Re: [Paddlewise] Thoughts on the Pacific Action Sail Rig?

The Good
I am very hard to impress and at a price of about $350 US taxed and  
shipped for the 1 meter sail I turn into impossible to impress. The  
sail impressed me. A lot, frankly. All components are of the highest  
quality. Workmanship is flawless. The design is right on and is a  
snap to learn to use. Easy to set up and take down, I have trained a  
12 yr old and a 15 yr old to use it well with just a two minute  
class. Most of that two minutes was spent impressing the importance  
of speed in striking the sail and securing it to the bungie. My wife  
who is a surgeon and a full Colonel in the Army was a bit harder to  
train as she is used to being in charge but we got through the class  
well enough. Everyone I have taken out sailing in my Shearwater  
double baidarka has been a non paddler and absolutely had a blast. It  
is especially cool when the hull starts to make that gurgling sound  
as water passes under it. I went out on a test sail in very high  
winds and the kayak rocketed along comfortably. If I had the money I  
would buy the 2 meter sail for light wind days. Maybe next year. I  
was advised to modify the rig a bit and did. I replaced the original  
sail control line or sheet with two ten foot pieces of sheet  
material. I installed two deck clamcleats. All of this really helped  
and cost an additional $30. Sail control was simplified, became more  
precise and physically easier.

The Bad
The only strong criticism of the PA sail concerns the instructions  
for installation. As a person who has built four kayaks from kits and  
a Melonseed sailboat from a line drawing and not much else I found  
the PA sail instructions almost useless. I went on line and looked at  
photos of installed PA rigs to wing it as best I could. A critical  
step to pay attention to is mounting the twin sail posts that hold  
the sail erect. You must ensure that the twin posts, which look like  
your fingers making a peace sign, are spread out as far as possible  
so the sail sets flat. This will take two helpers or some jury  
rigging to hold the posts away from each other. The posts are then  
permanently set at this angle with a pair of screws bisecting the  
posts. Get it wrong and you either have to redrill the posts possibly  
weakening them or live with your error.

The Ugly
My Mother-in-law

I would spend the money again in a heartbeat.

Jim et al

On Jun 18, 2008, at 12:29 PM, Craig Jungers wrote:

> James Farrelly mentioned on Paddlewise (just before his vacation)  
> that he planned to buy a Pacific Action sail rig for his kayak. I  
> seem to recall that he used it in a race recently and wonder what  
> thought he has on it now.
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