Re: [Paddlewise] kayak sails

>On Wed, 1 Apr 1998, Mark Balogh wrote:
>
>>>
>>>At the risk of blaspheming, I want to survey the list on the subject of
>>>kayak sailing.  I have been monitoring the list for some time and rarely
>>>see the word "sail" so I have avoided mentioning the "S" word until I
>>>saw someone else post it today. Just for my own curiosity, how many of
>>>you dedicated kayakers or canoeists will admit to sailing their HPV's.
>>>Thanks for your assistance and for the interesting list.

I think that you need to be a paddler, or a sailor. It's tough to be both.
If you're with a group, everyone needs to have about the same sailing rig.
Otherwise, the paddlers are making a pretty much straight line to the
destination, and the sailors are tacking all over the place. There's also
rig up/rig down time, and carrying around all that junk that you need. The
wind has to be perfect for your setup; being either under or over powered
isn't much fun. I've seen guys using a golf umbrella, and that seemed to
work fairly well in a narrow band of conditions. 

It also takes a lot of modification to make a kayak into a mean sailing
machine. As a former high-performance windsurfer, I'd rather be paddling
than putting along in a mild breeze and having swimming ducks casually pass
me. To do it right, you'd need pontoons to put up some serious yardage. I
have no idea as to how you'd get a kayak with a big, fixed sail upright
after tipping over, either. Which you'd do a lot. Remember how unstable
kayaks are just to sit in?

IOW, if you want to get serious about sailing, get a sailboat. You could
probably pick up a used sailboat that could blow the doors off of any kayak
for a couple hundred bucks. If you want an occasional free push from the
wind, get the most minimal rig possible, and be prepared for the ire of
your paddling partners as you diddle around with it.

Though putting a windsurfing rig (a full universal joint at the base of the
mast) on a sit-on-top might be an interesting thing. You'd sail it standing
up. Hmmm...





________________________________________________________________
Doug Barnard                                   Virtual Acreage
Agoura, California (near L.A.)        Visualization in 2D/3D/4D
http://virtualacreage.com                    818-991-9328
                                          
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