Finally I have three different sails for all weather. No pictures yet, I'm sorry. I will post some as soon as I can. All sails have their own carbon fiber mast with no shrouds. Only a single uphaul line. These stand alone masts fit nicely in a slot I made in the deck of my P&H Capella seakayak as discribed in some earlier posts. The sails are:
1) A Falcon 1m2 sail for light to moderate winds
2) A homemade sail madeout of super light kite cloth with two battens for moderate to stiff winds
3) An old worn down Flat Earth sail that can take very, very strong winds.
Why not just one sail that can be furled around the mast in case of increasing winds? Well, I have tried to make a furling system but it kept jamming in the mast slot while trying to pull the furling line. The mast just causes too much friction for easy turning. Besides, the old Flat Earth has a sewn-in boom so it won't furl at all. The other two sails are also attached to the boom by a clew line. You can't furl a boom, right?
I purchased three carbon masts for each sail rather than changing sails on the same mast. All sails have different heights so they deserve their own mast length. The only disadvantage is that I need to estimate the windforce before leaving shore. When in doubt I could pick the very forgiving Flat Earth that is slightly slower but will almost never cause a capsize. I survived windforce 8 till now on a small lake, which is why this sail is a bit worn and out of shape.
BeantwoordenVerwijderenHi Berend,
Very nice and informative blog you have about kayak sailing. I don't have a kayak but an ultralight sof pack canoe, arrow 14, weights only 8.5kg. Arrow 14 - Geodesic AiroLITE Boats
Arrow 14 - Geodesic AiroLITE Boats
I paddle it the last 4 years and from second year I had add a windopaddle sail. The truth is that I didn't like it a lot, because I can sail only downwind and need one hand always to control it. in light winds 4-6kn), when I can paddle relatively easy upwind, it can offer very little speed, it is only 0.8m2. I also use it in higher winds of 8-12 kn, but above 10knts paddling upwind with my canoe and it's relatively high freeboard I don't enjoy it a lot, even though on those higher winds, downwind sailing , it is more joyful.
Very recently I noticed that THERE ARE kayak sails , like falcons and flats earth, that can sail crosswind and even upwind and because you have yours hands free, if you assist wit the paddle , someone can even sail very high upwind.
In my place we have every day during the warm months, weak thermal winds, from 11am-18pm, of 8-10kn. I would love to sail with my canoe under those conditions.
Reading your blog I understand that the better choice will be for me the falcon sails and because I don't intend to use it above 12kn, and also my canoe is wider than kayaks,70cm beam it has, I think the better choice wil be the big one of 1.4 m2. Please correct if I am wrong.
Falcon sails are expensive, and the reason is the rigging and not the Dacron sail. So was considering to buy only the sail and make the rigging myself , by aluminium poles, since I won't use it under high winds and I believe the stress to rigging won't be very big under 6-10kn of winds . Please again correct me if I am wrong.
Then I red that you had experimented and made already your sails, two of them ! Bravo to you sir.
So I would like to learn from your experience.1) Do you believe that carbon rigging is something that make so big difference , Vs aluminium rigging? Especially under 6-10kn of wind I intend to sailing? All the Australians paddle sailing under very windy conditions with aluminium rigging but with more forgiving sail design. 2) if I decide to make my own sails, which sail is easier and better for my case to make, falcon or loose foot flat earth?
In any case according to your experience, and my canoe and the conditions I described you that I intend to sail, what will you advice me to do?
Thanks in advance , just for reading such a big email :-)