Had an opportunity to use the new Spirit Sail on the Chesapeake this weekend and it works perfectly. I have it mounted to a deck board and positioned it amidships just behind the front paddler. I wanted to use it myself before I asked anyone else to give it a try. It is extremely easy to set or take down and with the stability of the Long Haul, we were able to do it in 5 seconds without any drama what so ever. A rudder was totally unnecessary. Course corrections were occasional only required a dip of the paddle. Sometimes being a big guy in the rear seat has it's charms. We were able to sail off the wind at up a 45 degree angle in 1 to 3 foot seas in a 10 to 15 knot breeze. (Estimated) Occasional white caps. Most waves were in the one to two foot variety with the extra height coming from power boat wakes. I have the medium size sail which is ideal, because we were able to get the benefit of the extra push without having it over power the kayak. We motored along nicely at paddle speed. I found that we were paddling a bit differently in that we were sometimes paddling for an angle depending on the wind direction and then popping the chute for the downhill slide. Lots of fun. I'll post a couple of pictures when I get a chance. John MacKechnie *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Tue Jun 21 2005 - 04:42:13 PDT
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