Sailing a Kayak             By Martin Chambers

                       

Just about anybody who has paddled a canoe or kayak will have thought about sailing it. Hold up a paddle to the breeze, or a towel, or tie a tent fly to the paddle- it is all sailing. The next small step from there is a dedicated sail rig. But be warned. A kayak is not a yacht and you need a sail designed for kayaks. A new dimension can be added to the activity of recreational paddling when you use a sail. A sail allows you to achieve downwind destinations with less effort and in my home town with a land/sea breeze pattern sailing is an ideal out and back again trip. Sailing can also reduce passage times when deployed opportunistically. It extends the range of your cruising as you arrive earlier and more refreshed. Steering in following seas or in windy conditions is easier if the sail is set forward of the mid point. And sailing is an absolute hoot in a big sea and big wind.

Canoes and kayaks are long, narrow, and light; perfect hulls to be driven by the wind. Although they do not have a keel this is no disadvantage in winds up to about 25kmh as a kayak can be paddled directly upwind. Round trip times for a sailing kayak and a yacht will be similar until the wind is too strong to paddle against. Without a keel the heeling moment of a sailing kayak is limited. For most wide, shallow-hulled recreational kayaks rather than capsize they will just slide sideways across the surface as the wind blows from the side. Do not be tempted to add a keel to your kayak, it will just make it want to capsize and sail cut and rig for upwind performance will limit your non sailing capability. You still want to be able to paddle. A well designed sail for a kayak will drive the boat downwind to about 90 degrees off the wind. It can be set and retrieved in any conditions and wind, and will work in any wind. It should still allow the full range of paddle strokes at all times. Ideally, it will not require much in the way of modifications to your kayak. What sort of sail?

Kites do not work particularly well, although they are a great starting point (kites also have a safety aspect in that they can be seen a long way off). A simple parafoil kite of about 2 square metres will work in light to moderate winds. They take two hands and a bit of skill to launch and retrieve cleanly, frequently getting tangled or transforming into a sea anchor. As the boat picks up speed, the parafoil loses wind and becomes unstable so they are hard to use in strong winds. Add a longer tail as the wind increases and angle a few degrees off downwind. Likewise, fixed mast systems look good and sail well in low wind, but can be tricky to retrieve in a seaway or as the wind builds. When a side gust hits a fixed mast sail it will heel the kayak and potentially capsize you. Fixed mast systems also require modification to the kayak. As the apparent wind is usually aft a fixed mast offers no sailing improvement over a flexible foot system that is braced fore and aft unless you also install a keel or outrigger. A flexible foot mast can be attached to any kayak with little modification and offers downwind sailing with the same efficiency as a fixed mast. In gusts, the flexible foot collapses, spilling the wind and keeping you upright. The mast can be set up forward, holding the bow low and allowing you to paddle while sailing, and a good system can be deployed and retrieved in any sea state, almost one handed. The shorter your kayak, the further towards the bow you will need to position the mast. Some very short kayaks may require a bowsprit that pushes out to tension the forestay when the mast is up.