RxMarine
Mad for Kayak Sailing
Kayak Sailing Antics
11th June - 14th - June 2009 - South Devon trip
Teignmouth beach about to set of on our first paddle together. My mate John Holden has done some serious kayaking in the past including the ARC (Arctic Canoe Race) and Devizes - Westminster - but that was a while ago - this was his first paddle in about 20 years!
Ready to set off on our adventure. from Newton Ferrers near Plymouth. Poor Johnny - he was about to find out how useful a sail can be on a kayak! :)
Our first stop off about 10 km from Newton Ferrers
Halfway point for day one - Burgh Island. The last 10 km we rafted up much of the way and sailed
The second half of day one was completely different - up to two metre swells and a very commiting paddle getting out from Burgh Island through the waves and from Bolt Tail to Bolt head where we finally reached Salcombe. A total of about 40km. we dried out our stuff and camped on a bit of grass at North Sands
The next two days we tried to get out to sea to continue our journey but one day it was too rough around Start Point, and the other the fog closed in. Here is a picture of us about to set off, and then of John just after we decided to turn back to Salcombe due to fog
We spent the next day paddling to a beautiful estuary called the Erme. Here are a couple of pictures taken in and around this beautiful estuary
27 Feb 09
I have long wanted to experiment with using an asymmetric spinnaker on my kayak. I decided to modify a 420 symmetrical spinnaker to see how it would work. I cut the spinnaker into a more asymmetric shape and did a garden shuffle to see if the concept might work, here is a pic of the mock up, no proper sheets or halyards as yet:
Sail area of the spin I estimate to be something around 40 square feet, with the mizzen that will give me a sail area of about 55 square feet! As you can see I have attached the amas for this little setup.... I really must get round to testing my Bruce Foil but at the moment am just having too much fun with experimenting with my various sail configurations. Anyway I should be able to get it rigged properly this weekend and will hopefully be able to go out for a test sail on Monday weather permitting.... Should be interesting!
1 Feb 2009
I have spent the last couple of months working on the idea of building a Bruce Foil for my kayak. The other day I was setting up the attachment point for the foil to the kayak when I had a Eureka moment! I thought to myself, that would be ideal to mount a single ama and leeboard.
Everything is a compromise, especially with Kayak sailing; the more like a sail boat you make your kayak, the more complex it gets. That was part of the reason I have not been that keen on using my double outrigger setup....too much kit, too much hassle, etc etc
Anyway, in the space of two evenings I made use of the rear mounting bracket to add a single rear Ama and Leeboard, so here is my latest configuration of sail setup....and BOY DOES IT FLY!!!
Click on the pic for a larger detailed view
You can just about make out my poor (untested as yet) Bruce Foil on the ground (under the paddle blade). I had such fun with this setup that I never got round to testing the foil out! Ahh well next time!
Advantages of this setup:
- All sail and leeboard controls are made from the cockpit
- It flies off the wind - with a combined sail area of 32 square feet it provides excellent entertainment!
- Reduced sail for beating into wind. Take down the PA sail and use just the mizzen for sailing above 90 degrees
- Can be packed up in a jiffy on the water for those Californian surf landings! (Hi Robert...it's ffffrrrreeeezing here in old Blightey!)
- Now I feel I can join the Yahoo Proa forums :)
August 2008
Finally fitted my mizzen sail and took it for a sail on the local lake. It all worked very well, but unfortunately on going out in the sea the other day I managed to loose it over board before putting it up. Not to worry, I used my old 15 square foot sail instead and beefed up the mast step. I have been out on it once and with a combined sail area of 30 square feet, can sail rather well.Next I need to either make or purchase a larger leeboard and maybe move it back just a little to compensate for the mizzen sail, but even in its current setup I can sail a course and tack through the wind. Here is a pic with both sails up:
21 July 2008
Fitting the mizzen sail is taking a little longer than I had hoped, but so far everything is going pretty much according to plan. Although not all fitted out here are a couple of pictures with both my main and mizzen sail. It will be interesting to see how if affects the balance of the boat. Only being about 9 square feet I hope I shall be able to easily compensate for any weather helm with an adjustment in the position of the lee board, alternatively it will be time to make a bigger rudder.
