Re: [Paddlewise] sailing content

>All sophistry aside (entertaining though it may be), unless the list
>excludes info on sailing by rule, I'd love to hear more about what can be
>done with the wind to move a kayak.
>Larry Koenig


Two things I have done, both with great fun and success:
1.  I took a standard nylon golf umbrella and used it as an "umbrellaker."
Simply open and hold with the wind behind you (or to the sides).  I steer
with my rudder and can't see real well, but with a good wind it moves me as
fast as I can paddle.  My first umbrella was shot after 2 1/2 hours of
sailing (it kept turning inside out), so I got another and ran nylon cord
from the top down to the handle along the spokes (so it looks like a
parachute with a handle).  I sewed this to the spokes with carpet thread.
Then I used stardard sewing elastic to put tension on the cords so that when
I folded up the umbrella the elastic would pull the cords up into the
umbrella so that they would not hang limp and tangle on everything.  It
works great but of course is only good for basic down wind sailing.  If the
wind is too strong from behind, you can reverse the umbrella so that it is
behind you and the rounded surface of the umbrella is facing the wind.

2.  I purchased plans for a kayak sail rig from Chesapeake Light Craft and
constructed it.  You can see it on their website.  It has amas and akas
constructed of wood, and a leeboard as well as a slighted larger rudder.  I
used an old windsurfer sail and the thing flies.  It is a wet and wild ride
and required some tinkering to get it to sail correctly but it is beautiful
and quite fun.  It sails upwind without problem.

By the way, there is a kayak sailing email posting list like this one.  The
address is
kayak-sail_at_shipwrecked.com

Yours,
Mike Nelson

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