their quoted stats the expanded size (106.7cm) versus the stowed (38.1 cm)does indeed produce an AREA that is nearly one eighth it’s expanded size. Indeed, based on their stats, it is 12.75% (where 1/8 is 12.5%)it’s original size.



Remember, area is calculated by: A=Pi*r^2 where ‘r’ is the RADIUS (not diameter) of the circle.

I got a Wind Paddle…
this past winter…



Haven’t had a chance to use it yet…



Water turning warmer and March winds so I’ll use it soon and post results. Last time out 3/14/08 the wind was only 5-7 mph and was not strong enough for usage (I tried).



$175 seemed like a bargain to me after looking at full on sail rigs @ $1,000+.



I bet you paid as much or more for some paddles you ended up not liking and you replaced.

hey mushinzencat
Have you tried out that sail yet? Would love to hear about it.