20 July 2008
Having decided to cancel my Devon Coastal adventure this year for a number of reasons, I have been busy making a few modifications to my kayak sailing rig.
It has been unseasonably windy this summer so I have had plenty of opportunity to test my latest setup. I have simplified my outriggers, rather than using two akas I am only using one. Also I have cut them down a little in length.
Here are a few clips of me sailing off Exmouth in fairly strong wind conditions (in fact as I was beating back up the estuary I snapped my mast base which I have now reinforced)
They are only taken from my phone so not very big and low quality:
Kayak sailing video 1 - Starboard tack
Kayak sailing video 2 - Port tack
I am in the process of rigging up a mizzen sail for my Scupper Pro. This should be ready in a few days so I'll post some pictures when complete. For information my main sail is approximately 15 square feet and the mizzen about 9 square feet.
20 July 08
For the latest news on my exploits in small sailing craft, see my home page.
22 March 08
I have now made a more substantial if not neat affair shown in the pics below. I took this new setup out for a trial yesterday. Very gusty conditions were very difficult and I did manage to capsize! Luckily I was wearing my drysuit so all was well. The lee board is perfectly balanced so even without a rudder it was easy to control. I am now satisfied I have a solid setup for both sail and lee board. Next on the list is a rudder!
8 March 2008
Well, winter is nearly over at last. I managed to get out for a couple of paddle sails over the winter but am looking forward to starting to get out on a regular basis now that Spring is on the way. With my new drysuit I have just bought things should be a little more comfortable. Here is a picture taken a few weeks ago when I had a lovely day paddling up from Orcombe point, up the Exe Estuary and a little way up the River Clyst
27 November 2007
I have started messing around with mounting a cut down windsurf sail on my boat instead of the current polytarp sail that has done me so well. Measuring the sail again I think this will give me about 26 square foot of sail. I need to add extra support for the mast and at the moment I am thinking of rigging up a couple of solid side stays, much like found on the Hobie Bravo.
Here are a couple of pictures of the sail mounted onto my kayak. As you can see I need to do some work on getting a better sail shape. My dilemma at the moment is that I have replaced the bottom batten with a solid aluminium tube for my boom. However this is interfering with the curvature of the sail down low. If I use the batten as a boom, as I am sheeting from the centre of the boom, it causes the batten go go out of shape. If anyone has any suggestions please mail me. This may not be a problem when the sail fills with air so I might just try it. Alternatively I suppose I could keep the aluminium boom but not use the batten pocket and keep it loose footed. Another option would be to use the batten and try to sheet it from the clew, but this will mess with my paddle stroke.
Although it doesn't look like it I can still maintain a clean paddle stroke with the sail up - this is very important to me. Anyway, here are a couple of pics:
24th November 2007
I took a couple of videos whilst out sailing yesterday. I have another slightly better video but I'm unable to upload it at the moment. Here is the first one:
I have dug out an old windsurfer sail and have started cutting it up to use it instead of my current polytarp sail. A rough measurement shows this new sail to be about 24 square feet, as opposed to my current sail that is about 18 square feet.
23 November 2007
I have completed the outriggers and akas. It was a
lovely day today so I took the boat out for the first time for a test
sail with the new outriggers. I rigged up a temporary attachment for the
lee board just to see how the boat would balance. Here are a couple of
pictures of the launch. I also took some video footage whilst under way.
I’ll post this soon!
I was really pleased with my first sail with the amas
attached. They provided a terrific amount of stability and the height
seemed to be just right. They are high enough not to touch the water
when paddling or sailing across the wind or down wind, yet when beating
into wind the boat is still comfortable when the leeward ama is in the
water.
