Mark Balogh wrote: "how many of you dedicated kayakers or canoeists will admit to sailing their HPV's." Mark, I sometimes use the Primex downwind sail on my Sea Star. This is the inverted V sail, and with the rudder on this kayak, I am able to sail as much as 45 degrees off the wind, although more headway is lost the more I bear off the wind. I have considered various schemes for adding leeboards to address this problem. My current plan is to use one or a couple of deck-mounted adjustable fishing rod holders with half a paddle fitted vertically on each side of the deck. However, I think I will need to reinforce the deck so the concentrated torque at the rod holder plate doesn't rip a chunk out of the deck. Haven't added the fiberglass inside the deck to accomplish this yet. Also haven't devised a way to hold the paddle shaft securely in the rod holder. I have used this sail solo, but one of the most enjoyable sails was with two other kayaks rafted up on either side of mine, all pulled along fairly briskly by 15-20 knot breezes. Fred, Natalie and I sailed this way till everyone's arms got tired of holding the raft together and mine were tired from maneuvering the sail around obstacles (my friends' heads and shoulders!). We used both Fred's rudder and mine for some steering. With a favorable wind this was a welcome way to cover some distance a little differently from paddling. Happy paddling (and sailing) to all, John Somers *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List Submissions: paddlewise_at_lists.intelenet.net Subscriptions: paddlewise-request_at_lists.intelenet.net Website: http://www.gasp-seakayak.net/paddlewise/ ***************************************************************************
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