Re: [Paddlewise] sail rigs

Matt Broze wrote:
SNIPPED
> they we no faster than us. However, they soon resorted just using the jib
> and stowing all the rest. We would leave them far behind with the spinaker
> and have to wait for them again.

I am glad someone brought up sailing with the Klepper jib alone,
although it did not seem to work all that well for Matt's fellow kayak
sailors.  In my experience, and from what I know from other sources, jib
sailing can be a very effective sail even for beam reaching (90 degrees
to the direction of the wind) and works well on a broad reach (45
degrees or so off downwind) and straight downwind running.

I have not done much sailing, just enough to know how to write about it
with the help of good friends like Mark Balogh.  But I do recall my
first week of sailing in which going on a broad reach with a jib in
which my wife and I in a double Klepper were able to keep up with a
smallish Batwing on a double Klepper.  Other factors may have accounted
for this other than sail. Perhaps the expert sailor in the other boat
wasn't all that expert with this particular sail.  Also the other boat
had the group's leader in it who besides possessing a heavy ego also had
a disproportionately high amount of the groups gear, not that my wife
and I in our Klepper double were not carrying a load as well.

We knew next to nothing about sailing (I still don't; she knows a lot
more).  But we operated as an effective team.  She worked the jib sheet
(sheet is sailing parlance for the line controlling a sail) to
perfection with a subtle touch on keeping the jib filled with just the
right amount of wind.  And me?  I was controlling the rudder.  I figured
that the expert sailor in the other Klepper knew how to get the most out
of the wind.  All I had to do was to make certain that our boat was
always on a parallel line with his heading.  As he varied his heading, I
duplicated it like a monkey mimicing human gestures.

We went for several miles that way.  The leader never turned around all
that time convinced that he had pulled out well ahead of the group (In
his defense it was the last day of an 8 day trip and he may have been
tired of dealing with our motley group).  Meanwhile we were holding our
position about 100 feet behind him, a respectable distance for observing
his movements.  When he came close to the takeout beach and finally
turned around, the look of surprise to see us just behind him was
priceless.  It was "Where the hell did these non-sailing bozos come
from?"

Jib sailing a Klepper offers a lot of advantages.  Less setup time. 
Less complex.  Smaller package to take with you when travelling and to
stow away in your boat.  And less liable to tip over than the full
Klepper S-4 rig which has a soft pocket up high on the mast which can
flip you if a gust hits up there with you unawares (listen to Ralph talk
as if actually knows anything about this!:-))  I know that Gail Ferris
was very big on the idea of jib sailing in her northern trips.  She even
cut down the sail area of the jib because she was afraid too much area
might tip her single Klepper.

ralph diaz


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