The leeboard seemed to be in just about the right
position, ideally it probably needs to be a few cm further back for
perfect balance. Balancing the rig at the moment is very important as I
am not using a rudder. I made an interesting discovery – I tried sailing
without the rudder and the leeward ama seemed to provide a fair bit of
resistance to sideways slip (I had wondered if this might be the case).
Because of this I have decided to try adding skegs to the amas and not
using a leeboard. This will help with overall simplicity and also
weight.
At the moment I am even thinking I might not bother
with a rudder although I must admit it would be nice to have one – it
would make drinking my coffee while under way a little more civilized!
I am also starting to think about the best way to
increase sail area. My options are:
- Make a bigger mainsail
- Keep the mainsail the same size and add a smaller mizzen sail
- Do both of the above – I do like lots of sail area on my boats!
- When I can afford it I’ll get a professionally made sail – I’m
sure that will make a huge difference
Anyway, I’ll try to keep this page updated with my
progress. It’s starting to get cold in old Blighty now so I won’t be out
on the water too much.
16th November
Just about complete. Just need to complete the
attachment point for the amas and I’ll be ready for a first sail! As I
am so anxious to get her on the water I’ll initially try it without a
lee board. I have canted the amas at about 20 degrees, that way when
leaning over they should be flat to the water.
9 November 2007
I have started construction of the outriggers for my Scupper Pro. By
adding outriggers, I shall be able to carry a larger sail (sails) and be
able to counter the extra turning moment generated by a lee board. Here
are a couple of pics showing the build process, along with a brief
description:
I purchased some closed cell styrofoam, it's a fairly high density so
for the size of the outriggers it provides quite a bit of inherent
stiffness. I cut suitable sized strips and glued them together with No
More Nails (American equivalent - Gorilla Grip?)
Next I shaped the amas using a saw and various grades of sand paper
First I put of layer of fibreglass on the bottom of both amas colouring it with a bit of yellow pigment to match the hull - it's not very clear in the picture below, but it shows the underside fibre glassed.
Next job will be to fibreglass the top and sides and finish with an extra coat of epoxy.
August 2007
I have read on a few forums of people wanting to build a mast step in order to mount a mast on a SOT kayak. With a bit of thought this can be achieved without the need to drill any holes in your lovely kayak. Here is how I did it on my Scupper Pro. The result is a mast step I just slot on, the only attachment is a line to stop it slipping off the front. Any loads my 18 square foot sail creates are easily dissipated due to the large surface area of the mast step.
How does she sail? Obviously until I can get round to building a lee board and rudder I am restricted to 90 degrees at best, any more just produces side slip. I have been out in a low to moderate force 4, close reaching and broad reaching. This proved to be good fun and the direction can easily be controlled with a little stern rudder. By the way this mast step should be easily strong enough to use as an attachment point for a couple of amas and lee board....maybe this will be a winter project for me.
|
Take One Standard Scupper Pro.....
Build a mast step from fibreglass.......even if you have no experience in using fibreglass techniques, building one is not too onerous. How I made my mast step:
Voila! This has proved to be a very
robust fixture that requires no drilling to attach.
Slot onto deck, no drilling required to hold in place. The loads generated by the sail are nicely distributed:
Make a polytarp sprit sail, nice and easy to roll up and far more potential for power generation on a reach than a Pacific Action sail. Use edge cuts and a V dart method to give the sail shape: Sail rolled up:
Rigged up:
Hmmm, just add water for some fun :) The sail can be assembled or taken down on the water in 60 seconds. |
What I plan to do next:
I am in the process of building two outriggers (amas) Once complete I shall add a lee board, rudder and an additional mizzen sail. This sounds like alot of complexity however I believe I can build a relatively simple system that I will be able to assemble and disassemble fairly quickly.
If anyone has any specific questions I'm happy to answer them, just drop me a mail at andy@rxmarine.co.uk
All the best
Andy Lyne (RxSailor)